Posted: November 18th, 2018

♔ Aarav ♔

2.16 Heart of Mine

          I wake up to Jhanvi violently shaking my shoulder. "Wake up, wake up, wake up."

Turning on my back, I speak through a dry throat, "What craving is it this time?"

"None. Just a thought I want to run by you."

Okay... seriously? I love her and all but honestly, it's too damn early in the morning, isn't it? I speak sarcastically, "It couldn't wait?"

"No. Are you up? Are you listening?"

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I force open my eyes considering the excitement I hear in her voice and bite back the burning. "Yeah, I'm listening."

"You said you wanted to be involved in any decision regarding the baby."

"I did say that." Okay, I suppose I cannot be annoyed right now considering.

"So, when Annie comes by today, I want to ask her to be the godmother." I turn my head to her sharply at the welcoming news. She is quick to add, "I know, godmother and all isn't in Indian concept, but I don't know. It just feels right, you know? I spent most of my life here, not in India. And..."

I silence her defenses while sitting up. "You don't have to explain. I get it. And, I think it's a great idea. Annie would love that."

She questions through some hesitations. "You think?"

I assure her, "I know."

She smiles, her shoulder drops in relief. "Good. Okay, that's good."

"Relax now," I say and push aside the covers to get out of bed.

She reaches for my wrist to stop me, "Wait, I'm not done." Once I turn back to her, she continues. "You're forgetting about the godfather."

"Okay, yeah. Who do you have in mind?"

She chuckles, "Who else? You, silly."

"Me?" In my defense, I am still half asleep.

"Yes, you, Aarav." She confirms before her amusement turns into sincerity. "I wouldn't trust anyone else with my child. I know, if anything happens to me..."

"Nothing is going to happen to you," I interrupt in between. I don't want her talking of what if's.

Still, she smiles and insists on finishing her thought, "If anything happens to me, you'll raise her as your own. I know that. Actually, I feel 'godfather' isn't enough. More than her own father, you've been here every step of the way. I'd put your name on the birth certificate if I could, but this is next best thing."

I shift closer to drape my arm around her and she rests her head on my shoulder. "Shona, none of that matters. She is my own, as far as I am concerned. She'll always know the love of having both a mother and a father regardless of where the two of us stand in life."

She pulls her head back to look at me, "Aarav, I know you made me promise to keep you a part of her life... but things have changed."

"I had a feeling you'd be bringing this up."

"I have to, don't I?" She answers, "The year will end in a couple of months. I need to return to the reality where I need to go to the estate... I have responsibilities there. It's been amazing being with your family but it's time I learn about my family, where they come from."

I breathe out, "I know. You have to go."

She nods in silence and then catching on to how I don't want that, she tries to cheer me up, "Go now, get dressed. Annie will be here soon."

"Right..." As I get out of bed and walk around getting my clothes out, I point out. "You know what we've not discussed?"

"What?"

"Baby's name. Doesn't it feel weird calling her 'baby' all the time?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. I've already picked one."

I raise a brow, "Really now? Care to share? Maybe I can suggest something better."

She denies sure of herself, "Nope, there can't be a better name than the one I've picked. And, you'll find out when you do. Now, chop-chop. You have half hour before Annie gets here."

"You're in a rush."

"Well, duh. I'm hopeful... it's just a feeling you know? Today is going to be a good day."

"Since when did you turn to being optimistic?"

She gives me a stink eye before justifying, "I'll say Annie is rubbing off on me."

I shake my head in amusement. She is having fun mentioning Annie every few seconds - not that I mind. No one knows more than I how optimistic Annie is. It's the reason I have the tiniest bit of hope that this talk might go in a positive light.

I proceed to walk into the washroom but recall and turn back around, "Could you tell Martha to reheat whatever was for breakfast? I need to eat."

"What is with you and not eating cold food?"

I make a face, "Just don't like it. No taste."

She waves at me to go on, "Okay, alright. Go shower. And make sure to shave."

"You're the best," I cheekily reply in gratitude before disappearing behind the door. Just as I turn on the tap, I hear her yell for Vikas.

I imagine the chain begins. I tell her. She tells Vikas. Vikas tells Martha.

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

          I hiss at the sting when I accidently cut myself under my chin when shaving. "Stupid razor," I mutter blaming it but if to be honest, I'll have to blame my absent mind dozing off thinking about Annie.

