“No … No … It’s lovely,” Aria said, realizing that Jarminder had misinterpreted her. Ignoring the air of formality that she’d felt until then between herself and Jarminder, as well as the way Jarminder went rigid when she did it, Aria rushed in to hug her. “Are you totally sure?” she asked.

“Yes, yes, we’re sure,” Jarminder said, wobbling her head back and forth instead of up and down. “The sheets are new. If they are stiff, I can just wash them,” she said.

Aria was quiet in disbelief. “I’m going to stay down here with her to talk for a bit, Mama,” Omkar said, indicating his readiness for her to go back upstairs.

“OK, you can use the bathroom upstairs, but no hankypanky,” Jarminder said, pointing her index finger at Omkar.

Aria sat on the end of the bed, listening to the stairs creak as Jarminder climbed them. Omkar sat down next to her. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” she said again, looking to Omkar for an explanation about the strange turn of events.

“My parents are good people, even though they don’t exactly act like it sometimes,” Omkar said. “They could never feel good knowing that you don’t have somewhere to stay. Plus I told them that I wanted to move out and get a place with you and they sort of freaked out. Indian parents can’t stand the idea of not living with their kids.” He giggled.

“Are you totally sure? I don’t want it to be weird for me to be here or whatever,” Aria asked again.

“Yes, my God, it’s totally fine, I promise,” Omkar said, although he knew he was failing to completely convince her.

He stayed downstairs with her until Neeraj yelled down to them, “Omkar, it’s time to go to sleep now, you have school in the morning.” It was his way of making sure his son wasn’t being irresponsible in more ways than one.

Omkar kissed Aria on the cheek and said, “Sleep well tonight. I’ll be thinking of you all night just up there.” He pointed at a corner of the ceiling before running up the stairs.

Aria waited until she could hear no more sounds in the house before tiptoeing upstairs, with all of the clothes she had in her backpack, and sneaking into the bathroom. Turning the water pressure on only halfway so it would be quieter, she let the hot steam asperse her skin. It was a feeling she had sorely missed.

She washed her clothes by hand with shampoo and threw them all over the bar of the shower curtain before soaping herself. It was the first time since running away nearly a year ago that she had taken a shower that wasn’t timed and watched by an attendant. The feeling of being able to enjoy the water and brush her teeth inside the shower felt like a luxury beyond measure.