Chapter-34

Hope, you like it...❤️

Zoya's POV:

Do you know what's the most precious thing in the whole world?

Time... The most precious thing you could ever give someone. It's priceless. No one can ever buy it or sell it. It treates everyone as equal. But, it does feel different on the basis of our emotions. Like, in happiness you won't even feel when it's over and in sadness you'll feel that it's never going to be over. It feels slow when you wait for something or rather... someone.

It's been over six months since I saw him and even more than that since I saw him with a smile. I promised him to give him time, told him that I'll be waiting for him but it also kills me and pains me to spend every day waiting and then sleeping disappointed. I know I'm just being selfish but I just don't want to bear this pain. I just hope that he doesn't take any steps like that again. I keep sending him something or the other just to confirm that he is there on the other side. I don't know what would have happened if I didn't went to his house that day. He was so much broken. I just wanted to hug him and tell him that everything's gonna be fine, that I'm here for him but he needed to that himself...alone.

I know it will take him time to get over a thing which has developed inside him through a lot of years. No matter how much he tries to ignore it, it will always come back to haunt him. He needs to fight with them and tackle them down on his own. I can't help him, no matter how much I want to.

I waited...every day in the hope that he'll show up some day and he did. After so many days, I didn't even knew how to talk to him. It felt so much different than the last time. But, today we are finally meeting. I don't know why I'm feeling nervous but I'm really feeling. I have an unknown sensation in the pit of my stomach.

I'm sitting here on the cold sand watching the kids play around. How much beautiful childhood was, right? No worries, no tension...nothing. Now that I look back at it I really miss that time.

But there are always two sides of a coin. On one side my childhood was all filled with love and enjoyment on the other side Aditya's was filled with pain and loneliness. My heart pains to even think of a small boy crunched down in a corner of his room with no one to care about him. I think he is the strongest person I've ever met. He brought himself out of that state on his own, singlehandedly. He studied and became a psychologist and is bringing hope and light in other person's lives when his seems to be the darkest. He has survived through the storms brilliantly. When I first met him, I didn't even knew he had so many layers underneath him. But now that I know, I can't even think of what all he had to go through. What would have happened if we didn't even met? If I didn't obliged to my mother and if I didn't talk to him after our fight? What if he wasn't able to make it out of that acc-

I felt someone sitting beside me on the sand. I turned my head to look at the person. Aditya. He looks different today.

"Hi..." He says awkwardly. I gaze at his eyes and get lost in how beautiful they were. The faint sunlight made me drown more in their depth. His irises had a slight hint of yellow in them which them look more attractive with the long lashes. His eyes are very expressive. I'm feeling a bit relieved and happy to see the emptiness now filled. I gaze further down. He was dressed differently, also. His wrists weren't covered like always and his marks were a bit blemished. I was happy to not see any fresh ones. He finally understood what I was trying to make him understand.

"Hey..." I said not realising that I haven't answered since so long. He settles down comfortably beside me with our forearms brushing lightly.

"Am I late?" He asks checking his wrist watch and then looking at me in confusion.

"No...I just thought of coming an hour or two earlier. It's been so much time since I visited a beach..." I fix my gaze at the far off horizon where I see the sun meeting the sea.

"Oh..." He says and then become silent. We sit in complete silence observing the beautiful scene before us. It didn't felt awkward rather, it was comforting. His body heat and cologne was floating around me having me under its spell for the first time. I found it really satisfying though it was there always.

"Anything important?" I asked trying to make some talk. I think he is also feeling nervous after our mini confession.

"Umm...no...I just wanted to meet... it's been so much days..." He said but I didn't find it convincing. He would tell on his own, I don't like pushing him every time.

The water waves come and hit my feet as I stand in front of my sand castle proud of how it eventually looked. In happiness, we doesn't even feel time passing and that is what has happened since past few hours. We have been playing with the beach ball, making sand castles, eating from local vendors and doing every sort of thing we could. The nervousness vanished into thin air as the time passed and everything felt normal just like the old days. I don't want anything to change between us. If it can't go any further, I don't want it to go all the way back... It's good if we stay here. I could spend my life with these laughs and giggles. This would be enough for me. I hope he thinks the same and don't want the go back to the path that we have travelled till now. I just hope.

We are walking by the sea shore, side by side. I watch the apricot colored sky reflected in the turquoise water under it. The seem to merge. Like, becoming one after the whole day.

The back sides of our hands slightly touch. Should I hold his hand? Will he be ok with it? Should I make th-

His fingers slowly lace down my palm and then gently cupped it. I cup his hand with the same gentleness. I look at him and smile as I liked the feeling of holding hand with him. His eyes were glinting reflecting the orange sky and his face was glowing with the golden sunlight. We now walk by the sea shore, hand in hand. The waves hitting our naked feet simultaneously. I just don't want this day to end. I want to absorb every detail of it so I could cherish it forever.

I saw something shining in the ground a few steps ahead. I always had this weird obsession of collecting stones and sea shells. Maybe, I can add some more things to my collection. I slowly untwine our fingers and move forward towards the shining distraction. I crouch down on the sand to discover that it was a blue colored stone almost transparent. One could see through it. I'm surely adding this in my collection. I turn around to show it to him but when I turn, I don't see him anywhere.

