Congenial silence reigned between them as they sat next to each other in front of the fireplace. They had been in each other's embrace for so long that they lost track of time. Hence, when they had finally drawn away, the moon was shining brightly above them. So, he had turned the fireplace on, the faux flames roaring against the wooden logs as long as an electric current ran through the circuit. He had patted the clean spot on the carpet in front of the fireplace, and she willingly plopped alongside him. His arms had come around her once again, kissing the top of her hair, as she placed her head against his chest, their palms entwined, their limbs too.

And they remained perched there, not letting a single word slip past their throats as there wasn't the need for any to convey their emotions. They had done it all, experienced the heartbreak twice, mollified their exes, sought their forgiveness, and now it was time for their story to unfold. It was finally time for them to love each other with everything they had—unhindered, unrestricted, no longer forbidden.

The quietude was finally broken by the muffled ringtone of her phone. Craning her neck towards the handbag on the kitchen counter, she extricated herself from him, flashed him a brilliant smile, and went towards the device. Extracting it out of her bag, she gaped at the screen for a few moments before declining the call.

"Who was it?" he said, walking towards her.

"Dad," she mumbled.

He sensed the sudden change in her mood as her smile had vanished and she was huffing. He was prompted to ask, "All good?"

"Yeah... I... I..." She let the smile be back on her lips. "All's good. It's quite late. I should head home, and I should call him too."

"Uh, you are leaving?" He eyed her as she picked up the bag and dropped her phone inside. "Weren't you talking about moving in here?"

She chuckled. "I did, and I will move in here real soon, but I have a 6 am meeting tomorrow, and I need to be at the office by 5:45."

He nodded. "So, you are leaving me again."

She threw her head back as ripples of laughter reverberated inside her at his amateurish remark. "Crazy Devil."

He grinned. "When will I see you again?"

"I will be back tomorrow evening. Promise."

And she exited with a quick kiss on his cheeks, leaving him to heave a sigh of relief as she was back in his life. This time, forever.

***

Aditya wasn't certain if Nandini would keep her promise, so instead of waiting for her to arrive, he drove straight towards her place after work, calling her up from the call box outside the building. It felt so surreal to him, going there after so much had transpired, hoping to see her pretty face and hear her melodious voice. Excited he was to spend the entire evening with her—his entire life with her—and his heart rate picked up pace when she received the call.

"Hello? Who am I talking to?" she said.

He cleared his throat. "It's the Devil. Let him up before he tears through your building to get you."

He heard her rummage for something on the other side, a lot of shuffling that crackled in her microphone and fell on his ears. "Aditya? You? A-at 6? It's... I was about to—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" He rolled his eyes. "We all know how eager you get to meet me."

She chortled. "Come up. The door's open now."

***

The bright smile on her face, as she welcomed him inside, gave it away that she was as impatient to meet him as he had been. Apparently, she had just reached home from work after a long day and was having a cup of coffee before getting ready. The half-consumed coffee mug was placed on the center table with a coaster underneath it to prevent the ring from dampening the glass surface. She told him to take a seat as she quickly dumped the rest of the coffee in the sink and shot straight towards her room to dress up nicely.

Instead of taking a seat, he studied the array of books she had accumulated on the bookshelf over time, and his brows shot up as the romance section had quite a few steamy, kinky, and racy tomes. He chortled at the thought of Nandini reading those, and his devilish mind told him to try out every single one of those scenarios with her as she might appreciate it, but the saner part of the brain told him to take his sweet time in approaching her. Again, they had all the time in the world.

Once she was out, dressed in a nice floral dress, suited for the summer as it had spaghetti straps and was mellow in color, he forwarded his palm to her, which she took eagerly.

He grinned. "Care to get that dinner we talked about?"

***

Much to her surprise, he took her to a French restaurant downtown, and the two of them found a cozy spot hidden away due to the massive tree in the middle of the hall, shielding them from the view of one and all. He ordered the menu as she was clueless about the cuisine while she gazed at the perfectly chiseled jaws, the stubble on his cheeks, the gorgeous eyes the man boasted of, and the sweet smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Once the order was placed and the waiter went away, he talked at length about how he had spent the last year moping over the separation and busying himself with work. Even she put her two cents in, telling him about how her daily routine comprised working like a robot and dumping herself on the bed at the end of the day, for she missed him with a burning passion that consumed her.

