The Love In Marriage

23-

Attention. A bit of a deep chapter.

Not sure if I could make complete justice to  Keerthi's thoughts. Feedback welcomed!!

Have fun reading!

Keerthi burst out crying,warm tears cascading her face as she found comfort in the solace of her father's warm embrace, wrapping her arms around her father's waist,the reality of the past few days and her marriage sinking in.

Keerthi wasn't an extrovert. She had a lukewarm relationship with her husband,barely making conversation with anyone in the house apart from him. She was okay with him,she could get used to it.

But she just couldn't be herself at least half the time. It was so new and foreign.She felt so out of place every time she sat for a meal with the Rathores. She felt like an outsider, which was true. She was. She only maintained a cordial relationship with them,only talking when necessary.

It was only with her husband that Keerthi was a little comfortable with. But talking to him was like touching a fuse wire,she didn't know when it burnt. Keerthi already spoke less. But initiating a conversation with her husband was a task. Almost every alternate conversation they have turns into a fight,making her apprehensive to approach him. She found him great when he was nice, but the times he had made her cry was higher than the times he made her smile. There was a blatant imbalance.

She hated her father for throwing her into the sea of marriage before she was ready. She had to mold herself a lot, getting adjusted into the new setting she was forced to accept. She cried as she seeked comfort in her father's arms.

She didn't know if she was crying because she missed her parents or because of her argument with her husband or because she found it hard to call a new place home. It felt good to let it all out though.

She knew every girl went through that phase,she wasn't the first girl to leave home to make another one her home. Women were expected to fulfill that requirement.

Arvind rubbed soothing circles on his daughter's shoulders as he let her cry in his arms. He had never seen his daughter cry that way.

Keerthi cried her heart out. She was surprised she had so many pent up emotions in her. It took her father's arms around her to let her be vulnerable without shame,she knew she could cry all she wanted only in her parents' arms,at the end of the day.

She cried until she let go of all the emotions that didn't let her stay at peace,the discomfort she felt at her in laws' place,the awkward conversations she was forced to sit through,her husband's hurtful words,the fear of marriage,the terror she had initially felt when her husband initiated intimacy ,though they hadn't gone all way,the loneliness she felt when she couldn't talk to anyone in the house whole heartedly,the anger she had on her father for marrying her away without a proper consent, the fear she felt for her mother,the suppressed frustration she had on her husband who scolded her but didn't want her to cry,crying away all the tears she had to blink away everytime they fought but couldn't make way down her cheeks,the dislike she felt for the responsibilities marriage came with,the discomfort she had felt when she had to change her style of dressing, shifting to more conservative attires,every silly and serious issue and everything in between.

Keerthi buried her face into her father's chest, sobbing loudly,knowing it was the only place she could do so freely, without him judging her. She could cry at peace, washing every bitter thought away in her tears.She didn't find her new place home enough to cry in it openly and in front of others.

She had only cried in front of Vikram ,though she didn't like it,her husband could be very harsh when he was angry,tossing mean and hurtful statements.If it was upto her,she wouldn't shed a tear in front of other people, apart from her parents. They were always an exception. Her husband didn't give her a choice in their arguments. He said the exact words that would hurt her, forcing her to shed tears.