☆▽☆
"What are you doing here?" he asks me, his eyes raking over my drenched body and widening. Instantly, he opens the door further, allowing me to slip inside and grab a towel from somewhere, handing it to me.
My sobs may have taken a backseat f...
AN: another revolution around the world begins today. happy b’day to me!
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I notice the crutches my cousin takes help of as he strolls into the room for the first time. I had no idea his condition was this bad.
“Bhai...” the word falls from my lips as a haunted whisper when he rounds the bed and pulls me into a hug.
“Hey, man, sit on the goddamn bed. You’re still not green lighted to walk around without the damn crutches,” Aayansh scolds Bhai and pulls him away from me.
“Yes, mom,” Bhai rolls his eyes but instead of being stubborn about it, he obediently sits on the bed, with a soft wince.
For the first time, I look at my brother. Really look at him and my heart twists. His forehead is all healed but there’s still a cut from his right eyebrow to his forehead which I’m not sure will ever heal. He looks fine, physically but he can’t fold either of his legs and it shows how inconvenient it is when he has to sit at the edge of the bed with his legs dangling.
My nose tingles. How much of my real life connections with the people that really love me did I miss? Something in my heart splinters when Aayansh claps back at Veer and he says something back again that has Aayansh snorting. I can’t focus on words or what they’re saying, not on the fan whirring above me and not on the vehicles honking out of the window.
A hand squeezes my throat and my airflow cuts. My vision blurs. Everything in the room spins. I can see two figures of my brother, then two of Janki before they land on Aayansh. He’s still animatedly talking to Bhai when suddenly, he tips over.
I reach out my hand, and even thought I’m realising my mind has turned foggy, I want to make sure he’s okay. Survival instincts, fucking who?
Warm hands wrap around me and pull me to their chest. There’s a grunt, and then, someone softly taps my cheek. The scent of sin and vanilla wrap around me and instantly, I’m breathing hard. Something wet lands on face, then again until I’m gasping for breath.
“Anaya?” The voice sounds gurgled, like I’m underwater. And maybe, I am. I’m so underwater that I’m basically out of their lives. I didn’t know Bhai and Aayansh were so close. Sure, they knew each other for they came for me once at Neil’s house but I didn’t know they were close. Aayansh and I have gotten really close, or so I believed, because apparently, we weren’t as close or he would’ve told me about Bhai’s condition.
“Anu.” A soft voice speaks. Janki. She moves her hand over my head, her fingers slipping through my strands. “Oyye, open your eyes,” she says again. And I want to. But a weight keeps them shut. I hadn’t even realised when my eyelids had become so heavy. I try to pry my eyes open but it’s like all the emotions have slammed into me at once: exhaustion, betrayal, confusion, grief, surprise and that disgusting green horned monster jealousy.