Opening the door with one hand and trying to examine the cut in the mirror, I ask. "Shona, do you know where the bandages are?" I glance towards the bed where I thought she might still be but do a double take when I find Annie sitting at the edge of it. "Sorry, I thought..."

"Jhanvi told me to wait here." We speak over each other and I nod back, just taking in her appearance and the fact that she's here. Early, but here. She clears her throat standing up, "Why do you need a bandage?"

I touch my thumb to the cut area reminded of it, "Oh, I..."

She admonishes as she walks closer, "You should be more careful, Aarav." Then she waves at me to move away from the doorway.

"You know where they are?"

"I've lived here, Aarav." She reminds me and I feel silly. She's spent years in this house. Ofcourse she'd know. "And I know Martha enough to know she likes to keep a few in every bathroom cabinets." She opens the bottom cabinet and moves a few cleaning bottles aside before pulling out a clear plastic box. "Ah, there we go." She says standing up and putting the box on the counter while I take a towel to wipe off the shaving cream.

When she proceeds to take out the ointment, I suggest. "I just need the bandage."

She doesn't let it stop her, "Don't be silly. It's a razor-cut. You don't want it to get infected." I lean against the counter and hold out my hand. She slaps it away, "Nope, I don't trust you."

"Ouch." I reply with a smile. She saw through my attempt to rush this off. If she had let me, I'd have dabbed the antiseptic with the cotton just once to cut off the blood and applied the bandage without bothering with cleaning it properly or the ointment.

She takes a few steps to the side to stand in front of me and nudges my face up, fingers tucked under my jaw. Just as the cotton touches the cut, I speak. "Annie?"

"Hmm?" Her eyes flicker to mines.

I lift my hand to her elbow and speak in a low whisper, "Hi." It's something I should have said the second I saw her. My brain is just choosing now to catch up.

She refocuses on the task at hand, blinking away. "Don't mistake this for anything, Aarav. I'm here because... I'll always be here but that doesn't change that I am mad at you."

"I know," I accept without any arguments. "You have a right to be." I watch as she continues to pay a deaf ear to me while cleaning up my wound.

The seconds passing by in silence seem to be pure torture and my only escape is the second reality that she is here within reaching distance. She doesn't fight off my touch on her elbow so atleast she doesn't hate me.

She steps back when she is done and returns the box to the drawer. "I'll be outside," informing, she walks out.

I reach for my shirt and pull it over my head.

I'm quick to follow her out and find her walking towards the couch where Jhanvi is reading a novel. I make my way to the dining table to eat first.

I hear them talking as the distance from the table to the couch isn't far. "Hey, what are you reading?"

"Eh, nothing interesting." Jhanvi answers placing the bookmark and closing the book. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," Annie smiles back. "How are you doing with everything?"

Jhanvi speaks in a mysterious tone, "Oh, you know, I'll be much better when baby's godmother agrees to be her godmother."

Annie chuckles, "Who might that be?" When Jhanvi stresses a look at her, her eyes widen. "What, me? Are you joking right now?"

"I'm dead serious, Annie."

"Why? I mean... me?"

Jhanvi responds with a soft smile, "I don't understand why you and he are surprised. You're not just his best friend, Annie. You've been one to me too since we've met. You didn't have to but you did. Now will you say yes so I can stop stressing?"

Annie laughs through her welling eyes and nods while hugging Jhanvi. "Yes. Ofcourse, yes. I truly feel honored. Though, fair warning, I'm hardly godmother material. If your kid ends up being weird, it's not my fault"

Jhanvi laughs back, "Oh, trust me. there are high chances of her being abnormal but it won't be because of you. We can just blame Aarav and his business contracts that he reads to her."

Oh, please. I don't do that all the time. Though, I don't speak up. It's just good to see both ladies happy as they can be. Jhanvi asks her about work, telling her to tell her anything about the world as she feels secluded in here, and I tune out their conversation - leaving them to chat about while I finish breakfast.

Jhanvi looks past Annie's shoulder when I get up from the table. She makes an excuse, "Well, my legs need stretching. I think I'll go out for a walk."

Annie offers, "Oh, okay. I'll come with."

Jhanvi bobs her head to the side, "You didn't come here to entertain me, Annie." At the reminder, Annie turns about to look in my direction. Jhanvi asks the boys, "So, who's coming with me?"

Vikas is quick to point out, "It was my turn yesterday."

