Where Have We Come Up To?

Chapter 42:- Inner Battles

Grade 11 has just begun....so you may have an idea on why and how I delayed so much in updating... :( 

However, I'm back with a RoSalicious update....hope y'all like it! 

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Days went by as practices continued. We had slowly mastered our skills, yet seemed like strangers to each other. After that short confrontation the other day, we had started to act like robots. Days passed without a word being exchanged. Unknowingly, that bothered me. There had been a time when I hadn't talked to him in months, but this was different. We were living under the same roof, yet maintained a distance of something that felt like miles apart. The cheerfulness in his eyes were missing, and so was the hope I now realized. His behavior had something amiss, and it troubled me like nothing else.

"Faisal?" I held his arm when he proceeded towards his room as a normal routine, after retiring for the day.

"Yes?" He asked formally as he turned towards me.

"You don't have to act so formally." I remarked with a hint of guilt.

"I think we should. It's better to keep it this way, no confusions, no misunderstandings." He spoke in a blank tone as he turned back to go.

"Faisal?" I held his arm once again.

"Yes?" He repeated himself.

"What's wrong?" I asked, voice filled with concern.

"Nothing, apart from the fact, that you are starting a conversation at 11 PM." He answered as he retreated.

"Since when did we consider the time for talking?"

"Ever since we changed." He stated.

"I want to talk to you...."

"You are..."

"Faisal, please!" I got irked.

"What do you want, Roshni?" He sounded equally annoyed.

"I want to know what's bothering you." I asked. He stared as a few patient moments passed.

"After what you've clarified the other day, is there anything more to say?" He shot, referring back to our last conversation.

"D-don't look at me like that, it makes me uncomfortable." I said, looking away.

"Why?" He gripped my shoulders, pinning me to the nearest wall. All the anger had to be vented, all the doubts had to be cleared.

"Why, Rosh?" He repeated himself, piercing his eyes through mine.

"Why does it make you uncomfortable when we have nothing in between us!" His voice got louder as he tightened his grip.

"That's what you said, right?" He spoke accusingly.

"And...you agree...to that?" I paused constantly, trying to form a sentence out of the situation I could not comprehend.

"Have you left me with any other choice?" His voice became gentler, grip looser on me. I could see the tears that were forming from the corner of his eye. Without any second thoughts, I hugged him, tighter than ever. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I tried to feel the peace, the comfort it gave. Unknowingly, I realized how much I had yearned for this, how much my heart felt at ease.

His arms slowly curled around my waist, tightening their grip as if claiming their right. He sighed heavily, going through the same emotions as me.