First of all, let me apologize for the long break I took. I had some things to finish up and now I'm free! So yay!... Alright, let's get this show back on the road!

*RETURNS TO CORNER AFTER CORNY APOLOGY*

***

'What are you- I mean-', but I stopped myself from bombarding him with questions and focused on the fact that the man was afraid of storms and he stood before me like a drowned kitten.

'Let me get you a towel', I sighed and proceeded to find one. I heard Salem hiss from a corner at our wet guest and when I turned to look, I caught his tail make its way out the door, clearly uninterested at getting water on himself.

'Why did you come through the window in the first place? Did you lose your shadow or something?', I asked as I tugged the towel from beneath the stack of bedspreads.

'Lose my what?'

'Your shadow lost boy', I mocked and turned to throw the towel at him which landed straight on his head.

'Funny', he replied with a forced smile and began to step out of the carpet but he paused with one foot in the air when he caught my expression.

'What do you want me to do? Stand in a corner like a child?', he asked with an annoyed look but a streak of lightning sent him immediately back into the corner. I had to hide my laugh with a cough but he had already heard it so I chose to grin anyways.

'Why would you come out in a storm if you're so afraid?', I sighed.

'Because I have to make things right between us'

My heart launched into my throat at his words that I had to swallow it down so I could breathe properly and besides, the fact that he was starting to take his jacket off, was not helping either because he wore a thin blue shirt underneath that had lost its purpose due to the rain.

Flashes of his dance came rushing in and I bit the inside of my cheek as I looked away trying my best not to get flustered.

'I'll find you something to wear. You'll catch a cold in those', I said and took the opportunity to turn to the safety of my closet.

Deep breaths, Omi. You got this.

'Would you have left me in these clothes if you didn't know I came to apologize?', he asked as I handed him over the largest and baggiest pair of clothes owned.

'I'd have given them if you said you were taking me to Neverland too', I smiled and watched delightedly as his smirk came back paired with a low chuckle.

A few minutes later Ethan sat across me in my chair wearing my blue palazzos with star prints and a bright red t-shirt with Winnie the Pooh in the middle and it was making it hard for me to take him seriously.

'Sumi told me that you met with her', I started and he looked thrown off track.

'I was wondering when she would finally tell you'

'Oh I forced it out of her', and he grinned.

'Yes, I went back home. I messed up big time, Salome and I am deeply sorry for hurting you. I know that I made you feel like you were coned but believe it was the last thing on my mind', he started.

'Ethan I-',' Please let me explain', he said and I nodded.

'I grew up seeing the world as a business deal. People meant deals and agreements, there was no emotional value, the only real attachment I ever had was with my dancing and the few moments I shared with my Mum before the divorce. I was the rich boy who's only purpose in school was to be everyone else's black card. I grew used to it that relationships never meant anything until I joined university.

I met Aravind and Naomi there. They didn't know who I was at first but when they found out they still treated me like I was a normal guy. I never had to buy loyalty or friendship, it was freely given to me. They helped me see what life really was and Naomi-', he paused to look at me.

'It's okay', I said and I wasn't lying to myself this time either.

'-Naomi was the first person who opened my heart to love. I knew what it meant to be in a relationship, I learned how to be a decent man and I had hurt her along the way because my life was different from hers'.

That last sentence felt like someone had shocked me with reality. It was true, Ethan's life would always be different from mine. Whatever fantasy I had about him in my head was not worth pursuing. At least for now.

'When word got out about our relationship, her family was angry and my Dad got involved because it was all over the local news. Things got out of hand and I tried to get her to run away with me-'

'I'm sorry what?', I asked trying to sound empathetic because honestly, this sounded like the plot of every single Indian movie I had ever seen.

'I know it's cliché but I didn't know what to do! I was young and reckless and madly in love!', he exclaimed defending himself but I couldn't help but shake my head at him.

'Listen, I know it sounds foolish to you but-' 'Oh it sounds crazy to me', I cut in and he gave up.

'Anyways, that was how I got into an accident, and when I woke up, she was still unconscious. They wouldn't let me near her and when I heard that she was discharged I tried to see her again but Dad had made an agreement with her Father and it felt like a bloody restraining order', he sighed and I felt my heart ache a little.

'Do you still miss her?', I asked curiously while some dormant part of wanted to know for other reasons.

'Not romantically. She taught me what love was and I will forever be grateful to have known her. I am someone who believes that everything happens for a reason. That everyone who we meet in life has a purpose to fulfill and when that job is complete, they leave-'

'And no amount of screaming or crying will get them back', I completed looking down at my hands.