Aarush gets the answer and stands up to walk out the door with her towards the small garden to the back of the property.

I inform Vikas, "We'll be inside."

He nods and I glance at Annie. She is hesitant but figures out this is personal so follows me back to the bedroom where we can talk in privacy.

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

          Annie walks up to the window looking outside. I quietly close the door behind me and walk in to stand beside her. "You look...well."

Her gaze flickers to me and then she scoffs. "Don't lie. I know how tired I look." She looks out of the window again, "What am I doing here?"

"Jhanvi and I are not married. The papers we signed were fake. I mean, they were real in a sense but it was just for show. It's not registered." I mention and noticing her confusion, I explain to her how it is a tactic to allow Jhanvi to gain control over the will before she turns 25. I also catch her up on what we learned from Jhanvi's Aunt to clear how we aren't against Dinesh but someone whom we don't even know.

"It's an elaborate ruse," she says folding her arms over her chest, "but for her sake, I hope it works."

She asks as she picks up on another thing I had mentioned, "Wait, you aren't in touch with anyone?"

I shake my head, "Best for calls to not get tracked else its pointless to be hiding here."

She exhales softly and with all the anger out of her voice, she asks in a tone I have been familiar with since childhood - filled with concern. "How are you doing?"

"Honestly? I hate it." I answer leaning against the window. "Every time I pick up my phone or even just glance at it, my hands itch to call them. Anyone." She knows I can't stay away from talking to my family for even a single day. 

It was bloody wrong and unfair. He was in jail for a night because of me and I couldn't even...

"And as if that isn't enough, we're forced to hide. I'd much rather be there."

She points out, her body stance a lot more relaxed and comfortable than earlier as if this is a topic she'd rather discuss than the very big and quite visible elephant in the room, "Your penchant for needing to control everything is the exact reason you can't be there. You let your heart overpower your mind."

"Not always," I murmur focused on her eyes even as they are still aimlessly looking out the window as if not looking at me is keeping her emotions caged up. The most important time I didn't give in to my heart... in her case. "Not with you. And that'll be my biggest regret. I..."

She interrupts as if wanting to cut to the chase, "Aarav, what is this? We didn't cheat on Jhanvi. Fine. But I still cheated. If you're forgetting, let me remind you. I am dating someone."

"Am?" I question.

She admits in a lowered voice, "We still talk."

I try to ignore the pang at the center of my chest. "Annie... you'll hate me for saying this but even before you agreed to go out with him, you were already cheating on him."

She eyes me with a glare, surely not wanting to hear this but isn't it the truth? With her heart elsewhere, is that relationship going to go anywhere? I'd already learned how it ends with Jhanvi and myself as examples.

"Why now, huh? Just when I think I could... you choose to..."

"The timing is terrible. I know, Annie. I know it. Sometimes, I think it'd have been better if Jhanvi didn't make me realize my feelings for you, then all this wouldn't be complicated. We wouldn't be in this situation but if the alternative is having never known how much I feel for you? Then no, I wouldn't wish for anything different. Even if it had been late and you would've been happy with someone else, this... just knowing I love you is better."

"Please don't say it," she pleads closing her eyes as if doing so will allow her to unhear those words.

I don't understand this reluctance of hers. "You're still running away from reality... why?"

"Because! In my reality, you were never supposed to return these feelings!" She exclaims finally turning to face me directly. "In my reality, you made a promise to Jhanvi to love her and marry her. That's all I've ever known. The two of us? Huh, there is no 'us', Aarav. All we are meant to be is friends. Anything else is just a fantasy."

I take her hand even though she tries to fight it and place it at the center of my chest for her to feel my beating this. "This is not a fantasy, Annie. This is the reality. My reality. Your reality." I challenge further, "And, really? 'Meant to be'. Did some God come and tell you that? Annie, wake up and smell the burning fire. Stop running already. It's all you keep doing in your life but when will you accept that you don't have to run anymore? You never had to run," I lift my hand to place my finger over her heart, "I was always here and you always knew. Even if I didn't accept it to myself, a part of you had to know. Deep down, you knew that's why it wasn't going away. Not yesterday, not today, not tomorrow, not ever. And if you're so keen on running, then run towards me and I promise I'll always hold you."

I sound cheesy as hell right now but I don't care. It doesn't matter. I just need her to know she can count on me. She doesn't have to be afraid of these new possibilities she's never considered.

