Imperfectly Perfect [FF, ThaHaan] - updated, pg.15!!

Imperfectly Perfect

We come to love not by finding a perfect person but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. - Sam Keen

00
~Prologue~

"Dhruv has not yet come to the mandap, Thapki, and maybe he won't come, at all."

Her right foot hit something solid, making her stumble - though, she braced herself with her arm against the stone wall of the mandir. Some of her bangles broke upon compact, and their small, sharp remnants breaking into her skin and leaving bloody marks.

She hardly noticed.

"He is confused because he cares for you but... he loves his brother a lot. And knowing that this marriage will hurt Bihaan..."

Angrily, she wiped the back of her hand over her cheeks. Was crying all she was capable of? Was she that weak? God, she was so tired of crying over her miserable life all the time! When would it stop? When would destiny stop making fun of her? Give her happiness on one palm and close the other over it, immediately?

"I am a mother, Thapki. And I can't see my sons falling apart like this and with them, my whole family. Did you know that Bihaan is his Bauji's life? He has never even raised his voice with him and today, he raised his hand - because of you."

What was her fault? Whad did she do wrong? Did she choose to be like this?! Did she choose Bihaan to dislike her and her problem so strongly?

Slowly, she slid down the wall, ignoring that everything was wet, brought her knees to her chest and lifted her head up. Raind drops whipped against her face and she allowed them, closed her eyes and let them mix with her tears.

Her breaths came out ragged, hindered by the tight knot in her ribcage- her lungs were burning as if they lacked oxygen. Breathing was so hard.

"Dhruv might come, eventually, and marry you because you've already come this far - but this will create a wedge in our family and I cannot allow that. I asked for your hand for my son, Thapki, and now, this same mother begs you- step back from this marriage. Please."

And she had.

Vasundhra aunty had been the one to propose to her parents, first. It had been her support that had made Thapki believe that this time, everything would work out. The woman who disliked stammering people and yet, had accepted her as her son's to-be wife - how could she have refused her anything when she had been standing in front of him, hands spread out helplessly, crying?

God, it had hurt. "I can't marry Dhruv Sir." A simple enough sentence - but with each word, her heart had cracked a little more. Add to that the lump in her throat which had worsened her stammering- she hadn't even waited to see anyone's reaction to her announcement before running out.

Dhruv hadn't been at the mandap.

"I can't allow a stammering girl to marry my brother."

Thapki blinked when her hand caught something, a paper clinging to the wall. She ripped it and looked at it. The ink was slightly smudgy and in her grip, the paper was becoming wet but she could still make out what it said.

Sitting up straight, she opened her mouth, "L-l-little b-b-b-boy mis-missing. F-four years o-o-old-" Pressing her lips together, she furrowed her brows, frustrated. No, I... I can do it. "F-four y-years o-old Mish-Mi-Mishkat R-R-Rath-Rathore h-has g-g-gone m-m-mis-missing o-o-o-o-"

"Maybe try to take a deep breathe, first."

Thapki did as told, inhaled deeply and, "Four years o-old M-M-Mishkat-"

She stopped abruptly, eyes widening in shock. That voice... Thapki stood up quickly, supporting herself against the wall as the floor beneath her feet was slippery. In front of her, completely drenched, locks clinging to his face- was Bihaan.

"I..." Bihaan averted his gaze and left his sentence open, arms crossed over his chest. He was shivering slightly.

"I can't allow a stammering girl to marry my brother. I can't let him ruin his life like this!"

"Y-you!" A hot wave of anger washed over Thapki, setting the blood in her veins afire. How dare he! It was him, Bihaan, who shattered her dreams at the brim of becoming true, and now, he was standing here, witnessing her most vulnerable moment as if he belonged here.

"I saw you and..." Bihaan cleared his throat. "What are you-"

Clatch!

Slwoly, Thapki lowered her arm and watched as Bihaan touched his left cheek, stunned. There would be a mark of her hand there, soon. It didn't bring her an ounce of satisfaction.

"I h-h-hope you're hap-happy," she said, voice quivering. "Yo-you man-managed to break m-my marriage."

Bihaan frowned, though she couldn't decide whether he was confused or shocked. Maybe a mix of both.

"B-bu-but more than th-that, you man-manged to do w-what no one before y-you did." She took a step back, her fingers burying deep into her red skirt. "N-n-not the kids fr-from sch-school who made f-fun of me. Not a-any col-league wh-who never t-t-took me ser-seriously." She took another, deep breathe, trying to ease the piercing pain in her chest. "Not-not the guy who l-left me at the man-mandap." It might be her imagination but Bihaan seemed to have gone a shade paler, shoulders stiff. "Y-you b-b-broke me."

Bihaan clenched his eyes closed as if she had stabbed him - and she couldn't bear it any longer. Without a second thought, Thapki whirled around and ran. Left that man who had ruined her life behind- pushed his dejected form, his blood-shot eyes, his horrified expression out of her mind.

There was no place for Bihaan Pandey in her life.