I then cast my eyes down and there I see him sitting on one knee with a small silver object in his hand...a ring? My lips part in shock as my mind slowly started analysing the situation. Is he proposing me?

"This is more difficult than I thought..." He grunts to himself but I hear him. He clears his throat a bit and then takes a deep breath, trying to kick off his nervousness.

"I have been waiting for this moment...to tell you how much you mean to me...since the time we met at the Marine Drive, my thoughts are clouded by you...When I realised my feelings for you, I was scared but then I finally thought to give it a chance...I bought the ring that day itself, rehearsed a million times but then my insecurities came back...My past halted me from trying to take a step forward...I tried not to think about it but nothing stopped it...they won over me one more time...and this time they made me captive...the things which were only a nightmare started looking like a reality...they crushed any hope left within me to move forward...I felt I was dragged back into the darkness which I left a few years ago...I started getting panick attacks, again...and this time they were much worse...I wasn't able to control them...they cane any time...and leave me in pain and regret..." Tears left my eyes as his words got right to my heart. I sit down on my both knees at his level and cup his face with my hands.

"They gave me emotional pain so I started causing harm to my body...thinking that they will stop... thinking that my physical pain will distract them...but they didn't stop and I felt being dragged in the dark shadows more and more where no one could find me..." I trace my thumb under his eye and wipe the tears the underlined his eyes.

"But, then you came..." He looked straight into my eyes.

"Like a sun... dragging me out of those shadows... It was difficult to pull me out of those but you did... You came as an angel into my life, Zoya... You always say that I brightened your life with my presence but you did it first with your presence...a few years ago..."

A few years ago ? What does he me-

"I was seventeen at that time and you seemed an year or two younger...I told you that after Ma left I locked myself in a room and never came out but I had to came out when Shadow also left me...it was the last thing that kept me alive...until I met you..."

I have no idea of what he is saying...

"I was returning back to my house after leaving Shadow in his abode under the ground when we met...You told me not to worry about my scars and think of them as a medal...and later gave me a yellow rose..."

"You might not remember it...but I do very clearly because it was the turning point of my life...on that day I finally realised what my mother wanted of me and it was clear that she didn't wanted me to grieve over her the entire life...she wanted me to be successful in life...to be happy...and I was doing the exact opposite since the incident...The rose that you gave me was a symbol of care and happiness and it gave me hope...I chose psychology so that others don't have to go through what I did...I don't want any child's childhood to be like mine...I want it to be happy and filled with joy..."

"You are doing great, believe me, Aditya..." I say looking into his eyes. His hands reach up to my face and wiped the tears with the back of his hand.

"I made you cry..." He looks down in defeat.

"You didn't...my eyes were just sweating..." We laugh at my terrible joke. The laughter slowly died and we looked into each other's eyes.

"Can I be your forever, Zoya?" He asks looking at me with seriousness.

"I don't know how long a forever is...but I will try my best to last it a lifetime and even beyond that if we become ghosts together..." I laugh at the end which makes him also let out a chuckle.

"Will you give me the opportunity to be your forever, Zoya?" He asked now looking at me with more emotions and seriousness.

"I already gave you when I said that I'll be waiting..." He looks confused so I say,"I told you that I'll be waiting for you, forever..." He takes some time to absorb what I said and then his eyes widened in realisation.

"That means..." He says. I nodded my head and hug him tight.

"I love you, Aditya...and I will do till my last breath..." I whisper into his neck.

"I wanted to say that first..." I imagined him making a pout.

"Ok... let's pretend like I didn't say anything, okay?" I ask as I detach our frames. He nods immediately liking the idea. He is such a kid sometimes!

"I love you, Zoya...and I promise to protect you and be there with you at every moment of your life whether good or bad...I promise to be with you, forever..." He initiates the hug this time wrapping his arms around my waist, holding me close.

"I love you too!" I say as I plant a small kiss on his shirt's collar not to leave any mark.

He unwraps his arms around my waist and releases me from the hug as he slowly slides the ring on my ring finger. The gesture making my eyes tear up. He cups my face with his right hand and wipes the tear off, shaking his head in a no... gesturing me to not cry. I look into his eyes and he does the same with mine. His hand stays where it was...on my cheek while my started running up his. Our faces neared each other as our eyes started closing on our increasing proximity. His warm breath tingled my upper lip. I opened my eyes sensing him looking at me and when I did I felt his lips crash onto mine.

I felt tingles run through my body and I think he felt too. We stayed there like that not moving, just absorbing every feeling, every moment. I missed this feeling. The feeling of being contented and happy.

This has to be the best day of my life!

____________________________________________

The most awaited one! Finally here! My fingers feel like they have run a marathon...Uff...*wiping off sweat* I wrote in first person POV after ages...Hope, I didn't mess up *fingers crossed*

Hope, you liked this one... It's a bit long and I think you like that fact, don't you? 😏 This chapter is a rollercoaster ride... Isn't it? Well, tell your views about it in the comment section...🤠

Will see you in the next one... Till then Bbye and Take care...❤️ I wish strength and courage for everyone 💕