Lone Girl

Chapter 20

I stood up and tried to walk away. I heard someone running towards me. I turned to look at him, but before I could turn completely I was engulfed in a warm hug. It felt so comforting and I stayed there without saying a word.

Finally, when my sobs reduced, Jay pulled me back just enough for him to look at me. His eyes were filled with concern and love. The things I never thought I would see, especially for me. 

"I think you should wash your face", he said gesturing towards the pond. He helped me get the cream off my face. After we were done there, we started walking towards his car.

"How did you know I was here?", I said looking down.

"Your sister live streamed everything", I could see his fist clenching so hard that his knuckles became white. 

I held his hand and looked into his eyes, " It's okay".

He didn't say anything. When we neared the garage he stopped. I looked at him and saw he was looking towards the garage. Karan was coming out of the garage. When he came near I saw blood on his fists.

Even before I could say anything, Karan spoke," It's not mine. Don't worry."

He looked so pissed and Jay also seemed furious. 

"Why are you both here?"

"What a stupid question is that, we came for you", Jay said looking surprised I asked it.

"Why? You never cared about me."

"I am staying out of this", Karan said and sat down waiting for us to continue.

"Is this the next part of your plan where you get close to me and break me just like Trisha and Dev?" I asked him.

"What? How could you think I would do something like that to you?", Jay sounded hurt but i decided not to stop. 

"How can I believe you? There is not even a single instance where you have actually been nice to me. You never talked to me from my childhood, not even once. Even after I moved into your house, you never spoke to me. The only one time you talked to me was when I came to tell you to stop the music." 

I couldn't control and started crying again. May be all the tears I held from my childhood were coming out now. Jay pulled me into a hug. I again started crying holding him.

"Even if it doesn't look like it I love u Anu, you are my dear sister. I always wanted to be with you. All the week, when I was with Swetha I only asked about you. I care about you more than you could imagine Anu. You are my sister and I love you so much."

I couldn't believe what I actually heard. I stood there in utter silence. Even before I could come up with something to say, Karan spoke.

"Are you serious, Jay?", he looked as shocked as I was may be even more, "You love her and you actually care about her?"

"Yes, Karan. I love her and I care about her. Is it bothering you?"

"You moron. When were you planning to tell me this?"

"Does it matter", Jay said rolling his eyes.

"Absolutely. I thought you hated her and I stayed away from her. Do you know how much difficult it is to stay away from someone you love?"

‘Did I hear it right? Yeah, Karan loves you.’

"You loved her?", he seemed genuinely surprised.

Karan let out a sigh, "Yes I love her. How can one not love a girl like her? I wanted to tell you this and called you to our spot. But after seeing how you reacted at the mention of her name I couldn’t bring up the topic.”

“So you stayed away from her. Right?”, Jay wanted to be certain.

“Well, I tried to stay away from her as much as possible.” Karan said with a shrug.

After that we fell silent. Jay and I were trying to process what just Karan said.

“If you were honest with me Jay, this wouldn't have happened." Karan spoke again breaking the silence.

"You say this is my fault? How dar___"

I cut-off Jay before he could complete it. "If you loved and cared about me so much then why didn't you let me near you?"

"I have my reasons Anu. There is a truth you need to know but this is not the time for it." I can see anger raising in his tone. "Let's go home. We will talk about this later".

With that he started walking towards the car. I sighed and stayed there not knowing what to do.

Karan stood up and came near me. "Believe me, it's better to stop the discussion now. He never looked so much pissed lately." 

He placed his jacket over my shoulders. I took it and started walking towards the car. We got into the car and through the rest of the journey none of us spoke.

***

As soon as we reached home, I went into my room and locked myself. I stripped down and entered the shower. I stood under the shower thinking of everything happened. It was so much to take in. 

I got out of the shower and change to my night dress. I decided to stay in my room as I didn't want to talk to anyone and I went to sleep. 

After sometime I saw the door opening and Swetha coming in. "I wish I knew what to say to comfort you now."

I smiled at my sister and pulled her onto the bed. She slept beside me, "I love you Swetha. Now don't say anything. Okay?".

"Hmm okay. Love you too sis. Just remember that you are the best sister in the world." She kissed me on my cheek and cuddled into me.