~ What gives light must endure the burning too~

Some moments are surreal, they suck away the soul out of your body, and the hope out of your heart, without your will. It's like burning inside, but there isn't a single flame visible outside, for anyone to see and help. It was a parallel situation for Manik, as he stood near the dining table, trying to drink a sip of water to help his vocal cords get some power back, but nothing was helping him. The helplessness he felt was sure corroding him, minute by minute, second by second, and he struggled to wipe the corner of his eyes, to not let those traitor tears escape out until he heard a gasp and turned to face the door.

There she stood, her expressions perplexed and a little lost, like she was trying to understand what was happening. He always thought that romantic movies exaggerated the feeling, but in that moment, he honestly felt like he got his breaths back, like finally breathing was not a task that was sucking out of his energy.

In his peripheral vision, he saw Abhik and his parents stand up at their places, so did Nandini's Appa, and the inspector they had called home to ask help since a legal FIR could not be done before twenty four hours. Nothing mattered though, not their surprised faces, not Maa's teary eyes, not Nandini's astonishment either as Manik walked up to the door and held her wrists in his.

" You are fine, right?", Nandini had never expected that to be the first question, but who was she kidding. It was Manik, the man she had learnt about so much in the past twelve hours, and he was supposed to ask her exactly that.

She nodded, and she saw him sigh in relief, it was evident in his body language, as he smiled at her shaking her head at the nuisance she had created, but before he could leave her hand and call her in, she tightened the hold, dismissing all the pair of eyes focused at them.

"I am sorry", it was a mumble, meant for only him to hear, and he did, and dismissed it with his gentle eyes at her, a gesture that said it was okay.

Manik brought her inside, and she was rewarded with a ton of questions from everyone; questions that didn't have logical answers to. She lowered her eyes and told them all how she went for a stroll at the beach and lost the track of time, and that her phone was in her hand bag, on silent. She apologized to her Appa who was surprised to see her act so irresponsible.

" Appa, it's okay. Sometimes we all mess up, no?", It was Manik who offered him a glass of water and then helped him calm down. Nandini didn't meet her father's eyes all the while.

It was when Mrs. Chatterjee kept a hand over her head and asked her to look up, she did with tearful eyes.

" I am sorry Maa, I troubled all of you so much", she sniffed, and watching her adorable red face, everybody began laughing. She looked so much like a small child, scared of her parents'reaction.

Everybody forgave her, but it was when her Appa ruffled her hairs like he always did and she heard Manik laugh at that was when her heart started beating at it's normal pace again. It was already quite late, so every body left for their houses, despite the couple asking them to stay the night.

When Manik closed the front door and turned back, he found Nandini standing near the dining table, timidly, looking at him. He sighed, before walking upto her, and wrapping his arms around her, hiding her in his arms.

If feeling peace had an expression, it would be that for Nandini.

" You scared me big time today", he mumbled, and she tightened her hold on him.

" I am sorry. I really didn't mean to", she apologized again, beginning to cry.

" Hey hey", Manik broke the hug and wiped the tears off her face, "it's okay".

" I was so worried, I thought you might-", she stopped abruptly, not letting her blabber but Manik chuckled at that, surprising her.

" I might? Think that you left, again?", He completed the sentence for her, and she pouted, before keeping her head on his chest again. Her heart was beating so hard that she was feeling the exhaust, like her hands and feet were not getting enough blood.

"Nandini, it doesn't matter how dumb I really am, but in the past months, the only thing I learned was, somethings have the ability to stay forever", he broke the hug to look into her wide eyes, " and if you would really wanna leave someday", he gulped, she saw that despite the constant smile he had put on his face," you will talk to me about it. You will let me know before a decision".

Stupified, would be the term Nandini felt. Her eyes bore holes into his face, trying to gauge any other reaction, but all she found was genuine trust.

The realization hit her like a wave of sea, the one that drenches you to only relieve you of the scorching heat.

He trusted her. Blindly.

He saw it in her eyes, the way they twinkled. She was honestly a child at heart, and her heart always reflected in her these deep doe eyes. Biting a laugh, Manik pressed his lips over her forehead, and she immediately closed her eyes. Nothing had felt this ecstatic before.

The next hour went by with Manik cooking some Daal-chawal and feeding Nandini who realized she hadn't had anything since breakfast, and hence ate like a hungry child, not forgetting to remind him to eat too, though. But the way she said that, with mouth full of food, only made Manik laugh out loud.

