Chapter 25

It had been a month since that fight between us. As promised, we never left each other's side. We didn't pay Ananya any mind.

I couldn't because I was so enveloped in Abhi's presence. He didn't, because when we were in that fight, she had him told hurtful lies about me.

It intrigued me that he tried to spend most of his time with me. Unlike before, he didn't hang out much with his male friends outside their dorm.

At first, I thought it was just to make up for those fifteen days, and I liked spending all that time with him.

As the days went by, it only increased. He had all kinds of reasons to spend time with me.

Since I liked it too much, I didn't question it. We started spending our days texting each other when we were not together.

I didn't pay attention to my family or my friend Niki. I only spoke to them when they came to me. One day Niki stopped coming, but I didn't realize until it was too late.

I knew it was not friendship anymore with Abhi. But I didn't know if it was love either.

Our talks, body language, and everything had changed since then.

But I didn't bother to label our relationship. I just knew it was one step above friendship and one step below a romantic relationship.

We were only focused on the term forever, or at least I was at that time. I was too lame to realize that nothing is forever.

That doesn't always mean something bad. It could just be life giving us a chance to evolve.

One fine evening, Abhi and I went to the beach. He was oddly quiet the whole time. I was playing with the waves that were trying to catch my toes.

Finally, I gave in and gave them a taste of my skin. It was so refreshing and relaxing.

All the while, Abhi was sitting on the shore and looking in my direction.

I thought he was in a bad mood and decided to leave him alone for a while. But it was time to know what was wrong.

I dipped my feet on the sand as I walked over to him. When I sat beside him, I don't think he realized that I was there. That's when I saw what he was looking at.

He was watching the sun slowly setting on the horizon. It rendered the sky a deep orange color before it went grayish-orange and then dark.

Darkness surrounded us. The moon rose with its thousands of disciples called stars. The waves from the sea rose up as if they were happy to see the moon.

The scenery was so serene, I wanted to stay there my whole life. But little did the stars know that a soul in their presence was troubled.

"I missed you," he said abruptly.

"I was just here," I said, letting out a small chuckle at how cheesy it was.

"I don't want even a little distance between us. I want us to be always like this," he said, moving closer and resting his hand on my shoulder, making skin-to-skin contact.

He had done this a thousand times in the past but oddly now his touch made me shiver. It sent goosebumps all over my body.

I turned to look at his eyes, trying to figure out the meaning of his words. He was already looking at me.

There was a moment I felt like his eyes sending me some secret message but I couldn't decipher it.

The next thing I knew, I could feel his lips on mine. It happened so fast. I didn't know what to do, but I instinctively pushed him away.

My mind went haywire trying to decide if I liked it or not.

I liked it, but I also was afraid that if I acknowledged it, the rumors would be true. I really didn't know what to do. My hands were shaking like I killed someone.

I never thought I would be this nervous when I had my first kiss. Holy shit.

"What did you do?" I asked in a feeble voice. It was a dumb question, but I didn't know what to say and I wanted to know why he really did it.

I knew our friendship was growing into something else, but I didn't realize I would face this situation this soon.

"Duh, I kissed you," he said. Unlike me, he could play it cool.

"Why?" I asked the question that I had to know the answer to.

"Because I feel like kissing you," he said, shrugging like it was a normal thing to do.

What the hell? I was expecting a different answer. More like I like you or I... Ugh, whatever.

His answer made me angry. I stood up and started walking. I didn't know where I was going, but I wanted to be away from him.

My mind was not thinking straight in his presence anymore.

"Where are you going?" he asked, running behind me.

"I am having a headache. I want to go to my room," I said without stopping.

"Let me do that thing again. Your headache will be gone forever." I knew he said it with a smug look.

I stopped in my tracks and bit my lips not to smile but I couldn't stop grinning. What he said wasn't even funny.

I hated myself for not being angry at him. I didn't turn around because I didn't want him to think that I liked it.

"I know you are smiling," he yelled from behind.

I bit my cheeks inside and kept walking away from him.

"Aadhi," he yelled. "Do you want to know the real reason?"

I stopped again to listen to him.

"I think I am in love with you."

I was surprised by his sudden confession. I thought he would make me work for it. I could feel some unknown feeling blooming inside. I felt like I was flying.

I wanted to run back to him. But then I had an idea.

I put on a grim face and turned to look at him. He was on his knees holding out his hands like he was ready to catch me if I go running to hug him.

I really wanted to do that, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction yet. I wanted to wipe that smug grin off his face. He knew I won't say no but it's not a sin to make him beg for it.

So I composed myself, tilted my head slightly to the side, and looked at him like I was not interested.

He looked heartbroken for a moment, but that didn't last long. A smirk formed on the corner of his lips. He knew what I was doing, but I didn't budge. I turned around and started walking away.

"Fine, then. Go on. I am gonna call the girl I love and tell her. Do you think there is no other girl in the world except you?" he yelled.

That made me stop. What the hell? I thought he said he loves me. I turned around and started walking toward him to beat the shit out of him. How could he do this to me?

But he was showing his back to me, calling someone on his phone.

I froze in my steps when I heard my phone ringing. I already knew who was calling, and it made me grin like a Cheshire cat. I answered the call anyway.

"Hello," I said, looking at him with a grin on my face.

"Aadhi," he said, turning toward me. I could see him trying to hide his smirk.

"Aadhi, I proposed to a girl today, but she rejected me," he said with a forced pout.

I really wanted to laugh, but I decided to play along.

"Who is that stupid girl?" I said, trying to control my smile. But he had already seen it.

"Yeah, she is stupid, isn't she?" He was smirking now.

"So, I was thinking to tell everything to you that I was going to tell her. You know, just to get it off my chest."

"Okay, I am listening." I was curious to hear what he had to say.

"I love you. I have loved you the minute I saw you, but it took this long for me to realize. Specifically, the fight that we had a month ago made me realize it.

I realized how pathetic I was without you, and I decided at that moment I wanted you in my life forever.

I have never felt this way before, and I don't think I will have this feeling for another girl.

I was hesitant all this time, thinking what if you only consider me as your best friend.

As the days passed by and we spent time together, I became confident that you like me too, you just didn't realize it. So I am asking you now... Do you love me?

Will you be with me forever and make me happy?

If you say yes, I promise you that I will make you happy and I would never dare to hurt you because even if you didn't realize it, the tears coming from your eyes pierce my heart like a blade."

There it is, the word forever again. Little did he know that word is my lifeline.

Tears started rolling down on my cheeks, betraying all the emotion I felt inside, but I guess he couldn't see my face clearly since it was already dark.

"I can understand if you say no, too," he said hesitantly, ending our call. He must have thought that I was hesitating since I stood frozen in place.

But it didn't take long for me to run to him and jump on him, wrapping my arms around him. I hugged him like he was my lifeline.

I snuggled my face on the crook of his neck. He chuckled and hugged me back so tightly.

"I know you were waiting for this heart-melting confession," he said, chuckling. I can feel the vibration of his laughter on his chest spreading over me.

Like a disease, it infected me and made me chuckle in between my sobs. He is the only person in this world who makes me cry even when I am happy.

He pulled off from the hug. He held my face in his palms and lowered his head to kiss me.

I closed my eyes and felt his lips on my forehead, which made me smile even wider. I heard somewhere that a kiss on the forehead is an unsaid promise.

I knew what he was promising, but I also heard it out loud.

"I love you, and I promise you I won't leave you...ever," he said, hugging me again.

Yeah... Forever...