Places surrounded by nature have its own special quality about them. They were serene, quite and had a calming effect on the mind. The busy chatter of the city makes everyone realise how silence was so important in one's life. That's how they both stood, in a comfortable silence admiring the view they got from high above the hilltop. The bus ride had been of an excruciating 2 hours of being cramped up, but none the less everyone was busy singing old bollywood songs making the journey quite enjoyable. As they reached Sharon took a big breath of fresh air, happy that the picnic was arranged here and they had to hike up the mountain to camp out. While everyone was busy complaining, Sharon strode enthusiastically clearly enjoying the hike. Swayam tried to keep up with her but she always out ran him. Finally as she got tired they both walked together talking about random things. Presently they both stared into the horizon as the others were preparing a bonfire.
"So you finally you get to check coming on a trek to a mountain off your list." Swayam said.
"You remembered? Even I hadn't thought about it." Sharon said as she turned to face Swayam.
"Of course I remember." Swayam said and went back to staring at the horizon. Sharon smiled at him feeling happiness warming her body. She honestly didn't expect Swayam to remember her silly little talks in the middle of the night. She smiled again at the memory and faced away from him. Swayam shifted his eyes from the horizon onto Sharon. She had a huge smile on her face and Swayam felt his stomach churning with anticipation. Could he really tell her about his feelings today? He shook up the negative thoughts and focused back on her. She now had her eyes closed and he knew she was trying to hear the birds as they flew back to their nests. After a few moments she opened her eyes and turned to Swayam and realised that he had been looking at her. A blush crept to her cheeks which didn't go unnoticed by Swayam. He smiled as he realised that reaction was because of him. He moved his hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ears. This caused Sharon's cheeks to become redder. Swayam felt more confident about Sharon feeling the same way.
"You're blushing." He said without a thought as teasing her had become common for him.
"No I'm not. Why would I blush? It's probably the cold air here." Sharon started blurting out.
"You're still in denial?" Swayam asked.
"No I'm not." She replied back. Swayam knew this answer wasn't for his teasing but somehow her feelings for him.
Sharon looked at his unchanging expressions for a while thinking about what she said at the back of her head, clearly understanding the shift in the conversation. Sharon was never good at reading people's expressions. She could never understand how people could do that. Maybe all of them were secretly wizards and she was a plain old muggle. She racked her brain about the various topics that could be going on his head but none came to her. She awkwardly stared at him hoping he would say something rather than just look at her. It made her conscious about herself. Her heartbeat quickened and the strange feeling of butterflies swarmed her stomach away. She turned around and started walking to calm herself and to have some time to think alone when she felt Swayam hand enclosing hers.
"Hey where are you going?" He said. She turned around to find herself looking into his eyes.
"Not particularly interested to stand awkwardly while you just stare at me." She said happy that she could mutter up a witty remark.
"I wasn't doing that. Just thinking about something and spaced out." Swayam replied.
"Okay. I'm just going to take a small walk to take in all the views, so you'll have time to think about whatever you were thinking about." Sharon said.
"I can come with you." Swayam said.
"You must be bored of me by now. Go talk to your fans." Sharon said as she chuckled.
"Okay then I'll meet you at the bonfire." Swayam replied.
"I will, now would you let my hand go?" Sharon said making Swayam aware of his hand still holding hers. He let go of it and instantaneously missed the warmth of her hand. Sharon smiled at him and turned around to walk away from him.
He was acting differently today. She did notice him being nervous around her a few times and was baffled by it. If anyone should be nervous it should be her. The thought of confessing to him played back and forth around her head with her never coming to a decision. Honestly it all felt too tiring to her. She just wanted all of the unspoken words to vanish but she couldn't find the strength to be the first one to do so. It felt as if she was back in her teenage years too afraid and uncertain about her feelings. She shook her head in a failed attempt to remove the thoughts out of it. She walked around enjoying the view and taking a few pictures. When she felt that she felt almost in control of her thoughts she walked towards the camping area. She saw everyone laughing around and relaxing happy about the short break they got. The schedule could get extremely tight sometimes but they had no option. She thought of the many rehearsals she saw and tried to imagine herself in the place of the dancers. That was before Swayam forced her to auditions and no longer did she need to imagine. She smiled grateful of how supportive he had been.
