His heart twisted painfully. He cupped her cheek with his free hand, eyes wide with a flicker of panic.
"I'm so sorry," he rasped, his voice breaking. "Did I hurt you?"
Her lips curved into a faint, sorrowful smile that pierced him deeper than any...
'Ik junoon ( Paint it red ) from Zindagi na milegi dobara '
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Yuvan's POV :
The night wrapped itself around us like a velvet blanket. The rain had stopped long ago, leaving the roads glistening beneath the streetlights. I was driving slowly, unusually so, not because of traffic or caution-but because of her.
My little one.
She lay curled up beside me in the passenger seat, her head gently resting against the window, the soft rise and fall of her chest syncing with the rhythm of her dreams. Her hand-my left hand-was trapped under hers, her delicate fingers wrapped around mine like a claim. Even in her sleep, she didn't let go.
I glanced at her every few seconds, unable to stop myself. Her skin still had the glow of something tender, her hair a little messy, falling over her cheekbones in feathery waves. My heart, the one I once believed was stone-cold and past repair, had melted for her. And now, it was hers.
The woman I had once admired in silence, teased mercilessly, nearly decided to push away out of fear, was now... mine. She'd seen the brutal parts of me, yet her eyes looked at me as if I were the safest place in the world. That moment-when she'd confessed again, with those stormy eyes and lips trembling from the weight of truth-stamped itself into my soul.
And yet here she was, asleep, holding my hand like I was some sort of lullaby.
"The best moment of my life," I muttered to myself, staring ahead into the quiet night. "Wasn't when I won my first mission, wasn't when I signed my first deal... It was this."
This silence.
This hand in mine.
This woman-my woman-beside me, trusts me even after reading those threatening words on that damn note.
No one touches her. No one dares to.
I tightened my grip slightly on her hand, just to remind myself she was real. Just to reassure the dark monster inside me that she was safe, here, alive, mine.
I pulled up in front of her house and stopped the engine, letting the soft hum of silence settle. Her hair fell over her face again. I couldn't see her properly, and I didn't like that. Carefully, I brushed it behind her ear, then tapped her cheek with the gentlest motion I could manage.
She stirred.
"Mmm?" she mumbled, eyes barely open.
"We're here," I whispered.
She blinked slowly, adjusting to the dim glow of her porch light outside. She sat up, stretching a little, then turned her sleepy face at me. Her eyes still held the remnants of dreams.
"I slept?" she asked, yawning slightly.
"You drooled a little too," I teased, smirking.
"Yuv!" She gasped, touching her cheek in alarm. "Did not."
