Moon (Completed)

6.

The sun was rising, and light seeped through the darkness. Sunlight streamed through the balcony and lit up the room.
Shivani lay down on the bed, her hands above her head as I sat at the foot of the bed.

I admired her once more. The early morning sunlight made her skin seem golden. Her hair looked a beautiful light brown and her brown, almost black eyes glittered like jewels.
I just spent the night with her. I was lucky to even talk to her, let alone spend the night with her.

She watched me as I adjusted my lehenga.

"Do you have to go?" She asked me, unable to hide the slight tremor in her voice. I turned to look at her. Her face seemed neutral but her eyes seemed sad. " Can't you just stay with me? Can't we spend more time together? "

"We can," I said. " but I want to help my mom pack for today. She did allow me to stay till 11, but I know she will find it difficult to pack by herself. "

"Yeahh I get it. We can still call though, right?" She asked , and this time I sensed a desperation in her voice. It reflected exactly what I felt.

"Yes definitely. We can have video calls and regular calls too. We will text each other anyways, right?" I asked, to which she nodded.

"Alright then, I guess I need to go." I said, and she sat up but she did not look at me; she looked down at the bed. I went up to her and held her chin in my hand gently as I lifted her face up to look at her. Her eyes were watery. When she looked at me, a few tears fell on her cheeks and she wiped them off. I stroked my thumb against her lips before I kissed her sweetly. She kissed me back with a little desperation.

"I am so thankful I met you. I loved every second I spent with you. If I hadn't seen you, or if you had not spoken to me, I would have missed out on the opportunity to get to know someone as enigmatic as you, Shivani." I said, my eyes roaming her face.

She closed her eyes when I called her by her name.

I stood up straight and walked to the door. Just as I had taken two steps away from the bed, I felt her grab my hand.

"Wait," she said "what are we?"
I had not thought of a label for us. Were we dating? Were we friends who liked each other?

"What do you want us to be?" I asked her.

" c-could we date? Like, could we be girlfriends? Or partners? Any term that is okay with you." she said, looking nervously at me.

I was happy. I wanted to go out with her, I wanted to call her my girlfriend. This beauty was dating ME.

"Yes! We can. I would love to." I smiled at her.

She smiled back at me, and she looked overjoyed. She stood up and hugged me. Then, taking a step back she held the back of my head as we kissed deeply.

And then, we parted ways.

                                         ~∆~∆~∆~∆~∆~∆~∆~
                                      
                                        *6-ish months later*

Shivani and I officially started dating that morning.

Even after I reached home, I called her every day. We texted almost every hour about the most random stuff. Not even a second was awkward. Of course, we did have our disagreements, but we sorted most of them out on the spot and moved on.

Our 6 month anniversary was fast approaching, and I was planning on surprising her with a few gifts. I thought of going to her city and meeting her in person, as we had not met since the wedding, until my friend reminded me that I was sadly broke.

Long-distance was hard.

"Sooo... what are you getting her?" Heena asked me as she sat down with her tray of food. We were at a mall, shopping for clothes.

I sighed deeply.

"I thought of- I believe- I- I DON'T KNOW!!" I whined. "It's so hardddd, no one told me it was going to be this hard."

"No one ever does; it's something you figure out along the way." Heena replied. "Anyway, let's look for something today, and if we do not find anything, we can look for it when we go out next week."

"Oooo right... I forgot about next week!" I smiled excitedly.

Heena's eyes narrowed.

"Forgot??? YOU BETTER NOT STAND ME UP, NAYA." She practically yelled.

"Me? Forgetting our monthly café visit? No way!" I grinned, finally getting a smile out of Heena.

After we ate, we shopped some more and then I went home with the perfect gift for Shivani.

A week went by with the blink of an eye. I was getting dressed to go to the café. My mom had gone on a two-day trip with my dad, leaving me alone. Not that I had a problem.

I was just about to leave when I heard the doorbell ring. I opened the door to find Heena.

"I thought we planned to meet at the café? What happened?" I asked, confusion evident on my face.

"Yes, but I have a tiny, TINY surprise for you." Heena said.

Huh?

"What do you me-" I gasped when I saw the surprise. Her eyes were just as pretty as I remembered them. They shone like glittering gems, and reminded me of that night. She looked impeccable.

"Shivani??" I asked, my voice loud with surprise.

"Happy 6 month anniversary!!" She smiled shyly.

I could not believe my eyes. She was here. I thought I would not see her for the near future. She looked so beautiful, I wanted to cry.

"Happy 6 month anniversary!" I wished as I pounced on her, engulfing her in a hug. She hugged back with the same vigour.

"Alrighty, my work here is done. I'm going to go. Bye guys, enjoy! Use protection!" Heena spoke a little too loudly for my liking.

"Oh shut up." I rolled my eyes, while Shivani just laughed.

I mouthed a 'Thank you' to Heena, to which she responded with a thumbs up.

I welcomed Shivani in, closing the door behind me. She looked around my house, her eyes sparkling. Her hair had grown slightly. She wore a pair of jeans, a tshirt and a cardigan with rainbows on it. She radiated warmth and joy.

I was so happy to call her mine.

We both sat on the couch and spoke for hours. We shared deep, passionate kisses, that expressed everything that was left unsaid. Our bond was still the same.

No amount of time could make up for all the time we lost in long distance.

At night, we just lay next to each other, gazing into each other's eyes, our hands clasped tightly. The moonlight filtered in through my windows, and her hair shimmered in the clear light.

I leant closer to her, and kissed her briefly on the lips. She tugged on my head slightly, connecting our lips once more. We shifted closer to each other, and embraced, never to let go.