37 Should I Stay Back? #3
After dinner, Ansh took them on a scenic drive through the glowing city. They walked around illuminated monuments, took countless pictures, stopped for ice cream, and eventually ended up at a cozy late-night café where Diya insisted they try a viral dessert she had seen online.
At one point, she handed her phone over, demanding a full photoshoot.
"Okay, just one more!" Diya posed against the café wall.
"Diya, that is literally the tenth picture," Niyati complained playfully.
"Exactly! Which means I need one perfect one!"
Ansh chuckled, taking the phone from Niyati's hand.
"Give it here. Stand right there, kiddo."
As Ansh snapped pictures of his sister posing dramatically, Niyati stood back, watching them with a gentle, glowing smile. Her chest felt remarkably light. After so many grueling, exhausting days, she finally felt fully like herself again.
And Ansh didn't miss a single detail. He noticed the way her shoulders had relaxed, the genuine warmth in her frequent laughter, and the comfortable way she leaned back into his car seat during the drive instead of staring anxiously at notes.
He had set out merely to give the two girls a small, much-needed break, but seeing Niyati this relaxed and genuinely happy made every bit of effort worth it.
It was well past midnight by the time Ansh finally pulled his sedan up to the gates of their hostel. He shifted into park, leaving the engine idling softly.
Diya unbuckled her seatbelt with a contented sigh.
"Thank you, Bhai!"
Leaning forward over the console, she wrapped her arms around his neck from behind in a tight hug.
Ansh laughed warmly, patting her hands.
"You're very welcome, sister."
Diya popped the rear door open and stepped out onto the quiet pavement. Pausing by the front window, she looked in at Niyati with a wicked grin.
"Good night, Bhabhi ji!"
Niyati groaned, hiding her face in her hands.
"Diya!"
Diya burst out laughing.
"Okay, okay! Good night, Niyuuu!"
"Good night," Niyati muttered affectionately, waving her off.
Diya turned toward her brother.
"Bye, Bhai!"
"Bye. Get some rest."
She turned and began walking toward the brightly lit hostel entrance. But just before stepping through the glass doors, she spun around on her heel and called out teasingly,
"Don't stay out too late in the car!"
Niyati stared at her in utter disbelief, her mouth falling open.
"DIYA!"
Diya's triumphant laughter echoed down the quiet driveway as she ducked inside and disappeared up the stairs.
Niyati sank lower into the passenger seat, burying her face in her hands.
"I cannot believe her..."
Ansh chuckled softly, his hands resting lightly on the steering wheel.
"She loves embarrassing you."
"She loves embarrassing both of us!"
"Touché," he agreed with a warm smile.
A comfortable silence settled over the quiet interior of the car. After an entire evening filled with energetic banter and loud laughter, the sudden quiet felt intimate and still.
Niyati turned her head to look at him, her eyes soft in the dim dashboard light.
"Thanks for today, Ansh," she whispered gently. "We both really, really needed that."
Ansh turned toward her, his expression softening instantly.
"I know."
He leaned back against his seat, looking at her.
"You both have been working so hard for weeks. I just wanted to give you a little happiness before you left."
Niyati offered him a quiet, sweet smile.
Ansh's gaze lingered on her features, a hint of vulnerability slipping into his tone.
"And anyway... you and Diya are heading back home day after tomorrow, right?"
Niyati nodded softly.
"Yeah. The morning train."
Ansh's shoulders dropped slightly as he let out a low sigh.
"I'm going to miss you so much, Niyuu."
Niyati looked at him, her heart aching at the raw honesty in his voice.
"Even though you were right here in Delhi these past few days," he continued softly, his deep voice barely above a whisper, "you still felt so far away because of the exams. I couldn't talk to you properly. Couldn't hold you. Couldn't spend real time with you. Every time I saw you on a video call,
you had a book in your hand."
Niyati's eyes softened with a sad, tender understanding.
"I know..."
"I'm really going to miss you," he murmured.
Reaching across the space between them, he pulled her gently into his arms.
Niyati melted into his embrace instantly, wrapping her arms tightly around his back and burying her face into the crook of his neck.
She breathed in his familiar, comforting scent.
For the first time in weeks, she didn't have to worry about the time.
There was no exam waiting at dawn, no lingering chapter left to revise, and no urgent reason to pull away.
She simply held him, letting the warmth of his embrace anchor her.
After a long, quiet moment, Niyati lifted her head from his shoulder and looked straight into his eyes. A sudden, daring thought sparkled in her mind.
"What if I stay here for a few more days?" she asked softly.
Ansh blinked, caught entirely off guard.
"What?"
A subtle, mischievous smile touched Niyati's lips.
"Maybe... at your apartment. With you."
He stared at her in absolute shock, his dark eyes widening.
"Niyati..."
She laughed softly at his dumbfounded expression.
"What?"
"How? What about your parents?"
"I can call Maa and Papa tomorrow morning and tell them I have some urgent, mandatory project submissions," she explained, her voice growing brighter as the idea took shape. "I can tell them I need to stay back in Delhi for an extra week."
Ansh raised an eyebrow, a slow, disbelieving smile beginning to break across his face.
"You've already planned all of this out?"
"Not exactly," she murmured, leaning a little closer, her eyes glittering with playful affection. "But I'm planning it right now."
Ansh let out a low, rich laugh, shaking his head in delight.
"Accha? And what about Diya? What do we tell her?"
Niyati shrugged lightly.
"She'll understand completely if we just tell her the truth."
"Of course she will," Ansh agreed, his smirk returning. "But she will tease the absolute hell out of us."
Niyati burst into breathless laughter.
"Okay, that is completely true. She'll probably call me shameless."
"And she'll call me something even worse," Ansh added, chuckling.
"Definitely!"
Their laughter echoed softly through the quiet car before slowly fading into a sweet, lingering silence.
Ansh reached out, his warm thumb gently tracing her cheek as he looked into her eyes, his expression turning endlessly tender.
"So... you're seriously thinking about staying?" he whispered.
Niyati nodded softly, resting her hand over his.
"For a few days. Just for us."
Ansh smiled-a radiant, breathtaking smile that warmed her to her very core.
"Then I guess Delhi just became a whole lot more interesting."
Niyati smiled back, resting her forehead gently against his.
And for the very first time that night, the thought of the semester break didn't feel like an unavoidable goodbye.
Because maybe, just maybe, their quiet little world together was only just beginning.