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"We can't do this anymore... I can't do this anymore." Sona murmured as tears welled up in her eyes. Dev's heart sank at her words, as his eyes began to fill up with tears as well.
"Why not?" Sona stared at his oblivious self in disbelief. Dev knew exactly what reasons she was going to list out any second now, but he wanted to hear them from her.
She smirked. "I can go on and on, Dev." Standing up, she turned away from him, not wanting him to see her pathetic state. "You know nobody's happy with this relationship."
"I am." He shot back.
"That's not the point, Dev. The point is we're being selfish. In this thing called love that I described to you, people tend to become selfish. And that's exactly what's happening. I don't want this to continue any longer."
Dev sat still for a while, trying to digest her words. "And they're not being selfish?" He stood up, crossing his arms and walking towards her. "Why do we have to listen to what other people want?"
Sona turned back abruptly to face him eye-to-eye. "Because they are your family members. They've sacrificed so much for you." Her voice began to crack as she choked in the tears that were dying to spill out.
"But I can't do this." Dev said as he approached her, jerking her by her arms. His pupils began to dilate as his hold on her grew tighter, his thumbs pressing indents into her skin. "Why do we have to sacrifice? What have you taken this relationship to be? A sacrifice?"
"Dev, you're hurting me." She replied, motioning to his aggressive grip on her. He let go of her instantly.
"No, Sonakshi. You're hurting me." She furrowed her brows at him. "Why did you do this to me, Sonakshi? Why did you introduce me to this happy concept of love, only to decide to leave me later? Why promise something if you can't keep the promise?"
She paused, trying to organize the jumble of thoughts in her head. "Dev, this is hurting me too. But it's hurting not just us. Your mom is hurting too."
"I can explain to Maa. She'll understand."
"Then why don't you explain? It's been what, a month into our relationship, and you still haven't justified anything yet." Dev lowered his gaze, shameful of his coward-like actions. But what could he do? He loved both his Sona and his mom. The thought of losing either of them was heart-wrenching.
"What did I do to deserve this?" Dev asked her innocently, his own voice beginning to crack.
"You don't deserve this, Dev." She weakly replied, as tears began to fall down her cheeks. "I never wanted this to happen."
Dev soon began to cry seeing tears fall out of her beautiful eyes- he couldn't stand to see her in distress.
He pulled her closer to him, so her hands were stuck between both of their bodies, resting on his chest.
"Tell me, Sonakshi. Do you love me?"
"Of course." She replied, still avoiding her gaze with him.
"Good. Because that's all that matters."
Sona looked up in confusion at him.
"But, how will my love help us out?"
"I don't know. But didn't we watch a movie together, where a guy fell in love with a girl and couldn't marry her? I remember he said that If you truly want something from the heart, the whole universe conspires to bring it to you."
Sona stared at him blankly, and then began to laugh through her tears.
"Kya?" Dev asked.
She giggled as she wiped her wet cheeks. "Since when have you started remembering these cheesy lines Dev?"
He flashed a grin at her, happy that he managed to bring a smile on to her face. He loved her smile. It made him forget about all of the stresses he had in his life; her smile gave him solace.
"Since I fell in love with you." He placed his hand on the small of her back, caressing her hair with his other hand. Sliding his hand from her head to her cheek, he cupped her face ever so lovingly. "Sona, I know our love is having some difficulty right now. But I want you to know that if we believe in our love, and stay together, we will get over every hurdle. I promise." He softly pecked her forehead. She smiled as she leaned in, capturing his lips with hers.