Do I not deserve it?

DO I NOT DESERVE IT?

Two dreams. One love. The cost of
becoming.

by Midnight Snacker

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For everyone who worked in silence,
built something worthy,
and learned-slowly, honestly-
that love is not a reward for effort.
It is its companion.

Aby Mathew spent four years in a small room in Delhi preparing for one examination. He gave it everything. He became everything the preparation required him to be.

Riya Paul spent six years in hospital wards becoming a doctor. She built a life that belonged entirely to her. She was not going to let anyone take it apart.
They were strangers when they married.
They are supposed to figure out the rest.
This is not a love story that begins with fireworks. It begins with a man in a cab watching a woman help a stranger at an intersection, and not being able to forget it. It begins with a proposal sent through the right channels and two people sitting across a drawing room table trying to decide if they can build something out of this.

It takes everything they have.
The question is not whether they fall in love.
The question is whether they think they deserve to.