Leap of Faith

Chapter 9 - Questions

“The wound heals but it never does

That’s cause you’re at war with love”

-Battle Scars by Lupe Fiasco

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Chapter 9 – Questions

“What…what happened?” Bipasha stepped closer to him and ran her hands all over the scars on his chest.

“I told you. I was sexually abused,” Neerav answered tonelessly.

“But…why?” Her voice was distraught. “What did you do to deserve this?” Her fingers were shaking as if she was afraid to touch him.

He laughed mirthlessly before saying, “Is there really an answer to that? Who really knows?”

“Who did this to you?” She pressed her lips gently to the scars in the middle of his chest.

Neerav was losing his sanity. “Please. Stop doing that.” His voice broke at the end. He gripped her shoulders tightly. Bipasha stilled immediately.

“Do they still hurt?” She asked, her voice shaky.

“No…Yes…Maybe…”

Confused, Bipasha tilted her head. Her hair cascaded down past her shoulders. A breeze blew her hair from towards his body, tickling him.

Where is this breeze coming from? She thought but then she couldn’t think about it any further. Neerav’s history was more important.

“Physically…no, I don’t hurt. Emotionally, I still do. I haven’t bedded anyone out of love since then. I had sex with some of my previous girlfriends because they wanted it; not because I wanted it. I didn’t want them to think that I didn’t like them.” She nodded her head in understanding. He sighed before getting back on track. “Mentally, I still do hurt sometimes. I don’t really trust easily.”

Bipasha was so tempted to cut in with a “Welcome to the club!” but she stayed silent and silently motioned for him to continue.

“Well, you have seen the evidence of my distrust earlier,” he ended. A perplexed expression crossed her face again. “I thought you were playing me.”

Bipasha was silent for a while. Her face was unreadable. “I wasn’t intentionally ‘playing’ you. You came to join me. You refused to close your eyes. You erupted and you didn’t apologise.” Her face turned fiercer with each accusation. She uttered each ‘you’ with a bite and Neerav flinched a little. By now, he was already a few steps away from her, his neck hanging in shame.

Without looking into her eyes, Neerav whispered, “I’m sorry.” His voice was full of shame and regret. Bipasha’s heart went out to him. She almost reached out for him but she stopped herself in time. He continued, “I shouldn’t have reacted so badly. I’m sorry, Bipasha. I hope you can forgive me.”

Bipasha remained silent. Instead, she took a few steps forward to close the distance between them and hugged Neerav. They both felt nice hugging the other and neither wanted to stop but Bipasha was not much of a hugger. So, with a final squeeze, she stepped away from Neerav.

“Why did you tell me that?”

“You…had to know why I acted that way. Plus…” Bipasha was starting to shake her head, telling him to forget it. She was turning to walk away when his fingers closed around hers. She stopped but she didn’t turn back to look at him. “I figured, since we are stuck with each other for the next three months-.”

“Would you have told this to another girl?” Bipasha asked. Her voice was soft but firm.

Neerav didn’t know what she was getting at but he sighed anyway and answered, “I don’t know.” He was quiet for a while. Bipasha made a move to leave again but he did not let her. “It’s just that Auntie chose you for me…so it has to mean-.”

Bipasha didn’t let him continue. She whirled around to glare at him. He was no longer holding her. In fact, her fierce glare made him take a step backwards. “How do you know she is right?”

“She just always is.”

Bipasha shook her head fiercely. “How do you even know her?”

“She’s family. I think she’s my dad’s aunt or something like that. I never really bothered with stuff like family trees.” Her expression had turned thoughtful as she mulled over the information he provided. “How do you know her?”

Bipasha opened her mouth to answer but the voice they both heard was not hers. In fact, it was high-pitched and thin. Despite that, it was a voice that demanded attention. Both Neerav and Bipasha turned to look at the newcomer standing in the doorway.

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Word Count: 714 words

Author’s Note: It is a short chapter but I hope you all enjoyed it. Have a nice day!

Last edited on: 9/12/2013 (GMT +08:00)