Moonflower

CHAPTER 11

"I can't take this anymore."

Ayaan's gaze turned mellow as his heart wrenched in pain. He grabbed her hand, pulled her closer and enwrapped her in his arms for the half reason to comfort her and half to comfort himself for he could somehow relate to her state of desperation. The way she stood like a mirror in front of him was what made him uneasy in the beginning but today, involuntarily, he gave in.

Mehek began to wail because she found a shoulder to lean on, to cry over; a place that will soak her tears.

The apartment had become silent. Mehek had let out every ounce of bottled up emotions through her tears. She slowly began to pull herself away from Ayaan's arms. Driven by strong emotions, she was drawn into his comfort but she wasn't sure about the skin-ship. Ayaan quickly withdrew himself to give Mehek some space. His hands were shaking as his chest burned with sensations that he had buried long ago but they were erupting again. He knew it was going to haunt him sooner or later.

Ayaan got up to get some water for Mehek. The sound of light breeze swishing past the glass windows broke the silence in the house that was getting suffocating for both of them. Mehek wasn't looking at Ayaan and he was only looking at her.

"My parents have divorced," Mehek disclosed, "Long ago."

Ayaan listened.

"My dad was secretly involved in criminal activities and when my mom found this out, she divorced him and left us. Later, my dad took his own life for reasons unknown to me. Maybe the guilt ate him or he must have messed up in the crime world. However of a husband he might have been, he was a good father though. Nothing has gone right since their divorce. Mom has never contacted me  and my dad is no longer there to support me. I went farther and farther away from my friends and I wasn't ready for any relationship either because of my job but then it left me too. I was fired."

She gave a pause.

So, what you say? Do you pity me?"

"I-"

"Don't."

Mehek stared into those black eyes, "You don't need to pity me. I don't deserve it. In the beginning, I cursed everyone and everything but I soon realized that I was the one who shut out the whole world when it wasn't abandoning me. You don't just suddenly fall into the dark pit of depression. It eats you up slowly from the inside. The world remains the same but it becomes darker and darker for you. It's not a nice place to be in, you know. I still don't understand much but most people out there are being controlled by their minds instead of controlling their own minds. Why doesn't our mind ever go our way? I mean, I don't have to go in those darker places when my mind tries to take me there, I can always pull back but easier said than done. The world has probably done nothing wrong and maybe it's just me. The only thing I blame is the negativity inside me which I chose to stay with instead of embracing my positivity."

Ayaan stared into an empty space. "I wish I could say the same," He said downheartedly, "but I chose to run away. By chance, if I would have chosen to face it, right now, I might have been a better person like you."

"But I didn't do well either."

Mehek was feeling better now that the burden she carried inside was out of her system. The thoughts that never turned into words had finally found an escape route. Just like any other human being, when Mehek looked past her own problems, other people's worries and disappointments became visible. She noticed Ayaan's face who had sharp eyes and a beautiful smile but every expression coming from those was laced with meaning. She studied his face and gave a small smile to herself for he, right now, looked nothing more than a cute disheartened bear.

"But you did nothing wrong either. I mean, I am a thief, what more I can say which isn't understandable."

"Pfft. Thief?! More like a cute teddy bear," Mehek thought to herself as she looked at Ayaan with utmost curiosity.

Ayaan's eyes met Mehek's when he turned his head her way as she failed to hide her flushed face.

"You tell me," Ayaan began who was as clueless as a squirrel looking for it's hidden nuts but just as eager to know the answer, "Am I wrong? What I am doing, is it wrong?"

"What?"

"Being a thief?"

"If that's the case, then I am worse."

Ayaan blinked at her in disbelief of what could have made her think this way.

"At least..."

Mehek looked at him meaningfully.

"At least, you didn't try to kill yourself."