1 month later

Aashna's pov:

It has been almost a month since our vacationing in India. And now it's finally time to leave. So here we are at the airport once again. My mom, dad and cousin Aarya are here to leave me to board.

When the time for the flight finally comes, my mom starts crying and please!! I mean how could you cry for an adult that you traumatised so much as a child. But anyways, I don't want her to feel bad so I just do the bare minimum, I hug her and rub her back.

I then hug my dad and my Aarya and yes, I may hate my parents but idk why I have tears in my eyes. I try my best to control them.

I, tanu, aunt and uncle finally board the flight and the three of them sit at a three seater seat and I sit on the window seat of the excluded two seater.

The plane is still standing so I look outside the window, I'm still in India, but I will not be soon. This makes me cry, I love to live away from my parents, my aunt is amazing, she gives me everything even before I ask, she is the coolest about boys and parties, she is like the kind of mother I never had and uncle also treats me like his own. Even tanu have started talking to me and sharing so much with me, something that he never did as a child.

I love living in Australia.

But it's something about India that I just can't let go.

I've already decided that I'm never coming back to India, except for vacations, that I'm gonna settle in Aussie, because once I get a job, it'll all be sorted out.

But I miss them, the people that I call parents. I hate them for ruining my teenage years and my childhood and being so toxic, so abusive that I hate to go home, but ultimately, I miss them, I just wanna be with them, in the covers, with this cold weather, with both of them, I wanna cuddle with them and sleep comfortably, but my mom hates it so I never do.

I just wanna hug them and never let go, but my mom hates it when I hug her, and shouts at me when I do, so I don't. I don't remember the last time I hugged my mom before this time.

Just thinking about these things brings tears to my eyes and I start silently crying.

As I was crying, someone came and sat on the other seat of the two seater, he must've noticed that I'm crying so he asked, "Hey! Are you ok?"

I quickly wiped my tears and turned from the window to see who it was.

When I see his face, I widen my eyes and gasp. It was the boy that I met a month ago at the same airport. What was his name......shubham?...... shubh? I honestly don't remember.

"Omg, hii!! Sh...shubh..shubman right?? What a coincidence." I think that was it.

"Hii Aashna, yeah it was shubman." He says and gives me a toothy smile.

I smile back at him but my eyes are full of tears threatening to spill so he just asks me, "Are you ok? Why are you crying?" He asks and I see a line of worry on his forehead.

"No, I'm not crying, I'm ok!" And I burst into tears while saying that.

"I'm not okay!" I cry in my hands.

Shubman placed his hand on my back and I swear it was the most platonically some stranger has ever touched me. He pats and rubs my back soothingly.

"Shh, it's alright, you can tell me, but please stop crying." He says in a comforting tone.

I take a deep breath and try to control my tears.

Shubman looks me in the eyes and wipes tears off my face. He then offers me water and hold the bottle while I drink.

I try to remind myself it's only the second time we've met and I still don't know him.

The captain announces that the flight is taking off and I feel the familiar anxiety as it starts to take off. Omg.

I quickly grab Shubman's hand and tighten myself and hold my breath.

Shubman tightens his grip although he's sitting fearless like he travels daily by flights.

When the plane gets stable in the air, he asks me.

"Okay now, tell me what's wrong!" He says.

He has that confidence about himself that makes him the kind of person you can easily believe in.

"Ok...so yk...I currently live in Australia and I live with my aunt and uncle and I just miss my parents so much I just don't wanna go back." I say, my eyes again filling with tears.

"Hey! Look you're just there to study right? Then you can go back to India aur fir live with your parents." He tells me.

I look into his eyes and listen carefully, only if he knew my plight.

"Yk Shubman, sometimes, things may not be as simple as you think they are or as they seem to be." I say.

"Meri story is too long, you'll get bored and it's not that interesting." I tell him.

"You don't know ki me interested hu ya nhi, so how can you say?" He says.

"So that means you really are interested, huh?" I say.

"Depends on what are you talking about, you or the story? Cause yeah I'm actually interested in you." He says and my eyes widen and I feel my ears getting hot. This is unfiltered flirting.

"I.....am talking about the story." I clarify.

