The Love I Deserved : and suddenly, it was all about you
The moment I opened that door, the air in the room felt heavy, suffocating. My eyes fell on her-Radhya. She was lying on the bed, hair falling carelessly over her face, her small frame trembling as she cried into the pillow. She looked so fragile... so breakable... and it tore something inside me.
I couldn't stand still. My feet moved on their own until I was beside her. Without saying a word, I pulled her into my arms, my hands gripping her waist tightly, almost as if I was scared she would slip away. She didn't resist, she didn't speak-she just buried her face into my chest and held onto me like I was the only thing keeping her from falling apart.
Her lavender fragrance wrapped around me, calming me and burning me at the same time. I pressed my face into the crook of her neck, closing my eyes, silently begging her pain to come into me instead. I wanted to absorb it all, carry it for her, anything... just not see her like this.
"Why, Radhya?" I whispered hoarsely, cupping her tear-stained face, forcing her to look at me. "Why can't you tell me when you're hurting? You're not as strong as you pretend to be... and you don't have to be. Not with me."
Her lips trembled, but no words came. Just tears. And that silence was worse than any scream.
So I did the only thing I could-I kissed her.
It wasn't gentle. It was desperate. Passionate. My lips claimed hers with everything I'd held back for so long, pouring into her every ounce of love, every promise I couldn't put into words. She kissed me back, broken yet needing me, and in that moment, it felt like our souls were clinging to each other.
Between the kiss, my breath brushed against her lips as I whispered, "You'll never be unloved again, Radhya. Not as long as I'm alive."
And holding her in my arms, I knew-I wasn't just comforting her. I was holding my entire world.
