project.utopia

Chapter 7 - A Bad Dream

Aditya awoke to the sound of crying. He opened his eyes and could see only darkness.

"It's most likely midnight who the heck could be crying?" Aditya thought to himself, annoyed.

He rolled over on the couch and turned to his side where a few inches below him Nera was sleeping. Or it seems, where Nera was crying. She was on her stomach crying intensely into the pillow Ben had provided. Aditya widened his eyes in surprise and stared at Nera for a short while, not quite knowing what to do. You see, he was never quite good at comforting people when they cried, since he rarely ever saw his dad cry. Except for when his mother passed away. But, Aditya, finally, decided to do something and figure out what happened to Nera and why she was crying.

Aditya placed his injured hand on Nera's back and whispered, "Is something the matter, Nera?"

Nera immediately turned around and faced Aditya. She didn't know that someone had actually heard her crying.

Nera quickly cleared her tears away and said, "Everything's fine. What-what're you doing up this late?"

Aditya furrowed his eyebrows, confused at Nera's answer and said, "I-I heard you crying. That's why I woke up."

Nera acted confused, and looked around as if he were talking to someone else. "M-Me crying? What? I don't cry." Aditya, finally, realised what Nera was doing. She was trying to hide her tears from him. Nera was trying to hide her pain and hurt from him. By acting. By quickly wiping her tears away. Aditya's heart began to ache for her.

"Why're you lying to me, Nera?" Aditya asked, tears starting to well up in his own eyes.

"I'm not lying. Why would I lie to you?" Nera lied once again with no hesitation, as she he had done her whole life . Aditya looked away from Nera, miserably. He let a singular tear roll down his cheek and, then, wiped it away.

Then, Aditya slid down, off the couch, and onto the ground, right beside Nera. He swallowed and blinked rapidly. Finally, he stared into Nera's golden eyes as he had done many times before. Nera tensed up slightly, when she saw how intensely he was staring at her. So she looked away but Aditya's gaze followed her everywhere. Nera tried to make him drop this gaze, but he didn't. He never dropped his gaze from her.

Until finally Nera said, "Stop looking at me like that, Aditya." Aditya didn't stop and instead inched closer to her.

"How else am I supposed to look at you?"

Nera swallowed, not knowing how to answer his question. She looked down at her muddy dress and began playing with her fingers. Aditya swallowed as well and finally did drop his gaze. He stared at her hands and finally wrapped his injured arm around her. As his palm touched her back, both Nera and Aditya felt a tingling sensation run through their bodies. Nera wanted to move away from Aditya, but at the same time she liked the feeling he brought her. It was a feeling of relief and comfort she hadn't felt with anyone else. Sure, Alani and Jaddua loved and cared for her, but it was nothing like what Aditya gave her.

"Hey, Nera. You know you don't have to hide anything from me, right?" Nera turned to Aditya and stared at him for a long moment.

The next thing Aditya knew, Nera was hugging him tightly as if she didn't want to let go. Her face was smushed into his chest and she was crying her heart out. At first, Aditya was surprised and sat there, his hands open straight. But, finally, he wrapped them around her and relaxed a bit. He rested his head on hers and rubbed his palms in circles on her back.

"Shh. Shh. It's okay, Nera. It's okay." Aditya said, trying his best to comfort her even though he had no experience. Nera continued to cry into his chest, soaking up his shirt. Aditya didn't argue and allowed her to finish letting her feelings out. Finally, Nera pulled away from Aditya, her eyes puffy and red.