Naina and Aditya arrived home very late at night. They already had their dinner on their way in a restaurant. By the time Naina changed into her night clothes, Aditya was already fast asleep on their bed. He was tired from all the driving he did.
Looking at him, his words echoed in her ears which made her to smile at him and also recollecting the moments they shared in the mansion. She was willing to do anything and everything for him.
Nearing him, she covered him with the duvet and switched off the light. Then she came to her side of the bed and lying, she covered herself with her own duvet.
She tossed and turned as the time continued to tick. But sleep was far from her eyes. She turned to her left side to see Aditya sleeping.
She thought of waking him up but then she thought that it wouldn't be right to disturb his sleep. She turned her body to right side and looked through the glass window.
As she stared, she thought that eventually she would fall asleep but that didn't happen. She again turned to look at him facing his back to her and woke up and sat leaning onto the bed post.
She slowly opened her purse that was on the bedstand and took out small glassed bottle which had many white tablets in them.
She stared at it for the longest time contemplating whether to take the sleeping pills or not. It wasn't that she was addicted to them, but there were days that she just couldn't sleep at all.
Though she hasn't taken them in last eight months, she still didn't wanted to take them. But also, she didn't wanted to stay awake with so many thoughts clouding her head that would start aching her head and those aches were unbearable for her.
Sighing, she slowly got down the bed and walked to his side of bedstand where the water jug and glass was placed.
She slowly poured the water in the glass and just when she was about to take the glass and move back to her place, she felt a hand on her's which made her to drop the bottle of sleeping pills.
Aditya woke up and switched on the light. He was surely asleep but the way she was turning and tossing, had really woken him up and he saw her through the semi darkness, walking up to his side.
He surely would have let her be, if he hadn't noticed some bottle in her hand. Holding her hand, he got up to sit.
Naina looked at him, feared and nervous. He had no idea of those pills and this is not how she wanted him to know. She was sure that he had noticed it. She didn't wanted to lie him. She couldn't.
She stared at him, thinking that he would shout at her or redicule at her or at least say something like he hadn't expected this.
"I-I..." She stammered but no words came out.
He moved a bit to his right, making enough space for a person to sleep and stared back at her.
"Drink the water...."
"Aditya, I -"
"Naina, we will talk about this tomorrow. Just drink the water and come here."
He said in his coarse voice.
"...."
"Rule number two, you will be sleeping in my arms from this very moment"
"What?" She gasped, dumbstruck at his words.
Surely they had hugged many times now and they slept together once in the mansion. But that was when she was crying and couldn't help herself.
But now, did she hear him clearly?
Or was he sleeptalking?
He hadn't let her hand free. So, she used her other hand to drink water and keep back the glass on the bedstand.
"Switch off the light" he said again which Naina did without complaining.
Once the lights were off, Aditya pulled her on the bed to lay right next to him.
He had his one arm below her head like a pillow and his other hand covered her with his duvet and pulled her closer to him by her waist.
Naina stilled in his arms and was almost frozen. Her heart beat had started to beat rapidly as her hands sweated profusely. She was even more wide awake.
"Breathe, Naina and calm down"
His breathe fanned on her face. Hearing him, she realised that she was actually holding onto her breath and released it.
Aditya turned her to face him.
"Naina, close your eyes and sleep"
He whispered, caressing her cheek.
He pulled her even more closer to him such that her face was buried in the crook of his neck and his other hand held her waist tightly yet his grip was gentle.
Feeling warmth from him, she snuggled into his arms and relaxed herself. With the way he had his grip on her, she felt like she was in the safest and most secure place.
Pecking on her head, he closed him eyes to go back to his sleep, while Naina being laid in his arms, surrounding with his natural cologne, she heard his heartbeats which was thumping louder by every second, just like her's. Hearing to his heartbeats, she didn't realise that she had fallen asleep in just a span of few minutes.
The next morning, when the rays of sunlight passed through their room and fell on her face, Naina buried herself even more in his crook hiding her face from the light and clutched onto his shirt tightly. Her breath fanned on the exposed skin of his neck. Feeling the warm breathing on his neck, and her snuggling, woke him up.
The second he opened his eyelids, he saw Naina's face buried in his crook and she was clutching onto him very tightly as if feeling cold. He covered her up till her shoulders and pushed back her small bangs of hairs behind her ears. His touch as light as a feather, as he didn't wish to wake her up anytime soon. Her hairs were plaited. She always did. She never left them open during nighttime.
He laid still, with her in his arms. Gazing at her lovingly. For Aditya, it wasn't everyday that he was used to feel the warmth from his wife as they both slept in the end of either sides. Surely she slept in his arms in the mansion for the first time, but he had wished since so many months to wake up to her in his arms. Just like how she's sleeping right now. If one thing he understood by her sleeping in his arms was that, Naina loved to snuggle and be snuggled!
He then remembered, previous night she was about to take some pills. It wasn't the first time that he had seen her taking those pills. But according to her, he didn't knew until previous night as she thought he hadn't or wouldn't ever find out by himself.
