Discordance

Chapter Ninety-Seven

Maybe this whole thing was stupid and childish but so be it, Akshara thought to herself. She was just bloody tired of Abhimanyu and his past constantly coming between them to hinder her present. It was illogical but it was like a constant buzzing in her mind and as hard as she tried she couldn't let go of the feeling that she would always be playing catch up come what may. If her conscience warned her that it was because of her whacky hormones, she pushed the thought away because while a lot of it might be that she was also just bloody tired and technically she wasn't running away, she was just taking a break from everything.

"Akshu?" Kairav's face held the panic of an older brother as he opened the door to Akshara's incessant knocking and maybe it was the fact that she was starved for this particular emotion on her brothers' faces all her life because she could not get past the sob choking her throat up. She tried to explain what she was doing here but words had deserted her. Thankfully, Kairav's face morphed from shock and panic to a gentleness that made tears fall faster from her eyes before she could form the words.

"It's okay, c'mon. We will figure it out." Kairav said gently as he wrapped his arm around Akshara and brought her into the house, steering her over to the living room where her brothers were lounging.

The way Rishi and Vansh stood straight up from the couch in panic would have been hilarious if Akshara wasn't this exhausted. She did not want to answer any questions, she just wanted to close her eyes and sleep but coming here was a choice she had made and now she would have to live with the consequences, except she did not want to do it just then. She wanted to...fuck she didn't know what she want and that was the whole problem wasn't it?

Burying her face into her palms, Akshara crumbled into the couch taking the first deep breath of the night since her conversation with Abhimanyu. "It's ok Akshu, whatever it is, we will figure it out." Rishi said as he kneeled in front of her, clasping her hands into his and squeezing it gently while Vansh wiped her face, flicking her tears with his thumbs and the sight was so comical for some reason that she let out a small chuckle, surprising her brothers into silence. "Uh Akshu?" Kairav said after a second of silence but all Akshara could do was shake her head "I don't want to talk about it. Can I stay here for a bit?"

"This. Is. Your. House" Kairav Bhaiya reprimanded with a heated voice and it made Akshara sob harder increasing the boys' panic by tenfold. "Of course you can Akshu. You can stay here forever if you want, let's go to your room." Vansh said glaring at Kairav, the whole exchange would have been so funny under normal circumstances, but she was hard passed to find humor in anything just now, her brain had this strange sensation of a constant buzzing and her stomach was turning at the day's events. Helped by Rishi, Akshara carefully climbed the stairs, her flight or fight response slowly grounding itself as each step brought her closer to her bed.

She knew she wouldn't be so lucky to have her brothers leave her to herself, especially not this new, improved version of her brothers and for a second she wished things were like before and they could just ignore her but even the mere thought of it brought out the tears harder and faster, dripping from her eyes drop after drop. The sad entourage followed her to her bedroom and even in her spaciness she stood next to her bed staring at the freshly changed sheets in confusion before looking around at her brothers.

"We told you this is your house and your room. We have it cleaned daily." Kairav said, a hint of embarrassment lacing his tone. Not to rub salt on his wound, Akshara nodded gratefully before sinking into the bed, pulling the covers over her face.

"Did Abhim..." Vansh Bhai started but she could here a loud oof as either Rishi or Kairav bhai elbowed him in his sides and dead silence ensued for a few seconds. She wanted to be left alone but she also wanted to be held and told that she was being crazy and overreacting. But she also did not want to talk to Abhimanyu or about him.