Karmin had spent the entire day studying, and she felt like her head was about to explode with the amount of information she was cramming into her brain.

After she had made that important decision two days ago, she couldn't shake the wariness that had situated itself in her. Karmin might have made the wrong choice that was going to lead her into a possible coma, but there was no backing out now.

Like always, Maddox wasn't too thrilled about her choice, but he respected it, even though he did try to talk her out of it a couple of times. She knew he was right, but she would never admit that to him.

But her decision was the right one the moment she saw her Dad lying in bed, frail and overcome with exhaustion. Those usual gleeful eyes were now flooded with pain, and that was all she needed to know that her choice, that might have been naive and dumb at the time, was worth it.

All those scary thoughts in her mind were becoming overwhelming, so she focused on some much-needed studying for class. She hid her phone to make sure she wouldn't waste time scrolling through her social media feed, instead of actually studying. Since Karmin was a lazy person who couldn't bother getting up, it worked, and today had become a productive day, after all.

The facts about the brain and sleeping patterns for Psychology were now memorized, and the Sociology essay introduction was completed. Karmin was proud of herself as she stretched, looking over at her clock to see that it was now 7:00 p.m. She began shutting her textbooks, feeling relieved that today was over, and anticipation of the dinner waiting downstairs for her.

But apparently, there was something else waiting for her arrival when Aaliyah burst into her room, breathing heavily from her run to Karmin's room.

"Minnie," she breathed out, leaning over to take in a deep breath. "There's some boy downstairs asking for you. A very hot boy."

"A boy?" Karmin questioned, feeling her heart race. Oh, no. This wasn't going to go well for her. With strict South Asian parents, having a random boy over was a death sentence. Especially, if they thought he was her boyfriend.

"Hurry up. Mom's talking to him. She thinks you have a secret boyfriend," Aaliyah said quickly, grabbing her arm.

"No, no, no," Karmin rejected, shaking her head frantically as they left her room. "I don't have a boyfriend. I am very much single!"

"You gotta tell Mom that," she muttered. "She started asking me questions, but I just ran up here to get you."

Karmin and she ran down the stairs, their sock-clad feet hitting the cold wooden stairs. She could see a figure standing in front of her Mom when she got near the end, but as she got closer, she realized who it was.

There he was, conversing with her Mom politely, but he looked like he'd rather smack himself with a frying pan over and over again. His green eyes brightened when he saw her, a look of relief washing over him. However, Karmin could still feel the awkward energy.

"Maddox, what are you doing here?" she hissed as she patted down her pajama shorts and t-shirt to make herself more presentable.

"Karmin, who is this boy?" questioned her Mom in Punjabi as she smiled stiffly at Maddox.

"A friend," she replied assuringly. "Isn't that right, Maddox?"

He nodded, scratching the side of his head. "A friend from school. I'm just here to talk to her about the... uh project," hesitated Maddox while he stared at her helplessly.

"What project?" her Mom asked suspiciously.

"An essay for our Soci class. I totally forgot we were supposed to meet up," she answered, saying the first thing that came to mind as she glared at Maddox.

"Oh, okay. I'm sorry for my daughter's brain," her Mom said, shaking her head at Karmin disappointedly.

"That's alright," he replied as he pulled at the sleeves of his sweatshirt. "I just need to talk with her for a quick moment."

"You come in for dinner and talk later, okay?"

Damn it. Why did her Mom have to be so hospitable?

"Oh, no, that's okay. You don't have –"

"Come, come," she repeated, pulling him inside away from the spring breeze. "Dinner is ready."

Karmin sighed, shrugging at him that there was nothing she could do. He got himself in this mess. "Mom, I need to talk to him about our essay quickly. I'll meet you in the kitchen," she said to her.

Her eyes flickered between the two of them but nodded, dragging Aaliyah, who was openly gawking at Maddox. The moment they left the corner, Karmin settled her gaze on him. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, flinging her arms in the air.

"You weren't replying to my texts," he whispered as he slipped off his shoes to reveal two mismatched socks.

"So, you thought you would come to my house?"

"It was important, okay. It's not like I wanted to. I hate interacting with new people, even though your family is very nice," Maddox added quickly.

"I didn't have my phone on me the entire day," Karmin sighed. "What did you want to tell me?"

He hunched his shoulder and looked down at her. "It's about your three fights. You know, the ones I said were a bad idea."

"Dinner is ready," yelled Aaliyah.

Karmin rolled her eyes at his comment. "Just tell me after we eat. Remember, don't mention anything about the fights."

Maddox agreed, begrudgingly following her into the dining room. His nerves amplified as he heard the clanging of cutlery against plates and lively laughter.

Karmin wasn't doing any better either. She had never brought a boy home, whether it was simply for a project or hanging out. This was entirely foreign to her, and she wasn't sure how to act around him with her entire family there. The only person she ever brought home was Viola. It wasn't that she was embarrassed by her family. However, if she was being honest, there was a time she was until she realized how much she loved being Indian. She didn't invite any of her friends over because of how embarrassed she was of her parent's broken English, thick accents, and cultural decorations.

Once they turned the corner, she saw her Mom and sister sitting around the table, and surprisingly, her Dad was there. It was rare these days to see him eating at the dinner table. He usually ate, if he ate at all, in his room, unable to gather enough energy to head downstairs.

"Hey, Dad. This is my friend, Maddox," she introduced, awkwardly as they took their seats beside one another.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Desai," Maddox greeted with a nervous smile.

"You too," her Dad replied with a large grin, only to turn to Karmin to speak in Punjabi. "Since when do you have boy friends?"

"We're in the same class. Please, don't question him," she replied quickly, ignoring the confused expression on Maddox's face.

