Page 18 of A Lab Rat’s Guide to Fated Love

“Oh, for god’s sake…” She couldn’t keep herself from rolling her eyes at him.

She pushed her chair back and sprung to her feet.

The sound of its legs grating against the floor set her teeth on edge.

“Stop jumping to conclusions. I don’t care if you don’t have any hope of getting out of this alive.

You are going to live. I’m going to make sure of it.

You don’t get to decide otherwise anymore. I decide.”

Vir slowly uncrossed his arms as she spoke. His scaredy kitten-eyed expression reminded her of Goober’s whenever she’d scold the dumb cat for trying to eat plastic. It was endearing and hilarious at the same time .

She squeezed her eyes shut and pursed her mouth to stop herself from laughing. When only a moment ago, she’d been struggling not to cry. She was officially in her unhinged era and she wasn’t sure she could survive it at all.

“And I already told you,” she added. “I don’t hate you.”

“Why have you been avoiding me, then?”

“Because I—” She should’ve just told him she hated him. That would’ve shut him up and made him stay away from her. “I don’t date.” It was her turn to cross her arms.

“Okay. I didn’t ask you to.”

“You can’t like me either. Stop that.”

“Sorry.” Vir shrugged. “Can’t.”

“Stop liking me,” Nori ordered. What was wrong with him?

“Nope. Sorry.” The hint of a smirk played on his lips. “Though I promise not to bother you. And you don’t have to like me back either.”

Pain. In. The. Ass.

With heat flaming through her cheeks, she turned on her heels and stormed out of the house.

N ori had been walking for a while when it started drizzling. Tiny, weightless drops fell around her in circles, turning parts of the road that they touched a darker shade of gray.

She continued putting one foot in front of the other, not wanting to go home just yet.

But then again, she had no idea which way was home.

She mentally kicked herself for not grabbing her phone before heading out, or her jacket, for that matter.

All she had on was her sweatshirt—the stupid stolen sweatshirt that reminded her of Vir again as she pulled the hood up over her head.

An hour later, she was still lost, trying to find her way home while the rain poured thick and heavy around her.

Her teeth chattered uncontrollably while her arms wrapped around herself for warmth.

Thoughts of Vir discovering her bloated corpse days later, in a ditch full of muddy rainwater somewhere, kept prodding at the back of her head.

So that’s how she was going to die. By drowning. In rain. Because of her own stupidity .

Her stomach turned painfully. It probably made a sound, too, though she couldn’t hear anything over the loud hammering of the rain. She’d only had a few spoonfuls of the poha, before storming out like the massive idiot that she was.

A vivid image of the mouth-watering, neatly cut, perfectly ripe slices of guava swam before her eyes, taunting her. She took another step forward before her face crumpled and she began sobbing. She could’ve at least had one slice before she’d blown up on Vir.

Knowing him, he’d probably be outside, looking for her.

She let out a groan.

That epic pain in the ass wouldn’t survive a day without her. Not if he caught pneumonia from wandering around in the rain.

“Purple fence. Purple fence,” she chanted through her teeth, once again putting one step in front of the other as her gaze searched for the faded pastel-purple fence lining the periphery of her cottage.

Her grandma had painted it herself many years ago.

It was now faded and dull, but the color still stood out.

A few more minutes of hobbling around later, the flash of a familiar purple caught her eye, and relief flooded her system. She could even make out the matching purple gates in the distance.

“Nori!”

Something—someone—slammed into her from the side. A pair of slender, strong arms wrapped around her, crushing the air out of her lungs.

Nori buried her face into his chest, welcoming the warmth.

Vir didn’t smell like her shampoo anymore. He smelled like Vir. Her new favorite scent.

She cringed at the way her nose was buried in the man’s chest while she secretly breathed him in like she was some kind of feral animal. But the revelation didn’t deter her from filling her lungs to the brim. Not in the slightest.

His body trembled against her, more violently than hers did from the cold. She noticed a large black umbrella flipped over nearby and tried reaching for it, but Vir’s arms didn’t budge.

“Vir!”

His grip loosened at the sound of his name, and Nori picked up the umbrella to hover it over him. Only to be confronted with a pair of dark, red-rimmed eyes glaring back at her. They moved all over her face and down the length of her body in a frenzied state.

“I’m fine,” she yelled over the downpour. “Let’s g—go inside.”

He didn’t seem to have heard her because he continued scanning her for another long moment before crushing her to him again.

Guilt pierced through Nori, and this time, she hugged him back, smoothing a hand down his spine as she did. Heartbeats later, Vir pulled her by the hand through the purple gates, across the driveway, and into the house.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he said, right as the front door closed behind them. “I just doubled back to check if you’d come home already.” His voice sounded hoarse, like he’d been shouting—or crying—for a while.

Another wave of guilt stabbed at her insides.

Vir held her at arm’s length, his eyes scanning her again, over and over. “Were you lost? Are you hurt?”

“I g—got lost. Not h—hurt,” she answered through chattering teeth, noticing how he was soaking every bit as much as she was. “Sorry.”

His hands dropped to his sides, dripping water in a small pool at their feet, while his dark gaze scorched through her and a furious tick worked in his jaw. She’d never seen him be anything but calm and mostly unbothered before. Outrageously Zen. But right now, he was the polar opposite of Zen.

Was he mad? No, not mad. He looked livid.

Vir’s hands flung out—she flinched—and the trajectory of their motion continued in an arc upwards to his face.

Not hers.

His palms dug into his eyes, and he let out a tired sigh. A long second passed where Nori wished he hadn’t noticed. But of course, he had. She could almost watch the gears in his head turn as his brow quivered, while his hands slowly lowered back to his sides.

“Nori,” he spoke. And for the first time ever, his voice was so cold and devoid of emotion, it almost made her bawl. “Who hurt you?”