The whole Sunday turned out wonderful for everyone. Even though Aarshi and Ayaan had started avoiding each other, they were still happy being together the entire day. Momo played with them all day, and they went out for a stroll as well. They enjoyed the whole day so much that by evening, they were so exhausted they fell asleep without even eating dinner.
In the morning, everyone woke up early. Ayaan took out his cycle for a ride, and Momo was with him. Momo had brought her own cycle too. Aarshi was watching them both when Ayaan asked, "Will you come along?"
Aarshi replied, "I don't know how to ride a cycle."
Hearing that, Ayaan laughed and said, "Seriously? You still don't know how to ride a cycle?"
Aarshi lowered her head in disappointment. Ayaan said, "It's okay, come on. I'll give you a ride."
Aarshi responded, "No need. I'm fine at home."
Momo also insisted, but Aarshi refused. Momo whispered in her ear, asking why she was refusing. Aarshi whispered back, "What if he calls me heavy?"
Momo laughed and said, "It's fine. You can ride with me on my cycle. I won't say anything."
Aarshi agreed. But the moment Aarshi sat on Momo's cycle, Ayaan immediately parked his own cycle behind them and said, "Why are you troubling my sister? She won't be able to ride with you on the back."
Aarshi said, "Then I won't go."
Ayaan replied, "I'll take you."
Aarshi pouted cutely and said, "You'll call me heavy."
Ayaan burst out laughing and said, "You, heavy? Anyone who looks at you could tell you don't weigh more than 40 kilos."
"Are you body shaming me?" Aarshi asked.
Ayaan said, "No, I'm just trying to convince you to come with us."
Ayaan then parked his cycle right in front of Aarshi and said, "Get on."
Aarshi finally sat down, though she felt very insecure. Early that morning, they cycled around the entire neighborhood and even wandered through the park. They had a lot of fun. In the end, Ayaan managed to convince Aarshi to learn how to ride a cycle.
Ayaan and Momo explained the basics to her, and then they all went to an empty street. At first, Aarshi couldn't even pedal. Slowly, she tried, and she began to get the hang of it. Then Ayaan held her cycle from behind and said, "You pedal."
Ayaan was balancing her cycle from behind while Momo stood beside them, motivating Aarshi. Aarshi took the motivation to heart and started pedaling with great enthusiasm. Ayaan kept balancing her from behind, and gradually, Aarshi learned how to ride.
"Yayyy, I did it!" Aarshi said joyfully.
But Ayaan thought she could balance on her own now, so he let go of the cycle. Still, Aarshi kept riding.
When Aarshi realized Ayaan wasn't behind her anymore, she started yelling, "Ayaan, save me! Momo, save me!" She couldn't hit the brakes either. Ayaan was watching her from behind, but when Aarshi started losing balance and fell off the cycle, Ayaan caught her instantly. She didn't even get a scratch.
Ayaan asked, "Want to try again?"
Aarshi was still in his arms and said, "I don't want to die this soon."
Ayaan laughed.
Then Aarshi freed herself from his grip and said, "I'm not learning anymore. Take me home."
Ayaan and Momo tried to convince her to try again, but Aarshi said, "I don't need to learn to ride a cycle. Only if you put training wheels on it will I consider it."
Ayaan said, "Forget it. I'll just give you rides from now on."
Aarshi said happily, "That's a good idea."
Momo said, "Let's go home now. I'm getting late for the office."
After that, they all went home. After breakfast, Momo left for the office, and Aarshi and Ayaan were left alone at home again.
Aarshi was lying on the sofa while Ayaan sat next to her. Pouting her lips, she said, "Don't you think we're getting bored here alone?"
Ayaan said, "What else do you want?"
Aarshi said, "Let's go out to the yard. We need to groom the trees."
Ayaan said, "They don't need care right now. My parents groomed them before they left, and Momo waters them every morning."
Aarshi said, "So what? Can't we just go there?"
Ayaan said, "Let's go."
They went to the yard, which was full of blossomed flowering plants that looked truly beautiful. There were also guava, mango, and orange trees, all bearing small, raw fruit. A raw mango caught Aarshi's eye and made her greedy. She stared at the raw mangoes hanging high above her height, but her eyes were fixed on them.
