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As fearless and reckless as she tended to be, Pippa Fitz-Amobi was scared, that much Ravi could tell. She was jumpy, her eyes drifting to the window more often than not in case whoever was threatening her decided to finally show up, her body shaking abruptly whenever the slightest sound echoed in the nightly silence of the Fitz-Amobi house.
Though her fear was more than understandable. Pip was getting closer to the truth, and there was someone out there who clearly didn’t want that to happen. Under Ravi’s watch though, no one was going to cause Pip any damage. It didn’t matter if he had to threaten or even hurt someone, Ravi had assumed he would do whatever it took to keep Pip away from harm.
When an oddly strong breeze of wind hit the window, Pip dropped the cards she was holding. “Ah.” She giggled, visibly unsettled. “How clumsy.”
“Pip.” Ravi gave her a concerned glance. “You know you don’t have to pretend you’re not scared, right?”
“I’m not pretending.” Pip frowned. “I’m just trying to stay as calm as I can so I don’t freak out if someone breaks into the house.”
“I can guarantee you that we will freak out of that happens.” Ravi wasn’t sure whether to use a joking tone or not. “Now that you brought that up, what do we do if someone does break into here? Do we have something to defend ourselves?”
“I think Josh has a baseball bat.” Stress came to Pip just by thinking of that hypothetical situation. “Though it’s one for kids so I’m not sure how useful it would be.”
“It’s better than nothing.” Ravi’s eyes looked around, looking for someone they could use in case of confrontation. “We could always throw your chair at them.”
“Well that’s an idea.” Pips lips curved into an amused smile. “If they’re still outside, sneaking in is a shitty idea. When the houselights are on, it’s obvious that someone’s awake.”
Ravi was about to say it was unlikely that a person who had ended someone’s life followed that kind of logic, but stayed silent in order to avoid scaring Pip any further. “Maybe you’re right.” He paused. “The bags under your eyes are worrying though, you should sleep. I’ll keep guard.”
“I can’t.” Pip shook her head. “I know myself and even trying would be useless. And I don’t want to leave you alone, in case something happens.”
“You sure?” Ravi insisted. “I don’t mind.”
“I appreciate it, but I really can’t.” Pip’s smile was grateful.
“Alright, let’s do something else to keep ourselves awake.” Ravi picked all the cards and stood up, leaving them on Pip’s desk. “Any idea? What do you usually do to keep yourself entertained? Apart from homework.” He remarked with a cheeky smile.
“Very funny.” Pip hissed. “Contrary to popular opinion, I also read a lot, watch movies and documentaries, and read investigation papers.”
“I might give a chance to some of the books you like someday, but for now, watching movies sound good.” Ravi tended his hand to Pip, trying his best to push her fear to the back of her mind for as long as possible. “That will keep us distracted.”
It wasn’t like Ravi himself wasn’t tense, because he was – so tense he felt his stomach tighten every single time they heard even the slightest sound. Though he hid it better than Pip. He tended to be a lot more careful than Pip was, but at the same time couldn’t help running to her house in the darkness of the night the moment he saw the video Pip posted.
Ravi knew about his crush on Pip. He wasn’t sure when it started, but knew what he felt for her was more than just friendly affection. However, voicing that would be a stupid move with everything they had going on. Once the case was over, once they had proved Sal’s innocence and discovered the truth about Andie’s disappearance, then he would maybe confess.
Even if Pip didn’t feel the same way about him, Ravi wouldn’t care. He would feel down about it, as everyone would, but he would be more than content with Pip as a friend as well. She had been one of the few people who understood him and believed him when everyone else turned their backs on him and his parents, treating the three of them like trash.
It didn’t matter if his crush was requited or not, Ravi would always be grateful to have Pip in his life.
His eyes followed her as she took her laptop and sat on the bed, covering her legs with the sheets and gesturing him to sit next to her. It seemed like Pip’s focus started to switch from staying alert in case someone sneaked in to choosing what to watch. Ravi sat next to her, watching as she opened multiple streaming platforms and scrolled down.
Pip instantly discarded every true crime documentary she came across. The pages recommended plenty of those to her since she watched plenty of them, but they both silently agreed that just wasn’t the appropriate situation to watch another one. They needed to distract themselves, not to add even more tension to the situation they were in.
“What about that silly show of people trying to imitate desserts and messing up badly?” Ravi suggested then. “I can’t remember its name but I’ve watched it a couple of times and I do remember laughing at the result of some cakes.”
“I think you mean Nailed It!” Pip said as she quickly typed the name in Netflix’s search bar. “My dad really likes it.”
“Yes, that one.” Ravi nodded a bit too eagerly when the show’s cover appeared on the screen. “Do you feel like watching a few episodes? They might inspire you to bake some more bribery pastries.”
“You’re such an idiot.” Pip chuckled as she looked up to meet Ravi’s eyes. “Thank you, Ravi.” Her smile widened at the sight of Ravi’s kind eyes looking down at her. “For everything.”
“I could say the same.” Ravi softly pinched one of her cheeks. “Now come on, let’s get distracted.”
They chose a random episode and their plan worked, the tension beginning to evaporate from their bodies in the first twenty minutes. They evidently didn’t forget what was going on and what they could face the next few days, the gravity of Pip being threatened, but at least they could find some relative peace amongst all the fear and uncertainly they experienced.
The moment Pip began feeling a little calm, slumber quickly started to overtake her mind and body. Her head fell on Ravi’s shoulder in al almost unconscious gesture and he didn’t push her away, one of his arm moving along her shoulders, his fingers gently moving up and down Pip’s arm in gentle caresses, going on and on until she finally fell asleep.
Ravi silently closed the laptop and placed it on her desk before going back to Pip’s side, tucking her in bed and silently looking at her sleeping face with a smile before lying next to her, sliding under the covers and closing his eyes as well, taking a bit longer to find sleep due to feeling nervous about the next day but succumbing to slumber a little later.
No matter what, Pip and Ravi would face everything that came at them together.