Chapter 6

Shree's POV,

I and Arjun came back into the living room. We kept the bedroom door open just to make sure she stays okay. I laid back on the couch and closed my eyes. My joints felt like they have been crushed to powder. I could feel the sleep slowly making its way through the layers of tiredness. 

"Did you have any idea about these attacks earlier?", I opened my eyes upon hearing his voice.

I felt ready to cry. After what happened today, all I wanted was a nap.

I tilted my head upwards and saw him sitting in the tub chair beside me.

"No, she always seemed okay. Infact better than us. You know what I mean right?", I said, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"Hmmm...", He trailed off.

He remained silent for few seconds. I fidgetted with the fabric of my t-shirt expecting him to say something. And when I was about to give up, he spoke,

"I haven't been a good friend to you or her, have I?", I could feel his muscles tense up.

"Shut the crap, man!", I was quick because that was pure BS. No matter what happens, our friendship always remains.

"Why didn't you tell me about her feelings earlier?", He asked in a slight accusatory tone.

Well, you try playing a loyal friend to a one sided lover and you will know.

I sighed deeply and sat up.

"She never wanted you to know about it. She had this vague hope of you to see her love by yourself. But how would I tell her that all this doesn't happen in real life.", I said, staring at my entwined fingers.

"I know her love for me and I love her too. But I never had this thought of sharing my life with her. Maybe I was never ready for that.", He said in one quick go and looked at me as if asking to prove him wrong.

"But you are ready to share your life with some random person, right?", I asked and he gaped at me in response.

"I am not asking you to love her or marry her. I just want you to acknowledge her feelings rather than acting as if this never happened. Now you sleep and let me sleep too.", I said and laid back shutting my eyes tight.

End of POV.

Arjun stared at Shree for sometime and then got up from his place and walked out after switching off the lights.

He came into the balcony and looked at the silent city for a second before slumping down into the swing chair. He leaned back and stared at the roof hoist, it's meshy pattern perfectly resembling his mind at that moment. As he kept looking at that, he didn't notice when his mind spiraled back into the past.

3 YEARS AGO

He ran through the crowded wards of the government hospital searching and asking for the way to the mortuary room.

And when he finally reached there, he saw her, sitting on the floor outside the mortuary, in a corner, staring at the wall infront of her as if making a void in it. He saw Shree was already there beside her with a worried look on his face.

Arjun slowly walked towards them and towered over her. She lifted her head and looked at him blankly. Her face showed no trace of crying or tears. She looked back at the wall as he sat down beside her.

He waited for some reaction from her but getting none, he gently held her arm and she turned towards him in response and said,

"I am not able to cry.", He felt utmost helpless in that moment. He didn't know what to say. All he could do was place his arm around her shoulder and bring her close to his chest.

"I killed them.", She said holding onto his shirt.

"Shhh!", He said and patted her to sleep. 

When she woke up the next time a hospital staff came and asked them who would recover the bodies, to which Anu stood up. Even then she didn't cry.

And when the nurse asked them if she could see them as the bodies were badly burnt, even then she didn't cry but insisted that she would see them.

She didn't listen to them asking her to think once instead suggested them to stay outside itself.

She entered the room alone not even letting the nurse in. And then after few seconds, they heard her cry. They heard her shriek. Shriek like her life has ended. They all ran inside and saw her wailing over a burnt body.  They put all their might to control her but couldn't succeed. She cried and cried and cried, until she fainted.

And for the next few months also, she cried, every minute, when she was alone, when she was with them, while eating, while sleeping, while talking. There were many moments when they used to be in middle of a conversation and she would begin crying all of a sudden. And then, one day, she became silent. She would neither cry nor talk, just stare.

Just as he was trying to figure out what was going on with her, his breakup happened and he got lost in his own pain. And he didn't know what happened to her. All he could remember was, when the realisation of his breakup hit him and all the hell began to break loose she was there for him, embracing him in her arms. 

And by the time he came back, he saw a whole new Anu, who never stopped smiling. He didn't even notice when she became that driving force of his life. She would smile and forced him to do the same. She moulded him into a whole different form. Soon his pain didn't seem to pierce him a lot. It seemed like they were moving back to their normal lives.

PRESENT

It was only today that he realised that nothing had been normal. In that moment it amazed him of how granted we take the people in our life. They had been calling themselves close friends all these days, yet he never bothered to ask if she has feelings for anyone or what her future plans were. 

He got up from his place and strode towards the railing. He braced himself against it and looked at the night sky. There were no stars today. It looked like the entire sky was burnt and spread into ashes.

He reeled past the events of the day once again. When Shree told him about her feelings this morning, he couldn't bring himself to believe it. He kept on dismissing Shree saying that he might have had a misunderstanding until Shree rebuked him for his ignorance. Called him a stone hearted brute and cut the call. He kept processing the phone call for many hours after the it ended. And finally he decided what he should be doing and asked Shree about Anu's whereabouts. He reached her house with perfect preparation of how he should deal with her, convince her and take their future forwards.

But what happened after he reached has never come to his mind in the list of consequences. Earlier he thought he would come, talk to her and convince her into their marriage. Because he thought it would be just like any other arranged marriage except that it comes with a benefit of your bride being your bestfriend.

But now he can't do that. It would be ridiculing her feelings. After knowing her feelings, seeing her go through her pain, he felt like he should be there. Be it as a friend or a life partner or anything between or out of that, he wanted to acknowledge her feelings for him. After many days, he felt that the time for a second chance has come.