Reality Ever After

Part 1. Our Journey

A few days later after the Talent Hunt...

If Manik and Nandini were connected at an emotional level before the talent hunt, their physical proximity had entwined their souls together. They felt closer to each other than they had with anyone else in the whole world. They didn't need words to understand each other. Nandini's facial expressions were enough to let Manik know what she thought and Manik's body language alerted Nandini with his inner-battles and turmoil.

Nandini had found a best friend in Manik. For the first time ever, she had someone who she could lean on and confide in her deepest fears or have someone to throw a tantrum on. No doubt, she had a loving family in her Amms, Chacha, Chachi and Rishabh. But she never shared her pain with any one of them. With Amms, she always had to be an obedient grand-daughter. With Chacha and Chachi, her focus was always on ensuring that she and Rishabh were never a liability on them more than they already were. And as for Rishabh; she was of course close to him but she felt more responsible for his well-being. She was almost like a parent to her younger sibling and took care of him like he was her own child trying everything in her power to get him better. It was only after Manik walked into her life, she realised she could be herself with him. She didn't have to think before she spoke to him. He was probably the first person in her life with whom she could express what she thought about him to him without any hesitation. And she could tell that she was a similar outlet for Manik as well.

Manik had also unknowingly become the protective Alpha for his friends for most of his life. He had gotten so involved in taking care or protecting them, that he often forgot that he had a life himself too. It was only after Nandini stepped into his life, he learnt how to breathe freely. He could let go off his guard with her and just be himself and look forward to little happy things for himself. Something he thought he'd never get or deserved.

It was 5 am on a weekday and Nandini was up and finishing up an assignment which was due in a couple of days. However, she was struggling to just keep her eyes open. She had been sneezing since she woke up and her throat was hurting.To add on top of it, Manik had kept her up on a call till 2 am and therefore, she had barely slept for a couple of hours before she had to wake up. Her Chachi usually didn't mind her sleeping in but her Amms was in Bombay for a few days and there was no way she could sleep longer than 4 am. But the result of which was her sleeping on her books this morning. The only thought in her head was her wanting to go back to bed and cuddle up under the blanket and sleep for a few more hours. But her Amms had taken over her room and was meditating there and the rest of the house was quite chaotic with Chacha and Chachi's loud banter.

Maybe she could call Manik up and talk to him for a bit. Anyway, his usual flirting and teasing usually keeps her up for nights together. Maybe it could help her take away her sleep today morning as well. She was about to call him but decided against it as it was 6 am. He must've just fallen asleep only a while back as he was busy locking on a tune for Fab 5s upcoming album that they had won after the Talent Hunt. The thought of the Talent Hunt always brought in a fuzzy feeling inside her all the time.

The night that Manik and her spent together after the Talent Hunt would be special for her for a lifetime. She realised that she had never let anyone get this close to her ever before - emotionally or physically. And she was sure Manik felt the same too. God, she had to see him now. Hold on.. she could just go to Maniks and cuddle up with him in his bed and sleep! What a brilliant idea! Why didn't she think of that earlier.

She quickly got dressed and informed Chachi that she needed to go to college and headed to Manik's instead.

The staff who opened the door for her were quite surprised to see her come this early in the morning. But they knew better than to ask her to leave. They had obviously put two and two together to figure out that she was Manik's girlfriend and that she meant a lot to Manik. In fact, they weren't complaining either. She was sweet and spoke to everyone nicely and for some reason, had managed to tame down Manik's anger too. But he would definitely be extremely angry if they didn't let Nandini madam come in whenever she wanted.