'Oh, Salome, I didn't mean to be insensitive-', 'No. You're absolutely right. I have a friend back home, Zaid who once told me the same thing, that everything happens for a reason. When Karthick died, I tried hard- well I'm still trying to figure out what that reason was. I don't understand what his purpose in my life was yet', I said.

'Does anything come to mind when you think of his dreams for you?', he asked and I smiled.

'He wanted me to be happy. He had heard so much about my past, about how happy I used to be before I was depressed and he always used to say that he wished that I would come out of my corner', I replied as I remembered what he used to call me.

'Corner as in metaphorically, right?', he asked.

I chuckled and shook my head, 'Literally the corner of the room. He used to call me 'the girl in the corner of the studio' but we changed it to 'back of the studio' for more effect. I was always hidden away in a corner, minding my own business, just wanting to escape more than ever. He wanted me to live and be happy no matter where I was. I still don't know how I'm supposed to that', I said and he sighed.

'How long did it take for you to understand what Naomi's purpose in your life was?', I asked breaking the tense atmosphere.

'Every morning I would wake with a hollow feeling, like a part of me was missing. I searched and searched but it was pointless so I decided to throw everything away and start anew thinking that a clean slate would help but then-', he paused and looked at me in a way that I had never seen before.

As if he was challenging himself to say something.

'I met you', he finished and my heart forgot how to work.

'What?'

'When I met you, all I knew was that I wanted to be your friend, and each time you would talk about yourself, I could feel my own problems making sense', he said.

'Great to know I was providing you free therapy', I said wryly and he chuckled.

'No, it wasn't therapy-well- I don't know it was more like the more you talked, things made sense. You had no clue about who I was and at first, it brought back old memories that I was afraid to have the past repeat itself so I kept telling myself I had to tell you but then the exhibition happened and I was too late. I felt like life had given me a second chance but I screwed it up because I was afraid. I'm no longer afraid, I no longer feel like my purpose in life to be an heir was ever bad. Initially, I took it back all for you but now I feel like I did it for myself as well. If Naomi hadn't taught me what going the extra mile for someone you care about was, I may have never done any of this', he said.

Ethan felt like his past was repeating itself with me, he felt the same way I did.

'I felt the same about the past part. I felt like I was given another chance at friendship and I screwed up too. I'm really sorry Ethan', I said and felt my tears come up but I held them back.

'Salome, I know I can never be what Karthick was to you but I promise-' , 'Please don't promise me anything', I cut in.

'Why?', he asked lost.

'Because the last time someone promised me something in the name of friendship, I never saw them again', and out came the tears.

I felt Ethan at my side in a second and he had his arms around me, 'Salome, you can't live in the past forever', he said softly.

'I know, I know I'm not supposed to keep saying things like this! But I can't help it, I'm afraid! I don't mean to compare people with Karthick, it just happens and- and I'm just scared that getting over him means forgetting him!', I cried and I could feel my entire body tremble from unfelt emotions and Ethan's embrace was the only thing keeping me together.

'Accepting loss does not mean forgetting someone', he said and pulled me closer so that my head now rested on his chest while his chin was on my head.

'I accepted the fact that he died. I just can't let go. I can't bring myself to start anew', I sniffed.

'He wanted you to be happy. How can you be happy if you're hugging a tombstone?', and his words felt like an anchor had fallen on my chest.

'I don't know how. I just miss him so much. He was my happiness, he was my-'

'Lifeline', he completed and I looked up at him in shock.

'Sumithra told me what he meant you', he replied as if he knew my question and I sniffed.

'Then you understand why it's so hard', I said.

'Salome, a lifeline is for someone who has no other means to live. You survived for two years without him, you became your own lifeline', he said and I felt the words hit me slowly.

'But I did it because of him, I lived through his eyes, by doing what he wanted me to. We had made these promises-'

'And you kept them all, you did it all. You finished writing your chapter with him, Salome but you can't bring yourself to turn the page and write the next one', he said and I broke into tears again.

'I know it's hard to lose a part of yourself but you have done so well. You wrote his chapter even if it meant using your own blood for ink, you're the bravest person I know, Salome. Don't be afraid to turn the page where more characters are waiting for you to bring them to life; characters like me', he said and lifted my face to look at him.

'Why do you want to be a part of my story so badly? All there is are chapters of mistakes and failures, it's the darkest book on the shelf. Why did you choose this out of all the others?', I gulped and moved away from his touch so that only his arm was around me.

'I see them as stars', he smiled throwing me off track.

'What?'

'You call them mistakes, I call them stars. It was a way of how I explained things to myself whenever I was at my lowest. I learned to find the positive side in every negative situation, so I used to call my mistakes as stars'

'I still don't get it', 'Then stop interrupting me'

Sheesh. Fine Socrates.

