At quarter to nine, as the vegetable vendors were heard shouting their presence in the society, Ayaan opened his eyes to the unknown ceiling. He squinted his eyes under the strong sun rays and stretched himself on the bed. He peeked at his left side where Mehek was sleeping soundly and realized that he had drifted on the other side of the bed while sleeping but not farther from her. He turned his body in her direction and immediately touched her forehead to check whether her fever had gone down. After the assurance, Ayaan lifted his head and rested it on his left hand while gently caressing Mehek's sunlit face.
For the first time in his life, he had no regrets of being a thief.
Ayaan slowly got up from the bed as he lightly pulled the blankets off him and tiptoed his way out of the bedroom. He brewed a good cup of coffee for himself and got busy making breakfast in the kitchen. While he was tossing some freshly cut coriander leaves into the Upma, he could hear sluggish footsteps behind him that went straight to the living room with a blanket trailing behind. Ayaan prepared a cup of water and handed it over to Mehek who sat on the couch, wrapped in a blanket with swollen eyes.
"Are you feeling better?"
Mehek nodded as she sipped the lukewarm water in complete bliss. She affectionately watched Ayaan arranging the plates with Upma on the coffee table in front of the couch. As soon as he took his place beside her, Mehek spoke softly, "Thank you."
Ayaan chuckled, "For what?"
Mehek silently observed him for a while before speaking, "You have never been appreciated, have you?"
Ayaan simply blinked in response.
"I don't have the closest idea about your life outside this apartment but I am somehow sure that you go out of your way to help out or take care of the people in your life even if you are being used or if it's simply your responsibility."
Ayaan ruffled his hair from behind, "How are you so sure that I am not appreciated enough?"
"Because when I do this..." Mehek stood up on both of her knees on the couch and wrapped her arms around him, "Because when I take you in my arms and pat you on the back like this, did you know this warm feeling?"
Ayaan's eyes widen in surprise and they began to shake when he felt the soft patting on his burdened back.
"This for the breakfast you made for me and this..."
Mehek pulled herself back from the hug and began moving towards Ayaan's face. His heart began racing frantically as Mehek's face inched closer to his and in one quick movement, she planted a small peck on his cheeks, "And this is for the fairy lights." Mehek began giggling loudly as she settled herself back on the couch, "Can you turn them on again? They make my house look a lot less dull."
Ayaan stayed stunned at one spot. With his heart almost beating out of his chest, Ayaan's mind was clear. He grabbed Mehek's hand before she could grab the plate of Upma. He pulled her into a tight hug and rested his chin on her shoulder.
"Mehek, I want to stay with you, I want to take care of you, I want to stay beside you each and every day! Please let me."
Ayaan clutched her tighter as he let out every ounce of his real feelings that he should have probably expressed earlier. Ayaan, somewhere inside him, has always known that though Mehek was desperate, he needed her more.
Mehek hauled herself away from his hold with a melancholy look in her eyes and her brows creased in worry, "Ayaan..."
There was an uncomfortable silence in the room.
"Maybe I should have been stronger...by myself, maybe I should have made all the efforts by me for me but..."
Mehek let out a shaky sigh.
"But now that I feel alive again, I have gotten a lot weaker than I already was..."
She paused.
"Because of you..."
Ayaan's pupils dilated and he began pulling his hand away from hers but Mehek held them back in her hands and pressed them hard.
"Because now I might be so dependant on you that if you would ever leave me, I might not be able to handle it..."
Ayaan grabbed Mehek's hand into his and pressed them on his chest, "Mehek, when I said earlier that I want to stay with you, believe me, it was out of the same fear as yours."
Ayaan's calm voice and silence that followed later amidst those shimmering eyes; soothed two forsaken hearts.
~
After the hearty breakfast, Ayaan prepared to leave since he still had some issues to settle with his brother for whom he was extremely worried about. He headed towards the bedroom with heavy footsteps, when he stopped by the door and turned around.
"When will I see you again?" Ayaan smiled with droopy eyes and slouched shoulders.
Mehek laughed, "Soon."
~
Ayaan was smiling like a fool all the way towards his brother's house while he bounced lightly on his feet. Few high school girls were giggling secretly as they went past him. Ayaan, embarrassed, increased his pace that reminded him why he always avoided crowded paths.
The grin on Ayaan's face disappeared as soon as his brother's place came into his line of sight. He had understood that it was wrong of him to assume that Armaan would not turn out like the rest of the robbers. He was not under his care anymore and was now an independent individual. He knew that he cannot force his morals on him but he was afraid that Armaan might dangerously involve himself with criminals like Pirate or worse, he might become like one.
Ayaan entered the house where he saw Trisha sitting on the couch with her phone. She looked up and flashed him a huge grin, "Hey, what's-"
"Where's Armaan?" Ayaan demanded.
"Chill, bro. He has been out from an hour." Trisha went back to browsing on her phone.
"Where did he go?" Ayaan began tapping his right foot impatiently.
Trisha rolled her eyes, "I don't know, some big muscular guy came and he went away with him."
Ayaan stopped tapping as he stared widely into the void. With his eyes as big as saucers and his breath stuck in his throat, he wheezed out his next question to Trisha, "Did...did he...by any chance had scars on his left eyebrow?"
"Yeah, right. He did have one," Trisha replied thoughtfully. "Now that I think about it, he was actually damn hot."
Ayaan stumbled a bit as he processed all the horrible scenarios in his head in a blink of an eye. He knew he should have settled that fight that night. While Trisha was still babbling about her analysis on Scarface's hotness, Ayaan sprinted out of the door in panic. Even before he was out of the door, he crashed into Armaan who saved both of them from falling down. Ayaan held both of Armaan's arms and stared into his eyes worriedly.
"Bhai, what's wro-" Armaan stopped abruptly for he had never seen this look in his brother's eyes before.
Ayaan held onto Armaan's arms as he hung his head down and breathed out a heavy yet relieved sigh.
"Where did Scarface take you?" Ayaan asked with a voice that was yet to calm down.
"Scarface? Who the hell is...Oh, that big scary-for-nothing guy, he just...," Armaan shifted his gaze, "Wait, isn't he the guy you sent to jail?"
Ayaan nodded silently.
"Bhai, why are you so speechless?" Armaan paused upon sudden realization, "Wait, wait, wait. Don't tell me that panic on your face is because you thought that guy might do something to me for revenge against you?" He burst out into dumbfounded laughter.
"You are seriously such a loser. First of all, no one can possibly do anything to me," Armaan managed to speak amidst his almost fake laughter with his fingers twitching beside his awkward stance. "Like seriously, forget about me and focus on some other person who is close to you. As much as I know you, I don't think you have anyone else," Glint in Armaan's eyes changed and he raised his eyebrows meaningfully, "Or do you?"
Ayaan lost his grip on his brother's arm. He couldn't feel the ground below him as his head spun dizzily.
"No, no, no...not Mehe-" Ayaan began stuttering to himself, "No, that's not possible. Nobody knows about her..."
Ayaan shot his head up with the speed of lightning as he stared deeply into his brother's eyes, "Crackhead!!" Saying that he zipped past him and disappeared at the turning point, leaving his brother behind who was abnormally silent.
~
In no time, Ayaan was back on the balcony on the third floor. He was in such a hurry, that he stumbled quite a few times in the bedroom itself. While sweating profusely, he frantically began searching for Mehek who was not sitting on her regular couch and there was no trace of her in the kitchen as well. Ayaan caught hold of a chair from the dining table in order to support himself. He put his shaking hand on his heart in order to calm himself down in vain as it became clear.
Mehek was missing.