Together Forever-RAYA❤

43. Taking A Stroll Down Memory Lane

Hello! I know it's been a long time since I updated this story. Sorry for that. I got busy with my other FF. But now I hope I'll be able to write this one consistently with the other one too🤞 Thank you so much for love and support! Lots of love from my side♥️ and here's the new chapter!
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That night Shubham came home and he went straight to the storage room to search for something. After a good 20 minutes he found the red velvet cloth covered album he was searching for under a stack of old newspapers. He let out a sigh before taking it out and then lightly patted the cover to take the dust off it and went to his room carrying it in his hand, wanting to take a stroll down memory lane.

He sat on his bed and opened the album. A small smile appeared on his face as his eyes fell on the first picture- A very little Shivina, hugging a teddy bear. He turned the page and saw the second photo- It was Nandini carrying him in her arms. He smiled and then sighed deeply. He went to the next page and there was a picture of him and Shivi with their father Virendra. He caressed the picture softly with tearful eyes.

Shubham: Dad...

Blinking back his tears, he took a deep breath. Turning the pages he started reminiscing about their good, old days where they were all happy. While doing that particular picture held his attention- it was an 18 year old Ram, holding a 2 year old Shivi in his one arm while his other hand was wrapped around an 8 year old him. All of them had a beautiful smile on their face. He remembered that their dad had taken that photo. It was Ram's 18th birthday and they were celebrating. And suddenly it occurred to him that Ram was not in any of the pictures he saw earlier. He again turned back the pages to confirm and of course he was right. He quickly finished seeing the pictures and realised that amidst those 80+ photos, there were only 3 pictures with Ram in it. In the other two there was Dad with him.

He would be lying if he said that he didn't feel bad seeing that. He still remembered when he was a child, he didn't know Ram was his stepbrother. He used to think of him as his own. But things changed as they grew older. He got to know that he was not his own brother. Not that it meant much to him but Nandini's constant comparison regarding everything made him start to despise Ram. He excelled at everything...be it studies or sports or manners whereas he had always been an average in all of them and created a distance between them. He didn't know if Nandini did it consciously or unconsciously but it did affect them both badly.

Whatever his bhabhi told him was true. Ram had tried his best to hold the family together after their dad's death. He brought them out of the financial crisis. He carried all the responsibility and stress on his shoulder for years so that they lived a happy life. Not once did he ask them to compromise on anything. But what did they give him other than loneliness and mental pressure? He asked himself. And he knew the answer- Nothing. And that thought made him uncomfortable.

He looked around himself. He also felt lonely. Slowly but steadily all his friends have stopped talking to him after they came to know that Ram has cut ties with him. Was that how Ram felt when they lost everything after dad's death? But he had his friends who were his pillars, his support systems, who motivated him everyday to work hard. But he didn't even get invitations from late night parties now.

His mom on the other hand, kept enjoying her life with her friends. Still spending money like water as if they had plenty. She didn't understand what kind of pressure he was feeling.

Priya wanted him to talk to his brother. But how? Would he listen? Would he help him get out of the mess he was in? He didn't know that after what happened.

He sighed deeply, resting his head on the headboard of the bed and kept staring at the wall for some time.

Then he again focused on seeing the photos. A photo made him chuckle- his dad was having an ice cream and he asked for a bite, ultimately finishing half of the ice cream in that one bite. Virendra's face looked funny as he was pretty shocked to see how a 5 year old boy could gobble up so much in one bite.