The food arrived, and they continued prattling over the glass of wine and the chicken dish. It was their first date, but they didn't wish to make a hullabaloo out of it. Hence, they kept it simple, skimming over the parts of their lives that hurt them, discussing in detail the work both had been doing in their respective offices, gossiping about friends and family. Once the food was settled comfortably inside their tummies, he insisted on paying the bill and drove her back to his house.

Another bout of tranquil silence followed as they mirrored their actions from the previous evening and sat in front of the roaring flames of the fireplace, snuggled with each other as his arms were around her shoulders and hers were around his waist.

"This feels nice," she murmured.

He kissed the top of her hair. "It does."

"Say something."

He heaved a deep sigh. "Piya told me she hated me after the debacle."

"Well," she shrugged, "we did cheat on them. Can we even complain?"

He bit his lips, scratching his chin. "Agreed, but we fell in love, Nan. It can happen to anyone at any time."

She scoffed. "But that doesn't mean it was the right thing to do. We should've come clean in front of them. Shanya told me to. I didn't."

He furrowed his brows. "Who Shanya?"

"Oh," she giggled, "you have a lot to know about my world. Shanya is my best friend. Well, one of my best friends."

He huffed. "And here I thought I was your BFF."

She tittered, placing a kiss on his chest. "You are the love of my life, Aditya."

"So this Shanya person told you to come clean, and you defied her?"

"Oh, yes. I did. Now I regret it. Had I informed Shubham earlier that I wished to break up, he wouldn't have been this tormented. Instead, I... I..." She shut her eyes in exasperation. "I made a huge, huge mistake."

He hummed, stroking her hair in a soothing motion. "Did you regret falling in love with me by any chance?"

"Not at all."

"Then why did you not confess when I so wanted you to?"

She chortled. "Back then, I presumed I would move on."

"And did you move on?" he whispered against her ears, a teasing intonation creeping up his voice.

She rolled her eyes and extricated herself out of his grasp. "Yes, Aditya. I moved on. That's why I am here, at your home, at 1 o'clock in the morning. In your arms. I have perfected the art of moving on, innit?"

He couldn't stop himself from guffawing out loud. Their silly quips and puerile banter always held a certain charm, which he had been attracted to since the first day he met her at the parking lot. He didn't know it back then, but now he knew. The sparkling chemistry that had coerced them into making rash decisions, falling into the limitless gorge of feelings, and rushing off towards one another existed since the first moment. If only they had not resisted succumbing to it and hurting everyone else in due process! If only they had been mature enough to handle things like adults instead of the childishness they exhibited! Stowing those thoughts away, he murmured in her ears, "How much I love you!"

She snuggled closer to him. "I do too."

He leaned ahead to kiss her cheeks, and she blushed at the close proximity, her palms resting on his shoulders as he pecked her skin and drew away, gazing into her eyes with a tenderness unmatched, caressing her chin with the pad of his thumb. "How much I missed you!"

She hid her face in the crook of his neck, smiling in contentment, turning crimson at his words, his actions, his gestures. "I did too." She gulped and stroked the back of his palm. "Why, Adi?"

He frowned. "What why?"

She clicked her tongue and rested her head on his chest. "Why did it hurt so bad? So bad that I... I am pretty much sure all my tears have dried up."

He chuckled. "Silly Nan!"

She toyed with the buttons of his shirt. "I am not kidding. I was so fucking tired of crying. Each morning, I promised myself I would not. Yet each night..." She shivered when his hold around her tightened but giggled a moment later. "The thought of Piyali and Shubham waiting for a baby makes me so giddy with excitement. Can you imagine?" She sat up straighter. "The violent guy who beat everyone in college is going to be a father now."

He chuckled. "Good for them. I am happy. They... they finally got what they actually deserved in life. Peace and calm and..."

"And not the toxic cyclones that Nandini Basu and Aditya Roy are."

His eyes shimmered with mirth. "Exactly! Toxic cyclone indeed. You and I."

