Forever His

Chapter 84: Shattered Confessions

Mahnoor's POV:

"Did you have fun at the mall yesterday?" His voice is sharp, slicing through the quiet like glass breaking. The calm, impassive tone he's mastered for years is nowhere to be found. Instead, there's only raw, ragged anger.

"What?" I whisper, my hands trembling as I clutch the doorframe. The coldness of the room feels like it's clawing at my skin.

"I asked if you had fun at the mall." His gaze finally meets mine. Those dark eyes that once held a gentleness only reserved for me are now scorched with something I can't place. Betrayal. Hurt. Fury.

"Shahmeer, I swear I didn't see that bit. I went to buy clothes for today's event. That's it." My voice breaks despite me trying to keep it steady. "Why does it even matter?"

"Why does it matter?" His laugh is humorless, almost cruel. "You're unbelievable." He stands up, water dripping from his soaked clothes, his hair plastered to his forehead. But his eyes... those eyes are locked onto me with a storm that could tear me apart.

"I don't understand. Why do you care so much?" I ask again, desperately searching his face for answers, for something that will make sense of this chaos. "Why does it matter to you if some other guy hits on me. You only have to act in public. You don't have to pretend you love me at home."

"Why do I care?" He repeats, his voice strained, like the words are being torn from him against his will. "Because you were never supposed to matter this much, Mahnoor. You were just supposed to be another name, another face I could forget. I wasn't supposed to care about the way you smile like the world hasn't ruined you yet. Or the way your voice sounds when you say my name like it's something worth remembering. I wasn't supposed to feel anything when you fall asleep on my shoulder during late-night drives, trusting me enough to drift off when the rest of the world feels like a battlefield. I wasn't supposed to want to protect you, to be near you, to crave you like you're the only air I can breathe. But here I am, losing my mind over a bracelet that I shouldn't even care about because it's yours. And everything that's yours, I've made the mistake of wanting for myself."

I stare at him, speechless. His words crash into me, one after the other, leaving me gasping. My chest tightens, and I can't seem to catch my breath. "Shahmeer..."

"No," he snaps, taking a step back like the air between us is contaminated. "You want to know why I care? That's why. Because I tried to keep my walls up. I tried so damn hard. But you broke through them anyway. You... you make me feel things I spent my whole life convincing myself I didn't need to feel."

His breathing is labored, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. And all I can do is stand there, my heart splintering as the truth pours from him like a wound he's kept stitched shut for far too long.

The silence is deafening. I can't find the words. Because what do you say when someone hands you their shattered heart, bleeding and broken, even when you're the one who crushed it?

He takes a deep breath, his shoulders rising and falling as if the weight of the world just came crashing down on him. "I love you," he says again, his voice quieter this time, but no less forceful. "I love you so much. I love you so fucking much I can't put it into words." The words are hoarse, guttural, pulled from somewhere so deep within him, I'm convinced they were never meant to be spoken. His chest rises and falls, heavy breaths punctuating his desperate confession. He looks like he's falling apart at the seams, the tension in his body coiling and snapping all at once.

"I tried, Mahnoor. I tried so fucking hard to make you happy. To show you that I..." His hands rake through his hair, tugging like he's trying to tear the frustration from his skull. "But I'm not used to this. To any of this. Loving someone. Letting myself...feel."

His eyes meet mine, dark and stormy, but vulnerable in a way I've never seen before. It's like he's letting me see the gaping wound he's kept hidden behind every shield and every scowl. "I stopped loving a long time ago. I made a vow to myself to never let anyone get close. Never give anyone the chance to rip me apart again. And I've held onto that promise like my own personal creed. Built a goddamn empire around it. But you..." His voice breaks, just slightly. "You walked into my life, tore down every wall I built, and I let you. I fucking let you."

"And these vows I made with you, Mahnoor... somehow, they matter more. They matter more than the ones I made to myself. Because you—God, you make me want to break every damn rule I set for myself. You make me want to unlearn everything I taught myself about love. And it terrifies me. It fucking terrifies me. Because even though I can't make sense of it, all I know is that it's real. That it's... you."

The words linger, echoing in the silence that stretches between us. His eyes, raw and anguished, are locked onto mine like he's trying to etch this moment into eternity. Trying to make me understand that this confession—this heart he's baring so painfully—is not something he does easily. Not something he does for anyone. Yet, I can't find words to explain mine.

                                                                               *******************

AUTHOR'S NOTE

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

HOW ARE YOUUUU?

Ummmm...so....you're welcome?

IK IT'S SHORT BUT, WE MOVE.

Anyways, just keep reading. Sorry!

Love you ALWAYS.

See you in the next chapter!

Byee!