It was three hours later, when Nandini was lying quietly in Manik's arms who was fast asleep, that tears started making their way out of her eyes. She adjusted herself so that she could watch his face, running her finger along his cheeks and nose.

She could help but feel so overwhelmed with emotions, all kinds, only for him. How much it would have taken him to trust her the way he did, even when all his life people closest to him had only betrayed his trust. How much he would have sufferred in silence to not let anyone else bear the burden of his shortcomings. She felt the overt need to protect him, to hide him from any thing evil in the world.

And also, she felt immensely proud of him, for not letting people scar his goodness. He had not let his goodness die, he had not turned cynic to the world, he had not let love be blocked off, and most importantly, he had not consciously taught himself to not love.

She tried to turn towards him, and once successful kiss his cheek very softly, but the grip he had on her slightly tightened. He held her close to him, in his sleep, and Nandini who was habitual to sleep in the cage of his arms, knew in an instant it was not his usual hold. She tilted her head to watch him, and the sudden frown lines that had developed on his forehead didn't escape her.

It was then she realized that indeed it had effected him, that he tried his best to be strong for her, but inside, he had been in splits. He trusted her no doubt, but that doesn't hide the fact that he was afraid too. Even if he didn't complain about her stupid stunt, his gestures were enough to let her know.

Nandini turned to him completely and draped her left arm around him, and used her right arm to slightly caress his chest, snuggling upto him. It broke his sleep, and he half opened his eyes to find his beautiful wife sticking to him completely.

Smiling, he kissed the top of her head, which made her aware that he was awake, but she didn't tilt her head to face him.

" What's wrong? Feeling romantic at night?", He teased her, and she knacked him slightly making him yelp and laugh together.

" How do you do this?", She questioned, moving her head to face him, and he bit his lip.

" Umm, I will show you", he winked before leaning in to try and kiss her but watching her eyes fill with tears, he halted and cupped her face instead.

" What's wrong?", His love filled voice broke all her hesitation and she burst into loud sobs, in his chest.

He rubbed her back and kneaded her hairs until she calmed down enough to talk.

" How do you do this?", She asked again, and this time, he sighed, before asking her back.

"How do I do what?", He lightly caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers.

" Be this good?", She sniffed, and that made him laugh.

" Isn't that like a good thing?", He winked again, trying his best to cheer up her mood. Nandini felt guiltier at his trial, and she sat up, looking at him.

" I went to meet Mukti today", the words escaped her, and Manik jolted upright at that too.

" Mukti? What did she say? Nandini you should not pay attention to her. Is this why you were crying? She doesn't know what she says Nandini, don't mind her. You know you are worth it, right?", He broke into a series of sentences, his voice frightened by the probability of what Mukti might have said to hurt Nandini. It only broke Nandini's heart a little more.

" She apologized Manik, for hurting you", Nandini stopped his blabber by holding his wrists in her grasp, and Manik who took a minute to grasp her, calmed down at that.

" Ohh", one word, and he dismissed it all.

Nandini just kept staring at him who was lost somewhere in his own world. She kept staring at the man who was so concerned about Mukti hurting her, which clearly showed he knew the extent of damage Mukti and his friends could do.

She sat across him and held his face, jerking him to look at her.

" How did you deal with all of those?", She asked what was eating her within.

He held her wrists while she continued to cup his face.

" Somethings you don't deal with Nandini, you just learn to endure them".

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Note: hey!

This is just my opinion that I thought of sharing with you people, because most MaNan readers on Wattapd are also fangirls on Instagram and Twitter.
People, even if you are not liking Kzk or #AnuPre or their winning an award, or you don't stan Parth anymore, or you want KyyS4 soon, please don't insult anyone. Don't bash or troll even Erica, no matter what she does or what her fandom says. No matter what the standalone Parthians say about Niti, Don't revert back. SNS is not for trolling, or charcater calling celebrities. You are only giving them a chance to point out fingers at all MaNan and PaNi fanpages. Parth blocking most of us only is also not a good sign is it? Don't speak bad about Kzk, parth or erica. You don't like it, fine. I also don't like it. We don't need to watch it. We can focus on our idols no? We can post about them.

Don't give people something to feed on. Don't put a finger on anyone, whosoever it is. They don't matter to us. Every single tweet or Instagram hate comment need not be replied. Let's maintain some peace, shall we?

Anyway, do drop your reviews about the chapter and next update, Thursday!