Our Time | Parts 1-3 | Complete [AbhiGya SS]

Her entire body was heavy. That was all Pragya could think. Every small part of her, from the tips of her toes to her eyelids, felt like an incredible weight. She moaned.

Slowly, she lifted her body up. She brought her arms up her sides and pushed her torso off from the bed, finally opening her eyes. Luckily, the room was dim, so she didn't recoil immediately. But where was she? She was sure she had never been in such a dark place other than that...

That warehouse. When she was kidnapped.

Fear prickled through her heart. "Hello?" she called, levels desperation ringing through her single word.

There were footsteps, and the door opened a shadowy figure entered the room.

"Di!"

Pragya knew that voice. She sighed in relief.

"Purab?" she called. She flinched when her voice cracked. Clearing her throat, she tried again. "Purab, what am I doing here? Where is this?"

"You passed out on a street, di," Purab fully entered the room and poured a cup of water from a pitcher on the table. "Pu- I mean, my friend called me to bring you here. She knew I lived closest to the streets you were on so..."

"Your friend?" Pragya's eyebrows scrunched together. "How did she know you'd know me?"

Purab avoided her gaze, taking a seat at the end of the bed and offering her the full cup. "It was Purvi."

Pragya chose not to say anything else on the topic, instead accepting the glass of water from him.

"Di, what happened?" Purab tried to change the subject. "When I got there, it looked like you were crying. Did Abhi say something?"

She shook her head. But hearing his name like that...she couldn't help but start crying again. A couple of tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, but she ignored them, taking a gulp of water from the glass. As her tears trailed down her cheeks, they reached her mouth, the salty taste burning her cracked, chapped lips. She licked them.

The reaction to her husband's name did not go unnoticed by Purab. "What did he do?"

"Nothing, Purab," she shakily said. "He did absolutely nothing wrong. He was just planning for his future with the person he loves. I just happened to be in the way."

"He asked for a divorce?!" Purab jumped to his feet, coming up with his own conclusion. "To be with Tanu?!"

"No, but he will," Pragya looked down. "After all, he's already started marriage preparations."

Purab pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are you sure?"

"I'm the one who helped settle it with Tanu's parents, Purab!" She was shouting now, upset that he was listening. "I'm sure!"

"What?! Why would you do that?!" Purab started pacing, eyes clenched shut.

"I didn't know I was doing it! He...he fooled me," Pragya turned red with shame, her eyes prickling with anger, directed at her husband and herself.

Purab took a seat again, sighing. They sat in silence for the longest time. Suddenly, a phone went off. Pragya jumped at the noise.

"Sorry," Purab said, pulling out his phone. He looked on the screen and saw Abhi's name. He hesitantly looked up at his best friend's wife, before sliding his finger across the screen to accept the call. Before he started talking, however, he put it on speaker mode.

"Bhai?" he said.

"Purab!" Abhi shouted through the phone, causing Pragya to flinch. "Do you know where Pragya is?!"

Purab was silent. Should he say something? He looked up at the woman in question. She urgently shook her head from side to side.

"No," he finally said. "Did something happen?"

"I woke up and she wasn't here, there was broken glass and blood on the floor, and Daasi said she ran out in a hurry this morning. I already called Sarla Aunty, and I searched the entire house!" Abhi sounded frustrated beyond belief. "I even went to the jail and threatened Neil to fess up if he still had someone doing his dirty work, just in case!"

"Bhai, calm down," Purab tried to console him. "It's only been a few hours, right? Maybe she just had something to do. I'm sure she'll be back soon."

"But, Purab," Abhi started. "What about the glass and blood?"

"I don't know," Purab said, giving Pragya a look, indicating he was curious about that as well.

"This is just like Fuggy," Abhi's defense mechanism went up. "She's probably just out, relaxing or something, and I'm running around like some mad dog looking for her."

"You're probably right," Purab said, rolling his eyes. "She'll be back soon."

