OS: The Fated Silver Lining (ArHi) last-part page2

Keep em comin'...the more comments I get the faster I'll post the next part 😳 Otherwise I feel like my work was for nothing 😒

Here is the precap for the next/last part:

"I'll jump off your car if you didn't say anything! You have 5 seconds to decide," I warned him.

"Didn't you want me to stay put and just shut up?!?" he said like he had been punished for no reason.

"I-Do-Not-Care! I'm counting: 5, 4, 3, 2 ..."

Heaving a long sigh, I exhaled the heavy and burdensome air out of my lungs. I peeked at his side to find him staring out of the window. He had pulled the top cover during this while to give me some privacy. I cursed myself for the umpteenth time for letting loose my weak side. My heart felt much lighter than before and I couldn't deny it.

I glanced at him again, very swiftly. But, this time I found him staring right back at me. His impatience to know my explanation was evident in his dark grey eyes.

Hastily, I left the momentary contact as I shifted my gaze to my hands and fiddled with the old stone ring in my hand.

"Do you need anything? Water? Juice?" he asked softly.

I was in fact thirsty but I adamantly cleared my dry throat since I didn't want to accept any favour, "No, thank you. And, umm, I am sorry. Don't mind me please. I'm just not myself today". I really wished he would ask no more…

"Am I allowed to ask what went wrong?"

And, he just did. Was I really expecting him to stay quiet…

"No"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes"

That's how the car ride went in silence…but, this lasted for less than 10 minutes.

"This isn't the direction to my place…don't you know the way?" I was compelled to speak up as I noticed the car turning towards some route I never saw.

"You'll know soon…" that was all he said.

"What! Arnaav! Seriously, what the heck are you thinking right now…you better stop the car! I wanna get off," I was freaking out as he ignored my words as if I was nonexistent. We drove through several roads with no signs of civilization at either side, just some really tall green trees standing on pale grass.

"I'll jump off your car if you didn't say anything! You have 5 seconds to decide," I warned him.

"Didn't you want me to stay put and just shut up?!?" he said like he had been punished for no reason.

"I-Do-Not-Care! I'm counting: 5, 4, 3, 2…" I gave him a long glance and thankfully he did speak up before I finished, "We are almost there. If you don't like the place, we'll go back," This was not comforting at all.

"Oh Gee, really Arnav? You for real?" I frustratingly sighed and slammed myself back on the seat. He had really driven me crazy today and I had no energy left to respond especially when he was in his "stubborn" mood.

"We ended our relationship today," I finally told him. I knew his eyes were now fixed on me as I awkwardly turned my face away. We were sitting on the warm bright green grass. There was a small pond of fresh water nearby where a few ducklings were strolling without a care. It was a place secluded from the noisy city. We had been resting here for a while and just observing the beautiful scenery before I decided to speak up.

"Why?" he was a little curious but did not seem much surprised.

"Just like you said, we were not such a great match. There were too many issues. He was too assertive and I did not like being ruled over. I am my own person and I never wanted to just shut myself to only follow someone around," I elaborated as I keenly watched the little ducklings drink the pond water and play around in mud.

"I heard you were soon going to get engaged?" he speculated.

"Yeah, we would have been long ago if he agreed then. He wanted more time and he had other priorities. I also got busy with life after that. I guess that was a good thing otherwise it would have been much of a hassle to break the relationship," I felt more resentment as I spoke about him.

"Are you okay with it?" he was concerned.

"Maybe…I think I am," I replied uncertainly.

"Do you want me to help you guys patch up?" he asked out of the blue.

For a moment, I just stared at him with a confused look. I was taken aback by his response. "What?!?" I muttered.

"I am not repeating that. It was hard to say as it is," he nervously adjusted his hair.

I laughed. It was funny given our circumstances.

"Your mature side is quite entertaining," I said, still giggling.

"Forget I ever said that," he said awkwardly.

"At least, it's better than you proposing…" I said in a slip of tongue and regretted it right after. That was still a sensitive topic between us. It was the incident that drew us apart as friends. "I am sorry," I added and waited for him to talk or accept my apology.

After a long pause he said, "I didn't know you liked Rahul back then. Are you still not comfortable about that? Still angry?"

"No. I think you should be angry after the big fight we had over that. You just shouldn't have proposed in front of everyone and Rahul. It caused a whole misunderstanding since Rahul thought we had something going on…and it took months before we finally sorted it out. But, I am sorry for whatever I said to you then," I said recalling the change it brought in our friendship of years.

"Why are you apologizing? Didn't we have a long talk about it before we decided to become friends like before?" he said hesitantly.

"Don't we both know that never happened? It was not really possible to go back the way we were before. I felt uneasy whenever we met since we both were aware of what we felt," I stated it as a matter of fact.

"It is weird that we are talking about this after two years and with much ease. I didn't think we would be able to," he smiled and stretched out his hands in the air.

"Are you surprised?" I asked as I smiled back at him.

"Isn't it obvious?" he said laying himself back on the warm grass and resting on his folded arms. "But, to answer your question: yes, I am very much surprised, Khushi Kumari Gupta," his smile grew deeper.

I took the same position as him at a little distance. "Me too!" I chuckled and closed my eyes for a quick nap. The sun was still up in the sky and the winds were much stronger and cooler. I could faintly hear the birds chirping and the distant sound of wind waves gushing pass by the tree leaves.

*******

My gaze was fixed. These eyes seem to zoom in and out, periodically—they would narrow down to the very thin lines, even at the point of focusing on just each one of them that formed the unique print on each of his fingers. By this time, my mind recorded almost the very petty of details of his hand. His freely lying hand was almost touching mine and I tried to carefully lie in the same position to avoid any movement. I did not remember when I woke up or how long I slept for. Without my knowledge, my finger lightly touched his. His hand felt very strong with just this slight contact. I traced my index finger along his hand then slightly tried to fit in my own hand into his. I seemed to toss out any realization as I played silly with our hands.

"What are you doing?" came his sleepy voice. Before I could retreat or think of an excuse, he gripped my hand in mid air. It seemed like I was caught red handed doing something I shouldn't. I tried to escape his lingering gaze and moved back.

"Gosh, you can't keep your hands to yourself. Give others some space," I tried to divert his attention. The atmosphere was making me anxious the more I tried hiding my earlier action. He let me go and I quickly stood up, rubbing the grass of my clothes.

"Oh my God! Is it 8 p.m. already?" I jumped in shock after reading the time off my watch.

"Just to let you know, I woke up way before you did," he told carelessly as he tied his shoe laces.

I heard him yet ignored to not let him see the faint blush on my cheeks. I looked up to notice a cloudy sky with the bright red sun as it got ready to set.

He suddenly came up to me and whispered, "I didn't know you were this mischievous!" and then yelled in the air, "Let's go!" as he swirled the car keys around his finger and walked ahead, leaving me all embarrassed.

It was gradually getting darker. "Walk a little slower!" I yelled and ran to catch up.

"Drop me off to the radio station instead," I told as I fixed my face and hair.

"Why didn't you take a day off?" he asked looking ahead at the road.

"I just do one program a week just for the fun of it. I thought it may help take my mind off," I replied as I applied a light coat of kohl to hide the dark circles under my eyes.

Soon, we reached the destination and I rushed inside.

******

The last five minutes of my program's conclusion were usually used by me to give a message to the listeners. I fixed my spectacles as I read the last few lines from the planned script and then continued, "I hope you enjoyed the show. Today had been quite eventful for me with meaningful encounters. I learned a few things about myself and the people I know. I also realized that having one good friend beside you in times of need is a blessing. They have their own ways to cheer you when you're down or minimize your worries just by lending an ear to them. Thank you, Arnav".

******

As I walked out of the station, I heard his footsteps reaching nearer.

"I listened to your show," he grinned.

"Nothing to be so happy about. It was because I forgot to thank you before and why are you still here?" I looked at him quizzically.

"I went to get something to eat and came back to pick you up since it's already 10. No need to misunderstand," he winked.

"As if I was dying to misunderstand you…" I said defiantly. In an instant, my view blurred for a moment and my head throbbed with pain. I rubbed my eyes but my vision fizzled out more and more. Having no strength to stand anymore, I let my body loose and got ready to meet the ground.

******

"Khushi!" he called out my name. I slowly opened my eyes to find him waving his hand at me.

"What happened?" I asked in my broken voice.

"You fainted, missy! Did you eat anything at all the whole day?" he sounded worried. He hurriedly unwrapped a sandwich and placed it in my hand and a bottle of juice in the other hand.

"It must be because I'm anemic. My blood pressure doesn't take too long to go down either. Thank you for the food," I explained as we ate.

"Damn that Rahul. Did he even take care of you well!" he muttered to himself and then asked loudly in frustration: "Why are you so weak?!" I just smiled to see his him being overconcerned.

*******

"Arnav, thank you and I'm sorry to cause you so much trouble today. You have always been a great friend," I talked as we got off, "Good bye". I bid my hand and walked towards my home.

"Khushi!", he called out, "I know its not the right time to say something like this, but I don't think I'll get so much courage again…".

He walked towards me and continued, "My feelings are still the same for you. They have not changed a bit. They only seem to increase and I just can't help it. It's painful and annoying. It hurts more than it makes me happy, yet I can't help it"

After taking a long sigh, he held my hands softly, "Even if you don't feel the same, just know that I'm here for you as a friend. I won't make you feel burdened by it. Just like today, I want to be the friend you can be with when you need someone to lean on". He attempted to smile but in vain. It was visible that he was sad. It did matter to him that we did not feel the same way.

I held out my hand for a friendly shake. Instead, he grabbed it and pulled me into a tight hug…it felt too close for comfort. I liked hugs. I may have hugged an uncountable bunch of people a million times already, but this seemed too close. I could hear two heart beats; one being mine and the other being his. They seemed to both to compete at first, striving to thump faster by the second. Then, they quietly settled and made peace. It was a harmonious feeling, as if they both were synchronized to beat together. Together, they made a much clear sound that was more than ever persistent to stay in my ears. I felt light headed, wanting to slip into deep sleep. It felt nice. My hold grew lighter and these eyes closed as his cold breath tingled my ear. I felt my lips curl up a faint smile before my exhausted body let itself loose and my wandering soul finally decided on the place it wanted to stay beside. I was at peace.

I encircled my arms around him and unconsciously murmured, "Thank you".

Maybe, just maybe, it was not such a bad day despite it being so emotionally draining. Every cloud has a silver lining and this was probably just a glimpse to what the future had in store for me.

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Thank you for reading it! I would love it if you could even come up with criticism on ways I can improve 😳

Comment, Criticise, Like, Love, Hate...everything is welcome. Yes, I do like repeating myself...now I'm off to PM ppl!

take good care of yourselves,

-Ania =)