She went back to snuggling with him. "We will try not to be toxic to each other, won't we?"

He chortled. "Nan?"

"Yeah?"

"Do we... do you want to... like... do you want a relationship going forward?"

She drew back at the hesitation in his voice and grimaced at him. "I thought we were already in one since the moment I entered this house last evening."

He grinned, but then his face fell. "Do you want to go back home or do you want to stay here? I can drop you if you want."

The half-heartedness with which he spoke almost elicited a snicker from her, but she refrained, given she was sailing in the same boat as him. "Can I stay here? With you?"

He pulled away, a wide grin etched on his face. "Let's do something fun then."

"What do you want to do?"

His smile dropped, and he moved closer to her, glancing at her lips. She could sense where his gaze was traversing toward, and nervousness clawed at her heart. She could neither pull back nor lean ahead as she was sitting rooted at her spot, gauging his next action. His mouth was only an inch away from hers when he mumbled, "How about something heavenly?"

Her breath hitched in her throat, and she placed her hand over his chest, her eyelids lowering. "Aditya... I..."

"Hush." His lips trailed her earlobes, and she shuddered. "You have a very dirty mind, Vixen." He pulled away and frowned. "I was talking about music."

Her mouth hung open, and she smacked the cackling man on his forearms, scowling at the way he never left an opportunity to tease her mercilessly.

He held her palms, chuckling. "I haven't touched my guitar in over a year. Let's jam? Like old times?"

A thrill rushed down her spine at the reminiscence of the sweet but alluring night from nearly a year and a half ago, and she nodded vehemently, displaying her exuberance as she sprang up before him and tugged him towards the couch. He gestured at her to sit and sprinted up the stairs to take out the dusty guitar that had been lying unused and gathering dirt for a long time now. Tucked away in the spare bedroom where he dumped all his extra stuff, he found the instrument, patted away all the grime lest she launch into a full-fledged session of giving sermons about the importance of cleanliness, and darted back towards her.

She had her eyelids drooping due to the day's tiredness, but as soon as she saw him with the device, she sat up straighter and crossed her legs. He plopped himself across her, tuning the six strings, playing them one by one to ensure they sounded right. And when he was satisfied, he curled the fingers of his left hand over the chords, his right hand strumming the strings as quality tunes emerged from his art. She listened to each of the sweet songs he played for her, singing along with him at times. A guitar enthusiast she had always been, and they had agreed upon her taking lessons from him, but then the inevitable happened, and the idea had taken a backseat.

Hence, he wasn't surprised when she walked up to him, perched herself adjacent to his seat, and batted her lashes.

"Teach me."

He grinned, handing over the device to her. "Gladly, but let's go to the balcony. It will be serene there at this hour."

And the two of them progressed toward the open balcony. He told her how to hold the guitar with her right elbow resting on the top of the curve and her left arm moving flexibly across the chords. He taught her the names of the six different strings, plucking them to help her differentiate between the pitch each plays at. He showed her how to play one of the most basic chords on the guitar while also giving beats for the strumming. And amidst all of this, she fell in love a bit more.

However, she was tired before she could actually play something, given the guitar was heavy and she was feeling exhausted. So, he took the instrument away from her hands, placed it on the nearby patio table, and leaned against the balustrade, watching her hair fly due to the winds blowing. She wasn't looking at him and was rather gazing at the numerous buildings littering the landscape, but he traced her profile with his eyes—the plump cheeks, the twinkling orbs, the little nose, the alluring lips, and the tiny mole on her left cheek.

"You are so damn beautiful," he murmured. "How do you manage to be this beautiful without trying?"

She bit her lips to suppress a grin. "Not a Baby Elephant anymore?"

He pinched her cheeks. "The cutest Baby Elephant in the world."

"Adi!" She pouted. "You always tease me."

Sighing, he gathered her into his arms, repeatedly pecking her temple as she snuggled more into him, her arms stuck between herself and his chest. "Teasing you is the second best activity in the world. I am not going to stop doing that."

"And what's the best activity?" she said as he twirled her around and curled his arms around her waist, his front now touching her back as her hair skimmed against his cheek.

"Well," he smirked, "I haven't gotten the taste of it yet, but I bet the activity will be sweeter than honey."

