Playing Her Lover

Part 24 - 6 Months (Epilogue)

"Here's your snacks, guys," Indu walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, where her girlfriend and friends were huddled over their books. 

Swara was biting her nails, her eyes scanning over the same accountancy question for the millionth time. Mirzab gently took her hand and kept it on the table to stop her from biting her nails. He had asked her out the day right after the competition, but Swara had gently let him down. It wasn't all bad though. She did like him back, and she had admitted that he was probably her first real crush. But she knew her anxiety would go out of control if she dived into a relationship. It stung, but Mirzab had no choice. But to his pleasant surprise, Swara herself asked him out a few months later. She had stopped hanging out with her old friends and had fought tooth and nail with her parents to try therapy at least for a while. She still struggled, but she decided to take the leap. 

Indu sat down next to Sameera and looked into her chemistry textbook. Sameera looked at her, her eyes pleading for some help. Indu looked back at the page she was on, pulled out her phone and opened up Youtube, smiling.
"You think I would know better than you?"
"You get better marks!" Sameera replied.
"Yes... But I don't know this part. We'll watch a video on it together, let me bring my earphones," Indu replied. But Sameera got up before her and pushed her back down, shaking her head. She walked to Indu's room and quickly brought her earphones out. She sat back down and they watched the video Indu had kept ready. 

Their final exams would be in a month and Swara had initiated the idea of studying with each other, so they could keep one another accountable. They were meeting almost every other day, and on the days that they weren't studying, Sameera and Indu went out together to the ice cream shop to simply unwind. Sameera thanked the lord she didn't have a hard time sneaking out, and ever since she correlated the slight increase in her marks to hanging out with Indu, her parents were more than ready to let them spend time together. In complete honesty, Sameera knew that she had just started putting in more effort as the year progressed. 

She looked around the table and felt an immense amount of gratitude. She had found her people, finally. She couldn't imagine life without Siddhu's sunshine, Swara's fussing, and Mirzab's sound advice. And most of all, she couldn't imagine life without Indu's love. She was still very introverted, and silent, but every time she was alone with Sameera, she would have the biggest smile on her face and insist on listening to every little thing Sameera told her about. 

Indu's mind too was not on the video they were watching. She was reminiscing on the first couple of months of their relationship, and how every new thing seemed like such a milestone. She remembered the way Sameera had audibly gasped after their first kiss, not able to process that it had actually happened. She giggled, making Sameera look at her quizzically. Indu shook her head to say that it was nothing, but Sameera insisted. She looked at the others in the room and looked back at her girlfriend.
"I'll tell you later," she assured. Sameera was satisfied, and went back to the video, going back a few seconds to listen again to what she had missed. They continued studying for 2 more hours and Siddhu, Swara and Mirzab left at about 5 PM. 

Sameera decided to stay for an hour longer, just to unwind with Indu. She jumped on the sofa and extended her arms, gesturing for Indu to cuddle with her. Indu gave a small laugh and snuggled into Sameera's arms, facing away from her. Sameera gave her a quick peck on the head. Indu felt her whole body relax, and she shut her eyes, ready to fall asleep. Sameera had one arm over Indu's waist and the other above her. Indu put her own arm over Sameera's and gently patted it, both of them lost in the moment. 

Indu struggled to turn over to face her lover, leaning on Sameera's arm so as to not fall. She wiggled a bit more to come face to face with her, and whispered,
"Happy six months, my dearest," 
"Happy six months, honey," Sameera replied and leaned forward to kiss Indu. Indu kissed her back and the two felt their bodies relax into each other, unaware of where their bodies started and ended. Sameera pulled away for a second,
"I love you so much, you know?" she said, in such a matter-of-fact tone, that Indu had no option but to laugh. 
"I love you too," she replied, still laughing, as she kissed Sameera once again. 

A life both never thought they would end up living. 
One had been convinced that she would never love, and the other had been convinced that the only "love" she was allowed was with people she could never love.
Two people who'd known each other for years and years, never once imagining that their paths would be this intertwined. All because of a simple skit.