THE IMPERFECT PERFECTIONS

•Δ49~𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫

☆ .♡‧₊˚ ☆ .♡ ‧₊ ♡‧₊ ☆ .♡ ☆ .♡‧₊˚ ☆ .♡☆ .♡‧

Eventually, one by one, everyone retired to their rooms, including Aditya and Taniya.

The room was bathed in the soft glow of the bedside lamp.Aditya lay on his back for a moment, staring at the ceiling before his gaze drifted toward Taniya who was laying on her side facing him.

He studied her face, the curve of her jaw, the way her few strands of  hair fell softly around her shoulders. She sensed his eyes on her and turned, meeting his gaze with a raised brow.

“What?” she asked.

He hesitated, his lips curving into a faint smile. “Nothing,” he murmured, but the intensity in his eyes betrayed the tenderness behind his words.

Slowly, he shifted, turning on his side to face her.

Before he could turn completely, Taniya’s hand shot out to stop him, her voice tinged with concern. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

“I’m fine,” he reassured her.He inched closer, his body pressing against hers as he draped an arm around her neck and another around her waist, pulling her into him with a protective possessiveness.

His head rested against hers, the closeness calming them both.

They fit together like pieces of a puzzle—her head nestled into the curve of his neck, their breathing synchronized in the peaceful silence.

The stillness stretched on, comfortable and healing. Then, in a voice so low, it seemed to blend with air, he spoke, as if the weight of the moment required the right words.

“You know…”

She hummed in response, content in the warmth of his embrace, her head still resting against his neck.

“If I’d had you sooner…” His voice faltered for a split second, almost imperceptibly, but his next words carried a quiet, raw sincerity. “I would’ve married you years ago.”

Taniya’s breath caught and then a soft laugh escaped her lips.

She pulled back just enough to meet his eyes, her smile playful. “Is that your way of saying you’ve been waiting for me all this time?”

Aditya’s smile deepened, a bittersweet thing, as he had lived with these feelings for far longer than he had realized.

“Maybe,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. “Maybe I’ve just been waiting for this. Waiting for the moment when I finally found something, found someone—you—that makes everything else fade into the background.”

Taniya’s smile softened, the playful teasing in her eyes giving way to something warmer.

She shook her head in mock disbelief, her fingers tracing the edge of his shirt. “I didn’t know you could be so poetic.”

Aditya chuckled, “I didn’t know either.”

The quiet returned, wrapping around them.

After a while, Taniya spoke,“I’m so grateful to you. I didn’t know you and your uncle...uhm...helped my father that... night…” Her words faltered and for a brief moment, her breath caught, the weight of her emotions palpable in her voice.

Aditya didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, his arms tightened around her, pulling her closer as though his embrace could shield her from the world.

“You don’t have to be,” he murmured, his voice deep and comforting. “I can’t even imagine what you’ve been through. I just wish I would have been with you. How do you manage all that alone", He trailed off, his throat tightening as he struggled to find the right words, knowing that nothing could fully encompass the pain she had endured.