Abhi grunted in agreement. "...But just in case, I'm going to pay a visit to that Double Battery."

Purab groaned. "Fine, you do that. Tell me what happens, okay?" He then ended the call.

"Thank you," Pragya said.

"No problem," Purab sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose again. "C'mon, there's a washroom in the next room, you can get refreshed while I make some tea."

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Pragya adjusted her dupatta as she walked into the room. The room she shared with Abhi. With teary eyes, she looked around. Soon enough, it would be only his room. And afterwards, his and Tanu's room.

Pursing her lips, she looked down at the ground and turned to go to the wardrobe. Before she could take even two steps though, she banged her forehead against something hard, gray, and tall. She stumbled backwards, but before she could drop, arms circled around her waist. Her own hands instinctively went up to the shoulders of her savior.

Once upon a time, she called him her captor. Now, he was her savior.

She vaguely remembered reading about Stockholm's syndrome. It almost made her want to laugh.

As she looked up, Abhi's eyes bore into hers, stirring something fierce in her. It was always like this. They'd somehow fall over each other and become lost in their own little world.

A world that didn't exist.

A world that couldn't ever exist after today.

She looked away and properly got to her feet, not giving him the chance to help her. He whistled to fill the awkward silence.

"Where were you?" Abhi finally asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

"O-out," Pragya shrugged, trying to stop her voice from wavering. "I-I had some...work.

Abhi furrows his brows. "Then why was there glass and blood on the floor this morning? Are you hurt?" His eyes scan her petite frame for any injuries and she shifts uncomfortably under his gaze.

"I'm f-fine," she said.

Liar, her mind whispered. She didn't argue.

"I was just clumsy, and I was going to clean it up, but something came up," she continued.

He nodded, but he didn't look entirely convinced with her excuse.

"Were you worried?"

She isn't sure why she's asking him this. Why would he be worried? He doesn't love her. He doesn't care for her. But at the same time, she needs this. She needs some reassurance that she means something to him.

"Pssh, worried? Me? Never."

She almost smiles. He was.

But then Pragya remembers that morning. And her lips twitch downward. Abhi looks amused. Her response is for her mouth to dip down even more.

"Not funny?" he asks, nudging her.

"Not everything's a joke." She crosses her arms, refusing to look at him.

"Fuggy," he stresses the syllables as he usually does, the joshing smile still on his face as he leans forward.. "Why are you suddenly so serious? Does the professor have too many papers to grade?"

Ever since she had gotten married, she hadn't officially gone to work. She would pick up papers, grade at home, and send them back. She still got paid, and she didn't have to stand through hour long lectures. And she could stay at home to take care of Daadi. She had figured it was a win-win situation. But now, it looked like she'd be back in the classroom in no time.

"Better than what you do." She tries to be as normal as possible. "Your music' is so tasteless. You have talent, I admit, but what you do with it is an...abomination."

"Big words from the professor," Abhi teases.

It almost works. She almost distracts herself. She almost forgets for a second. Almost.

It's too much of a struggle, though, keeping up this facade, trying not to break down at the smallest things- the sound of his voice, the way he rocks back and forth on the falls of his feet. The smallest things that she holds so close. Things she'll be so far from in a matter of months.

She can't forget and fake it.

"Anyway, I have to go out," Abhi says, turning away to look for his phone.

Pragya sees it on the couch and picks it up, holding it up for him. However, he doesn't notice and continues to search the room. She clears her throat.

He turns to her, embarrassment clouding his face for a second, only to be replaced by his cocky smirk. "I knew that, I was just testing you."

They stare at each other for a second, and his goofy grin slowly slips down to make way for a frown when she doesn't react. "Hey, what's with the look?"

"Nothing," she looks away, instead focusing on the rumpled bedsheets. "Don't you have to go somewhere?"

"Right!" He snaps his fingers. "I need to go meet...some clients. And I might come home late, so tell everyone to have dinner without me."

