The Eternal Tie : MaNan

Prologue

"Nandini. Wake up!"

Manik whispered into Nandini's ears, his lips gently caressing her ear lobes, making her shiver even in her sleep, while slightly pushing the errant tresses of hair away from her face and rested his large warm hands on her cheeks. Nandini merely sighed contentedly as though she had recognised Manik's touch even in her sleep, a soft serene smile gracing her lips. She turned over on the bed, murmuring his name as a soft silent plea and fell into an even deeper slumber. Manik looked at her astonishingly, an exasperated sigh leaving his lips. He gazed at her sleeping face and then again at his watch.

It was 1 o' clock in the night.

They still had an hour in hand, before they absolutely had to get going. He could let her sleep for a little while longer. He should have told her what he was up to beforehand, it would have been much easier. But he absolutely had to see the look of complete surprise on her face when she would realise what they were going to do today. Her face adorned with that beautiful smile and her eyes shining bright with excitement. It all would be worth it. He had already told her family about his surprise for Nandini when he had arrived in the middle of the night at their doorstep and they had been more excited about it than even he was. Nandini's adorable aunt had already given him instructions about the food she had packed for them and how he should remember to take it when they leave tonight.

He silently put his back pack down beside her bed that had all the essentials they might need today and shrugged out of his jacket, revealing a white round neck t-shirt underneath. He slowly opened the zipper of his bag, careful not to disturb Nandini's sleep and took out a package, placing it on the bedside table. It had Nandini's clothes and shoes, the ones she was going to need for what he had planned today.

He turned around and looked down towards Nandini's peacefully sleeping face again, hugging a pillow tightly, and a soft smile automatically crept up his own face. He could never get tired of watching this sight.

Ever.

It was the most soothing visual he had ever seen, the one that calmed him down and spread a feeling of complete tranquillity through him.

It was also the one that made his heart beat faster and a rush of desire to run down his spine. The mesmerising sight of her beautiful face never failed to quicken his pulse and a feeling of immense longing to settle deep in his heart.

He gently bent down, freeing the pillow from her tight grasp, and made his way on her bed taking the place where the pillow had been a few seconds ago, careful not to disturb her sleep. He slid his arms around her sleeping form wrapping them around her protectively and sighed in contentment as her face settled comfortably near his erratically beating heart. She sighed in her sleep, stirring a little, and he could hear her murmur his name, her hands tightening around his waist unconsciously. His heart swelled with happiness and he could not resist the temptation of bending down and brushing his lips with hers softly. He moved his lips further up and rested them on her forehead, inhaling her presence and drifting into a peaceful sleep himself as she further snuggled into his embrace finding her solace.

Nandini had been sleeping peacefully, hugging her soft pillow tightly and enjoying its warmth. It was only when she wanted to turn over to the other side, her body becoming stiff from sleeping in the same position, that she realized the pillow was possibly hugging her back tighter than she was hugging it and try as she might she couldn't seem to free her hands. She opened her eyes groggily only to encounter the flat hard plane of Manik's chest instead of the soft cushion of the pillow and she opened her eyes wider to take in her surroundings. She craned her neck upwards to see Manik's sleeping face, his hands wrapped around her, and her own hands around his body. For one moment, she thought she was still dreaming, in the middle of one of her fantasies when she imagined herself in Manik's arms, but then she looked around herself towards the ordinary insides of her own small bedroom and craned her neck further to see the clock hanging on the wall opposite her, showing that it was quarter to two and realisation hit her that this was definitely not a dream.