Discordance

Chapter Fifty-Six

Two days, three hours and 35 minutes, that's how long it had been since he had seen his wife or held her close, kissed her or hugged her and he was struggling. Who said that separation and yearning strengthened love? Because all it did was give him heartache and a constant feeling of some phantom limb that was aching so. Yes, he knew it was fun to sneak around and take what he wanted but it would never replace the feel of her being his and sleeping in the same bed as her, knowing her whereabouts and coming back home to her shy smiles and shared heated glances at the dinner table.

"Abhimanyu you are being pathetic" Shefali Bhabhi said that evening as the family was sitting in their living room, talking about budgets and outfits and just everyday chaos that comes with weddings. He didn't care if he was being pathetic, he just wanted his Akshara dammit.

"She never asks for anything or gets to spend time with her family. Hell, she barely gets to see us because you monopolize her time and attention. Leave my poor girl alone." His chachi chided as she pulled the hair on his head and Abhimanyu huffed grumpily before sitting on the floor with a loud thud, kicking Neil's feet in annoyance, needing to ruin everyone's day like his had been because Akshara wasn't here.

"Bhai" Anisha said softly and instantly he was on high alert, feeling antsy about whatever she had to say.

"Umm" she coughed but Abhimanyu wasn't going to make whatever she had to say easier on her. If she was struggling it wasn't his fault, she had created this unrest between them and while they were civil it would take efforts from her side if she ever wanted their relationship to go back to normal. "You should call Akshara back." This he had not expected from her.

He raised his brows at her, staring her down, needing to know what the next words were going to be from her and it felt like his entire family was glancing between the two of them, waiting with bated breath to let his anger erupt or whatever that had been simmering between them to come to fruition but Abhimanyu had stopped caring. While it did hurt because of how close him and Anisha were, he had meant every word when he said that Akshara was his family first now and he would do anything to make sure she was ok and safe, even if it meant being away from her.

Abhimanyu had agreed to send her away not because of rituals but because it ahd cut him deeply at how fucking dense he was for not seeing how uncomfortable his poor monkey was around the whole wedding guests and the filled house, especially because of Anisha and her friends.

"I want her here, I'm truly sorry that I made her feel like this wasn't her home. I can ask her to come back if you would like?" as much as he wanted to grasp this opportunity with both his hands he liked how open and happy his monkey was with her brothers and this was probably her only chance to get to know them as adults who respected her and tried to show her how much they loved her.

"I'll ask my friends to not make her uncomfortable...or we can uninvite them. I don't care. Family comes first and umm she is family." This is all he had ever wanted to hear from Anisha, he would never have made her uninvite her friends but the fact that she had offered showed him a glimpse of their old bond and with an aching heart he smiled a small smile up at her.

"Nah, it's ok. She's happy with her brothers for a bit. Thank you for offering though, it means the world to me and to her, I'm sure." A weight he hadn't known he had been carrying seemed to have lifted from his heart and finally Abhimanyu could breathe amidst his family because Akshara's pain was so all consuming that he hadn't really had a chance to unpack his own feelings at how betrayed he had felt with the people he loved not picking sides and not protecting Akshara.

To his utmost surprise, it was his father who broke the silence, slapping Abhimanyu on the back once and grinning at him before announcing loudly how happy and proud he was of Abhimanyu-Akshara but also Anisha for having the courage to apologize. His father had not touched him in so long or praised him for anything that Abhimanyu closed his eyes once wanting to soak it all in despite the discomfort. Nodding his head once at his father, he turned to his family and the rest of the night they all joked and yelled at each other sorting through gifts and clothes, wedding invites.