She nudged Ayaan and said, "Let's have those."
Ayaan said, "They're very sour. You can't handle them. Your teeth will ache. Don't eat them."
But Aarshi insisted, and Ayaan said, "They're too high for our height. One of us will have to climb the tree."
Aarshi said, "I'll climb."
Ayaan said, "You'll fall."
Aarshi replied, "I can risk my life for those raw mangoes."
Ayaan said, "Salute to your greed for mangoes. But if you had put this much dedication into learning to cycle this morning, you would've learned by now."
Aarshi tapped Ayaan's head with her hand and said, "Why are you talking nonsense? We need to focus on our goal."
Aarshi got ready to climb the tree. Ayaan got ready to support her and bent down. Aarshi first stepped on his hands, then stood on his shoulders, and then, as Ayaan slowly stood up, Aarshi easily climbed onto the tree. She was very happy to be up there.
Then Ayaan called out, "Throw down some mangoes."
Aarshi plucked a lot of mangoes and threw them down to Ayaan, who caught them all. When there was a pile of mangoes, Ayaan said, "That's enough now. Come down."
As Aarshi looked down to get off, she got scared and said, "Ayaan, I'm scared. Please save me. I'll fall from here," and she started yelling.
Ayaan said, "You weren't scared while climbing?"
Aarshi said, "Please help me."
Ayaan said, "Jump. I'll catch you."
Aarshi said, "Are you mad or what? How can you even say that? It looks terrifying from up here, and you're casually asking me to jump."
Ayaan said, "Then stay up there."
Aarshi kept yelling. Ayaan brought a chair, stood on it, and said, "Come now. I can reach you from here."
Aarshi said, "Still no."
Ayaan said, "Have you lost your mind? How do I get you down now?"
Aarshi said, "Stay just like that. I'm coming."
She slowly sat on the tree branch, placed her feet on Ayaan's shoulders, and slid down until she was sitting on his shoulders. The moment was awkward for Ayaan—having a girl sitting on his shoulders. He carefully stepped down from the chair and told Aarshi, who was still on his shoulders, "Okay, you get down too."
Ayaan bent down, and Aarshi got off his shoulders. Then Aarshi took the mangoes and went inside the house.
Ayaan stood outside under the mango tree, processing everything that had just happened. Thinking it over, he dusted off his shoulders and went inside.
Aarshi had already cut the raw mangoes and mixed them with black salt, red chili, and pepper. They looked incredibly tempting—just the sight of them could make your mouth water. Aarshi offered some to Ayaan, and they both enjoyed them thoroughly. With every bite, their eyes squeezed shut from the sourness. They ate like children, with innocent delight.
After eating the mangoes, Aarshi lay down on the sofa and said, "I worked really hard today. I'm so tired," and she fell asleep right there on the sofa.
Ayaan went upstairs to his room to talk to his friends.
By afternoon, Ayaan came downstairs. Aarshi was still asleep on the sofa, curled up on her side. Just then, the doorbell rang. Ayaan went outside and received a delivery—it was food, ordered under Momo's name. Momo called Ayaan and said, "Eat the food. I sent it."
Ayaan brought the food inside. It was still hot. He went to wake Aarshi and sat on the sofa. Aarshi was sleeping on her side, her back facing him, curled up like a cat.
Ayaan called her twice, "Aarshi, Aarshi." When she didn't respond, his eyes fell on her white bottoms, where there was a red stain. It was clear what it was. Ayaan understood that Aarshi had gotten her period, and he didn't know how to wake her up now. The moment felt awkward for him.
He tried to wake her, but Aarshi didn't stir—she was in a deep sleep. Finally, Ayaan gave up and was about to go back to his room when Momo called. He picked up, and Momo's first question was about Aarshi—whether she had eaten or not.
Ayaan said, "Yeah, she just went to the washroom. She'll eat with me when she comes back."
He went back to Aarshi and gently tapped her cheek with his fingers. After doing it several times, Aarshi finally woke up and looked at Ayaan.
