FF: Unloved (Complete) - Page 63

Weeks had passed and Rudra and Parvati had grown fonder of each other, especially Paro. She felt a sense of comfort and normalcy around Rudra. She enjoyed his company and began missing him while he was away. Memories of her past, which constantly ate away at her during the beginning of her marriage, slowly began to ebb away as Rudra tried creating new memories with her, each more wonderful than the last. Her injuries were fully healed and she buried the thoughts of the incident in the back of her mind. As she changed, so did the rest of the Ranawat family.

Dilsher had become very protective of his daughter-in-law. After the incident, he'd dedicated more of his time to Paro. He spent many nights sitting with her and discussing books that she has read, taking in her thoughts and valuing her opinions. He even played chess with her, but lost almost every time. For Dilsher, being there for her more often now made him realize how much he hadn't been there for her during her first days in the home. He enjoyed her company but never showed it until now. The incident made him realize the value of spending time with Parvati, who was a gem of a person.

Mala's guilt ate away at her. She blamed herself for the orphanage incident believing that if she had gone with Paro instead of staying back the incident might possibly have been evaded overall. She apologized to her almost everyday, and Paro repeatedly told her not to blame herself. After the incident, Mala treated her daughter-in-law like she was a glass doll. She didn't want her to overwork herself or do anything that would hurt her. She even tried to feed her every meal with her own hands, as if the food would heal all her injuries and wounds. Finally, Parvati had to sit Mala down and calmly explain to her that everything was okay and she couldn't allow this guilt to eat away at her. It was hurting her more seeing her mother-in-law so distressed. After much explaining and convincing, Mala relented.

Rudra was the worst of them all. He was protective of Parvati to begin with, but the incident heightened it to an almost overbearing nature. He hovered over like a helicopter when he was at home, making sure she didn't do anything that would possibly cause her injury. When he was at work, he would call home at least five times a day to check in on her to make sure she was okay. Parvati sat him down on multiple occasions and explained to him that he didn't need to do this, but each time he didn't listen. Finally, she snapped one day and yelled at him, ordering him to stop this nonsense behavior. It was the first time she had actually shouted at him, and it made her feel terrible afterwards. However, that was what it took for Rudra to finally understand. He assured her that he didn't feel bad that she yelled, it was her right to do so over him. He backed off, but still maintained his protective demeanor.

~

It was a calm fall afternoon. Dilsher had gone to work early while Rudra had the day off and was sleeping in. Parvati was busy with Mala in the kitchen, preparing gajar ka halwa. She had never learned how to make it when mami-sa was alive, and wanted to learn how to make it, especially since it was her father-in-law's favorite. Mala was more than happy to teach her. After preparing it, the two women worked on preparing dinner.

"Maa-sa thank you for teaching me to make gajar ka halwa," Paro said again for the fourth time that day.

"Parvati you don't need to constantly thank me," Mala laughed as she cut the vegetables. "I loved teaching you. I always wanted a daughter to hand my recipes down to, and now that you're here I get to."

"I will make anything you teach me. I'm sure bapu-sa and Rudra won't mind."

"They'll need extra training to work it off though."

Parvati and Mala burst into a fit of giggles. They could just imagine their husbands having to put in extra training hours to work off all the food they had been eating.

"I hope bapu-sa will like the halwa," Paro said as she stirred the vegetables in the pot on the stove.

"Of course he will. You made it for him. I'm sure he will sit with the whole bowl to himself and not want to share. Rudra might get jealous." Mala suddenly gasped, startling Parvati. "I forgot about the dupattas in the courtyard. I have to go get them; they should be dry by now."

"No, it's okay. I'll go and get them."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'll get the dupattas and bring them in."

Parvati left the kitchen and headed into the courtyard where the dupattas were hanging on a line. She held them in her hands and, seeing that they were dry, pulled them off one by one. She placed them on the chair and began folding them. As she did, her thoughts automatically went to Rudra, specifically to their night on the terrace.

Parvati had woken up before him and saw their position. She couldn't help herself from staring at Rudra while he slept. He looked so calm and peaceful, like a sleeping warrior. His protectiveness over her seemed to continue even in his sleep as he held her close to himself. Parvati could feel the steady beating of his strong heart under the palm of her hand, which rested on his chest. She quickly disentangled herself from him, careful not to disturb his slumber. It wasn't that she was uncomfortable with the position they were in. To be honest, it felt good to wake up like that, but she wasn't ready to admit anything out loud. There was so much she was still trying to come to terms with before she could even think about moving forward. However, being with Rudra, it no longer felt wrong. In fact, she felt...wait, how does she feel?

