ᴇx-ʙᴏʏʀꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅ, ɴᴇxᴛ ʜᴜꜱʙᴀɴᴅ

Chapter 33

Nishtha

I was waiting in the hall, dressed in a simple white anarkali, waiting for Yuvaan. I don't know what got into him, as I stared at the anklet he got me. Him removing Aryan's anklet and giving me his, him saying it explicitly that I'm his wife. I was unsure if I was talking about the same guy who refused to accept our relationship in the office and everyone else.
Was he drunk last night?

Keep your guard high, Nishtha.
This man will never hear you out. He didn't hear you then, he didn't hear you now as well, and he won't hear you later. He'll always need proof. We dated for 3 years and he still needed proof for everything. Did the 3 years worth of trust mean nothing to him? Was there ever trust there?

I noticed movement and watched him come downstairs in a simple white shirt and jeans.
We're twinning.
Shut up.
I looked at him and he looked at me.
"Are you ready?" He asked.
I nodded.
"Okay, let's go." He said and headed to the door.
We locked the door and headed towards the lift in absolute silence. As I entered the lift, I could not help but notice his features. His rolled up sleeves, the small tattoo on his arm.
Tattoo.
I wonder if he still...
Should I check?
Before I could do anything, he turned around to face the mirror and check himself out. I noticed him run a hand through his hair.
He was hot.
He looked at me through the mirror, "enjoying the view?"
I instantly looked down, "No... I..."
He chuckled, cutting me off.
I looked at his hand and my eyes caught the one tattoo I had been looking to see. My eyes started filling with tears.
"What happened to you? Why do you cry all the time?" He asked me, casually.
"You... you still have it?"
"Have what?" He said as his eyes followed mine, leading them to the joint of his right arm, just opposite the elbow. The lift opened, he took a deep breath and just walked away, leaving me following behind in tears.
I sat with him in the car and I noticed his jaw clenched as he drove. I know I triggered him but I didn't think he'd still have the tattoo. I wanted to ask him but his anger scared me. A lot. The old Nishtha could easily calm him down, the new one can't.
"Y...Yuv..." he doesn't like it, "Mr Nanda..." I corrected, "Can you... drive slowly... please."
He looked at me and then back at the road, I felt the speed reduce and he drove silently.
It was a quiet ride again until we parked outside my house. I quickly used my phone to fix my face. There were tears stains and I didn't need everyone seeing that. I noticed Yuvaan looking at me.
"What is it?" I asked him slowly.
"What did I tell you yesterday?" He asked me.
"What?"
"What's my name?"
"I... Yu..."
He grabbed my hand and pulled me close, "I guess you want to learn the hard way." He said in my ears as his other hand made its way along my hair, removing a clip without me noticing. My hair came flowing down, covering a bit of my face. He slowly used his hand to remove the strands from my face and looked back at me, coming dangerously close. His lips made their way along my face, barely missing my skin. I felt goosebumps in my skin as a lot of memories came back. I tried to be repelled to his touch but I wasn't able to. He looked at me after a sweet torture of what felt like 50 minutes, "This was just a trailer, if you say shit like Mr Nanda or Sir again... be prepared for what's coming."
He got down, leaving my heart racing rapidly.

I got down, ignoring my goosebumps and caught up with him as we headed to my home. We rang the bell and were greeted with a bunch of people talking and chatting loudly. Aai opened the door and I touched her feet.
Surprisingly, so did Yuvaan.
"Come come!" Aai said as we walked in.
We saw everyone sitting in the hall. My family and his family. I saw Neel and Vamika talking. I went over to Neel and gave him a hug. I wanted to give Vamika a hug too, but Yuvaan's words scared me. I noticed Vamika wanting to approach me but I couldn't, so I just gave her a small smile and went back to sit with Neel, on the other side. Yuvaan sat opposite me, deep in conversation with our parents.

The dinner flew by. We were seated at the dinner table when our parents dropped the bomb of a honeymoon, suggesting that we travel to a place to explore and take time off.
I was against the idea, so was he.
However, our parents were pushing it. Finally, we agreed to take a road trip within India, spend a few nights in a beautiful hill station nearby called Mahabaleshwar - seeing that it was the best option and closest option to home. Our parents weren't happy but they knew the reasons of our marriage and so they agreed at it.
We had a silent dinner, where everyone else was talking except me and Yuvaan. I was battling my own demons inside. Yuvaan's sudden closeness was surprising me, but more than that, it was scaring me. I was scared. I didn't know what is going on behind the scenes. Is this another plot?

The drive back home was silent. I was falling asleep, but I couldn't help but stay awake. I don't like sleeping when someone's driving.
"So, when do you want to leave?" He asked.
"What?" I asked him.
"Mahabaleshwar. When?"
"Oh... I... whenever you want to go."
He sighed, "Your habit of giving diplomatic answers hasn't left, has it?"
He remembered.
"Sorry."
"We'll go next weekend."
"Okay."

We got in the house and headed directly upstairs to our rooms. Before I could close my door, his voice stopped me. "Nishtha..."
I turned around.
"I can't ever remove it. It's inked not only on my arm." He said, his eyes gazing into mine before he closed the room door.

I stared at the door in shock.

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