"Story ke liye toh sunke batana hoga na ki it was interesting or not!" He says.

"Ok, listen then..." I start to tell my story from the beginning.

I told him everything. From the cheating to the abuses to the insults and toxic behaviour.

By the time I finish, 1-2 hours have already been passed.

Shubman has a serious expression to his face.

He takes a deep breath.

"I...don't know what to say...I mean I have never seen or even heard something like that. I just realised that my parents are really so nice to me, they gave me everything I asked for and whatever I'm today is because of my dad." He tells me.

"Oh nice to know you had a great childhood." I say, smiling.

"Listen, you don't need to think about all those things and hurt yourself again and again, you can write your own story and indulge yourself in it, you may not have a nice past but you can have a beautiful present and future, I.....think you're just so strong that you are able to say it out loud whatever you've been through, it doesn't matter if they are your parents, if they hurt you, if they are toxic, you don't have to count them as family but I can't believe that you have such a big heart that you are able to forgive them and move on, please don't hate yourself for loving them, instead, praise yourself for getting above all this shit, I'm proud of you and anyone who must hear your story shall be. That's all I wanna say." He says and takes a deep breath.

I'm really impressed by the way he thinks, how old is he?

"Uhh...thank you...for the pep talk, but I wanna ask that how old are you?" I say and try to make it look less embarrassing.

"I just turned 30 in september. But why are you asking?" He says.

"Ok, you're still young, but I was just asking if you were old enough to be a gyaani babaji?" I said and laughed out loud.

"Man, 30 already feels old and you're just not helping!" He says and I laugh more.

Suddenly my uncle comes over to mu seat and stands there with crossed arms.

I stop laughing and look at him. Shubman too.

"Shona beta, comfortably bethi ho? Kucch problem to nhi h?" He asks me eagerly looking at Shubman.

"Haan fufaji, I'm alright!" I tell him.

"If you want, ham seats exchange kar sakte he, tum bua ke paas jaakr beth jao and I can sit here." He says.

"Nhi nhi aap jaiye aaram se bethiye, I'm all fine." I say and smile.

"Accha theek h, agar uncomfortable lage to we are are just over there." He says while looking at Shubman and leaves after I murmur a thank you.

I look at Shubman and he looks at me.
He takes a deep breath. I smile at him.

"I swear he hates me." He says.

"Why would he hate you? He doesn't even know you." I say.

"No you should have seen his eyes when he says the word uncomfortable as if I'm just a factor causing it." He says.

"Chill, he's just acting like a girl dad, even if he's not my dad but yk." I say.

"I wonder what he'll do if I take you out on a date?" He says.

I widen my eyes, "What do you mean?" I say.

"No I didn't mean it like that, I mean not that I don't want to but not like I'm gonna but don't take it like you're not pretty, I don't mean that...."
"Shubman stop!! It's alright!"

"I never get nervous but idk why I got nervous today?" He says.

"Do I intimidate you?" I said looking into his eyes.

"No..... I mean you are very attractive but I don't think that you intimidate me..." he says and gives me a toothy smile.

I smile and take out a blanket and cover myself and him, "aren't you cold?"

He get holds the blanket.

"Hey! Would you like to come to see a match?" He says.

"Of cricket?" I ask.

"Well yeah.....you can sit in the VIP cabin if you don't wanna take the january heat of Australia."

"Ok let's get this clear, I hate cricket, ok? I don't know anything about it, plus I'm not wasting money to watch it and that to in the so expensive VIP cabin." I say.

He makes a face and says.

"I can get you the tickets, you don't have to pay, I work for ICT right?" He says.

"But Shubman you don't have to." I say, it's not nice to take that much from a stranger.

"Please, I don't wanna end this here, I wanna keep meeting you." He says and makes me blush.

"Shubman, me itni der whan beth kr bore ho jaungi!" I argue.

"Itni der nhi bethna h, bas 3-4 ghante ki baat h, it's only of 20 overs."

"Ab ye over kya hota h?" I ask.

"Just know ki it will not be boring, I swear. Please come, please!?"
He says and I feel like if he's insisting so much then I should probably go, I can't turn him down and hurt his feelings.