"I like it when you smile." Swayam said which took Sharon by surprise.
"Oh god! Swayam don't ever do that again." Sharon said.
"What? Complimenting you? I thought girls liked compliments." Swayam said.
"Everyone likes it of someone compliments them but not all of a sudden and scaring the person." Sharon exclaimed.
"Sorry volcano." Swayam said.
"Hey! I told you never to call me that again." Sharon said.
"Don't you like it that I gave you a cute nickname?" Swayam replied.
"How is volcano a cute nickname? I don't think volcano can even be considered a nickname." Sharon said as she began walking.
"That's the charm of it." He said catching up to her.
"No it isn't. Anyway I'm too hungry to argue with you at the moment." Sharon said picking up a plate from the table with food. Swayam picked up a plate too and followed Sharon.
"But you must admit it's pretty creative." Swayam said.
"No it's not. Swayam quit trying." Sharon said. She took her plate now full of food and went to sit on one of the logs they placed asides the bonfire. Swayam sat next to her and they both silently ate their food, occasionally glancing at each other. The day went by quickly as all of them played games and having fun. As night came upon they lit the bonfire and everyone sat around talking about random things. One of the crew members had a guitar, so he strummed along with everyone singing songs.
At around midnight everyone was back in their tents sleeping expect Swayam. He walked back and forth trying to come to a decision. It was getting frustrating. It shouldn't be so hard to tell someone three words but somehow it was. He took a deep breath and then messaged Sharon to come outside. He waited for few minutes and then saw Sharon coming out of her tent visibly confused. Sharon saw him standing with a bunch of flowers and the bonfire lit again. She reached where he was standing and looked around. They were the only ones standing under the stars.
"Were you sleeping?" Swayam asked.
"No." She replied.
"It's cold out here." He said.
"Yes it is." She replied. Swayam mentally slapped himself for being so awkward. He pushed back the thoughts of backing out and cleared his throat.
"Okay Sharon I know this isn't the best way to say this and these flowers don't even look like a proper bouquet but I've been thinking about it lately and I feel I can't keep this to myself anymore. I mean it's stupid if I do so and Ankita will probably murder me but anyway I like you Sharon. Maybe I think I'm in love with you. I love it how you can serious about many things but yet be so carefree and spontaneous. I love it how you care about others and are so humble and most of all I love how you make me feel. I love spending time with you. You're the one person I can talk to non- stop for hours even if it's the smallest little thing. I know I should have said this before but I'm new to all this. Feeling like this and the fear of rejection always got the best of me but I can't let it control me, not when I know you might feel the same for me." Swayam said.
Sharon just looked at him shell shocked after understanding those words. He did feel the same and it was perfect. It may look like nothing but him picking out flowers for her, his nervousness, the stars, the light warmth of the bonfire and the cold air made it all so romantic. She looked into his eyes not able to comprehend any understandable sentence.
"You think you love me?" Sharon said.
"Let me correct that. I don't think I love you Sharon." Swayam said as he came closer to her.
She knew it was too good to be true. Maybe this was all a dream and she should pinch herself to wake up but then she heard him speak again.
"I most certainly do. I love you Sharon Rai Prakash." He said cupping her face with his hands. Sharon was paralysed by his words. She felt stupid for not saying anything back and said the first thing that came into her mind.
"I love you too. I wanted to say it but I was so scared and you make me forget everything I plan to tell you. You have that effect on me Swayam; you make me look stupid in front of you and I don't even dislike it. I love being around you. You give me strength by always supporting me and I always feel secure with you. I love you." She said.
Swayam just responded by placing his lips on hers. They kissed slowly, happiness radiating from each other. They broke the kiss to take a breath again and Swayam placed his forehead on hers.
"I love you." He said.
"I love you." She replied.
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A/N- Hope you all like the update :) Thank you all for reading and the comments. Sorry to make you all wait so much again :v Thank you all again and I hope the confession was good enough.