Fitoor | ✓

31 | Ikattees

A/N - only 9 more chapters to go, thank you for keeping up! x

I doodled the quote for this chapter and it's on my instagram account. You can follow me there if you like, the link's on my bio! and if you do please drop a message that you are from wattpad, i'd love to know my readers there!

"tum aana, theher jaane ke liye"

31 | Ikattees

It's weird how flowers can be used both in the celebratory moments as well as moments of mourning. They are present in weddings and present in funerals. Some people feel them with smiles on their faces while some people feel them with tears rolling down their cheeks.

Tara came into the latter group. She wanted to tear down every flower that decorated the bed on which Lekh and her were supposed to sleep together this night. For the first time, anger burnt inside her and she did not know how to control this rage. Lekh sat silently on the bed, his head bowed while she stood near the window, too angry to look at him.

She could hear noises from downstairs, her father in law shouting at her mother in law. Every relative pitching in their opinions and taunts and pity. And still, the noise didn't bother her at all because she was too busy concentrating her anger on Lekh. Why did he have to do it? Why did he have to take the blame for something he did not do? She knew he had nothing to do with whatever had happened to that old man's daughter, but still he took the blame. He had a chance to tell the truth about his life, expose his mother but he did not.

When Lekh had admitted to wronging that girl, his father had immediately shunned him. Somewhere, Tara felt, that Ranjan knew his son was innocent and it was his time to protect Lekh. He asked security to take him out. What happened after Lekh said what he said was almost a blur to Tara. All she knew was, after that old man was gone, Lekh and her were taken upstairs by Ramya and Pankhuri. No one said a word.

And now that they were alone in his room, Lekh said nothing. And that made Tara angrier.

She knew she should ask him what was going on, ask him what had happened with that girl, who that old man was, what had Indira done to her and his family. A million thoughts roamed around in her mind. She even played with the probability of that girl being Lekh's lover or maybe, just maybe, Lekh really had done something wrong. She didn't know anything and she didn't want to assume.

This was hurting her; she didn't like feeling this way. She didn't want to think of Lekh being with someone else or him being a person she wouldn't like being married to. So she had to ask him. More than him, for herself – to silent her racing thoughts.

"Lekh." She called out to him from where she was standing, not willing to go near him yet. When he didn't respond, she unwillingly took a step nearer and called him out again.

"Lekh."

Once again, she was unable to get a response out of him. It scared Tara, they had progressed to the start of what could be a healthy relationship, Lekh had started to talk like a normal person. Now, he was retreating back to his previous temple of silence.

Tara sighed, out of disappointment among many other things. She walked to the bed and sat next to him, gently laying a hand on his. When Lekh didn't move away, Tara took it as progress.

"Lekh, talk to me. Please." She whispered softly.

Finally, after a moment of silence, he turned to face her. If Lekh was capable of it, he would cry but he was too weak for it. His heart was too hard, his blood too cold. But maybe the hopelessness on Tara's face moved him a bit, because he finally started to speak.