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Ayaan roamed around the stalls of the cultural fair, observing the crowd. He was used to prying eyes. But now he had noticed his mind shifting. He wasn't interested in those prying eyes anymore, he didn't care. Like before.

Reaching back to his friends, he smiled, "The stalls are looking amazing!"

"They really are. But I'm starving. When is the lunch break?" Meera asked.

Ayaan checked his watch on his wrist then looked back at her, "30 minutes more."

"Finally! I'm getting tired and need a whole meal in me." Ananya said and everyone chuckled.

"Where is everyone? By the way?" Ayaan asked. He didn't want to be evident that he's only actually asking about one person.

"They're all scattered. Rohan has gone to check out the other stalls, and Naina...." They looked around, "Oh there she is."

Ayaan followed Ananya's gaze and watched Naina in talks with someone. A familiar face. Shaan.

He felt a weird knot in his stomach as he saw the two of them talking and walking around. She isn't this open to others. Then why him? He thought. He didn't notice his fist clutching. He shouldn't be reacting this way, then why was he?

He masked his discomfort with ease as he looked back at the group, "Interesting." Then he looked around, "Well, you two have fun ye the stall. I'll go find Rohan."

Meera had noticed the sudden change in his demeanor and chuckled at this antics internally. But she supported this, so she didn't stop him. Ananya, however, was completely unaware and was too busy with the business of the stall to notice what was going on in front of her, so she simply smiled and nodded and got back to work.

Ayaan walked over to Naina and Shaan. As they noticed him, Shaan smiled, "Hey bro. What's up?"

"Nothing bro, you tell? How come you're here? I thought you weren't going to come for this?"

"I wasn't. But someone told me that this madam is gonna be here, so here I am." Shaan said, giving Naina a small smile, which Ayaan caught, making his blood boil even more.

"Interesting." Then he looked at Naina, "Naina, can you some with me? Meera and Ananya need you for a second?"

"Oh," she said, then looked at Shaan, "I'll be back Shaan." She smiled.

He nodded and walked away into the crowd while Naina looked at Ayaan, "Let's go?"

But Ayaan stood frozen. Not moving. She looked at him, "What happened? They're calling right? Let's go?"

He didn't reply. Instead, he grabbed her hand and walked away into the crowd, and kept walking until they reached an isolated place behind a building. She was confused by this behaviour and was getting a little scared, but she didn't say anything.

When they reached a secluded place, he looked at her and then pinned her against the wall. She was shocked by this behaviour.

"Ayaan? What are you doing? Let me go!" She tried to break free from his secure clutches.

His eyes pierced into hers, "Why are you getting so friendly with Shaan?"

Her eyebrows frowned in confusion, "What? What does that mean?"

He came closer, his hands sneaking around her waist, "You know very well what that means. Why is it that the girl who doesn't even like to talk to me is getting so close to Shaan?"

By now, she had understood. And now she had a confidence with him she didn't before. At least she thought she had. She looked at him, "Why does it matter to you what I do?"

His eyes were oozing anger, but also a little pride that she was able to talk to him, "Because." But he couldn't find the right words. With what right could he stop her? For the first time, Ayaan Malhotra was speechless.

"Exactly," Naina continued, "You have no rights on me, Ayaan." She tried to push him away but he wouldn't let her, so she continued, "Let me go. What's happening to you?"

"I'll tell you what's happening to me." He said, in frustration, "You refuse to accept what's on your mind and heart and you're playing with the both of us. I don't even know why you're doing that."

"I already told you Ayaan. We can't do this. Our worlds are different, please just—"

"Shut up, Naina. I don't care how different our worlds are. You and I both know what we want and what we feel. The only difference is, I'm ready to acknowledge it."

"This is a spur-of-the-moment thing. It will—"

"It won't pass!" He almost yelled, "It won't pass. It's been more than a month since that party and your thoughts aren't leaving me. If it had to pass, it would. And...." He stepped closer to her, breathing against the crook of her neck, "Tell me you don't feel the same way, Naina."

She clutched her duppata tightly, new to these sensations. The last time she had been this close to him, she ended up kissing him. She was scared. "L...Leave me, Ayaan."

"I can't." He said, against her neck, taking in her addictive scent, "I can't let you go. I won't. You know me, I always get what I want. And I want you." His words came rough and slow, but clear and assertive.

"Ayaan..." she whispered, "No."

He looked at her, their foreheads very close to touching. His hand was wrapped tightly around her waist and she was pinned tightly between the wall and him, "I told you Naina. I'll go easy, but if you don't listen, then I'll go the other way."

Naina gulped, seeing his eyes darkening and his demeanor changing, "What... what does that mean?"

"It means," he said, holding her hand as it lay pinned against the wall, "You're mine. Whether you like it or not. And it's time you accept that."

She looked at him, "No. I'm not."

He smirked a little at her bravery, "You think you can escape this?" He said, pointing between them, "You think you can escape how your lips felt on mine? Or how tightly we held each other? How the world seemed to vanish when you were wrapped in my arms? You think you can run away from your urge to kiss me again, Naina?"

Naina was in a big dilemma . His words were doing magic on her, pushing her back to those times. She wanted to kiss him again, but she knew that would be the last thing she did. So, she tried to reason, "Ayaan, please. Understand me, this is going to hurt us."

"You don't get to decide what will hurt me. And if you're hurting me, I don't mind." He said, with a soft smile, as his hand cradled her jaw.

He came closer to her. He was hanging on his last thread of control. He wanted to kiss her then and there but he wanted to do it when she reciprocates. He wanted to control himself, but it wasn't happening. He looked down and slightly groaned, then looked back at her and whispered, "You have no idea what you do to me, Naina."

And then, he let her go. She took her chance and was about to walk away, when the end of her duppata got caught against his watch. She got pulled back by the force as he turned to see the knot that had tied them. A small smile tugged on his lips, "See Naina, it's not me who pulled you back, it's our destiny. Everything ties us together."

She tried to ignore his sentence as she walked closer, trying to untangle her duppata. While she did so, her fingers trembled. His piercing gaze was tight on her as she tried to work and it was making her conscious. "Look away." She said.

He took his hand and started to detangle her duppata from his watch, while brushing his hands against her unintentionally. "I'm looking at what's mine."

Once it was detangle, she tried to leave but he pulled her back so her back collided against his chest. His arms came around her stomach as he whispered in her ears, "The more you resist, the harder it gets, baby."

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