As she continued to ponder these thoughts and her feelings, Parvati failed to notice that she was no longer alone in the courtyard. Rudra had woken up not too long ago and his eyes immediately searched for Paro. Seeing that she wasn't in the room, he quickly showered and went to find her. It was while he was heading to the kitchen that he caught a glimpse of her in the courtyard. He made his way to her, but slowed his strides down as he saw her lost in her own world. She was facing him, but her gaze was downcast. Her hands mechanically folded the dupattas. Rudra leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed against his chest. He took in Paro's appearance: hair open, a simple green sari with a long-sleeve, black blouse, a pair of silver jhumkas and a mangalsuthra her only pieces of jewelry, and the streak of red in her maang completed the simple, yet beautiful look. He continued to observe her for awhile, wondering what she was thinking about and how long it would take her to notice his presence.

Parvati, meanwhile, was thinking about everything that Rudra had done for her. She could feel her feelings for him change, but she couldn't give it a name, at least not yet. She was afraid to do so, if fear that it would disappear. She didn't understand what she felt for Rudra, but one thing was for certain. Parvati didn't want to be without him. She no longer felt like she was obliged to do things for him because of everything he had done for her. Instead, she liked doing things for him and being with him. Things had shifted, it was different. Despite all of these thoughts going through her mind, Parvati never once voiced it to Rudra and didn't plan to until she figured out exactly how she felt.

As she snapped out of her thoughts, the freshly folded dupatta slipped out of her hands and fell to the ground. Parvati looked down and let out a small huff. She knelt down to grab it, but was taken aback to find a large hand already grabbing the dupatta. She looked up and was surprised to find Rudra standing there. They both stood up.

"A-aap?" Paro stuttered.

Rudra smirked and mimicked her, "Haan. M-main."

"What are you doing here? I thought you were sleeping."

"I just woke up and was looking for. I saw you out here from the hall. What are you doing out here?"

"Maa-sa wanted to bring the dupattas inside, but we were both busy in the kitchen. I told her I would bring it in for her, but I couldn't carry the messy heap so I decided to fold it out here before taking it inside."

"It looks like you need some help."

"No no. I can do it."

"I can see that," he looked at the messed up dupatta in his hands and then looked at her. "Let me help."

"But-."

"There's nothing wrong in me helping you, you know that right?"

"Yes, but-."

"Then stop arguing," Rudra laughed.

He handed her one end of the dupatta and stepped backed. Parvati watched as he did so. He playfully smirked at her as she looked down and grumbled to herself, her hands adjusting the dupatta in order to fold it properly. He copied her actions, listening to her murmur to herself.

"I really didn't need his help," she mumbled with a pout. "But no, he wants to help. He's so stubborn sometimes."

"What did you say?" he asked.

Parvati looked up startled, not realizing that she had said that out loud. She shook her head and tugged on the dupatta, "Nothing! Aap paas aaye na."

As she gasped realizing what she had just said, Rudra's smirk faded as his eyes widened in shock. Did she just say-?

Parvati fumbled, "I-I mean...umm-."

She couldn't continue as Rudra started coming closer to her. His steps were slow and calculative, but with the distance decreasing between them, Parvati felt her heart beat increase significantly. Their eyes locked, and she found herself slowly melting in the intensity of his gaze. Rudra, however, noticed the change her demeanor. He watched the innocent blush creep up on her cheeks, tinting them a deeper shade of pink as he moved closer to her. Her gaze, which never left his, held something that he had never seen before. It was almost an unspoken desire and longing, for what, Rudra didn't know. But he found himself melting with her.

He stopped in front of her and handed her his end of the dupatta before grabbing the other side. Without saying a word, Parvati gestured him to move away from her. He did so, but felt it almost unbearable to move away, even though it was just a foot or so between them. She then gestured him to come forward, and he came back with a slight eagerness in his step. Parvati handed him the other edge of the dupatta, but before he could go back Rudra held her hand.

In a low, husky whisper, he asked, "How many times will you send me away?"

Parvati barely managed to whisper an answer as she stared into his hopeful eyes, "Just... one last time."

As he back away and came forward for the last time, Rudra gently took the folded dupatta out of Parvati's hands. He held both hands in one of his while taking the other to place the dupatta on the pile on the chair, not once breaking eye contact with her. He straightened up and turned his full attention to Parvati. She watched as he took her hands in his and caressed her knuckles softly with his thumb. She couldn't help but step forward. Noticing the movement, Rudra held her hands against his chest before looking at her with a smile.

Parvati smiled back fondly before shyly looking down at their entwined hands. No words were exchanged between them as they stood there for who knows how long. The moment was comforting and gave both of them a feeling of solace. It felt right, just being there with each other. Nothing else was needed, it was perfect.

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*squeals* That was so cute! I love Rudra! Let me know what you think by leaving your comments and feedback below!

Next update: All Parud moments

Thanks for reading!