Two pieces of a whole.

Paradise.

Windows rolled down, gentle gusts of wind rushing through her hair, the moon, a silver blur behind clouds, the smell of mud after rain and the slight drizzle filled the atmosphere with comfort and romance.

Watching her boyfriend Shravan drive the car around the lake, Suman's breath quickened, and her gaze trained on him, his loose curls sticking onto his forehead, the faded imprint of her lipstick on the corner of his lips, a smile playing across his lips as he hummed the song playing on the car radio. She couldn't stop looking at him, and he knew that.

"Kya?", he asked, amused.

"Kuch Nahi.", she said, smiling.

Her looking at him like that made him want to kiss her again.

''I see you're taking a long way home, Fraud Malhotra.", said Suman, interrupting his thoughts.

"Of course I am, and what about it?"

"Good.", she nodded in approval and laughed.

His eyes fell onto her hair and he giggled, shaking his head.

"Wait.", he said, pulling over the car to the side of the road.

"What?", she said. Worried, she ran her hands through her hair and was about to comb it down with her hand, when Shravan caught hold of her wrist.

"Let me do it.", he said, taking off his seatbelt and leaning forward to fix her hair. He ran his fingertips gently up her jawline, almost cradling the side of her face with his big hand, gently pulling out a small leaf stuck between the strands of her hair and throwing it outside the window.

"Oh?", said Suman, confused about how it landed up there.

Looking at her adorable surprised expression, Shravan chuckled admiring her.

"Don't laugh.", she said trying to hide her smile.

" I will."

"I said, don't laugh."

Looking at her pouting, crossing her arms in fake defiance, he couldn't help but think about how much he loved her. He loved her so much, and he didn't want to stop looking at her because he worried this might be a dream and that she's not real.

"Dekh kya rahe ho? Ghar nahi jaana?", she asked.

"Nahi."

"Nahi?"

"Nahi jaana ghar, tumhe chod kar ghar jaane ka mann nahi kar raha." Saying so, he leaned forward yet again but this time to kiss her lips.

Suman kissed him back. For all she knew, she wanted to kiss him as much as she could. She wanted to kiss him more longer, while weaving her fingers through his hair. She wanted to keep him as physically close as possible and wanted to hold him in her arms because she loved him more than ever. Someone when he was with her, her mind and body fell into a familiar rhythm of thoughts and breathing.

His index finger gently traced the side of her face, pushing her hair out of the way. He swept his thumb across her lips and Suman let out a little hiss from the warmth, and any words proclaiming her love withered away as he placed a tender kiss on her forehead. He stopped and unbuckled her seatbelt. Reclining her seat, he bent forward and pecked her lips.

He bent down and kissed her behind her ear, softly, and then dropped soft kisses down her neck making Suman lose her mind. She pulled him closer and he buried his face in the crook of her neck.

"Stay like this forever.", she whispered.

"I want to.", he said as he gently kissed her collarbone.

"But i- " * "don't trust" * "our fate" * "anymore.", he said in between his kisses.
" I don't want to make any promises. What if I lose you again. What if-"

Before he could say anything more, she kissed him gently, her teeth tugging his lower lip.

"I don't want you to promise me anything, I just want you to stay like this with me, atleast for now. That's all I want."

Suman wanted to continue with more coherent sentences and rational arguments, but words died in her mouth when he kissed her collarbone. She could tell it would leave a mark.

"Shravan-"

"Hmm?"

"Let's go to the backseat, I want you closer."

In the backseat, he pulled her onto his lap, she straddled him and her head almost touched the roof. God bless the sun shade on the windows and the lack of streetlights in the area, no one would see them.

Pulling him closer to her, she kissed him much harder than before. Shravan held her closer, his hands wrapped around her waist. It was obvious the way they clung onto each other, refusing to let go. For Suman just existing next to each other felt like a blessing, holding him, feeling his skin, tracing the curve of his smile, being able to hold his gaze felt like a dream.

Her fingers made it's way to his shirt buttons, and she could swear Shravan raised his eyebrows in surprise. She unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt, his taut honey skin peeking through and she was already mesmerised. Gently tracing his skin while kissing him in the gentle luminance of the moonlight felt nothing less than poetry.
If she closed her eyes, she could pretend she never had to be away from him, that the past was just a nightmare she woke up from, that they were 18 again kissing secretly in his room on his birthday, his gift tightly clutched in her hand, her breath quickening.
But then, she slowed down, the tender kisses and gentle swipes of Shravan's thumb tracing her jawline, brought her back to reality.

She was here. She was with him.
He's fine. He loves her. She's okay.
It's real. It's fine. She loves him. It's real.
He's here. He will be here. She'll always have him, right? She'll always have him. Wouldn't she?

Wouldn't she?