The beginning of us.

Chapter 4 : Through the streets of love.

The tires screeched as the bike came to a halt in front of the gate. Suman stepped down the stairs closing the door behind her and gave shravan a quick smile which the latter reciprocated.

She was about to hop on the back seat but he gestured her to wait & handed her a helmet, russet in color about one shade lighter than the one he wears.

''ye kyu?'' suman inquired.

''safety madam. tumhari jaan mujhse kam keemti hai kya.'' He replied with a genuine smile engraved on his face.

She sits back without a word yet never letting her gaze off him. Why does this side of him, she wonders makes her feel this way. like she's breathing too much air and the ground is slipping away, her own lines disappearing, blending in all the colors in this world. She lets the thought slip away as the cool breeze brushes past her.

He hasn't said anything the entire ride, she noticed. His mouth twitches up every now & then but nothing comes out of it. His nervousness feels strange, foreign and somewhat wrong. like walking down a street at daylight but still feeling a certain heaviness, an uncomfortable darkness inside. The thought itself makes her shiver for a second.

Deciding to break the silence herself she says " kuch socha hai tumne? Aunty ko kya dena h?"

''kuch socha to hai but I need your opinion on it. Pehle socha tha koi jewelry gift kar dunga but then laga k price se zyada thought matter karta hai''

Suman couldn't help but flash a grin at him. ''very thoughtful. Tum usually itte samajhdar ho yaa aj Sunday hai isiliye stupid hone se break liya hai.''

He let out a laugh. She could feel it echo through his body, his shoulders where her hands were holding him for balance. '' esa hi kuch hai. Ajkal vse bhi har din Sunday jitni khushi deta h''

Before she could ask him what he meant, the bike had come to a stop and his hands were already undoing his helmet. She stepped down the bike and looked around. The marked looked like a labyrinth of streets almost going in every direction.

Every shop was booming with life & vibrant colors. she thought she heard someone call her name but was too engrossed in the beauty of it all to pay any heed to it. A hand came behind her, grabbing her wrist and turning her with such force she felt her legs give in. soon her head met a hard surface while a hand came behind her back in a swift motion as if to steady her. the hand slowly made its way upward towards her shoulder but the touch lingered. she lifted her head and found a pair of gorgeous dark brown eyes staring at her. they were dark yet held an unsaid softness in them, filled with relief & passion. shravan, she realized was trying to figure out if she was okay. She didn't feel okay, at least her heart didn't. it thumped like crazy in her chest as if it had been locked inside all these years & finally it had found something worth breaking the walls for.

She blamed the abruptness of it all for all this weirdness in her body. His face was so close to her own. Their nose almost touching. She could sense his breathing, the way his chest rose & fell with such heaviness as if every breath was an effort. Her hands were on his chest she noticed. She must have tried to use her hands to steady herself when she turned. For a moment it felt as if the only thing her body was interested in was his touch. His hand on her upper back, hers on his shoulders right above his chest, their upper bodies almost so close that she felt like she could lean forward a little & fold into him. The way his eyes held her didn't help to ignore the way they were almost entangled into each other. She thought she heard him saying something about him being sorry for grabbing her hand to get her attention. She could hear the usual chattering from crowds full of impatient buyers but every sound was distant, barely being able to jolt her back to reality. Her body felt limp, craving for balance, to hold on to something solid despite him holding her. something about his touch made her feel safe & felt like an endless fall at the same time. Her eyes were still playing an intense match of tug of war with his eyes when he started humming.

 No. the phone was ringing, she instantly thought & broke herself apart from this almost-hug.

She was too flustered to look back at him before taking out her phone & rejecting the call selling useless credit cards she would never use.

''sumo. Let's go there'' he pointed towards a shop with glass windows. The exterior was decorated with dreamcatchers, antique vases & paintings. The shop itself wasn't extraordinarily pretty but the aura it radiated was enchanting. As they walked side by side towards the entrance she couldn't help but steal a few glances at him. He didn't look fazed at all. Maybe he hid it too well or their proximity didn't affect him at all. For a second she felt out of breath just thinking of that possibility.

The inside of the shop wasn't all bad. It reeked of torn dusted pages of a discarded book in here. it gave her a weird sense of belonging.  

''here'' shravan said, holding a decoration piece designed to be hanged on walls. The Centre of it resembled an eye, the outer circle painted in blue.

''I was thinking of buying this for her. what do you say?'' he continued.

''why this?'' she asked, her eyes filled with curiosity.

''it's called an evil eye. It's supposed to protect anyone from bad omens. It reminds me of her''

Suman was too confused to speak so she just stood there gaping at him. Trying to drink his words in.

He hesitated for a second before speaking again '' you know sumo, bachpan se lekar aaj tak meri mumma ne mujhe bachaya hai. Papa se, unki daant se, meri galtiyon se but most of all galat raaste par jaane se. jese tum army vale border par desh ko protect karte ho naa. Vse hi meri mumma ne bhi hmesha mjhe protect kiya h. aaj tak ye baat mere dimag mai thi but aj dil mai utaarna chahta hu. I want to protect her just the way she protected me. Mai unhe apni carelessness, apne jhuth, aur apni galtiyon se bachana chahta hun. Itna kaabil banna chahta hun ki unhe mujse kabhi koi taklif naa mile. Jo vaada tumse kia tha wo aj is gift k sath unse bhi karna chahta hun''

Suman was too shocked to utter any word. she had been impressed by him a lot of times already but this time, this feeling bubbling up in her heart was too big to be just appreciation. It was respect. She never thought she would feel this way about him, but here she was in awe of this boy who was ready to change his life around, to change the very center of his being. It takes courage her father had once told her, to admit defeat; strength to stand back up. But picking your life apart piece by piece to rebuild yourself, not in greed of winning but for the happiness of your loved ones; it took courage & strength and a will too strong and enormous for anyone with a small heart.

And for a second she dared to let herself imagine the lengths this boy was willing to go for love. 

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