Not "as usual"(on hold)

Revelations(13)

CHAPTER 12 END : And then it clicked. Out of nowhere i just got my answer. I got the exact word I was looking for. The word that set all my doubts at rest. The word that made everything make sense. The word that related every picture. The word that in spite of being so distant would take me a step closer to knowing Rey.

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REYANSH LEON POV

"separation" Ridhi whispered under her breath as if to herself.

"huh?" why on earth would she say such a word out of the blue while going through my sketches? And then again, there was something weird about the word that made me feel....I don't know what. A sort of a connection I guess. Separation, connection, connection, separation. I don't make sense, so I simply waved the feeling away.

"Umm...Rey?" she looked down and started fidgeting with the buckle of her wrist watch making sure not to make eye contact. She does that when she is nervous. But what could possibly make her nervous right now? God she had never been so unpredictable earlier. I feel like there is something she wants to tell or something she wants to know. I gathered all the sketches lying around on the bed and bridged the space between us. I gently put my hand around her shoulder and she relaxed into me, laying her head onto my shoulder.

"Yes candy?" the soothing tone came naturally. This is the best part about being with Ridhi. I can just be my natural self and I know that she will never judge.

"Where are your parents?"

My head jerked up a little and my shoulders stiffened. My grasp around her tightened just a little bit more and my hand involuntarily stopped stroking her perfectly smooth black hair. I should have known this was coming. I mean how long will I hide it all from the world? How long will I keep it from Ridhi in particular? Plus she deserved to know. She deserved to know everything. Everything about my past. Everything about my present and of course, everything about my future. And specially everything about my future because she is definitely in it. I don't know how she will react. None the less, I will have to do the 'speak my heart' part. Frankly, the past events of my life don't make me cry any more. In fact I don't feel anything at all now. Its just a hollow, vaccumed feeling or rather sensation whenever I talk about it. Doesn't affect me anymore.

"Dead and alive" I din't know how else to explain my situation. "My so called parents live on the other side of the city. They come over once every month and give me ship loads of money and go back after forcefully spending their day with us". I could sense how flat and blunt my voice sounded. "Maria and I are adopted. The man who made us left us as soon as Maria was born and the doctor announced that my mom was suffering from a rare kind of uterus cancer. My mom died three years back when Maria was hardly four years old. Before going, my mom made her sister promise that she would always take care of us. My mom's sister and her husband adopted us, but they never loved us. They just had to let us stick around for a while because they promised my mom. As soon as Maria turned six, they bought us a new house, hired a maid and threw us out. I am not complaining Candy. In fact I am greatful to them for helping us through our worst times. Uncle Claire and aunt Lilly have always been patient with us initially. Its just that aunt Lilly looks so similar to mom. She has the same sea green eyes and the same pointed nose. She ties her hair in the exact same messy bun that mom used to wear and just like mom, she has an obsession with nail colours. Its difficult to believe that a woman so similar to mom could be anything even near to being heartless. In fact, I know aunt Lilly is not like what she appears. But why does she have to pretend to be cruel and heartless? My gut feeling says that uncle Claire is the reason behind it all. In fact, from the past few months I have been noticing few scars and bruises on aunt Lilly. Sometimes on her face, sometimes on the neck and sometimes on the hand. There is one new bruise every time she comes over and it is always so purple and fresh. Like it's been inflicted just seconds ago. It's kind of scary. And then again, behind the harsh facade, I know aunt Lilly is a kind and gentle woman.

"Every time she holds Maria's hand, even though she is scolding her, you can clearly see the mix of pain, guilt and love in those sea green eyes. Its like she is being chained and pinned down and restricted from doing something she really wants to do. As strange as it may sound, i see three fourth of my mom in her. Uncle Claire does everything in his power to keep Maria and me away from his wife and sons Amar and Ankit. I don't know the motive behind his devilish deeds and that is what scares me the most. Or actually, what he can do to aunt Lilly or Maria scares me the most. Maria is my greatest strength and weakness Candy. She is everything I have. More precisely, she is the only one I have left and I fear loosing her. I cant let anyone do anything to her. First dad, then mom, then aunt Lilly. Now no more Ridhi. Now no more".

I dint realize when Ridhi had intertwined her fingers with mine or when I became the one whose back was being rubbed or when I had started crying. Yes, to my own astonishment I was crying. And here I was thinking that I had stopped feeling anything about the situation. That I was numb about it. Its strange how Ridhi ends up doing things I always thought were not possible. I never thought I would share the story with anyone. I never thought I would cry over it again. I never thought I would tell anyone who my greatest strength and weakness is. I never thought I would fall in love. But here I am with this one girl who made me do those things and surprisingly, it felt good.

I looked at Ridhi and she looked flummoxed. Like she was debating between right and wrong. Like she was negotiating with her own thoughts. Like she wanted to tell something that just wouldn't make its way up to her mouth. Like she wanted to help but din't know how. Out of the blue and through my tears, a little laugh escaped my mouth. She looked like the most beautiful vulnerable creature on earth. She looked up into my eyes and i took the moment to cup her face. I bent my head till our foreheads touched and our breaths mingled. After a split second our lips interlocked. Her kiss was warm and gentle with none of the usual traits of the strong girl that the world knows of and despite being so smooth, the kiss dint lack the passion. I wish I could freeze this moment. As cliché as it sounds, it is the most perfect moment of my life so far.

"hellloOOooOooo!!!! seven year old in the house peeps!" blared the voice of my little demon and we pulled away. "Uugghhh! Thank you for destroying our perfect moment ANGEL" i said, annoyance evident in my voice. "You're welcome. I am the next famous monstrous destroyer of perfect moments. Muahahahahahaahaa!!" she said while shooting in different directions of the room with a gun made up of her fingers and all of us burst into fits of laughter.

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A/N- yeah ik all if you are eager to throw stuff at me for the late update. I am standing with a shield :P