'Stars are physically just balls of gas burning in space-', but I cut him off with a snort of laughter causing him to look at me stunned.

'I'm sorry, but the way you said it made me remember that scene in Lion King three where Pumba says the same thing and Timon cuts in saying that everything is gas to him'

'I'm not explaining anymore', he blinked and started to get up but I quickly caught his arm and pulled him down with a pout.

'I promise to behave, I have a really bad habit of laughing in serious situations. It's a coping mechanism I developed during my traumatic past', and he couldn't help but smile at my apology.

'Well, the fact that you laughed at it proves my point, they're not really that attractive when you put them that way. But, we don't see them like that do we?', he asked and I shook my head.

'They remind me of wishes', I smiled.

'Exactly. What we see is a pretty glimmer in a deep blue sky full of constellations that tell stories and almost every civilization has a story of their own up there', he said and I tried to get a picture of a clear night sky in my head so I could take it in better.

'I want you to start seeing your mistakes, your failures, whatever hurt you, like stars. You said you were in the dark like the night sky, but you're surrounded by stories of your own life. The constellations are made of tiny and huge stars, think of them as your good moments and bad moments. From where you stand, they look like ugly balls of gas but each time you grow, with every new bad and good moment, a new constellation is born and before you know it, you're in the midst of a million stars'. he said and took my hand in his causing my heart rate to strangely slow down from its initial war drum mode.

'And from where I stand, it looks like a beautiful galaxy. A galaxy that you made on your own and I'm drawn towards it every day so I can read all of the stories it shines brightly with'.

A galaxy, he called my ups and downs a galaxy that he had found himself drawn to and for once I felt the possibility of loving myself become louder. Maybe I should stop trying to look at life through rose-colored glasses and instead through a telescope so I could see the light and the darkness come to together to form a masterpiece.

'What are these?', he asked pulling me out of my train of thoughts and I noticed that he had found the old scars on my wrist.

I quickly pulled my hand out of his, embarrassed and also afraid that he might see me as a freak because almost everyone who had seen them asked, 'Are you crazy?'

'Are those cuts? As in cuts you gave yourself?', he asked furrowing his eyebrows.

'I-', but I was lost for words.

'You don't have to be ashamed of them. They're proof that you survived', he said and reached out to take my hand again but I held it behind me.

'It's not something I'm proud of. I feel ashamed when I see them', I said unable to meet his eyes.

'I wasn't planning on telling you my entire story tonight but I might as well. After the accident, I had a breakdown in front of Dad and he chose to send me to a mental hospital instead of taking care of me like any parent', he said and I looked up shocked at what I had heard.

'Yeah. Shocking', he said wryly, reading the expression on my face.

'I didn't mean to-'

'It's fine. It' shocking to anyone. Anyways, I was just a troubled young adult and I actually found my time over there to be relaxing. I met people who understood what I couldn't and one of them was a boy younger than me and he had the same scars. That's how I recognized them', he said and I bit my lip.

'He wasn't ashamed of them, instead, he had names for them', chuckled Ethan and it looked like he had gone back to the old days. 'He had names for each of the battles he faced and he told me that he felt like a soldier who came home all bruised from war. He said he might have a few scratches, but he's alive and that was all that mattered'.

I could understand what that boy meant. It truly was the only thing that mattered.

'I've been clean for a year now. I used to do it because the pain inside was unbearable and I couldn't understand it. Hurting myself and feeling it's pain, that I could understand. When I think about it now, I can't imagine how I even did that to myself', I said and shook my head remembering those dark days.

'How did you stop?', he asked curiously.

'I prayed a lot but mostly it was Sumi. It was maybe two months after the accident and she noticed a fresh scar on my wrist. I had forgotten to cover it with makeup and when she saw it, she didn't scold me, she just started to cry', I said and felt my heart grow heavy as I remembered that afternoon in our hostel cafeteria.

'She said that she had already lost one best friend and that she wouldn't know what to do if she lost me too. I haven't hurt myself since then. Even if I feel like it, I remember her eyes and how hurt they looked. It made me think about how so many people who cared about me might feel the same and I haven't been able to ever since', I said and felt my throat ache.

Ethan stood up and then looked at my table as if he were searching for something. He grabbed a black marker and then came back to his seat in the chair. He took my arm into his hand and started to press the marker down on each scar to form a dot. I continued to watch as he began to connect them to form a strange line art.

I noticed that a smile played in his eyes, slowly seeping into his lips parting them to say,

'They're not scars anymore. They're a constellation for your galaxy. Thank you for staying alive so I could find it.'