AryLie Drabble - Together With Her

Aryan panicked as he looked into Imlie’s eyes.

He couldn’t die. There were so many things he had yet to do. So many milestones he had yet to achieve. So many confessions he had yet to make.

He couldn’t die yet, not now, not when he’s just found another reason to live.

Somewhere along the way of him giving life lessons to Imlie, she had given him his will to live again.

So no, he wasn’t ready to die, and he wouldn’t let her die too.

And just as the timer touched the very last second, he threw the trophy. Away. From himself. From her.

He would not jeopardise her life, not when she does it to herself too many times already.

Alas, he couldn’t turn back time, and wasn’t fast enough.

The next second, when the bomb exploded, both him and Imlie were pushed away at the impact, the sound of explosion ringing in their ears.

He tried to look for Imlie, she looked angelic today, she was shining and she didn’t even know. She was glowing and she wasn’t even aware.

And just as it seemed to happen nowadays, he did find her, sprawled across the floor, just a few paces beside him, and he crawled over to her.

His hand found hers, and her gaze met his.

He wanted to take away the distress and the tears her eyes held. He wanted to bundle her up and keep her safe. He wanted to tug her and cuddle her to himself. He wanted to hold her and make her feel safe again.

The ringing in his ears sharpened, and he couldn’t hear her, and he was sure she couldn’t hear him too.

They were too close to the impact to get away scot-free.

As he succumbed to unconsciousness, the only thought that pierced his mind was that she remained safe.

There were many things still unspoken between them, and he hoped, he just wished that they would talk again.

Aryan woke up in a car, speeding past a highway surrounded by old trees and dry leaves.

He was sure that he didn’t remember how he got here.

Was he dreaming?

Was the bomb a dream?

Disoriented, he looked around.

And there she was, safe, sound, and smiling.

The best version of herself.

A smile, unbidden, and unallowed, spread across his face, and she was quick to catch it.

He looked as she looked at him, incredulous, and asked, “Thik ho ABP?(Are you okay ABP?)”

Aryan just huffed, shaking his head sideways. His smile was enough for her to question his well-being. Some things didn’t change after all.

Imlie took one of her hands off the steering wheel to check his temperature, and he moved away from her, as he always did. She persisted, as she always did.

He smiled.

She freaked out.

Imlie turned her gaze away from the road to glimpse at him for a second and asked, “Ek hi minute maan dui smile? ABP, toka hui gawa hai?(Two smiles within a minute? ABP, what is up with you?)”

Aryan got himself under control and answered, brusquely, “Raste pe dhyaan do.(Pay attention to the road.)”

Imlie huffed, murmuring a “Nakchada Akkad Bagga” under her breath, causing Aryan to raise an eyebrow.

Some things never would change.

As he was lost in contemplation over how much Imlie had begun to mean to him, the car came to a screeching halt, turning his contemplations to how much he wanted to kill Imlie.

He looked at her, but her gaze was stuck on a swing attached to a tree on the side of the road. Before he could even start to discourage her, she was taking the car off the road and putting it to park, and in the next moment she was out of it.

She literally bounced to the swing.

He shook his head again.

She would always be like this.

He got out of the car too, watching as she placed herself on the swing, kicking off the ground, the swing moving slowly at her first kick.

He shook his head and leaned against his car, waiting for her to get the excitement out of her by playing to her heart’s content.

Just as the pace of the swing increased, the sound of her laughter reverberated around the peace that had settled over the place, her whoops of excitement and her absurd singing disturbing the stillness of the place.

Aryan smiled, as always, her presence was enough, the place was no longer the same.

He was no longer the same.

She had come into his life, and vibrated all over the tranquillity it held.

She had come into his life, chaos personified to destroy his order.

She had come into his life, colouring up the greys.

She had come into his life.

As Imlie swung in excitement Aryan felt excitement rush through him too. She was contagious, and he adored her.

He, completely and utterly, adored her.

Imlie suddenly called him out, “Kaahe apan mein muskarawat ho ABP? Aao, humka dhakka dyo!(Why are you smiling by yourself ABP? Come, push me.)”

Aryan just shook his head, and moved behind her, pushing her when she came back to him, slowly, so that she would slow down, because why should she have all the fun?

She had come into his life, changing it.

Has he changed hers too?

As the swing slowed down at his continuous slow pushes, he finally found a chance to grab her waist, stopping her from swinging away from him, eliciting a gasp from her.

Oh he saw the way his touch affected her. He noticed the way her breath stuck in her throat as he moved closer to her. He heard the gasps she made when she began breathing again too. He felt her heartbeat fasten when he moved in her space.

So he knew, he knew what his hands on her waist would do to her, and he also knew what he was doing when he brought his chest against her back, pressing her close to him.

Never let it be said that Aryan Singh Rathore did anything without making the other person go mad.

He leaned forward, blowing in her ear while whispering, “Aise hi thi tum? Pehle?(Were you like this? Before?)”

Imlie shuddered, her eyes closing at his proximity. She inhaled, and answered, “Hum abhai bhi aisan hi hai.(I’m like this now also.)”

Aryan’s nose grazed her ear as he asked again, “Mere saath toh nahi. All this makes me real curious, you know? Pehle mujhe mili hoti toh kya mere saath bhi aisi hi hoti?(Not with me, no. All this makes me really curious, you know? If you’d be the same with me if I had found you first.)”

Imlie’s eyes opened at his question, at a loss at how that would’ve turned out to be. She turned her head slightly, to look at him, and there he was, his lips pulled in a smirk, but his eyes an altogether different story.

Aryan looked as she collected herself, crossing her knees beneath her, safe in his embrace. She then found his hands on her waist, and pulled them in front of her, over her stomach, wrapping his arms around her as her hands covered his.

Aryan watched on, curious to know what she would do next, and how she would answer the question.

She answered, looking down at their hands, “Hum jaisan bhi mile hote, aisan hi hote. Hum tohar, aur tum humar hi hote.(It doesn’t matter how we met, we would be the same. I would still be yours, and you would still be mine.)”

Aryan’s heart burst out at her confession. Oh he loved her. He loved her and yes, she was his and he was hers.

And she was sure that in any case, they would end up the same.

Together.

She turned her head again, her lips brushing his jaw in the sweetest of kisses.

Aryan smiled, his lips finding her forehead, in a kiss as gentle as the wind, but with as much strength as a promise.

As the ringing returned to his ears, he promised himself that this day, this life, this time, would come to him.

He would come to this point in his life, and Imlie will be beside him.

As the peace was destroyed with noise, as the sweet smell of sunlight was replaced by the harsh smell of smoke, as the illusion shattered right in front of his eyes, he looked into Imlie’s eyes and promised himself.

He would find his together with her.