Almost Not Love! |COMPLETE| MaNan Fiction

23. I Love Them Both, Shit!

A/N : Hello Readers, are you excited by the title? ;)

Yes,  a lot will happen in this chapter so gear up for a run :D

Also, there is a special reason why I posted this chapter as a double update for celebrating friendship day ( a li'l belated though); it is because, this chapter is an ode to friendship in many ways!

How so? Read on, to find out!

Happy reading :)

***

Recap:

"I'm sorry Nandini, we shouldn't have brought this up" Nandini didn't say anything, she just realised even if she tried, and she knew he had many, she couldn't remember his flaws. Over the years she had somehow only held on to the good in him – she knew he had wronged her, the how's had become vague – but he on the other hand latched onto only the bad – it was like two very different versions of one story. What was she doing here in his room? She loved him, that was her problem, he needn't feel obligated to 'fix' her. Her trail of thoughts was interrupted by a text message; it was from Abhimanyu.

[Nandz, I am returning tomorrow morning. I want to see you first thing]

She quickly replied back.

[Yes, please see me. My place.]

***

"You shouldn't be sorry, Aryamann, for saying what you really feel. After all, aren't these the reasons why you had decided to leave me, anyway?" Nandini asked with a sad smile on her face; after she responded to Abhimanyu.

"Nandu there were other reasons too, you know it; but that shouldn't be our bone of contention now; let's focus on getting you back to good health" he replied firmly.

A part of Nandini wanted to obey and let go, like she always did when push came to shove from Aryamann; she always did so to avoid confrontation, so that they could stay together, last happily ever after; but did that eventually stop him from leaving her anyway? No. She thought she wouldn't survive, but didn't she? Then he abandoned her again, just like that on Mukti's engagement evening too; and here she was living and breathing AGAIN. Nandini was a survivor she realised, and she was no more scared of him taking off again this time. True love doesn't see reason, that was why she was so hopelessly in love with this man in front of her; but now with almost a decade more of age and perspective Nandini hit a deep realisation. Even though she loved him more than her life and somewhere he loved her too, they were never on the same page; every time they'd be here, he'd stay a while, be defeated by his mind on what's good for him versus what he loves and every single time he'd eventually go.

In fact even since yesterday what did Aryamann talk about? Fixing her? Loving her? Leaving Soha ma'am? Did he once talk about being with her? Deciding to stay? No. He never did, because that was not his plan anyway. So, today Nandini wasn't going to be on the receiving end – nope. She had had enough; she won't wait for him to leave her. True, she still loved him; her heart wouldn't listen to any other rhyme or reason when it came to him, she would always find a reason to overlook all his flaws, but this time around, she wasn't going to sit and wait for him to abandon her.

She looked up at him, her face was calm; there was no storm in there, the storm was over, she was still alive and breathing, she spoke gently but with a kind of firmness that demanded respect; Aryamann's head shot up at her request.

"Thank you Aryamann, for listening to my pleas yesterday and bringing me here. Thank you for talking to me; I feel much better now. It's time I leave"

"What? No, Nandu. You can't! You just had one dose of meds, we are not sure if..." he began.