Pragya stiffens. She noticed his hesitation. She noticed his use of the word clients'.

He's about to walk out, walk away.

"Wait, suniye!" she calls, her voice nearly cracking. He stops and turns back to her. But she can't pick up the courage to say anything else. So she doesn't. She stares at him.

"Kya hai, Fuggy? I'm gonna be late," he says, shaking his leg.

And stares.

"Fuggy?"

And stares, gulping in as much air as she can.

"What's the matter with you?"

And stares, biting her cheek.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?!"

And stares, trying and failing not to blink.

"Did something happen?! Is Auntyji okay?! Rockstar Daadi?! Talk to me!"

And she takes a deep breath.

"Fugg-"

"When did you start lying to me?"

Part 3

http://sonachashma.tumblr.com/post/124451557591/our-time-part-3-opening-skies-abhigya-ss

He freezes. "What do you mean?"

Abhi tries to take a step forward. But she only steps back.

"I just...I just thought..." She can't go on.

"What are you talking about?" His eyes narrow in defiance. "I can't give an answer to your confession yet if that's-"

"IT'S NOT ABOUT THAT!" Pragya shrieks, finally losing all sense of composure. Her head is pounding, and she reels forward, clutching the sides of her skull. Abhi tries to move closer to her again, but she only steps back once more. Her ears are ringing from the force of her own shout, and when she speaks again, it's more soft for her own sake.

"For once in your life will you just listen to me?!" She's scaring herself from this sudden display of power, but she refuses to stop. "You always make your own conclusions and believe the first idea that enters your head! Just shut up, please! This isn't about the confession, okay? I get it, you don't love me and-"

"I never said-" He tries to cut in.

"I said shut up!" She's shaking like a lone leaf on a tree in the middle of winter. "I told you that I never expected anything from you! And that still stands! I don't expect you to do anything special for me! I just thought that even if we weren't lovers, we were allies, comrades, or maybe even friends! But none of that meant anything, huh?! Is that why you betrayed me like this?"

Abhi doesn't say anything for the longest time. The only sounds in the otherwise silent room are her hard, shaky breaths as she sobs.

"Pragya," his voice cracks, and he winces both at the sound and his willingness to speak. "Is this about Tanu? Is it because when we came back she kissed me in front of you and I let her? If you want I'll make sure to keep her away from you at least."

She doesn't understand where this burst of venom running through her veins came from. All she knows is that it's channeling her every action and every word. She, who never had the will to hurt anyone in her life, wants to hurt him. She wants him to go through what she did. He did this to her, he's the one that changed her into this. He was Frankenstein. She was Frankenstein's monster.

"Tanu?!" Pragya hisses. "That's all it's ever about, isn't it? But, you know, she's not even a quarter of the problem. You're the problem here! You married me and ruined me. You ruined my hope for nice happy family, a caring husband and children and a future. You ruined my happiness by torturing' me with your sister and girlfriend. You ruined my self-respect, having me stay with you while you continued to cheat on me. You ruined my self-esteem, degrading me whenever possible. You ruined my life, and it's my fault for letting you. How ironic is it that I hate you so much for making me fall in love with you?"

He's crying now, too. He doesn't know when he started, but now his eyes are burning. Abhi hastily wipes his face with the backs of his hands, rubbing the skin red and raw. He knew he hurt her a lot. But he never imagined he took so much from her.

"Did you think I wouldn't find out?" She's calmer now. But it's a scary kind of calm. It's like the calm after a hurricane, and everyone's coming out and trying to clean up, but the clouds are still out, so everyone knows there will be another storm. It's like waiting for the aftershock of an earthquake while standing next to a volcano. Or maybe an ocean, where a tsunami can sweep one away. "About your...clients?'"

