Fire In Hearts

Chapter 24

As dawn painted the sky with soft hues of orange and pink, Kartik and Sara settled into the quiet of their car, ready for the early flight that would take them to New York City.

Kartik was driving and smiling sheepishly.

"Mujhe bhi muskurana hain", she pouted.

"Kya?!"

"Jo soch ke tum maan hi maan smile kar rahe ho woh reason mujhe bhi janna hain"

He chuckled and held her hand. He was driving with one hand and the other was clutching her hand often kissing on her knuckles.

"We will come back as a married couple", he smiled.

"Isiliye to maine jidd kiya hum dono early flight se jayenge. Sab ke saath doosre flight se bhi ja sakte the"

"Yes...last drive as lovers"

"Yeah...next we will be married lovers"

Her hand was clutched by his hand against his heart and she was feeling his steady heartbeat. His heartbeats weren’t abnormal like it used to in her presence initially. She became his peace then which calmed him down no matter what but he couldn’t give  guarantee what would happen to his poor heart when she would walk down to the aisle.

Suddenly his thought broke as a noise came and the car stretched to stop.

"Kya huya?"

"Shayad koi problem huya. Ruko main  check karta hu aur help k liye call bhi karta hu"

He got out and she didn’t sit inside. She walked outside to view the surroundings.

The dark, peaceful silence of the early morning was occasionally broken by the distant hum of the city waking up. The moon wasn’t disappeared yet as the sun was just giving signs to rise.

Kartik glanced over his shoulder to see her standing there, her eyes lifted to the sky, and a fond smile tugged at his lips.

He was about to call out to her when the sudden sound of laughter echoed from down the road. A group of teenagers, clearly drunk from a late-night party, stumbled toward them.

"Hey mam can we help?" one of them called out, his words slurred. His other friends tried to stop him.

"No thanks", Sara replied sternly.

"No sweetheart yeh jagah safe nahi hain...let's go with us", the guys tried to held her wrist and Kartik came closer holding his hand almost twisting it.

"Any problem?" Kartik asked leaving his hand.

"No no sir nothing at all", one of them replied quickly trying to drag his friend away.

"Oh the savior!" the guy mocked going closer again.

Kartik smirked and looked at Sara. Then he took a step back and leaned to the car in an idle manner.

In a swift motion, Sara's fist shot out and connected solidly with the guy's nose. A loud, satisfying thud echoed in the quiet night as he stumbled back, clutching his nose with a pained yelp. His friends rushed to steady him, wide-eyed and stunned.

"You psycho!" the guy shrieked, his voice muffled by the hand he pressed to his bleeding nose.

"Wanna try it again?" Sara challenged, her voice steady and fearless. Kartik couldn’t suppress a grin as he watched her stand her ground, pride swelling in his chest.

The rest of the teenagers shook their heads, dragging their friend away, muttering apologies and curses under their breath.

As they went, he wrapped his arms around her from the back resting his chin on her shoulder. Her hands resting over his hands.