Part~31
Neither did Ram know what to say, nor did Priya. He was still in cloud 9. He could still feel her, and he had a sudden raging desire to never let her go. He never felt this way...not even for Sonali. It just proved to him even more that he had loved only one, and only one person his whole entire life.
'Jawab mil gaya?' Priya gulped, talking to him courageously.
Ram still gaped at her in shock and disbelief, unwilling to trust that this was reality...
'Ram?' Priya called out hesitantly. 'Kuch toh kahiye'.
'Tumne abhi tak kuch kaha nahi hai'. Ram quietly said.
'Lekin abhi toh meine-',
'Nahi'. Ram raised his hand for her to stop. 'I want to hear it'.
Priya went tomato red. She was super shy when it came to things like this. She was definitely a dreamy romantic, but she struggled with this part of it. 'Are you serious?'
'Meine kaha tumse. I love you'. Ram repeated. 'That kiss could have meant anything. Iska yeh matlab kaise hua ki tum mujhse pyaar karti ho? Mujhe chup karaane ka tareeka bhi toh ho saktha tha!'
'Arre nahi tha'. Priya mumbled.
'Meine tumhe sab kuch bataaya tha, Priya. Tumhari baari hai, it's not fair'. Ram demanded.
'Ram, stop it. This isn't a game. Tang karne ki hadd bhi toh hoti hai'. Priya blushed furiously.
'Sorry, not in my world'. Ram grinned a bit.
'Kya bachpana hai yeh?' Priya crushed her eyes shut, fidgeting with her fingers nervously.
'Mein tumhe chodunga jab tak tum bolti ho'. Ram warned her.
'Oh god'. Priya cursed quietly.
'Priya! Tumhe toh bolna hi padega, warna mein maan lunga ki hum dono dost ke aage kuch nahi hain'. Ram said.
'Ram aapko pata hai ki mujhe yeh sab bolna kitna mushkil hota hai, phir bhi zidd kar rahe hain?' Priya exclaimed.
'Priya, please'.
Priya didn't say anything for a while. Ram had taken it in that she was preparing herself to say what his ears were dying to hear.
Priya cleared her throat awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with Ram, although their hands were still locked into each others and swung around left and right.
'I...umm...I...love you'. Priya mumbled.
'What the hell?' Ram grumbled. 'Apne aapse baat kar rahi ho ya mujhse?'
'Ram, abhi meine aapko dikha diya na. Woh bhi karna mere liye bohot bohot mushkil tha lekin phir bhi meine kiya, ab yeh kya hazaar baar prove karna hai aapko?' Priya yelled.
'Tumhe dikhaane ki kya zaroorat thi, ek baar bol deti toh mein maan jaata'. Ram shrugged.
Priya rolled her eyes in response. 'Accha ab toh meine ek baar bol diya, bas? Don't irritate me more now'.
'Theek hai, abhi ke liye chod deta hoon tumhe'. Ram sighed. 'Sirf abhi ke liye'.
Priya really did love him. She was pretty stupid, realizing it so late...but her heart was finally convinced that her heart was beating only for him.
They just stood there, mentally trying to accept everything that had just happened.
'I love you'. Priya suddenly broke the silence, and blurted out unexpectedly.
Ram's face broke into a smile. He was about to say something when Priya held out a hand from stopping him.
'Abhi nahi bolungi toh shayad kabhi nahi bolungi'. Priya sighed, all serious.
'Kya?' Ram asked.
'Meine kabhi zindagi mein nahi socha tha ki mein itna khush ho sakthi hoon. Zindagi badal di aapne meri, Ram. Aapse accha insaan mujhe mil hi nahi saktha. I am blessed, to have you. Meine kabhi realize hi nahi kiya ki mein aapse itna pyaar karti hoon. Bohot pyaar karti hoon mein aapse. Mujhe hamesha laga ki jo bond humaare beech mein thi woh bas dosti ka tha, bohot gehri dosti. Meine kaha aapse ki mein pyaar mein vishwaas nahi karti, lekin aaj...my eyes have been opened. Thank you, Ram'. Priya smiled faintly at Ram, tears escaping her eyes.