Aditya was no dumb. Three years back when he had first seen her swallowing the pill in late midnight, he was curious and worried to know for what purpose they were for. And the minute he was sure that she was fast asleep, he got up and searched for the same bottle and looking at its name, he googled it.
It was an antidepressant sleeping pills.
He felt like the floor under him slipped away. Those were the days when he had actually started to notice her presence around him. It was then that he started staying awake until he could no longer stay awake whenever she used to.
It was then that he had started to notice how most of the nights she spent crying either in the bathroom or in kitchen or in Nia's room and most of the times, he woke up in the middle of the night to her absence and then find her sleeping in Nia's room, hugging her tightly. Like her life depended on her.
Despite that, she woke up very early in the morning and go for running and then do all the chores along with their mom and then work at school which was not something as easy as child's play.
Things like these about her, left him dumbfounded. His silly girl and a teacher was something would never fit in one sentence. But she really was a teacher!
Then once she returns home, she makes sure to give her time to Nia and never once had she raised her voice on Nia. If it were Komal to be in her place, by now Nia would have been got scoldings and maybe even once or twice beatings also.
But he had forgotten that Naina was not Komal or any other girl. She is a weird person. She always had her ways with Nia and made her understand every single thing with patience.
Then she worked so much that one would easily fall asleep the moment they hit the bed. But Naina, she used to lay wide awake until late midnight. But there were also some nights that she slept early.
All he wanted to do was ask her and help her but somewhere he felt that he had no right to even ask her as he felt guilty that somewhere he was responsible for her to be like this.
Aditya leaned in and pecked on her forehead as light as feather, not wanting to disturb her sleep. From what he had seen, Naina wasn't someone who slept until late mornings.
He laid still, gazing at her. Even in her sleep, she looked as innocent as a baby. Just looking at her, he felt like wanting to hold her tightly and never let her go. But he didn't, as he didn't wanted to awaken her. Staring at her lovingly, he didn't realize when his eyes started dropping and went back to his deep slumber.
An hour or so passed, when Naina fluttered her eyes and then open them to see a skin so close to her face and that is when she realised a heavy arm on her waist. She slowly raised her head a little to see Aditya's face just above her. His breath hitting her face as she looked at his sleeping form.
Startled, her breathing took up the pace and her heart started beating rapidly. As soon as she realised that she was held by his strong arms, she somewhere felt strangely caged and safe at the same time. It made her feel suffocated. It was like her emotions were getting mixed and she no longer knew what exactly was she feeling.
Wanting to stop the strange feelings, she pushed away his hand and woke with jolting up that had even him to wake up from the sudden push. Getting up, he saw Naina sitting beside him with sweating profusely and breathing with great difficulty.
"Naina?"
He called out her name worriedly, but she couldn't hear him.
"Naina? Look at me. What happened?"
He tried to get her attention and hold her in his arms but she was reluctantly pushing him away.
"Naina, okay I will move away. Just calm down"
"Look at me Naina?"
She looked at him, still trying breath with difficulty.
"I-" she couldn't word out to him.
"It's alright. Just look at me, will you?"
She didn't respond to him but she neither looked away from him.
"Just breathe slowly. Try breathing in and out."
He showed her breathing exercise, which she tried to follow him.
"Yes, you are doing great."
"Just like that, breathe"
By now, Naina's breathing came to normal pace and she was able to calm down a little, though her hands were shivering.
Aditya got down and pouring the water in the glass, he held it for her to take.
With her shivering hands, she took the glass from him and drank the water emptying the glass.
Aditya took it from her and placed it on the bedstand and looked at her.
Raising his left hand to her forehead, with the back of his sleeve, he dabbed to wipe sweat off her forehead.
Feeling the touch, Naina first pushed her head back and when she saw it was Aditya's hand, she couldn't understand but she felt relieved.
"Better?" He whispered.
Staring at him, she sat on the same position and just then it flashed her about previous night's events.
They had returned home from the mansion in the night and then he had slept off but she couldn't. So after what it felt like she really needed her medicine, she woke up and when she was about to take them, Aditya woke up and stopped her from taking the pills.
He had pulled her in on his side of the bed and held in his arms while he slept off again and surprisingly, she too had slept off in his arms.
She remembered how safe and secure she felt in his arms. His natural cologne, which she was familiar with from ages, she could never ever forget the essence of him. The way his heart was beating rapidly and rhythmically, she never thought that it could be so melodic and harmonic to her that it instantly made her fall asleep.
Without the pills.
Pill.
She thought. She thought that he would ask about them. But he told that they would talk in the morning.
It was morning now.
"I- I - that - pills - I"
Naina couldn't form sentence coherently.
"Shh..... I know"
He raised his hand to touch her cheek, but she refrained him by moving her face away from his hand which was almost about touch her cheek.
Disappointed, he retreated his hand back and looked at her.
"I know"
He whispered.
________
I hope you love this chapter!
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Dated - 27 August, 2020
Edited - 18 June 2021