Discordance

Chapter Thirty-Eight

She should feel guilty about Abhimanyu leaving Anisha's important day to be with her, yet Akshara was selfish enough to be grateful that he had stood up for her and was going out of his way to make sure she was comfortable. Her heart clenched every time he did things like this but everything he had done from the apartment to knowing she was starving to calling out his sister for being a bitch was all too much and now this vacation...she wasn't sure how she felt about it, sure she was pumped to go someplace else but also spending 72 hours with Abhimanyu and his need to talk about feelings and emotions, yeah she was just proud of herself that she was still there and hadn't run screaming for the hills.

He said he loved her so often that she was starting to believe it, believe him, but yet somewhere deep inside her was this wide chasm that was painstakingly created by her family and everyone else she met and she wasn't sure if it would ever be filled. However, it felt like the chasm was narrowing somehow around the edges, every time he kissed her hair, called her beautiful, stared at her for hours as he stroked her cheeks or said he loved her. Hope, she realized that she was filled with hope, something she never thought she would feel.

She looked over to find her shirtless husband working diligently on his laptop as he bit the inside of his cheek and he looked so scrumptious in that moment that Akshara felt her blood freeze in her veins. These thoughts wouldn't do, especially if they were to spend a prolonged period of time cooped up together, but not having his attention on her when he was right there next to her was also unacceptable. Scooting as close as she could dare, and before he could peer down at her face she snuggled into his chest, looking at the screen he was working on and while she knew it had to be uncomfortable for him, he wrapped his arm around her, continuing to scroll through whatever patient report he was reading, massaging her scalp ever now and then as he went through scans after scans.

"I'm scared" she mumbled after a bit making him immediately pause his work.

"of what baby?" he asked gently and this tone he sometimes used with her always unraveled her completely.

"Of the trip just I don't know how to act, it's all too much." She stated absentmindedly as she tugged at a piece of lint on his thigh.

"We're going so you can relax, we can talk to each other and I can hold you in my arms without having to let you go to work or us being interrupted. That's all, nothing more. We can go sightseeing if you want or stay at the hotel and eat and chill, watch tv." Ok when he put it like that it didn't feel too overwhelming. She loved being in his arms and sleeping for hours and hours.

"Ok." She mumbled and after a moment of quiet squeezed his waist letting him know that she was alright, knowing he would have waited for her consent.

The next time she opened her eyes, she was secured under his arm, his heart beating gently under her ear and she went back to sleep, kissing his chest once.

"I can't fly" she grumbled and almost stomped her feet like a child as they got to the airport the morning of their trip as Abhimanyu rolled his eyes at her, dragging her inside trying to mollify her. "Why can't we drive?" she asked petulantly, dragging her feet as Abhimanyu somehow managed to hand their IDs and their boarding pass to the agent all the while also handling their luggage.

"Because monkey, I don't want to waste time in a car when we can be chilling in a comfortable bed and swimming in a pool, drinking drinks." He said as calmly as possible.

"Pool?" she asked, her interest piqued as they walked through security, while Abhimanyu collected their things and walked them over to their gate.

Flicking her nose he smiled that heart melting smile at her "yes, pool my monkey" oh.