STEVE & AKHIL III

As days, weeks and months passed my bond with Akhil and Keshav grew much closer. The times I have laughed with them were more than the times I had laughed in my whole life.

Currently, I was in the Forum mall busily selecting an outfit for Keshav for his date tonight.

"Do I seriously need to spend time over selecting clothes for you when I know that you are going to get dumped?", I asked him while checking different blazers.

"Don't jinx things", Keshav said as he walked into the trail room for the 28th time.

We walked from shop to shop, he tried all the different kinds of outfits that I selected and after numerous rejections, he settled on a white turtle neck T-shirt, a navy blue blazer, and a pair of black jeans. He had a date tonight with one of his colleagues. He has been crushing over her for a while now and at last, built the courage to ask her on a dinner date. She accepted it and here he is all nervous about the date and torturing me to prepare him properly.

"Buy her a gift", I order him, as we walked out of the shop carrying the whole lot of things he has purchased.

"I have already arranged a few gifts", he grinned

"A few?"

"A bouquet, a teddy bear, and a few chocolates"

"Cool, the possibility of you getting dumped is a little low now"

"Is that Akhil?", he said suddenly pointing to the entrance of the food court.

I quickly turn in the direction he is pointing. It was Akhil he was looking breathtaking as usual. He walked toward us and gave us both a quick hug with a smile, that injurious smile of his.

"Why are you here?", Keshav asked him

"It is 6 pm so my shift is over and...", Akhil replied looking at me

"And?", I asked

"Since Keshav has a date tonight, why don't we go out for dinner"

"Okay", I immediately agree

"Keshav reach home safely. Bye", he said.

He handed the bags I was holding to Keshav and pulled me with him out.

We were driving in silence. Akhil was driving and one of his hands was on the gear while the other one was controlling the steering wheel. The beam of lights from the headlights of the other vehicles, hitting on his face was making it glow. He was adorable and I had to stop myself from looking at him so I looked out of the window.

We soon reached a resto bar. I walked in with Akhil walking on my side his hand resting on my back. It was a habit to always keep his hand on my back when we are out, it was his way to tell me that he will never be away from me and it was weirdly making me want that mere touch on me all the time. We ordered different food from the Chinese cuisine and some beers.

"You are a messy eater, aren't you?", he asked as he wiped the sauce from the tip of my lip. That contact of his fingertips with my skin sent electric currents to my system. I immediately pull myself back from his touch and take to tissue and clean my lips.

We were seated in the car after finishing up the food. I sit in the passenger seat while he comes extremely close to me and there his lips met mine. It took me a few minutes to come out of the shock and push him away.

"WHAT THE HELL, AKHIL?", I yelled

"I like you, Steve. I have been head over heels for you since the moment I saw you on the rooftop", he said

"You are drunk"

"I am not. I just want to..."

"We will talk about this when you are back to your senses"

"Two glasses of beer can't make me drunk, Steve. I'm sober enough to speak about this. Be my boyfriend"

"I am engaged to Catherine", I said to him

"But you don't like her"

"Even I don't like you romantically", I lied.

Yes, I do like him for a long time now. Nobody has taken care of me like him. Nobody has prioritized me like him. Nobody has made me go weak on my knees like him. He was the one who pulled me out of my darkness. He is the person whom I never want to lose. So, I can not think about anything more than this bond with him. Everyone I have loved has left me alone at some point in time. Everyone I have dated has left me heartbroken and I can't afford to lose him. And most importantly I am already engaged to Catherine and I can't date another guy here while she is waiting for me.

We reached our home in silence and I walk to my room even without sparing a glance at Akhil who was walking behind me. He pulled me by my elbow. I was a few centimeters away from him and his gaze for fixed on my eyes.

"Steve, talk to me", he growled. His eyes had pain. I wished to hug him tight and tell him that I am going to be there always. I know that would comfort him for now and maybe we jump into an ideal relationship but I know it won't last long. Relationships have never lasted long for me, it has always ended dirty leaving me devasted. He might be hurt for a while but he will be fine soon. This is the only way to save me from getting hurt. So, I pushed him away with my all strength and ran into my room. I slammed the door shut and sat on my bed.

"Steve, talk to me... Please... I love you... Don't do this to me", he kept on saying things while banging on my door. I didn't reply to him. I just crawled to my bed, pulled the cover over my head, put on my headphones so that I can't hear his voice, and fall asleep.

The next day morning I woke up to the sound of an alarm ringing. I put it off with a yawn. I walk out of my room, rubbing my eyes. I hit something with my leg at the entrance of my room. I looked down to only witness Akhil sleeping on the floor, curled like a ball and he was still in his clothes last night. Did he spend the whole night here?

"He loves you, Steve. I have never seen him serious about anyone else. I don't even remember him liking anyone romantically in his whole life. You are his first.", Keshav said as he walked out of his room.

"He confessed to me yesterday", I said

"I know, Akhil cried about your rejection for hours yesterday night"

"Why is he sleeping here?"

"He wanted to speak to you so he refused to move from that place", Keshav said. Then I asked him to help me lift Akhil. Both of us made him sleep on the bed. I covered the covers and placed a kiss on his forehead.

"You like him, don't you?", Keshav asked me as I entered the living room.

"How was your date yesterday?", I changed the topic

"Good, she dumped me just the way you told"

"Why?"

"She didn't like me, simple. And don't change the topic, Steve. Answer to my question"

"I do like him. I love him, Keshav", I confessed and explained to him the reason why I am not ready to accept him.

"I would never leave you, Steve", it was Akhil "I will always stay by your side"

"I have had enough of losing people in the past", I said to him

"I will wait for you, to trust me"

"Don't waste your time on me. You might find someone much better"

"No one is a match for me Steve. I am not homosexual, bisexual, or asexual I am Steve-sexual, I will never like anyone the way I like you. You are the only one for me."

"AKHIL"

"Take your time. I know that you love me already so I am going to show my love every second. When you trust me, tell me then we can be in a relationship.", he said with a wide smile.