"Accha theek he, fine I'll come." I say.

He takes out his phone and make some arrangements, "Can I have your number please." I gave him my number and he sent me two screenshots of booked tickets, but why two?

"Why did you book two?" I ask him.

"Maybe because if you come along, then tum definitely bore ho jaogi, so you can bring your friends if you want, do you want more tickets for more friends?" He asks, how can he be so comprehensive?

I have two besties in Australia, so I will take one, it will not look good, but I can't ask Shubman for more tickets so what should I do.

"Yk what just call me before leaving home and I'll just get you in!" He says, that is much better that all of the ticket shit.

"Ok, yeah, ye zyada sahi rahega." I say and I start to feel sleepy. I let out a yawn and seeing me, Shubman also yawns.

"Should we just listen to some music?" I ask him. But I don't know his music taste.

We link our spotifies and he gives me one of his airpod, I put it on even though I'm feeling a little OCD but I don't want him to think that I think he's dirty so I don't clean it.

All I have on my spotify are english songs and all he has are punjabi songs that I can't understand but I just listen. After sometime, I feel myself getting so drowsy and drift off to sleep.

Third pov:

It was a miracle for Shubman or maybe it was the result of his constant begging to god to get to meet Aashna again, he now believed in the theory of what's meant to be, will happen.

He had lost all hope now, after a month, he didn't believe that he'd ever even see her again. When she had left the airport in a hurry, Shubman's heart was breaking, although he had only met her 2 hours ago, he had hated the thought of her leaving, but it was inevitable, she was not his, yet, he thought.

Shubman had never even seen Aashna before that day, but when he talked to her, it felt so.....raw, like there was no pretence, everything was so casual, like he's been doing it for years but yet there was this strange newness in their meeting that gave him butterflies and prevented him to go beyond his boundaries.

And when she left, Shubman felt this familiar ache in the hollow of his heart, it felt that he had lost her before and now he was losing her again. It felt so familiar.

Was it OK to feel like this with a person you've never met before? He thought.

He had known Sara for many years and they also had dated for so long and yes he had butterflies for the first time they kissed, first time they had sex but soon it became monotonous and started feeling like a weight that Shubman had to carry everywhere.

When they committed to the relationship, Shubman took it as a responsibility that he had to fulfill, which was pressurising for him, as soon as he met Sara, he did not feel free, he felt like that relationship was like a trap from which he wanted to get out as soon as he could.

They had started scheduling everything, even when they have to have sex, it wasn't something for Shubman that can be scheduled. And those tantrums for gifts and dates, Shubman hated it, it was Sara doing everything in their relationship, as if Shubman had no say, the gifts she wanted, the places she wanted to see, the times that she wanted to fuck, it felt to Shubman that he was invisible, like he had no representation, and when one day he had visited Sara in Mumbai with informing her, to surprise her, he had seen her wrapped up with another man in her covers, and that broke his heart, he may no longer be in love with Sara, but he had always loved her, and now that she had deliberately cheated on him, he had started to kind of hata her, he never showed his hate.

They had met at events and matches but Shubman didn't even look in the direction in which she was. She had tried saying sorry, to which Shubman had turned a deaf ear. And finally one day when she insisted so much, Shubman gave her 5 petty minutes to listen to her side of the story, she had confessed to him that theirrelationship had no thrill and that it had become boring, and that she no longer loved him, he felt his heart breaking again, and swear to himself that he will never associate himself with Sara again.

Now that Aashna came along, Shubman had not fucked one random girl since they met, sure he had jerked off a few times in the shower thinking of her but touching any other woman now felt like cheating, even dating Sara now felt like cheating and he didn't even know Aashna then, he didn't know what was happening, but now that he knew Aashna, he was sure he didn't need to know anymore women.

Because if they will be able to go out, then Shubman swore that he'll never let her go and make it the most beautiful relationship Aashna is ever gonna see.

But if it doesn't work out, then the short memories of their meeting is enough, thought Shubman to get through his remaining life.

AUTHOR'S RANT: ok so here is a very looong chapter and I hope you like it, tried really hard for this one......don't forget to vote and comment....love you guys.....see ya with the next one.