Guns And Fireflies

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

NANDINI'S POV

CHAPTER SONG: I GUESS I'M IN LOVE BY CLINTON KANE (Please listen to this! It will get you in the feels for the chapter)

Happy Reading :)

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I come home to Manik reading the letter. My note was in his hand and a wide smile was stretched on his face. He looked up and that's when I saw slight, only slightest of tears in his eyes. That was really strange because he didn't seem the kind of guy who would cry so that worried me even more. So I immediately rushed to him.

"Hey what happened?" I asked him with an extremely worried face.

He didn't say anything just got up, put the letter down and hugged me. I was too shocked for the first few seconds but eventually hugged him back. He didn't say anything just hugged me tightly. His grip on me was tightening by the passage of every second. That scared me even more, what if he just feels bad for me and wants to reject me?

"Wh-what happened?" I asked and tried to break his hold on me but didn't succeed.

"Manik.."

"What miss phattu?" He chuckled.

"Shut up and what happened?"

He broke his hold and looked at me.

"You seriously asking me that? You just wrote that you like me, how do you expect me to react? And you think I don't like you? Are you blind or what? Of course I like you, you idiot. I have liked you for a while now but even I was a little phattu for telling you." He said.

Whatt!? Am I hallucinating? Did he really say that he likes me?

"Wh-what? What did you say?"

He smiled, shook his head and pulled me closer and placed a long kiss on forehead. He didn't speak anything for like a solid minute and just looked at me.

"I. Like. You. Penguin." He said.

I looked at him and what I saw in his eyes at that time was sincerity. There was this look on his face that screamed that he likes me and that assurance was what I needed for that moment to bring my sane-ness back. That look told me that what he was telling me was not fake, it was not a bluff.

And then just for a moment, I forgot that Manik was with me in the room and I pushed him lightly and screamed a "yes" on the top of my voice and literally, like literally started dancing. This felt like nothing short of an achievement to me.

After a few seconds, I realized that Manik was standing there with the biggest grin on his face and his phone in his hand. I immediately stopped dancing and went to grab his phone but obviously couldn't do it because of my height.

He wrapped one of his hands on my waist and the other one was held high up so that I couldn't reach it.

"Manik what is this? Delete it!!!!!"

"Of course not, I am not deleting this. This is gold! It's not every day when I can see you like this. So no, I am not deleting this."

Then I tried making the puppy face, thinking that it would work on him.

"Oh no no no. This is not going to work every time, ok? Especially right now. No matter how many cute faces you try to make, none of that will help you get through me right now." He said and I huffed.

"You don't have to be irritating to the person who has just confessed their feelings, you know?"

"Oh is it? Well, I'll let her know that she signed up for this. Now she'll have to bear with it because I am never going to stop irritating her and now the she has confessed her feelings; this irritating thing is only going to increase."

He paused and again spoke. "Also, be aware because I'll always be clicking photos of you. Even if you'd be looking like a dead ugly rat- which you never do by the way- or if you look good. Photos of you are essential."

"Ughh what am I going to with you?" I said with irritation.

"Umm hug me, I guess?" He said with a nervous smile.

His face was so cute at that time. The intimidating Manik was long lost, all I could see was a cute Manik who looked adorable when he was nervous and asked for a hug.

I couldn't resist so I went on my toes and placed a sweet kiss on his cheek and that had him dying. His face was on fire and his eyes were wide. I know the cheek kiss was unexpected but I didn't expect it to have such a reaction on him.

Then, I hugged him and he hugged me back with the same intensity. We stood there silently, just feeling and admiring each other's presence and savouring our moment.

With him, even silence is comforting. We don't have awkward silences. We don't always want things to talk, we just need each other's presence. There have been times when the two of us have just sat in the balcony watching the sun go down, without uttering a word.

And that's a thing that I like about him. That even in this chaotic world I can find peace with him, I can find a comforting silence with him. Even when everybody around is hustling, we are still in our little moments.

"Is this real?" Manik asked while tightening his hold around me.

"What do you think?" I asked him back.

"I hope so. And if it's a dream then I don't want to wake up."

I chuckled and shook my head. I put my chin on his chest and looked at him.

"It's not a dream, all of this is happening in real. All of this seemed like a dream to me at first too. But now it feels very real."

"All of this is very new to me, you know. These feelings where I constantly want to hug you, always want to be around you, always want to protect you; everything is very new to me. And as you know that I am not the most expressive person, but I genuinely mean it when I say that I like you. I'll try to never let you down and actually make this work, ok?"

Can I cry happily, now?

"Okay. Not only you, both of us will make this work." I smiled and said.

"Okayyyy! And so this means I can hug you any time and give you lots of kisses, right?" He asked expectedly, just like a kid asks for a toffy.

I laughed and said yes to which he screamed a "yes" and hugged me tightly and peppered light kisses on my entire face (except lips, obviously).

After that we decided to go out in the porch and watch the sunset because the sight was beautiful. So I went and changed into my shorts and t-shirt. I went out to see Manik already sitting on the sofa that we had in the porch. As he looked at me, his smile came back and he opened his arms for me. I happily went to him and sat next to him.

I kept my head on his chest and snuggled into it. He took my hand and started playing with my fingers and drawing random patterns on my hand with his thumb.

I sighed in relief and closed my eyes, just listening to his heartbeat and the birds chirping. And a smile immediately made its way on my lips.

Can't wait to know what the future holds for the two of us!

--xx--

Hola peeps!!

How are you all doing?  Hope you all are doing great!

Also, Happy Diwali to everybody! I know it's late but still 🤷‍♀️

Sooo how was the chapter? I know it's short but I didn't want to give away all the sweet moments in one chapter. 

I personally, find this chapter very cute. Cannot wait to  know your reviews!

Hope you liked the chapter. Thank you for reading💛

Make sure to VOTE and COMMENT!

~Maitri.