She knows, his mind screams. But that isn't the worst part. The worst part, to be honest, he's afraid. He really afraid of this petite, defensive-about-her-chashma, chatri-wearing, nerdy book lover of a wife. He's afraid he let her down, because she's one of the few people who he could always trust to have his back. So even though it's stupid and really out of context, he says so.

"I trust you."

"Good to know," Pragya snorts. "And how should I return this service to you, oh great one who has blessed me with your trust? Am I supposed to trust you, too?"

"I knew I could trust you," he continued. "I knew you'd support me no matter what, even this when I told you. I would have told you. But that would mean admitting I was ready to let you go."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that," Pragya snarled. "I'm leaving you. Whether you like it or not."

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Abhi should have seen this coming. He knew everyone had a breaking point. Why did he delude himself into thinking she was the exception? She could only take so much. And then there was him, pushing and pushing and pushing.

Purab had warned him of this. He vaguely remembers Purab telling him not to take Pragya and her ability to forgive for granted. He should have listened.

To be fair, he isn't the best listener. He never really was. He never listened to his teachers and did his classwork. He never listened to his managers and went along with their stuffy schedules. He never listened to his Daadi and tried to make Pragya happy.

The people he always listened to instead, Aaliya and Tanu, pushed him around and played him like a violin, pulling all his strings. They're the ones who convinced him that Pragya deserved this, and they're the ones who caused him to ruin someone else's life. He could pin it all on them. But he had listened, and he had acted a lot worse than he had to.

The days when he could brush Pragya off were long gone. He couldn't pretend like she was in the wrong, that she deserved it, and that she was no one but the enemy to him so he should stop caring about her feelings. He knew none of that applied anymore.

Everything was such a mess. It was all crashing and burning around him. He didn't know what to do anymore. He needed help. And the only one that could do that was her.

But she was gone. And it was his own fault.

He needed her so much right now. He always needed her.

He looked at the coffee cup in his hand. He knew Robin had made it, and while the boy knew how he liked it, it tasted bitter now compared to Pragya's.

He grinded his teeth.

"Beta?"

Abhi jumped at the sudden noise invading his thoughts. His coffee sloshed out of his mug and spilled across the thigh, but the burn barely registered. As his grandmother entered, he quickly crossed his legs to hide the stain.

"Beta, where is bahu?" Daadi smiled at him, and his heart sunk. This woman had given everything to raise him and Aaliya, taking care of them, hearing out their problems, and being his number one fan. All she asked from him was that he take care of Pragya and be happy with her. And how he had let her down.

"College reunion." He swallowed hard. "In...Delhi."

"She didn't tell me she was going!" Worry flitted across his grandmother's face, and Abhi nearly threw up. He loved her more than anything, and she loved Pragya. By default, he should have loved Pragya, too. He should have kept her happy, if only to keep Daadi happy. "Will she be alright? Why didn't you go with her?"

Abhi looked away. "She'll be fine. She's a smart girl. I wanted to go, but she told me that I would take the spotlight'. Whatever that means."

"Maybe it's better you didn't go." Daadi's eyes twinkle with mischief. "She's right to take your ego down a few notches."

"Daadi!" Abhi whined.

"Is that why you're moping so much?"

As the conversation turned away from his wife, Abhi felt some of the weight on his shoulders temporarily ease. It was almost like old times, him and grandmother just talking.

Now if only he could stop imagining Pragya in the corner of the room, looking at them with a combination of amusement and adoration, a smile gracing her features.

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"I broke it off. Made it clear and everything. I even told her why." Abhi breathes.

"Why?"

"I would rather be with you." He knows it's the right thing to do. And more importantly, he realized it's what he wants to do. He wants her back. She is his normal and his crazy.

"I'm glad to know that you think choosing' me will fix everything. Why was there a choice to make in the first place?"

He knew this would be hard. But he's willing to go through it, all of it. "That's not what I-"

Click.

"Hello? Hello? Pragya? Pragya, please..." Dread fills him. It's supposed to be all better now. Things are supposed to be okay now. So why aren't they? Why can't he ever fix anything without her? Why can he only destroy while she continues to mend?