I see the fighting in her eyes, but for what? I wish she would explain it to me so I could be a little more understanding but is it that for the first time, I am unable to figure her out? Unable to figure out what is going through her mind and soul? Or perhaps, she herself hasn't pinpointed her feelings about this yet. In that case, she wouldn't be able to make me understand without understanding it herself. 

She takes a step back almost reluctantly, "I'm sorry. This is all too much, too soon."

I reach forward again with my hand on her nape, over her hair. "Hey, it's okay. Take as much time as you need. Just... I need you to know. I did mean what I said yesterday. You've spent all these years loving me and never once expecting anything. I may not be able to compare to that or pretend to know what it feels like, but if its my turn to wait, then okay. I'll wait a lifetime if I need to."

Her eyes... as they gaze right into mine having a front row seat right into my soul, begin to well up. She's trying to fight the tears off with her jaw tightening but I am sure she can hear it in my voice. I mean every word I speak with my being. 

If I could wait for years for Jhanvi to come back in our lives, imagine what I can do for Annie.

I touch her wrist with my other hand and raise it to my heart again. The vibration of my heart beating passes off to her skin, I can feel it. I move my hand to press her hand firmer to my chest. "I may not have known this, Angel, but this has always been yours. No one knows it better than you. It knows only one name. Yours."

She pulls her bottom lip in her mouth to stop them from quivering as she lowers her gaze to the our hands. Those tears she'd been holding back threaten to drop and I move my hand from her neck to cheek wiping them away. My other hand cups her other cheek as well and even though I am not holding her hand to my chest anymore, it remains there on its own strength.

I quite like hearing my heart beating with her palm there as a medium.

Taking a step closer, the words pour out of my mouth without a filter. "I'll say this however many times you need me to say it for you to believe it, Annie. I have been in love with you since the first time I saw you here. I have loved you since I have known you. I could never say it before or even admit it to myself before... but nothing is stopping me now. And a part of me wants to keep you as far away from me as possible because I have no idea what my future holds and I can't beat the thought that you could get hurt... that you'd get caught in the crossfire...and I can't tolerate the thought of something bad happening to you..."

I inhale sharply and deeply, resting my forehead against hers as my thumb on her cheek caresses her soft skin, "but the other part of me doesn't know how to live without you. The other part of me has always been selfish when it comes to you. Since my first memory, I've known you and my world doesn't exist if you're not a part of it. If you are not in it." I lean back only just enough to nudge her chin up for our eyes to lock, "I'm not me if you are not by my side. I'm not my best version without you. So, take your time. I..."

A knock on the door interrupts me. The sudden unexpected interruption causes my heart to leap in my chest, being startled. Her hand drops from my chest to her side as she takes a small step back. I almost consider ignoring it until I notice the ferocity of it. It isn't a single knock but a continued one as if in urgency and something important needs to be tended to.

Letting out a sigh, I pull back from standing that close to her and reach the door. Aarush's hand stops midway from knocking again. His other hand holds the cell to his ear. His eyes flicker past me to Annie who is wiping her face to clear off any signs of our highly emotional moment. "Uh... sorry, but Jhanvi..."

I walk around him at once to find Jhanvi seated on the couch. He continues to mention that she was in pain and he's calling the doctor.

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

The next hour passes in anticipation. Jhanvi keeps telling us she's not in labor and we only are convinced when the doctor confirms it for us. I have been privy to premature delivery during Arshiya's birth and having known that tensed moment for my dad, this hour had passed by with great difficulty. It was a huge relief.

I walk the doctor out of the house and thank her for coming in a rush and apologize for our overreaction. She again advises that I make sure the next month till the due date pass by with as little stress as possible as we don't want to put the baby in distress. I promise her that I'll make sure she gets ample rest.

Aarush approaches me when I return inside the house, "Aarav, I'm sorry for all this. She kept telling me it was nothing but I didn't listen."

I ease his guilt, "No, don't worry about it. With her, one can never be too careful. She'll hide her pains so even though it was nothing, I'm glad you didn't listen to her."

He lets my words convince him and nods in response.

My eyes flicker past him when the bedroom door opens and Annie walks out. He informs, "I'll check on lunch," and leaves us be.

As Annie reaches me, she says what I already assume. "I'm going to go too..."

I quietly walk with her till the front door. Then, I call her, "Annie..."

