When I Was Your Man

Fourteen - Fools In Love

Fools In Love

"Come on Ishita, you can do it!" he urged as she climbed down the pipe. "I'm here to catch you if you fall, don't worry."

It was difficult for her to do in her wedding lengha, which her bare feet kept getting stuck in, but she eventually managed to reach the ground by herself.

He held his hand out for her and she took it without hesitation. Yash started to lead her around the building, towards his car, but she yelped in pain, causing him to stop in his tracks. He turned around to see that a tiny stick had gotten stuck in her foot, and as a result, it was bleeding. Bending down, he picked Ishita up in his arms, and walked the rest of the way to his car.

He carefully seated her in the passenger seat and bent down to take the stick out with his hand. She grabbed his shirt tightly and winced in pain.

"It'll be okay," he assured her softly, as he opened his dashboard to remove a handkerchief. He tied it on her foot carefully, while she looked at him with admiration.

When Yash sat on the driver's side of the car and backed out of the venue, he heard Ishita sigh with relief.

"I was so worried they would catch us before we left," she told him as they were nearing his house.

"You don't trust me?" he asked her lightly.

"I trust you more than I trust myself," she admitted as he stopped at a red light.

He turned around to look at her, seeing the honesty in her eyes. The truthfulness of her words touched Yash's heart.

"Why?" he asked, stepping on the gas pedal again as the light turned green.

"Because you had faith in me when I didn't even trust myself," she whispered, her eyes glossing over.

Yash pulled into his driveway and turned off the engine before facing Ishita. He took her hand and held it tightly in his.

"How can you be so sure?" he replied, searching her eyes for any sort of hesitation.

"I didn't realize it before, but you are the reason I am the way I am now," she let out as the first tears started to fall from her eyes. "You're the person who picked up the broken pieces of my heart, without even complaining once that the pieces you picked up were stabbing at your own heart. You took all of my pain on your shoulders Yash."

He used his thumb to wipe away her tears, his eyes still gazing into hers. When she cried, he felt his own heart become vulnerable - her tears were his weakness, and they had been for a very long time.

"I didn't do anything," he told her, meaning every word of it. "It was all you. You are the only reason that you're you. Nobody else. And Ishita, I didn't pick up the pieces of your heart. You picked them up, you held your head high and you fought until it healed. It was all you."

She held his hand to her face, leaning in to it and placing a soft kiss on his palm.

"In the last two years, there wasn't a day that passed by where I didn't wish I was with you," she confessed. "Everyday, whether I was awake or asleep, I would dream about being in your arms Yash. I always... I always wanted you."

Yash smiled, feeling his heart fill with joy. It was exactly the way he always felt. His happiness was always with her happiness, and seeing the happiness behind her tears today made him feel like the happiest man on Earth.

"I always knew that my marriage wouldn't end up happening to him because I had faith that he was not meant for me. I knew you would come Yash, I just knew it... and you came," she whispered. "And you saved me."

"You saved yourself," he corrected her, pressing the palm of his hand to her mouth in order to stop her from giving him credit. "Ishita, it was always you. I was only there for you as support, but you were always the one who saved yourself."

Ishita smiled at him and in her eyes, he could see all the love that she contained in her heart.

"All of the times you were mean to me, it was just a mask Yash... I always knew it was, but I doubted myself. After Dilip, it was hard for me to trust my heart," she told him sincerely, "But I finally listened to my soul Yash, and it told me everything I had to know. It told me that you loved me this whole time. It told me that you only wanted the best for me. It also told me that there was no Ishita without Yash."

"And there is no Yash without Ishita," he concluded for her with a smile.

"I knew that too Yash. But... I always thought that I wasted so much of your time, that I was not worthy of your love... so I didn't try to find you after," she admitted, looking down, sounding guilty.

"Ishita, there is nobody on this planet more worthy of my love," he said in a serious tone, placing a hand on her shoulder gently.

"Then why didn't you find me Yash?" she asked him softly.

"Because I didn't want to influence you in any way. I knew that you loved me Ishita, but I didn't want to start anything prematurely. I wasn't sure whether you were ready for it," he said sadly. "I didn't want to place this burden on your heart."

"You idiot!" Ishita scolded, hitting his shoulder. "You wasted so much of our time! But then again... so did I."

Then she started to giggle and he knew that she felt like a total idiot herself, just like he did right now. Yash just admired her. It had been so long since he saw her this happy.

"We're probably the biggest fools ever," he told her lightly. "When we got the chance in college, we were too stuck in ego. Then when we got the chance years later, we were stuck in a combination of fear and insecurity."

"But now, now we're only stuck in love... and this time, it won't leave, ever... and even if we want to leave it, it won't leave us," Ishita finished for him, smiling.

"I love you Ishita," he admitted softly - this time, the time was just right... or perhaps his state of mind was.

He knew that they had spent so much time apart when they could have been together, but if Yash was completely honest with himself, the time spent apart did not matter to him. His love for her was always there, as strong as ever, and time never came in between him and the love he felt for her. Now that he was able to spend the rest of his life with her though, he knew that he wouldn't ever give her a reason to leave him, because she was happiest when she was with him, and his happiness had nested comfortably somewhere within hers.

"I love you too Yash," she replied with passion.

Ishita removed her seatbelt and threw her arms around his neck, comfortably resting her head on his shoulder. Yash wrapped his arms around her body and closed his eyes, allowing himself to drown in the moment.