Impatience was evident from her tone as she said, "And what is the activity?"

"How about," he let his lips wander over her cheeks, "something that involves you and me on a bed as I kiss you everywhere. Every inch of your body. Until you beg me to give you what you need."

Warmth seeped into her heart, and a crimson tint painted her skin. Tingles rushed down her spine, and the familiar flutter of butterflies was back inside her tummy. She was speechless because of his comment, his hot breath falling on her neck, and the way she was flush against him. Squirming in his grip, she could tell her lips were trembling. "Ad... Aditya..."

He giggled, kissing her cheeks in a swift motion. "Look at you! All red! I haven't even done anything, and you are blushing so hard. I wonder what you would do when we would actually be doing things."

"Adi!" The smile came up on her face despite the playful protest she mustered. "You can be so crass at times."

"I love it when you blush," he whispered. "You appear so exquisite."

"I don't blush. You are blind." She shut her eyes in pleasure when he nibbled at her earlobe. But then he stopped suddenly, and bit her ears harder than necessary. Her eyes flew open, and she gasped. "Adi! What are you doing?"

"That's my revenge." He shrugged. "For throwing a cushion at my face and for mauling me with your nails."

"Awww!" She poked his cheeks. "Is cute little baby boy angry?"

He huffed. "Don't call me that."

She tittered, shaking her head. "My crazy devil!"

He grinned. "My silly Nan!"

He placed his chin in the crook of her neck, and she could tell he had to crouch down considerably, given he was a head taller than her, and she experienced another fluttering in her heart at the thought.

"Please never leave me, Vixen. I can't be happy without you."

She sensed the underlying angst in his tone, craning her neck to take a look at him as he placed a kiss on her shoulders. He was saying something about missing her to the extent that it physically pained him in the chest, but she was unable to pay attention to his words. She was busy thanking the Almighty, for He had been generous enough to grant her wish and unite her with the handsome man next to her. Though it pained them immensely, she could tell the separation was nothing but a test of their grit, patience, and willpower. And much to her jubilance, both of them had passed it with flying colors. Hence, the rewards were the sweet moments of togetherness, the solace her heart had found, and the promise of spending her entire life with him.

As he continued babbling and giggling at his own silly jokes, she couldn't stop herself anymore. She leaned towards him, tiptoeing a bit, and placed a soft kiss against his stubble-ridden cheek, her lips lingering on his skin for a moment longer than necessary.

He stilled in his movements since he hadn't anticipated the gesture. Glancing towards her, he found her gazing at him with so much love and tenderness that his heart melted then and there, and he recanted his arms from around her waist, turned her towards him by her shoulders, and leaned his forehead against hers, peering into her eyes.

However, she had her eyelids lowered instinctively as another round of goosebumps arose on her skin due to the intensity of his gaze. Breathing rashly, she fiddled with the buttons of his shirt, gulping frequently, and trying to clear her head. If this was going to be the moment when her lips would finally get to touch his, she wished to be in complete control of herself. However, the more she willed herself to think straight, the more her cognitive abilities deserted her, and her heart was rendered a pulsating mess.

He chuckled when he sensed her anxiety. The rising blush on her cheeks and the obstinacy to look everywhere but at him made him slightly curious. He hooked his finger under her chin, prompting her to look at him. When his blazing eyes met her tender ones, a deep-rooted desire reared its head inside their thudding hearts. He wasted no time dipping his head down, his gaze fixated on her lips. She didn't move back or protest, and slowly closed her eyes, feeling his breath on her nose.

She gasped when his fingers sifted through her silky tresses, and another shudder rushed down her spine. Anticipation gnawed at her heart, pounding through every cell of her body until she couldn't keep up the charade anymore and darted her tongue out to lick her lips.

His gaze flickered between her plump lips, her closed eyes, and the crimson on her nose, comprehending well that she desired the same thing as him. With his hand tugging at the base of her hair to find a better angle, he leaned closer, shut his eyes, and placed his lips on hers.

The sun came up the horizon, marking the start of a new day.

***

Author's Note:

Give me a moment to cry in a corner, it's their first kiss🤧🤧.