Hustle For Love |COMPLETE| MaNan Fiction

19. The One Where I Fell In Love

A/N : Guys, how many of you feel, the story is ending soon? Okay, here's the deal - I love writing this story very much, and it's NOT ending too soon! It might look like it is, though - so HOLD ON and let me tell you this MaNan story! Lots more to come!

Won't rant more and will let you read!

Happy Reading!

***

S.P.A.C.E. Academy, New York circa 2012

(Manik's Apartment, S.P.A.C.E. Residency, Campus Grounds)

Manik Malhotra

I woke up with a start, as my head hit the hard handle of the couch. I hadn't realised when I dozed off staring at Nandini, as she sat quietly on my balcony under the inky sky. I quickly glanced towards her, she was still there, her head was drooping, maybe she had dozed off too? I saw the darkness of the night was slipping away now, it was soon going to be dawn.

I walked up to her and tried covering her up with a shawl that I pulled out of my wardrobe, but she awoke with a start as I wrapped the shawl around her body.

"It's okay Nandu, it's only me" I whispered gently, hoping not to break her drowsiness.

"And you're darker than the darkest monsters out there" she faintly replied back, looking straight into my eyes. We were really close, and I could look into that beautiful face in the fading darkness of the night. I stared at her soft oxbow lips, they were lush and pink and they quivered at my sight - I looked upto to her 'doe' eyes to assure her that only she could control my darkness. As I looked deeply into those soulful eyes, I shuddered - her clear eyes reflected what was pure evil, and that wasn't AK's face that I saw there - it was mine.

I pulled back aghast and a sharp gasp escaped me. I was the bigger monster between AK & me for her, and maybe I saved her from AK tonight, but who was going to save Nandu from me? A part of me, the more selfish part that craved her in my life, berated me for homing this thought. Was I that bad? Did I really not deserve Nandini?

The answer was No. Sorry, I cannot be that undeserving of care & affection. No one is that undeserving! I agree I made a colossal mistake - I am not taking it back - but you tell me, what can I do about it? Can I erase it? No. Can I augment it? No. I can apologize for it, and I did. I can try and be a better person, and never repeat such a low act again, and I promised myself that. I can protect Nandini from a similar toxic man like me, I am trying just that.

I have seen this in life, whenever I try being a little good, the universe goes out of its way to push me back into the darkness, and I had realised by now that Nandini was my only source of light - my only shot at happiness and way out of the dark mess. I couldn't afford to lose her.

"Nandu, AK is fine. He is at home" I spoke after a while, as I sat next to her and looked up at the fading stars. She didn't respond or even acknowledge my sentence. There was stillness in the air and we both were sitting there quietly for God knows how long. After what seemed like a milenia, she spoke.

"Manik, why did you do this?" she asked me softly, looking towards me. There was no anger, no irritation, no dominance in her question - it was a tired appeal from a fatigued heart.

I looked into her eyes, a smile formed on my lips - but I wasn't happy. In fact I had never felt lower in life - I knew she would never forgive me for what I did that night, but even in that pain, I didn't regret what I did to AK. Protecting her was more important for me than having her back in my life. Nandini was important.

"There's no point telling you, Nandu. You won't believe me anyway" I replied, after a while.

"Yes Manik, I probably won't believe you, but I still want to hear your excuse - I just want to see if you've even put in any effort to make an excuse this time, or you simply thought Nandini doesn't deserve an explanation of your actions. Isn't that just how you thought last time, when you dumped me?" she reminded me quietly. I gulped. I had made so many mistakes this far, that redemption seemed like an impossibility.