Rudra had followed Soumya back to her room as soon as the MotYO had disbanded. His excuse, had anyone asked, would have been that he wanted to ask her something about his part of the plan.
Things had escalated pretty quickly as soon as the door was closed. Rudra Singh Oberoi was not, after all, a man who beat around the bush.
"I'm sick of pretending we're not married. I'm sick of pretending I don't love you. I'm sick of not knowing if you have feelings for me. I'm just... sick of it all, Soumya. Shivaay Bhaiya and Anika Bhabhi have so many problems to fight through, but we don't have any of that. We're just young. We may have gotten married by accident but the more I think about it, the less I regret it. In fact, if I'm completely honest, I don't think I regret it at all anymore."
"Rudra I-"
"Please. Let me finish. I promise I'll let you say everything you want to later but I need to say this. Soumya you're kind and smart and funny and beautiful, but you never put yourself first. You think I don't notice? You think I don't know that it's you putting the protein shake outside my gym every morning? You think I don't know that it's you protecting Anika Didi and helping her hide the fact that she's not sleeping in Shivaay Bhaiya's room from everybody? You think I don't know you've been working with Priyanka to ease her stutter by getting her into classical music? I have seen 'The King's Speech', you know? Soumya, you help everyone and you don't ask for anything in return. But you deserve to be acknowledged. You deserve everyone's gratitude for all the amazing things you do and you deserve to be loved by this family as a member of this family. As my wife."
"Rudra-"
"Please, Soumya. I promise, just one more thing. These feelings are all mine and if you don't feel the same way, I promise you that I will annul this wedding and set you free. But if you do? If you think there's a chance, like I do, that we could turn this into something amazing... then I'm going in 100% and I want you to do the same."
Soumya wasn't sure when she started crying.
Was it when Rudra so flippantly told her he loved her?
Was it when he revealed that he noticed her? Truly noticed her?
Was it when he said she deserved to be noticed?
Was it when he called her his wife?
Was it when he gave her the chance to back out? Even though his own feelings would fight him every step of the way?
She wasn't sure.
"Rudra." She couldn't say anything else, could just look at him, the tears in her eyes reflected by the ones in his own. Such a kind, pure, innocent man. So much intelligence and so much love hidden behind a demeanour as light-hearted as it was authentic. So much thought and protectiveness wrapped in a perfectly-muscled, dumbbell-brained package.
She wondered what else he hid behind the mask. Wondered if it was even a mask. Surely it had to be? Surely it wasn't possible for anyone to be this strong and this happy all the time? He came to her when it threatened to fall, but it was always as though Soumya was just the glue he needed to piece himself back together.
She wanted to be the hands who caught the pieces when he allowed himself to break.
She wanted to claim the rights she held over him... as his wife. She wanted him to proudly declare her as his wife and announce to the world that he was her husband.
Still crying, she nodded.
Still crying, Rudra smiled.
His eyes suddenly sparkled and he brushed away the tears with the back of his hand. He rushed over to Soumya's dressing table and she watched as he picked something up. "Close your eyes, Soumya."
"What? Why?"
"Don't you trust me?"
Soumya closed her eyes.
Rudra placed something on the table and then there were a few seconds of silence before she heard him come back towards her. "Keep them closed." He instructed, and Soumya smiled as she heard how happy he sounded.
"Rudra, this is so weird. What are you doing?"
"One second."
She felt him touch her forehead and run his finger along her parting.
It couldn't be.
Soumya opened her eyes.
There, in Rudra's parting... a vibrant streak of red.
She leaned across to look into the mirror hidden behind him. There, in her own parting.
Sindhoor.
The door opened.
Anika looked at her. Anika looked at Rudra. Anika looked at both her and Rudra. At the sindhoor in both their hair and the open kumkum pot in Rudra's hand.
Anika swore.
Anika closed the door.
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Anika had been trying to ignore all the hints. She really had. And while she had been the only one who kind of knew what she thought she knew, that had worked out just fine. But now?
Now she knew she knew. And they knew that she knew.
They were going to ask her for advice, weren't they? People always asked her for advice. And then Shivaay found out that Anika had given advice and that the advice had worked out very well for the people she had advised, but terribly for him.
Shivaay's subsequent reaction then always resulted in disastrous consequences for Anika.
She really needed to start knocking louder, didn't she?
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A little extra for you all. I should really have waited until tomorrow, shouldn't I? But it's 1am and I can't sleep because this scene appeared fully formed in my head. Also, Rudra is, always has been and always will be my favourite OBro. š
Anupamaa
Naagin 7