'Humaare beech mein pata nahi kya hai Priya. It is the strangest relationship, but the most beautiful. You're so unpredictable...ek jhatke mein tum apna mann badalti ho'. Ram chuckled. 'Mujhe sach mein pareshaani ho rahi thi ki tum mujhse waapas pyaar nahi karti, I felt unlucky in this game of love'.
'Pyaar toh meine hamesha aapse hi kiya hai. It's just that aapko kehne mein darr gayi thi. Ashwin se kabhi pyaar kiya hi nahi meine, woh bas uske false personality mein mujhe kuch dikh gayi'.
'Toh tum mujhse darti ho?' Ram laughed.
'Uff!' Priya lightly punched him on his chest. 'Mein itni seriously aapse baat karne ki koshish kar rahi hoon aur aap hain ki seriously hi nahi le rahe hain'.
'That's because mujhe yeh sab pata tha. Tumhe bolne ki kuch zaroorat nahi thi, aankhon mein dikhta hai saaf-saaf'. Ram smiled at her.
'Thank you'. Priya mumbled. 'Mere zindagi mein aane ke liye...thank you'.
'I love you Priya. You have no idea. Che saal beeth gaye tumhare beghair, ab che minute bhi tumse door nahi reh saktha'. Ram sighed.
Priya felt herself listening to his heartbeats, and his hands had almost instantly been wrapped up behind her neck. She had no idea what was happening, she confessed...and now she was in freaking cloud 1000.
-xxx-
The next morning had been so pleasant. Ram and Priya were getting closer fast, there were experiencing true love. They had known each other for 10 years, yet there was still so much to learn and so much to see.
Priya was fast asleep beside Ram, and she had unintentionally held Ram's hand tight in the middle of the night. He could feel how stressed she was, he couldn't sleep a wink that night. She was on his mind the whole night..
Priya was in immense deep sleep, and she was still clutching on to Ram's hand tight. Ram hadn't objected, he dreamt this for ages and he wasn't going to let this go.
'Priya'. Ram finally decided to wake her up. 'Utho baba, it's so late'.
'Mmm'. Priya groaned sleepily. 'Let me sleep'.
'Priya, come on. Din bhar sone ka iraada hai tumhe?' Ram exclaimed, untangling his fingers from her hand's grip.
Priya instantly jerked herself up off the bed as she senses Ram's hands locked into hers. Everything was coming back to her slowly..
'Kya hua?' Ram asked. 'Aisi kya dekh rahi ho?'
'Woh...uh...sorry'. Priya lowered her eyes to their hands locked into each others. 'Meine shayad pakda hoga aadhi raat mein'.
'It's okay'. Ram slightly laughed.
Priya had been behaving ridiculously shy, and had blushed like crazy every time she had made eye contact with Ram. Although she wasn't uncomfortable sharing a bed with Ram, there was a huge part of her that couldn't believe this. 'Aapke aankhein dekhkar aisa lag raha hai ki aap raat bhar soye nahi'.
'Iss liye kyunki mujhe subah uthke yeh ehsaas nahi hona tha ki yeh ek sapna hai'. Ram smiled at her.
'Ram'.
'Haan'.
'I love you'. Priya blurted out, not knowing what the hell she was saying.
Ram smiled at her even more, and his eyes fell on to their locked fingers pressed against each others..
'Arre wah! Someone's in a romantic mood early in the morning'. Ram teased her.
Priya blushed furiously, unable to meet her eyes with Ram's.
'Lekin...Priya'. Ram called out.
'Hmm'.
'I love you too'.
-xxx-
Cricket
Kumkum Bhagya
Tum Se Tum Tak
Sampoorna
Jhanak
