Due to Be Married || Shivika AU SS

one

Annika's hand traced over the wedding invitation. Specifically, where her name was engraved in gold. "Shivaay weds Annika," the card read. No last names, he'd decided. He even fought with his mother, warning her to not print Oberoi anywhere near his name. Annika smiled, remembering how passionate he'd been about it. How his eyes had changed color, from a steely grey to a vivid green. 

It was so unlike him, his mother later confided in her. Before he met her, he paraded his last name around with such great pride. And then, that very man who refused to look at someone without a last name, refused to print his own on his wedding card. 

"All credit to you, Annika," his mother had said with a proud grin. 

Blinking back her tears, Annika closed the card and stored it away carefully, in the locked safe in her closet, beside the jar of chocolates he'd gifted her. The chocolates were gone, but the wrappers still resided in the jar. Annika recalled how after eating each chocolate, she'd straighten out the wrappers and place them back in the jar, with utmost care. 

She shut the door of the safe and her fingers grazed over the keypad. Shiv. The four letters that unlocked her little treasure. Ah, the memorious night of changing all her passwords to his name, his birthday, his eye color, his favorite word, and everything that reminded her of him. With every "set password," the giggle that escaped her lips, thinking of his reaction if he ever found out. 

Did you ever find out, Shiv? Did you ever find out that you were my world? 

But there was no response, of course. Shivaay was gone. All that was left for Annika, were his memories. She turned to the small chocolate cake, his recipe, of course. The candle flickered brightly. 

"Happy Anniversary, Shiv. I love you," she whispered quietly before blowing away the only light in the room. 

On the other side of the world, in Seattle, Washington, Shivaay stared out the window. Heavy droplets fell on the glass pane. What would she have done, if she were here? he couldn't help but wonder. The answer came to him in the form of a daydream. Of course, she'd have her face and palms pressed up against the window, and she'd be smiling as she watched the raindrops trickle down the glass. She'd race them, in her head. "Look, look, Shiv! This one's winning!" she'd shriek joyously. And poor Shivaay wouldn't be able to get any work done. 

But he wouldn't mind. After all, she was herself. 

He remembered the time he'd surprised her at midnight. "Annika," he had whispered urgently, hovering over her ear. "Hmm?" she had asked groggily. "Open your eyes." 

"Oh, Shiv, is it morning already?" she asked, subconcious of the fact that Shivaay was meant to be in England for a business deal. 

"No, baby. But I'm ho—" 

"Don't wake me up then," she had pouted like a child. Shivaay had rolled his eyes and decided to sleep beside her. Annika's excited shrieks would be the first melodious thing he'd hear in the morning, anyway. 

His hands behind his back, faced to the foggy world outside, his orbs turned into an oceanic blue. The depth of his pain was abysmal. He missed her like a madman. He'd become a shell of what he once was. 

Their every moment, he replayed in his head. From the very first moment they'd met, to the day everything came crashing down. And what was suffocating was that it was all his fault. 

Turning around, he sat on the couch gently. A small candle was placed on a black forest cake. 

"Happy Anniversary, Annika. I love you," he breathed before plunging himself into darkness once more. 

Every year, they celebrated their togetherness, even when they were apart. However short-lived it may have been, joy had found them in the black period of their lives. If only fate would let them find one another once more. 

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: HOLA!! oops, caps lock. i decided to write an impulsive shooooooort story on shivika. warning: no khidkitod tadibaazi here for a while. just morose shivaay and annika. sry in advance to those who thought otherwise😓**