The credit for this title goes to Rafi (Swaron911) and this OS was specially requested by prachin10. I know you wanted a romantic one, but I'm not really good at that. So let me know how this has come out.
(Un) platonic Love
Right hook on the cheek. A punch in the stomach, followed by another one. And a kick in the shins.
That was all it took for him to fall down on the wet ground.
But he wasn't through with him. He had to pay for it. Pay for hurting her. Pay for making her doubt her passion for dancing. Pay for making her friends doubt her intentions. Pay for using her for his own diabolical means. Pay for all the jackass-ery he had done.
He picked him up by his collar and quite literally banged him into the metallic fence surrounding the basketball court. He was angry and furious, which made him act irrationally. He was normally calm and composed, but today this son of a bitch had aggravated him beyond reason. He had the audacity to strike Rey from behind, like the back stabbing weasel that he was. It had taken him less than a minute to enter the court and beat the crap out of this lowlife moron called Shivam.
He suddenly noticed that she was standing there, where he had pressed that jerk's face against the metallic wires. She had jumped back from the impact and looked quite horrified. He pressed his face harder against the wires.
"Tell her you're sorry!" he barked. "Tell her you're sorry for all the dirty tricks you played on her. Tell her you're sorry for betraying her trust. Tell her you're sorry for hurting her!"
"I'm sorry!" he managed to say.
"Leave him." she said quietly.
He looked at her bewildered. When he showed no sign of leaving him she once again said, more loudly-
"Leave him, Swayam."
When she said his name, he broke out of his trance. He looked at the now bloodied body of Shivam and then looked at her. He loosened his hold on Shivam, causing him to drop on the ground, unconscious.
He stood there looking at her. It was raining heavily. Water dripped from her face falling softly on the ground. Her hair was wet, and raindrops sat cozily on her eyelashes, making them look even thicker. Her nose had turned a bright pink due to the cold and the rain. Her eyes looked greener than usual and her gaze felt more piercing. In short, she looked breathtaking.
He realized that maybe he had gone too far. She looked at him with a slightly worried glance. This was the first time he had shown his aggressive side to her. She is probably scared of me now he thought.
Without a word, he left.
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She stood there watching his retreating back.
His knuckles had been bleeding, when he had been beating up Shivam which is why she had asked him to stop. She wanted to go behind him and help him clean it up. But she didn't think it was her place.
Lately, things had been better between them. They didn't fight anymore. She had stopped insulting him. They even talked nicely to each other. But she was still confused as to the relationship between them. Were they friends? Were they more than that? She had all these weird indefinable feelings inside her that magnified whenever he was nearby. She felt safe in his presence. She was convinced that he would protect her no matter what. Surely friends would do that for each other, right? Yet, there was this edge of possessiveness in the way he protected her, the way he fought for her. Live example being the body of that beaten up moron at her feet.
We can't be friends.
He had told her that once. He was right. They couldn't be friends. Not after all that they had been through. They could either be nothing to each other or everything to each other. There was no in-between. The real question was- what did she want them to be?
She had strung him along for too long. It was time to decide. She could let him go. They could live their own separate lives and eventually forget about each other. They could move on. Only they wouldn't. At least she wouldn't. She couldn't think of a life without him. Somehow, it just felt empty.
And there, right there, she had her answer. She was in love with him and it was high time that she admit it to herself. And to him. Those indefinable feelings suddenly had a definition- love.
When she finally admitted her feelings for him, she felt a sort of release. She stood there in the rain, smiling like an idiot when she suddenly realized that she should probably share this revelation with him.
That being decided, she marched off to find him, completely ignoring the mess that lay strewn at her feet.
____________________________
He was in the locker room, not-so-silently cursing himself. He should have been in control. He shouldn't have let his hatred get the better of him.
Great! She probably hates me now! He thought miserably.
He slammed his fist against the locker in frustration. He winced as it hurt him more than it should. He looked at his hand which was now bleeding profusely.
"You idiot!" she shouted from the doorway.
He turned and looked at her, his mouth agape. She marched towards him and slapped him hard on his cheek, bringing him out of his state of shock.
Without another word, she took out the first-aid kit from the emergency locker and started dressing up his bleeding hand.
She looked up and caught him staring at her with the most adorable confused look on his face. She smiled. There is no way in hell that we can be friends she thought.
When she was done with his hand, she once again looked into his chocolate brown eyes. His hair was wet and messed up in the sexiest way possible. His lips were slightly pouted as he tried to figure out what the hell was she doing here.
"I'm sorry." He said, rambling. "I don't know what was I thinking. I just lost control-"
"We can't be friends!" she said abruptly, clearing not listening to a word he was saying.
Before he could react, she had softly pressed her lips against his. She enjoyed the taste of his lips and gave a satisfied moan when he started responding. He pulled her closer by the waist, leaving no space between them. She had evoked his passion and now she had to suffer the consequences. He deepened the kiss, pulling her closer still. He kissed her so lovingly and tenderly, that she was almost crushed by the force of it. Even after they were out of breath, he still kept on kissing her. Finally they broke apart. He rested his forehead against her, his hands still encircling her waist.
"Why?" he asked, breathlessly.
His hot, sweet breath almost made her mad.
"Because I love you." She said simply.
He smiled.
"That's too bad. Because I don't."
She looked up at him, shocked. A second later, she punched him in the arm as she realized that he was joking.
"Idiot!" she muttered.
He laughed.
He lifted her chin and looked deeply into her eyes-
"I love you, too." He said, very seriously.
He once again pulled her in his arms and they stood like that for a while before she suddenly remembered-
"Oh shit! Shivam is still lying there on the ground. Should we go help him?" she asked, doubtfully.
"Oh, I think we should let him be alone for some time!" he said, grinning.
____________________________
The End.
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
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