~ Bless the night that conceals and protects both fair and foul, with the same indifferent smile~

Just like that, his smiles started increasing day by day.

Just like that, she grew more comfortable pecking his cheeks.

Just like that he started embracing her, to relive all her stress.

Just like that she started faking tiredness so that he hugged her long to take all that away.

But, was it seriously just like that?

"Nandini!!!", Manik came in shouting and halted Nandini in her steps. She was making the bed. It was Saturday night and the moon was already illuminating the dark world outside.

" What? Why are you screaming?", She asked, putting the pillows in place.

" I was thinking if your majesty would agree to accompany me to the beach today", he bowed down dramatically and asked with a pout. She chuckled ar him and nodded her head to which he replied with a excited squeal just like school girls.

"I had two sons, I don't even remember when one turned into a girl", Nyonika who had just came in and heard him, muttered and came towards Nandini, leaving nandini  in fits of laughter. Manik was rooted at his place, unable to decide what to react. Or rather, how to embrace the embarrassment.

"Nandini beta, tomorrow morning we have to go to an ancestral temple, situated in the outskirts of the city. So be ready and keep your duffer also ready...", She instructed lovingly her, winking at Manik.

"Mom!", He spoke grumpily.

"Yes, Maniiiiiii", Nyonika teased him before leaving by calling his name like it was of a girl. Nandini was still laughing and Manik was still sulking by the time they both left for the beach.

Every couple has a certain special place, that is filled with their memories- both good and bad and yet that place itself has a special essence to it, for them it was that beach. It was here that they had bared their soul to each other, in the most intimate way possible. And hence, even this night, as they sat on the wet sand, facing the sea, they knew it was going to be special.

"Manik...", Nandini spoke as they settled in and Manik looked at her.

"If I say a thank you, will you be angry?", Nandini pouted and Manik chuckled.

" No I won't. But it's not needed either madamsimolee...", He answered dramatically making her laugh. And then they fell into silence, a comfortable silence. It's true that we yearn to share a comfortable zone with someone where we could speak our heart without being judged or being afraid, but being able to share silence which don't seem deafening or forced and which at the same time brings happiness is also a virtue.

" Nandini, you know I have always loved nights more than day. The darkness around seems more fascinating to me", Manik whispered looking at the night sky.

" I am actually afraid of darkness. So I like the sky only when it has a thousand little twinkling stars...", Nandini answered, hesistant at first but his smile took away all her shyness.

" Afraid? Well many people are. Reasons differ from perception to perception. But you know why I love the nights especially?", Manik asked and nandini shook her head.

"Because, night, for centuries, have been the most selfless phase of the entire universe. It helps the fair and it hides the foul too. No cheating. No priorities. One for all...", Manik had a weird kind of smile on his face, as he continued gazing the night sky. Nandini was taken aback by the sheer and naked truth in his voice. Who could tell, that the man who was all smiles and all work and all love the entire day, had a thinking so deep that it reflected all his inner turmoil. She felt an irresistible urge to shift close to him and she did, without giving any heed to her mind. She shifted close to him and kept her head on his shoulder, holding his arm to herself.

" When I was small, I was very brave for my age. I mean I used to go washroom alone, to the verandah alone even at night, because I knew amma and appa were there. They won't let any demon below my bed attack me. But then, I grew up. And realized demons didn't lie below the bed. They stayed within us, beside us, in that smiling stranger, in the closest friend. And that was when my fears took the best of me and now I can't stand darkness. It panicks me...", Nandini spoke slowly gazing at the endless sea and Manik caressed her knuckles with his thumb.

" It's alright nandini. But now I am here. I won't even let those known demons grab you. Dont worry. Relax...", He spoke trying to assure her but she looked up at him, at his words, trying to read something in his eyes.

" I know....", