MG FF: Tremble - Complete (index on p. 1) - Page 50

Thank you so much, darlings, you're all so sweet! Really hoping I can update soon!

Hi lovelies, thank you so much for your interest and patience! And of course for all the wonderful feedback. :) Chapter 14 is below!

previous chapters: ch 1 - ch 2 - ch 3 - ch 4 - ch 5 - ch 6 - ch 7 - ch 8 - ch 9 - ch 10 - ch 11 - ch 12 - ch 13

Chapter Fourteen

As she gazed at Maan's unconscious figure, panic rose in Geet's chest. Was he all right? The thought of losing him, permanently, was too much too bear. What would she do in a world without Maan? Tears streamed down her cheeks as she clutched his hand. Even after everything, after the drama and heartache, she longed for a life with him still.

"Please, please, wake up, Maan," she whispered brokenly. "Please . . . ." She couldn't believe that she had trapped Maan and herself in a cave below what appeared to be a haunted house. Geet trembled with violent waves of fear. How would she get them out of here? How had things become so hopeless? She recalled Maan warning her to not step through the door -- and following her through, anyway, just to keep her safe. And then *he* had ended up injured. How could she have been so selfish? How could --

"Geet?"

Geet turned her head sharply to the left at the sound of her name, hearing a rush of steps coming toward her. Fear seized her again. Who were these people? Were they going to harm Maan and her?

"Geet?" the voice called out to her again, and the group approaching her came into focus. Geet gasped as Adi and Pinky appeared before her, as well as the old woman who ran the "hotel" and had locked Maan and her in their room. Geet noticed that the old woman was no longer wearing an old lace dress or harsh makeup -- instead, she donned a simple pantsuit and her facial features actually revealed kindness and concern.

"Geet, are you all right?" Pinky asked in a rush, as Adi stooped down next to Maan.

"What happened, Geet?" Adi inquired nervously.

Geet, who was too shocked to think clearly, could only choke out, "How did you find us?"

"When we went to check your room," the woman explained, regretfully, "we saw that you were not there and that the door to the cave attraction was open."

"Cave attraction?" Geet blinked.

"We're in a haunted house, Geet," said Pinky, sighing. "Like, a fake one, where people can buy tickets to tour and get scared with their friends and families. It's a big attraction around Halloween."

"That's right," added the woman. "My name is Alvira, and I run this business. Visitors can walk through this cave that we're in now; usually there are actors dressed up as monsters who scare folks and also guard the path so that no one touches the walls to loosen any rocks."

"We, uh, we . . . kind of set this up," Pinky said uneasily. "For you and Maan."

Geet's mind was spinning. What were Pinky and Alvira talking about? She shook her head and decided to deal with the more pressing issue at hand. "We need to get Maan some help," she choked out.

Adi nodded grimly, whipped out his cell phone, and dialed for an ambulance.

---

"Can you explain this again one more time?" Maan asked, sitting up wearily in his hospital bed. He rubbed his head, which felt sore. He understood that he had lost consciousness for about an hour, and was still getting his bearings back. He was surrounded by Geet and the others, including Zoya. Little Anjana was asleep on two hospital room chairs that had been pushed together.

Adi nodded. "Yeah, you deserve an explanation." He shared a glance with Pinky before continuing. "Well, Maan, you and Geet are two of our closest friends. And when we learned that you had broken up, well . . . ."

"We couldn't believe it," Zoya piped up. "I mean, you and Geet are made for each other -- everyone, even just your colleagues like me, knows that."

Geet cast her eyes down to the floor. She believed that as well, deeply so. Then, realizing that Zoya had been the one to stick up for them, abruptly lifted her gaze. Wait. Weren't Zoya and Maan together now . . .?

"So," Pinky continued, "we decided that, instead of going to the resort, we'd side track you at a seemingly dangerous place. We purposely spent a long time at the rest stop, waiting for night to fall and the storm that we knew was brewing to start."

"The guy with the lantern, who advised you to go to the haunted house?" Adi said. "Yeah, he's one of my old friends. We just asked him to point you there. And we made sure to get him to direct Geet there as well."

"But how did you know Geet would even try to come on the trip?" Maan asked, shaking his head carefully. His friends were clearly insane.

"Oh, we knew she would," said Pinky, finally smiling. "She can't not be with you. And even if she didn't, I would have called her and asked her to come. She wouldn't have refused, I know it." Maan directed his gaze to Geet, who was blushing.

"We had paid Miss Alvira in advance," said Zoya. "She was happy to do it -- it's not Halloween time, so not a lot of people stop by. She knew to scare you, lock you guys in a room together, the whole nine. We knew that the creepy atmosphere would do the trick to push you two together, even if just out of fear, to reveal how much you really care about each other."

"Right," said Pinky. "We just . . . we certainly didn't expect you to get hurt and fall unconscious, Maan."

"Definitely not," Adi added. "Are you feeling all right?"

Maan nodded, although he did still feel disoriented. He couldn't believe his friends had gone to this extent just to bring him and Geet together. "This whole scheme depended on pure chance, you know," he said. "If I hadn't listened to the directions of your friend with the lantern, if Geet hadn't actually come, if I didn't follow Geet down to the 'suite' --"

"You're right," Adi interrupted. "But it did all come together in a twisted way. . . . The real question is, did our plan work?"

Maan glanced at Geet, who was staring back at him with her bright, beautiful eyes. He sighed. "I'd like to talk to Geet, alone."

"Good idea," said Pinky. The group began to file out of the room, and Zoya stopped to pick up Anjana on her way out.

"Thank you again, Zoya," said Maan. "For taking such good care of her."

"Of course." Zoya smiled, then shifted Anjana, who was still sleeping, in her arms. "I . . . I really hope that you two can reconcile," she said genuinely. "I know we are all just colleagues, but the whole office knows how much you two love each other. It gives me hope for the 'great love of my life,' as cheesy as that sounds." She winked and then left the room with Anjana in her arms.

Geet felt a heavy weight slide from her shoulders. So, Zoya was officially out of the picture -- in fact, she had never been *in* the picture. There were so many things to say to Maan. Where would she even begin?

Geet decided that starting with gratitude couldn't hurt. "Thank you," she said. "For . . . for putting yourself in harm's way, just to protect me. I shouldn't have gone into the cave." She truly did feel a sense of reverence for him, and for his love. Guilt pricked at her as she thought of the times she had rejected his marriage proposals, which just embodied his longing for them to be together permanently. Which, really, was what she wanted as well.

Maan reached out to touch her cheek. "It's all right. I'm glad that I was there with you and that you weren't by yourself . . . at least before I blacked out." He attempted a laugh, but Geet looked serious.

"I'm so grateful you're all right," said Geet, swallowing hard. "I couldn't be without you. . . ." And she knew that she genuinely could not. Her love and commitment to him was coming into sharp focus after thinking she had almost lost him just hours ago.

Maan smiled weakly. "I can't be without you, either, Geet."

"I miss you," Geet whispered. "I miss us."

"I miss you more," said Maan, his stomach tightening. "You were everything to me, you know that." He paused. "*Are* everything," he amended quietly. As harebrained as his friends' plan was, Maan couldn't deny that this trip had clearly evidenced that he was still overwhelmingly in love with Geet and would do anything to keep her safe. Following her around that ridiculous haunted house and through the dangerous door proved that, to himself and to everyone else.

Geet bit her lip to forestall tears, to no avail. "I love you, so very much. Can we . . . try again?"

Maan leaned over to pull Geet into an embrace. Some part of him was still wary about their future, about her ability to commit to marriage, but he knew that she loved him with every breath in her body and maybe . . . maybe that was enough until she was ready to give herself to him legally.

"Of course, my love," Maan murmured into Geet's hair as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Of course."

"One more thing," said Geet. She kissed his cheek before releasing him.

"And what's that?" asked Maan. He smoothed back her tresses, and despite the dull ache in his forehead, felt more joy and peace than he had in many weeks.

Geet grinned. "Will you marry me?"

---

Two years later . . . .

"Geet, sweetheart, I think that's enough," said Maan warily. He watched Geet standing in their enormous kitchen, topping a birthday cake with extra mounds of frosting.

"But our baby boy will love it!" Geet protested, chucking a handful of chocolate chips onto the cake.

"I'm sure you will love it just as much as Nilay," Maan teased, wrapping his arms around his wife's waist and laughing into her neck. He marveled at his good fortune. If someone had asked him two years ago whether he could see himself with Geet, decorating a birthday cake for their one-year-old son, Nilay, he wouldn't have even tried to put himself through the pain of envisioning it. Indeed, talking to Geet about marriage used to be like pulling teeth, and all hope had seemed lost.

But after Adi and Pinky's "engagement trip," if you could call it that, Maan and Geet's relationship had taken on a new dimension. Maan remembered vividly the scene in the hospital room, when Geet had proposed. He had smiled warmly at her request, kissed her forehead, and accepted -- of course. He had no doubt that Geet would commit to the marriage, but still knew in his heart that she must feel at least slightly scared and unsure. He had then made sure that the two attended couples' counseling. The two had spent quite some time working through Geet's fear of commitment, grounded in her own childhood experiences.

When Maan was fairly confident that Geet was ready to get married, he had whisked her away on a long trip and officially proposed to her under the starlit sky -- he couldn't deny that he was still old-fashioned, and wanted to be the one proposing. Geet had, of course, accepted, happy tears flowing down her cheeks. The wedding had been grand and sparkling, and, incidentally, where Zoya had met her husband. After Maan and Geet tied the knot, it wasn't long before their light and joy, Nilay, came along.

"Are you ready, dear?" Jaya called out. Geet still kept in contact Jaya, the woman who had let Geet pour her heart out at the museum, and Jaya sometimes babysat Nilay. She was helping out today for the birthday party as well.

"Ready!" Geet sang out. She rushed toward Jaya and the baby and swung Nilay around. "Happy birthday, my darling!" she exclaimed, showering him with kisses. Maan and Jaya laughed, following Geet outside to the Khuranas' humongous backyard, where the birthday party was being held. Plenty of guests had already arrived, including Anjana and her parents, Alvira ("The woman who brought us again together for good," Maan often joked), Pinky and Adi, Zoya and her husband, and plenty of others.

Geet watched, Nilay in her arms, as Maan set the cake down on a giant picnic table and gathered the guests around. She couldn't believe that she had denied herself a family for so long, had almost let her fears from the past dictate her future. The counseling had been enormously helpful, and she was thankful to Maan for his patience and willingness to work through her past. He really was a gem, and so, of course, was her little boy.

"Come here, sweetheart," said Maan, motioning toward Geet. "Time for cake."

Geet slipped into her husband's embrace and joined in as the crowd sang happy birthday to their prince. Within moments, Nilay had smeared frosting all over his face and was giggling delightedly.

"See, I told you he would love it!" Geet exclaimed. Maan laughed and kissed her forehead. He once again thanked his lucky stars that his relationship with Geet, which had left them both trembling with uncertainty and pain for so long, had reached solid, blissful ground. Maan wrapped his family into a tight embrace and vowed to protect and love them, for always.

THE END.

Many thanks to everyone who followed along with this story! I really appreciate all the feedback, and "like"s! It definitely kept me going update! Big hugs to all of you. Mwahhh! <3

and the story is over?? never expected it...but anyways thanx for the story...😊😊

Awesome dear..
Thanks for ending it the right way
Loved it as a whole..them being happily married 😃

awesome u d

Sorry for showing up on last update!

ye sab artificial tha? 😲🤣