An Inconvenient Flame

Chapter 55 {A}

A new update.

Again people this chapter is 9k+.

See a warning, you know I write slow burn. So it's exactly that. I've given every scene it's own time. And this chapter has three scenes.

It has two parts, part B is still left to write but drafted.

Also in this we have conversations.

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Day 2

I wake slowly, to the hushed rustle of leaves outside and the soft hush of the Ganga whispering in the distance. Morning in Rishikesh has its own kind of stillness.

My arm is draped across something warm and solid.

I blink, adjusting to the pale, diffused light slipping through the curtains.

Abhiraj.

He's sleeping, curled on his side, and my body is fitted perfectly behind his like we were always meant to fall asleep this way.

I don't remember when we moved into this position, only that somewhere in the night, the space between us disappeared.

And now, here we are. Entwined.

A quiet smile curls at my lips. I stay there for a moment, holding him, watching the way his back rises and falls with every steady breath.

There's something peaceful about him like this, unguarded, soft around the edges.

Carefully, I shift.

I ease myself off the pillow just enough to lean over him, brushing my fingers gently down his arm, until he stirs and turns slightly, just enough for me to see his face.

His lips are parted in sleep, lashes resting softly against his skin.

God, he looks young like this. Almost boyish.

My fingertips trace the edge of his jaw. I don't know what possesses me maybe it's the leftover tenderness from yesterday, or the magic in this air but I lean in and press a slow, feather-light kiss against his lips.

Then another to his nose.
One on each closed eye.
And again to his lips... this one a little longer, a little surer.

He sighs in his sleep, like he feels it somewhere between dreaming and waking. My chest pulls tight in the best way.

I wrap my arms around him from the front this time, holding him close, really close, as if this embrace can speak for everything I still don't know how to say.

Then, I pull away, brushing his hair once more before I slide out of bed.

I step out onto the balcony, barefoot and quiet, the chill of the  floor nudging me fully awake.

 The world is dipped in soft blue hues, the kind of blue that makes everything feel a little surreal, like the morning hasn't fully decided to be real yet.

The Ganga flows below, a little muddied from last night's rain, swirling with streaks of soil, but still so alive.

The birds are already wide awake, chirping in cheerful bursts, and the sky is a perfect wash of clear, cloudless calm.

Everything smells like rain-kissed leaves and earth.

It's... peaceful. 

I smile to myself, inhale deeply, and pad toward the washroom to freshen up.

The cold splash of water on my face pulls me into the present, and I hum softly as I towel off, my thoughts still lingering somewhere between Abhiraj's sleeping form and the sky outside.