"Mummy, laddoo!" that little storm exclaimed staring at our mother before turning to Kishor, "where are they, Kittu bhaiya? Gimme, gimme." 
That little sweet-toothed birdie...
Kishor handed over the little lunch box and turned to my mother, "Okay then. I'll be leaving aunty."
He strode towards the door before stopping midway, "Aree Ansh... come out for a second. "
Though he said it with a smile, I still saw the demon which was planning a thousand different ways to murder me. I quietly followed behind him, while my mother asked Aahaan to clean his hands and feet before eating. 
We walked till we were out of view. I parted my lips to speak, "Hey Kishor, I am sorr-". But before I could complete my sentence, a huge arm snaked around my neck. 
"What sorry, huh? You do know that I had to eat your portion as well, right. I had almost completed yours but my stomach was stuffed so I lied down for a while but just then my Maa entered and saw snacks on the bed. She literally spanked me! And she thought I hadn't eaten my portion and you, like the good child you are, ate every last morsel! Hah! I can't believe it."
He said it all with arm still around my neck, almost as if it serve as a warning to quietly listen to his babbling. I was wondering who would save me and suddenly I saw a delivery man at our house's gate.
"Kishor, a delivery man's at the door. Maybe Maa ordered something...let me see", I said slowly.
He glanced at the gate and let me go. "This isn't over yet." He warned as we walked to the gate together. 
I opened the gate but now, I felt like running away at full speed. The man wore 'Swiggy' t-shirt... reminding me of my momos. 
That boy looked at Kishor and spoke, "Sir, there is an order for momos with the name..." he checked his phone and looked up at him again, "Ansh Malhotra."
Savior, my foot.
I looked away from Kishor but I could feel him boring a hole into my back with his stare. "Here, this guy is Ansh Malhotra." He said my name mockingly.
I payed the confused boy and took my packet of momos. After he left, Kishor folded his arms over his chest and said, "So Mr. Ansh Malhotra. You could not eat my mother's homemade food but these momos will surely slide down your throat very easily, right?"
"That's not what I meant to do Kishor-", before I could explain further he placed his palm in front of my face, indicating me to stop. "I don't want to talk about this..." and he walked to his bike, starting the engine.
All I could do was stare at the ground with guilt. How did such a small matter become so big?
Kishor honked his bike and my head jerked up to look at him. He was grinning as he said, "Fooled ya. My mother didn't scold me much, she just asked me neither to eat too much street food nor often."
A sigh of relief left my mouth. He surely was still angry but he hid his anger behind his smile. He has always been very sensitive regarding matters that involved his family, especially his divorced mother. 
"Don't think I forgave you though", he continued. "You have to come to my house again tomorrow and this time you'll eat my share."
| Author's POV | 
The next few days Ansh would visit Kishor and eat the delicious variety of food Susmita aunty prepared for them. He went there out of guilt and partly in delusion that Ishika, who had rarely ever visited Kishor in the past, would stopover for no important reason or whatsoever. 
Talking about being delusional. 
In hope she might visit her cousin someday, his visits to his friend's house become frequent and more frequent.
One random day, he wondered to himself, 'The hell! Who thinks about a girl nonstop unless he is in love with her? Surely, I am in love. But wait... I'm in... love? Is this feeling... really love? Maybe it is...or maybe not. But I like it... this feeling, the racing of my heart and her.' 
Just him finally admitting the truth that he is in love, not merely attracted to a random girl he saw a few times.
Slowly days passed, then weeks and then months but she didn't come.
Still, even though he didn't see her for days, his love for her didn't fade away. It just kept on increasing.
All the memories he had of her were still vivid in his mind. Maybe because, they replayed in his mind each day.
Everything was okay for the whole four months. He would visit his friend, eat together, study together, do projects together and return back home to play with little Aahaan.
Everything was okay... until one day, he fell sick.
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Forty five minutes late for uploading. Sooo sorry for that...
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