Silver Lining | Grooms #3

XVIII. New Years

"Nikhil..." Esha's voice was barely a whisper. She couldn't think of what to say. How to react.

His palm went to cup her cheek. He rubbed her cheek bone with the pad of his thumb. "Shh." He stopped her dilemma and leaned in for the softest kiss they'd shared yet. Before, it was sided over to passion. This time, it was pure admiration and full of emotions.

It made her feel everything.

She leaned her forehead against his. When he opened his eyes, he found a rare smile on her lips. "What?" He whispered the question to her, wanting to know what was making her smile so.

Even she had noticed the difference in the kiss. It wasn't lust, passion, or physical attraction. It was an emotional bonding that she was slowly but surely starting to accept. She shook her head, letting her hand rest on the side of his neck. Something in the moment compelled her to lean up and give him another kiss before opening her eyes to look into his.

Even though she'd shaken her head before to say 'nothing' to his answer, she nevertheless gave a verbal response. "Thank you for today, really. It's been the complete opposite of what I thought it'd be - in a good way, ofcourse."

He asked, "How did you think it would be?" taking her hand off his neck and twining her fingers through his.

"For one, I didn't expect such real conversations." She offered. He got the hint that she had assumed he'd be more physical than emotional. He already knew that had to be partly the reason why yesterday she had insisted he would be dropping her to her apartment at night time.

"Mishti, I'm not an immature teenager, you know?" He pointed out to her, not taking offense in the slightest. "There's a lot more than sex that I care for."

She didn't find a pinch of hurt in his tone, understanding he was saying it so it was out there and said, not to make her feel bad for having thought so little of him. "After today, I'm sure."

They waited for the snow to stop falling, but it didn't look like it was going to any time soon. Eventually, Nikhil had taken his phone and played music from his playlist as they sat there, mostly in silence to enjoy that. Neither of them felt the need to make a conversation. In all honesty, it was what both preferred. Neither were the type to force things such as conversations. If they could be comfortable with the silence, why not? You don't have to socialize all the time after all.

Sometimes, a quiet night in is the perfect way of socializing when the right person is next to you.

For once, she was experiencing it herself.

She always used to tease her sister that despite being married, she and Arjun didn't go out much as they would prefer a quiet night in. Now, she understood why. A part of it could have been that after the long day they would be have at work, they'd prefer to wind down in their living room couch. But, it was also because they didn't need to go out and do things to feel in touch with another. They could just sit there, and barely say anything, but still feel that a lot was expressed and feel content at that nonverbal communication.

Sanam had tried explaining that feeling to Esha before. She'd never truly grasped on to it as well as she could in the current moment with Nikhil next to her and a few classic instrumental soft pieces playing in the background.

She inched closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder as she felt the temperature dropping. He could feel it getting colder as well. "Here." He said softly, putting his arm around her back and gently rubbing her back. She had her arms crossed over her chest, hoping to preserve warmth.

"We should have left before." She commented, her teeth chattering, trying to contain her shivers. She hadn't thought it would turn into a snow storm. One thing she didn't know of the winters in Portland, given it was her first winter in the city.