Kalaba Kadhala | Part 1

Chapter 10

Italics - Translation

"Let me take you home".

"No, Prabhas!" she protested, hands on her hips, but he could see the doubt creeping into her brow. Her ethics clashed with her feelings—why couldn't she understand? He wasn't just a gangster; in her eyes, he was also the man who loved her fiercely.

"Look. Just this once. I promise I won't hurt your independence," he said, trying to inject naïve humor into the tension. Thankfully, it worked. Anushka's resolve faltered, and a weary sigh escaped her lips.

"Fine. Just until my elbow stops throbbing," she conceded, reluctantly placing her hand in his, and he felt the surge of relief crashing over him like a tidal wave. There was no way he would let this chance slip by.

Prabhas helped her navigate through the crowd, the murmur of stunned onlookers fading from his mind. All he could focus on was her, the soft warmth of her hand in his. Every step felt like a jittery dance between their hearts, their desires jostling uncomfortably in the middle. Why did life have to be so convoluted between them? With her, he wanted peace; without her, he felt chaos.

They reached her home. As he opened the door for her, a sense of protectiveness gripped him like a vice. He stepped inside, his awareness heightened, ready to defend her against the world outside and the darkness within him.

"The first aid kit is in the drawer," Anushka said, already moving towards the bed. She busied herself, attempting to shake off the fall and the discomfort he felt from viewing her vulnerable.

He followed her, taking the kit from the drawer and kneeling down to tend to her arm. "You should really be more careful," he said softly, doing his best to keep his hands steady while his heart raced. "Life has enough dangers without adding scooters into the mix."

"Coming from you?" she teased, but he could hear the undertone of skepticism in her voice. "I don't know how you can preach about danger."

"Because I know what it's like to lose someone," he said, conviction lacing his words. Memories of violence, of friends who had fallen, mercilessly flooded his mind—but this was different. He couldn't afford to lose Anushka. That realization wounded his soul deeper than any bullet could.

Their eyes locked, a fleeting moment of silence hanging between them like a fragile thread. "You know, you don't have to do this," she said, a mixture of regret and hesitance behind her words. "We can just walk away."

"No." His voice was firm, but gentleness lingered. "I will not let you walk away from this. Not from me." Each word he uttered echoed with the weight of truth—the truth that he had fallen deeply in love with her despite the chaos surrounding him.

They both knew the path ahead was fraught with uncertainty, but it was also rich with what they felt for each other. As he gently bandaged her elbow, the room felt charged with unarticulated thoughts, the unsaid desires, the need for understanding.

"Prabhas..." she started, her voice trembling slightly. Anushka steadied her breath, glancing out the window where the world continued in blissful ignorance of the turmoil within them. "what are we doing? Where is this taking us?"

He paused, looking deeply into her chocolate-brown eyes that held the essence of every choice he made. he murmured. "What I do is tied to who I am, and I cannot expect you to shoulder that... to live in my darkness. But I'll protect you at any cost."

The air turned heavy, and as he looked into her eyes, he sensed an answer lurking within her. She hated violence, and he was knee-deep in it. But her heart still whispered to him, tethered to his like a lifeline.