Her Dad waved dismissively as he poured some butter chicken into his bowl. It didn't look like much. "You like Indian food, Maddox?" he asked.

"I've only had it once, but I really like it," Maddox explained as he shifted in his seat awkwardly.

Karmin's eyes flickered between the two as she poured some food into Maddox's bowl, and then into her own. She wanted her parents to like him, but she didn't know why.

"What's your favourite?" wondered Aaliyah as she smiled at him brightly.

"Oh, I like those orange sweets. The ones in a swirly shape," he replied, making weird hand gestures to explain. "I'm sorry, I don't know the name."

Her Dad chuckled. "Jalebis," he exclaimed. "I think we have some. Sukh, warm up some jalebis for later."

"That's okay. You don't have to do that," Maddox quickly mentioned, turning his head to Karmin and gazing at her worriedly.

"I'll do it after we eat," her Mom assured sweetly.

Karmin shrugged at Maddox's helpless face. "Guess you're staying for dessert, too."

The table fell into a comfortable silence as they happily ate away. Karmin noticed that Maddox was just about to take his first bite. He ripped at the naan not so gently and fumbled with the spoon to pour some of the butter chicken on to his folded piece. He brought it to his lips, and took a bite, chewing contently only to burst into a fit of coughs.

"Drink water," her Mom ushered concernedly.

"White boy and spice," her Dad laughed to himself.

Maddox quickly took a sip, his face turning slightly red.

"A little too spicy?" she teased.

"No, it's perfect," Maddox choked out, wiping his lips with his dark green sweatshirt.

Everyone laughed in unison at his inability to take the heat. She smiled at her parent's reaction, glad that they were taking this whole situation lightly. Aaliyah had obviously taken a liking to Maddox with the permanent grin on her face and constantly fixing her hair.

Maddox laughed along a little, his laugh abnormal to her ears. He was beginning to build some tolerance against the spice as he continued to eat. Once in a while, he would cough, and his forehead had a sheen of sweat on it from the heat of the food and his sweatshirt.

"You're looking a little warm," Karmin chuckled. "You can just take your sweatshirt off if you like."

He immediately put down his spoon, seizing the neck of his sweatshirt to pull it over his head. The white t-shirt underneath got pulled along, revealing his toned abdomen. Karmin, along with a lovestruck Aaliyah, gazed at him while he did this entire action. She didn't know what it was, but when boys took off their hoodies or sweatshirts like, it was... hot. She couldn't help but stare until she remembered that her parents were sitting right there.

Karmin quickly turned her eyes back to her food, but she could feel the stare of her Dad. She looked up to see him narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously. She gulped nervously, breaking the eye contact and taking another bite of her naan.

"Maddox, what program are you in?" asked her Mom, inquisitively. "Karmin is pre-med. She going to become a big doctor."

"Mom, please stop," she muttered embarrassedly as she shielded her face from his gaze.

Maddox looked impressed when he heard those words. "I'm an English major. I hope to work for publishing companies. Maybe as an editor," he replied.

Karmin listened intently. She just realized she didn't even know what he was doing in university. There was so much they didn't know about each other.

"I want to major in English, too," Aaliyah interjected.

"Since when? I thought you wanted to go into Political Sciences," Karmin retorted.

"Shut up, Minnie," seethed Aaliyah.

"No fighting," their Mom reprimanded.

"Sorry," they muttered in unison.

"You know, when I was in school in India, I travelled hours on foot to get to school," her Dad said.

"Really?" Maddox asked, shocked.

"Dad, stop being dramatic," Karmin rejected. "He's just being dramatic."

"It's true," he said, his eyes wide. "But I tell you story next time," her Dad said as he pushed his plate that was still filled with a good amount of food. "I'm tired, so I'm going to bed. Maddox, I hope to see you again."

Maddox nodded politely. "Goodnight, Mr. Desai."

Karmin bit the inside of her cheek, disappointed to see how much food her Dad didn't eat. She looked at him with wide eyes only for him to smile assuringly.

"I'm going to help Dad to his room," Her Mom said as she got up from her seat quickly, wrapping her arms around him. "Aaliyah, go warm up the jalebis."

Maddox and Karmin were left alone in the dining room as the rest of them scurried off.

"I'm sorry about my family," Karmin joked. She wasn't embarrassed about them, but they were a little much at times.

He shook his head. "They're really nice. I like them. Cute nickname, Minnie," Maddox said, which sounded a bit like teasing.

"Why, thank you, Mads," she fired back with a grin. "I didn't know you were an English major."

"I like reading and writing, so it made sense," he shrugged. "I didn't know you were pre-med."

"Becoming a doctor was always the goal. Now I need to after we learned about my Dad and his failing kidneys," she said quietly, whispering the last two words.

"I think that's amazing," he replied in a hushed tone.

Although the words were simple, she knew he really meant them. The corners of her mouth lifted. "So, what did you want to tell me?"

"Oh, right. I want you to train," Maddox explained with seriousness.

"Train?"

"Look, you're a good fighter, but the guys you're up against are even better. I was thinking we could meet up at the gym tomorrow if you're free. We can go over some techniques."

Karmin went over her week schedule in her head. "I have a class in the morning, but I'm free after 1," she offered.

"I'll text you the address," he agreed.

Karmin nodded, the worry in his voice trickling over to her. Did she make the wrong choice? Was she being too greedy? But no, she couldn't afford to have these thoughts straying in her mind. She already made the decision, and she wasn't going to chicken out now.

Universe, remember, I'm only 19. Keep that shit in mind, and don't let me die.

***

Author's Note:

Hi everyone!

Did you guys like this chapter! I had a lot of fun with it! I really wanted a sweet chapter after the few tense ones we've had!

Until next time - m.k.t