"You said all you needed to, Aarav." She objects as she does not want a second round.

"No, just one more thing. Then you can go. I won't stop you." I request and she faces me giving me one more moment. So, I express final words after reaching for her hand, "All I've ever wanted for you is to be happy. I don't understand why you are still running or what it is that you are looking for, but if you think it's with someone else, somewhere else, then go get it. Go wherever you want to. As far away as you can manage. But I know this. I am yours. You own this heart of mine and wherever you will be, you will be carrying it with you just as I know my hold on your heart is too strong. My love is not so weak that it won't last the test of time. One day, it will bring you back to me and that day, when you are ready to come home, I'll be waiting."

She closes her eyes momentarily as if letting everything settle in before her shoulders rise and drop in a quick inhale and exhale. She leans in for a brief parting hug. My fingers just barely rest on her back as this time, I know this isn't our usual parting hug with the promise of meeting again soon. This time, I have no idea how long it will be till I see her again.

As her cheek is next to mine, she whispers. "Take care, Aarav." As she often does after her parting hugs, she turns and walks away without looking at me. This time, I finally understand why. If she glanced at me once, she might not be able to leave.

Unlike the time she confessed her feelings, it doesn't kill me watch her leave. I don't have the urge to stop her. I have learnt. She already resides in my heart. She is my soul. She isn't truly leaving and because she isn't leaving, I don't have to stop her.

This time, I place my hand over the center of my chest needing for it to stop beating so rapidly while at the same time knowing it was beating and probably truly alive for the first time; needing for it to not hurt while at the same time knowing I would bask in this longing with peace.

After all, loving someone does not just mean getting together. It also means standing the trials. It is not just about having someone return your feelings. It is about loving them despite whether or not their reciprocate. And here, I already know she loves me. I just have to allow time to pass for when she is ready to come back to me.

I believe what I said to her.

She will be back.

I simply do not have a time frame to put to it.

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

After dinner, Jhanvi decides to rest feeling tired. I take solace in the quiet night on the front porch. My mind is all over the place. Worrying about how things are at home. How in the world we are going to find a way out of this. I have been trying not to think about everything by keeping myself busy with one or another mindless task. But even that distraction tactic, I have run out of things. When finally at peace regarding Annie, there are still so many aspects of our lives in haywire.

It does not help to feel helpless... nothing in my hand to help dad. It kills me on the inside that Shyam is creating havoc back in India and I have to stay here. He may have been silent since Jhanvi managed to get dad out of jail, but we know that was a warning shot. He was just beginning. He always plans a longer end game. 

Sometimes, I want to go back - as much as I know it would not be clever.

"Whatever you are thinking of, drop it."

Startled at the sudden interruption, my head snaps back to Aarush. "Excuse me?"

Aarush takes careful steps onto the porch before sitting on the chair beside me. "I know that look, okay? I have had that look more times then I care to admit and let me tell you. It never ends well."

I challenge, voicing my thoughts aloud, "Is it so wrong to want to do everything I can for my family? I can't accept just sitting back and doing nothing."

"Look, I get it. More than you might think. The lines tend to blur when it comes to those we love. The things we might never otherwise do, we start considering them. We no longer see anything wrong in those things. And I'm probably the last one to lecture you on it, but I think even you know what you need to do here."

Inhaling deeply, I let my head rest back against the chair and then exhale a sigh. "Yeah." I believe him when he says he understands my temptation to throw caution to the air. The simplest, easiest thing to do to help dad is to go back. But, as I said, that would be the easy thing. Shyam will just come back with another tactic and he'll keep coming back till he's broken us all.

I try to convince myself... if we need to lose one round to win the overall battle, it would be worth it. But that is tougher done than said. I know that technically we didn't lose as dad is out of jail and charges dropped, but he did still have to spend a night in jail. That is still a loss in my dictionary because what good son am I if I cannot even stop any and all harm directed towards my family because of me?

Silence looms for a moment. I look over at him and he is staring in the distance, lost in thoughts himself. I don't think anyone can ever truly grasp just what goes on through his mind. He is so closed off, I can't imagine a time when he might have been a different person. But, I know he had to be given he was one of Eva's closest friends. I wonder how Eva could have gotten through his walls.

I find myself breaking the silence to ask out of sheer curiosity, "What would you do?"

"Hmm?" His brows crinkly slightly as he turns his head my way.