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The divorce papers are his undoing. It hasn't even been a week since she left, and she was already farther than he imagined she'd ever be from him.

So he hunted. He had his people do their research, and with his extensive sources, he finally found her.

"What are you doing in my hotel room?!" she shrieks.

Oh, and a little bribery can go a long way.

"Seriously, who let you in?!" Pragya's face is red and her cheeks are filled with air and she's blowing hair out of her eyes. Oh, how he missed seeing her riled up like this.

"The manager," he smirks.

She stares hard at him. "It's against the policy to let strangers up into a guest's room."

"Baby, I'm a rockstar," he winks. "I have my ways."

She doesn't smile.

"Okay, not funny." He sheepishly puts his hand in his pockets. His face suddenly becomes grim. "Join me for dinner?"

She doesn't even look at him.

"We can discuss this." He pulls out the wretched papers.

Finally, Pragya looks back. She sees the papers and her eyes widen in recognition, then narrow as she observes him, hoping to discern his motives. She finds nothing.

"Fine," she sighs. She lets him lead her out.

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This is heaven and hell for him. He has her in front of him again, but she still hates to love him.

It's okay, though. He'll find a way to get to her.

She knows all of this. And it's too much to deal with. Even rubber bands can break.

But they're talking and communicating now, and it's getting a little easier to handle. Dinner starts with talks of professions("How's your new album doing?" / "Fine."), and eventually goes to family ("Daadi misses you." / "I know."). Minutes turn into hours. Hours turn into days.

After nearly a week of their psuedo-vacation, the divorce papers are ripped up as she promises to come back, but only for their loved ones. Somehow, that leads to banter and verbal spars and sarcastic, witty comments.

And soon, everything's almost normal again.

Well, almost.

When he gets on the floor in full view of the people in the hotel lobby, asking to marry her again properly, she nearly slaps him.

When she says yes. she nearly slaps herself.

He whisks her away to a nearby temple.

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"Wait, stop the car," Pragya hesitantly puts her hand on his. He obediently pulls over. "Did you put something in my drink?"

"No," Abhi looks offended she would even ask.

"Then why I did I agree to get married again to someone who only hurts me in a random temple in Delhi away from home in the middle of the night with no witnesses?"

"You love me." He smiles. It's a goofy smile.

"At a danger to myself." She closes her eyes.

They pop open when she feels something prickly yet soft land on her cheek. In shock, she sees Abhi's face suddenly very close to her- he was nuzzling her.

"I know you still love me," he whispers. "Don't stop anytime soon, please. Keep loving me, because even if I'm still learning, it will become easier knowing you're still there for me. Don't ever leave me, and I won't ever betray you again...without your permission at least."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Pragya shudders as he chuckles into her neck, a shiver running down her spine.

"Well, knowing our crazy, hectic lives, there may come a time we have to pretend to betray each other. So in advance, I'm letting you know." He affectionately rubs his nose against her ear.

"You've been watching too many of those Hindi serials."

"I believe I was in the middle of a confession." Abhi threads his fingers through her hair.

Pragya nearly rolls her eyes. "Yes, go on."

He pulls away and looks her right in the eyes as he presses his forehead against hers. "I don't know if what I feel for you is strong enough to be called love yet. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. But it's something, and if it's not, then I will grow to love you. After all, it's you. You've become my everything and the center of my universe. How could I not? I'll love you just as much as you love me, and I'll always make sure you're happy. I'll make sure you never cry again, unless they're tears of happiness from seeing our child for the first time."

Suddenly she was blushing.

"We can have a future together, and it'll be okay. No more crazy exes. Please just stay." His eyes and lips are begging her, and her body is betraying her.

She internally screams at her heart to stop beating so loudly that he could probably hear. And just like that, she's willing to love him again.

He truly is her undoing.