Serious in Love ✔

5- "Our love hasn't gone- It has just lost it's way."

« AHANA »

We were officially, temporarily, single.

It took us two huge treats- A homemade lunch by Vansh that was done previously, a restaurant treat by me; a few rounds of breakup sex until we were satisfied, a short trip down to the graveyard and a fake dispute act to kill our relationship.

“From here on, I declare us two to be independent—”

“Oi, we were already independent.” Vansh interrupted.

“Don't cut my line, idiot!” I told him, clearing my throat and raised my hand at both of us. “From here on, I declare us two as independent, lawfully, temporarily, single man and woman.”

“Thank you, your honor. I'll do my best to stick to this prestigious title for the next nine months,” Vansh swore, slightly bowing his head to me.

“Same here.” I said, thinking about the striking resemblance of the duration of his project to the duration of a pregnancy. I cleared my throat again. “Ayushman bhav! (God bless you!)”

We walked under the umbrella of the tall trees, shielding us from the scorching sunlight. I raised my head to the trees, the pores of sunlight falling down on me. “So what will you do, now that you're single?”

I shrugged nonchalantly. “Let's see... I'll order a tee with a label of 'I'm single' on it, for every man of my age to see. But then, they will look behind my tee and see a poster of a middle finger... Just kidding!”

“You hardly look like you're kidding,” Vansh said, shaking his head in amusement. He dug his hand in his hoodie pockets. “Well, you can start by ticking off your bucket list. You know the ones you couldn't do when you were committed to me. It's your golden chance.”

“You still remember that shit?”

“I remember every stupid shit you listed, babe. Especially that hot beach guy one,” He paused as his face contorted to a frown. “But if you happen to kiss him, then do inform me so that I can personally do the honor of burning his mouth.”

I chuckled. “I better be careful then. Oh, by the way, you called me babe again.”

“Old habits die hard, babe. Oops, I mean, Ahana,” he winked. “I'll remember next time.”

I nodded out of compulsion. I was habitual of hearing him call me babe too, but few things had to be compromised. It was all for the tomorrow we were aiming for. Though we were celebrating, I was a mess inside. I was in a limbo where I was questioning everything about our decision. It came along with lots of what if's and but's. But then, there wasn't any other safe alternative left, was it?

“I'm curious,” I voiced out. “How did you agree to this? It's odd, really. You were so against it that I almost gave up convincing you, but then you called me all of a sudden, saying that you agree. Was it all because of your faraway project? Because if it is, then, I'd say it's pretty pathetic. It means that you're still against it and that you're only using our distance as an excuse.”

“You are wrong. I never disagreed with your suggestion. I just didn't agree to go through it.” He drew out a sigh and stopped walking, giving me a bitter smile. “I knew how badly we needed this, but I was stubborn as I didn't want to risk us. Then this opportunity came along and I was forced to re- think. With the way we were going, I highly doubt we could pull off long- distance. We would have crashed badly. Right then I knew I was left with no choice. Maybe, maybe this was meant to happen.”

I felt his hand at the tip of my chin, lifting it to him. “It kills me to say this but I'm a coward, Ahana. I was scared to take action. But if it meant not losing you, then I was fine with being a coward.”