Ayaan said, "Have lunch."
Aarshi said, "Okay," and sat down to eat without saying anything else.
Without thinking, Ayaan asked, "Don't you need to use the washroom?"
Aarshi said, "Oh right! I haven't even washed my hands yet."
She went to the washroom, and once inside, she realized she had gotten her period. Seeing the large stain on her bottoms, Aarshi was stunned. She understood that Ayaan must have known. She felt incredibly embarrassed.
She tried to console herself and took out a pad from her suitcase—only one was left; the rest were finished. She changed her clothes and sat on her bed, thinking, _Ayaan must have definitely found out. That's why he told me to go to the washroom. There's no way he missed a stain that big._
Thinking about it made Aarshi's mood worse. She kept hitting her head with her palm, as if trying to hide her face from shame. She stayed in her room. Half an hour passed, and Ayaan was getting hungry too.
Ayaan knocked on Aarshi's door and said, "Aren't you going to eat?"
Aarshi said, "I'm not hungry."
Ayaan knew the incident was making Aarshi feel embarrassed, even though he had tried his best to make sure she didn't feel that way—because she shouldn't have to. Ayaan didn't want Aarshi to feel awkward at all.
Ayaan knocked on her door again and said, "Aarshi, Aarshi."
From inside, Aarshi said, "What?"
Ayaan said, "Have lunch."
Aarshi replied, "I'm not in the mood. You eat."
Basically, Aarshi was so embarrassed that she didn't want to face Ayaan at all.
Ayaan said, "Okay, then at least open the door."
Aarshi refused. After a lot of insistence, she finally opened the door.
Then Ayaan asked, "Why aren't you eating?"
Aarshi said, "Are you dumb? Can't you understand? I said I'm not in the mood."
He said, "I'm not begging you to eat. I'm just saying don't waste your share of the food."
Aarshi said, "You eat it. I'm not in the mood."
They kept giving each other excuses.
Finally, Ayaan said, "Look, if you feel too awkward facing me, then eat alone in your room."
Hearing that, Aarshi got angry. Her mood was swinging rapidly. Tears welled up in her eyes from anger. She stood there, glaring at Ayaan furiously with tears in her eyes. Seeing that, Ayaan got scared—Aarshi's face looked like an angry cat about to pounce.
Ayaan didn't understand what to do or how to convince her. He placed a hand on her shoulder, leaned in, and said gently with a soft expression, "Look, Aarshi, if you think today's incident is embarrassing, it's really not. I have a sister too, and I've—"
Before Ayaan could finish, tears started streaming down Aarshi's face. Ayaan didn't know what to do, so he hugged her, and Aarshi began to cry. She was having mood swings. Aarshi stood there, crying in Ayaan's embrace for a long time.
Ayaan was understanding. Even though he had never handled a situation like this before, he knew what to do. He gently rubbed her back to soothe her. Slowly, Aarshi let go of Ayaan and said, "Please, just forget today."
Ayaan said, "If you trust me, just know that if you cried in front of me, I'll bury the incident and the reason for your tears right here, as if nothing happened. And I just don't want you to feel embarrassed."
Aarshi said, "Sorry for that hug."
Ayaan said, "Why are you apologizing if I was the one who did it? I should be the one saying sorry to you—for the last one, and for the next one."
Saying that, Ayaan hugged Aarshi again and said, "Look, you're the first girl I've been this comfortable with, so you should be really proud of yourself."
Aarshi said, "Are you some celebrity that I should be proud of myself?"
Ayaan said, "If you were in my school, you'd know."
Aarshi didn't pay attention to his words. Ayaan smiled widely as he let go of her and said, "Look, we shouldn't feel awkward with each other now."
Aarshi nodded and said, "If I get too comfortable with you, you'll get tired of me."
Ayaan said with a smile, "I never get bored of the things I like."
It was a clear confession, but Aarshi didn't notice. She just said, "I want to eat."
Ayaan said, "Of course."
Ayaan thought Aarshi was avoiding his confession, but Aarshi hadn't even understood what he meant—she hadn't paid attention at all.