His firefly||Manan OS

She frantically ran, looking every corridor, searching for only one face, his face. She crossed the rehearsal room where he practiced with his band members, it wasn't right to call them his band members, they were more important to him; they were his friends, his buddies.

She heard giggles echoing the room, they weren't practicing, they probably took a break, and she heard Cabir crack one of his stupid jokes, earning a smack from Mukti and a chuckle from Alya. She heard everyone's voice, just not his. She walked to the other side of the room, hoping to get his glimpse from the slightly opened door.

___

He knew she was there, hoping for him to look at her once, just once. But he won't, he knew if he looked at her she would reason with him, justify everything and calm him. He wasn't ready for that, he wasn't ready to let go of his anger, not after what he saw, he wasn't letting that jerk Harshad go so easily.

He looked at her, sighed and left the room, unnoticed by everyone but her.

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Nandini followed him, hoping that he didn't come across Harshad, not now, not today. But to her dismay, she saw Harshad, walking across the hall, Navya and Shahid tagged along. She quickly joined them, hoping to distract Harshad but he'd already seen Manik, both the guys standing opposite each other, few inches apart. Manik's anger came back, how he wished to strangle Harshad to death, but he did what he has been avoiding, he looked at her, over Harshad's shoulder, her eyes pleading, and her lips curving into a smile.

That smile. Her signature smile. The smile did a lot of things to him. It melt his insides, which eased his pain. He loved it when she smiled for him, she smiled for everyone, but that didn't have the same magic. She reserved this smile only for him; he had a copyright on it.

It worked, he walked away, not saying a word to Harshad, giving a sideways glance to his Nandini, and he left. She tried following him, but he was too fast. She called him, once, twice, no answer, thrice, he switched his phone off. She hired an auto rickshaw to Manik's place.

"Aiyappa! I hope he's alright. He didn't say a word to Harshad only because I asked him not to. Aiyyo, he's going to blast his room. I hope he doesn't hurt himself", she slapped her head with her palm. "Aiyappa", she looked up, silently asking her Aiyappa to take care of everything.

She asked one of his servant's about Manik, she was right, he had come home. She leaped into his room, only to be shocked at the sight. The pillows were torn, soft white cotton spread all over the place, some sprinkled on the lamp, which lay broken. Cupboard open, clothes lay on the floor, she walked into the room, carefully placing her feet one by one. She looked at the trophies, scattered, broken, a blood stain on the wall, he must have punched the wall, she shook her head.

She searched for him, calling out his name, "Manik?" He sat on the floor, behind the couch, his fist tightened, face blood red, eyes bulging out a little, legs spread long. She saw his head peeping from behind the couch, she sighed and sat next to him, taking his bruised hand, he flinched and moved away, she drew herself closer, held his hand again, wiping the blood with her handkerchief. A tear rolled down her right cheek. How she hated to see him in pain, how she hated to become his weakness. How she hated to be in a rival band, how she hated everything that happened today.

"Manik, look at me na", she looked at him, face slightly tilted forward.

He didn't move. "Manik please, look at me", she requested, her throat forming a lump.

He looked at her, into those big doe eyes, those beautiful eyes, and just like that, his pain and anger had disappeared, as if her eyes cast a spell on him, his body relaxed, his fists opened, letting her entwine her fingers with his. He loved how she calmed him, as if she knew how to push the right buttons.

Manik never understood how he found her. He had always lived a loveless life, all he had was his friends, his music, but there was a yearning, which never left him. A desire to have someone, who could love him like no one, who could clear his messed up life, who could bring out his better side and here she was, his love, his happiness, his world. Manik smiled at her. He loved her, he promised that he would give her the best love story and she trusted him, just like he did.

"Manik, I wan't you to win this competition," she smiled.

"I know I'm from the rival band, and I shouldn't say this, but I want you to win, Nandini wants her Manik to win," she pecked his lips lightly and rested her head on his chest.

"I've already won Nandu, I've won the most important thing, " he finally spoke, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, softly caressing it.

"I won you, my precious." He smiled. "I won you, the stupid firefly who glows only for her true love," he chuckled while pinching her nose, earning a smack from Nandini.

"Stupid firefly that glows only for her Manik," she corrected.

It was blissful to see these two people in love, wrapped around each other, comfortably happy in their own little world.

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That's the end of the torture. 😆 Please leave in your comments and let me know what you thought. <3