"Say someone was trying to hurt your family. What would you do?" I suppose I am trying to get inside his mind while also look for affirmation over my own choices.

He looks ahead again, silent... or perhaps just thinking of an answer? But, I don't see the look of ponderance. It doesn't look like he has to think much to decide what he would do. He seems to be instead deciding whether or not to tell me.

His words might be vague, but I catch the meaning clearly, "I think you know exactly what I would do."

I exhale with a heavy heart. I do know. It's that constant chanting in the back of my mind telling me to confront Shyam and end this once and for all. "And yet you tell me not to."

He says, "Because it comes at the cost of your soul... and you have every reason left to not let it be chipped away."

I counter, "Yeah, well, everyone does."

A somber expression takes over his face. "Not everyone."

I narrow my eyes at him, wanting to question what he means by that. I just naturally assume everyone has people in their life who keeps them from doing the things that would come at the cost of their morals and conscience. It's just that secure family I have been lucky enough to be raised in.

I don't get to ask since he changes the topic, "Anyway, when were you planning on letting me in on your fake marriage?"

I clarify the facts, "Actually, the papers were very much real. We just have no intention of filing them in court."

He comments his opinion, "The plan is actually ingenious, if I may say so."

"It was all Jhanvi."

"So let me be the devil's advocate here and ask. Have you thought of what if the plan doesn't work?"

My brows knot together as I hadn't seen a reason the plan would fail. "Why wouldn't it?"

"Okay, see, you may be successful in transferring everything in her name but how does that draw out her enemies? I mean, we still don't know anything in particular about the radical organization Mohini Raichand mentioned or who the person pulling the chains is."

"Yeah, it doesn't help that they're a ghost network." After a thought, I ask. "Isn't there anything your army might know about them? Surely they keep intelligence on all things radical if they are as dangerous as her Aunt claims them to be."

"They would much rather deny their existence than admit they allow such an organization to operate without doing anything to eradicate them."

I answer in a scoff, "Bloody politics."

He comments, "One way to look at it, but honestly, when culture and traditions get mixed, there is rarely anything the government can do to intervene. These people are passionate. They take pride in their history and wouldn't allow an outsider to dictate what happens to those they deem have broken their rules or brought shame to their ancestry."

I mutter, "In short, they are a bunch of egoistic goons who need a reality check that this is the 21st century that holds very little space for their conservative thinking. How is our society ever to prosper when we have such people amidst us?"

"On the name of pride and self-respect, they commit such unspeakable atrocities. It makes me sick, and I just wish I could..."

I interrupt, "You can do something about it, Aarush. Army would have proof of their existence."

"You are asking me to break rank."

"For a good reason!" I exclaim passionately. "Or are you telling me you are fine with sitting by while our nation continues to remain in dark about all their crimes? Come on, you don't seem the type to just blindly follow orders. What has to happen before you take matters in your own hands?"

His eyes turn to me in a steely glare, angry somewhere that I would accuse him as such. "Do not assume I haven't taken matters in my own hands."

"Aarush, I didn't mean..." I try to patch things calmly.

He cuts me off, "Look, I would do everything in my power to stop them - no matter the personal cost. No one wants them to pay for their crimes more than I. They are rotting our country from the core and I will agree with you on that they need to be brought to justice. But you have another thing coming if you think I will betray my country to make that happen."

Before I can utter another word, he springs out of the chair and takes long strides returning inside. I sit there baffled at how abruptly things turned. We were having a good discussion till he just suddenly snapped.

I don't understand exactly what I said to get him to react with such hostility. I get the feeling he is somehow personally invested in this the way he answers... says 'no matter the personal cost' Perhaps it the army morals in him and his patriotism.

I shake my head mentally on realizing I was right to assume earlier that I would never be able to truly understand him. He seems to be that maze you get lost in and can't find your way out.

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

∞ author note ∞

There you have it, folks! You may not consider it a 'conversation' considering there is two people talking and here, it was mostly just Aarav making his confession but I still feel somewhat satisfied with the end product? IDK, lemme know if I horribly failed and you were expecting something different - or if despite that different expectation, you don't mind what I've written. I tried to squeeze out his emotional self but maybe it was tougher... might revisit to edit after completion?

I had other chapter titles if you could help me pick? 1. Heart of Mine. 2. Without You. 3. A Lifetime.

QOTC: Can anyone make a guess on what Annie is struggling with? There is a hint in this chapter!