And I Found Love

22. It's Not Your Fault

~ho gayi ansuni har dua ab meri
reh gayi ankahi bin tere~
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"Listen to me Abhi, I-......."

Akshara's words played in Abhimanyu's deep sleep, suddenly waking him up with a severe headache in his own room.

He looked around in confusion, not being able to differentiate between reality and dream for a while as the events from last night came back to him in flashes......the alcohol.....the ring.....the confession and the fact that Akshara was going to tell him something.

Something he couldn't clearly point out in that drunk state.

All he somehow remembered was his confession and how desperately he was trying to get a hold on his life by begging her to choose him and it made him feel pathetic as soon as his morals returned with the fading effect of the alcohol......the thought of letting his weak and vulnerable side control him in that moment, pushing her into guilt for loving someone else now loomed over him.

He started imagining the scenarios as to how she must have brought him back home, how embarrassing it must have been for her to deal with his drunk state the entire night and how uncomfortable she must have felt with his continuous pleadings to stay with him.

The more such thoughts crossed his mind, the more restless he became -not knowing how to even face her after what he had done.

And yet, her half spoken statement that he remembered somehow intrigued him between this entire mess, causing multiple questions to arrive in his mind......the questions that scared him.

What if she told him the truth last night?

What if she made it clear to him in that state that she don't feel the same way for him?

What if she had told him as to how she only spent time with him on her boyfriend's order?

What if she had told him that he held no importance in her life?

And if his suffocating thoughts weren't enough to torment him, a knock on his door caught his attention. He turned around, only to notice Manjiri once again staring at him with sheer disappointment in her eyes- something that he still wasn't used to.

"Why are you doing this?", she asked as soon as his eyes met hers, earning silence from him in return since he knew what she was hinting at.

"You were drunk!!! What is wrong with you Abhimanyu? This is not you.....this is not how my son used to be", she scolded- "You were not even in your senses. You kept blabbering things, you kept holding her hand, asking her to stay. She is going to be your brother's fiance Abhimanyu......Do you even realise what would have happened if Harsh would have seen you this way?"

His face stiffened at Akshara's mention, ignoring everything else Manjiri just said. "It's was a relief that Yuvraj was atleast there alongwith Akshara to bring you back home, otherwise I wonder how the poor girl would have handled you alone like that. Why were you even at-"

"Yuvraj was with her?", he asked, interrupting her almost rudely with a clear hint of bewilderment in his tone.

Manjiri watched him cluelessly for a moment as he struggled to hide the feeling of hurt upon hearing about Yuvraj.....He was there as well? He brought her home? She came with Him?

"Who else should be with her?", Manjiri questioned back, not understanding the shift in his demeanor. "Yuvraj helped her bring you here and then he dropped her back home by morning"- she added.

"He....dropped her back as well?", Abhimanyu stuttered in a low voice as he repeated her words to register them in his own head.

"Again Abhimanyu? Who else should drop her back now?", she too repeated herself in agitation, snapping him out of his zone- finally letting him get the answers to his tormenting questions.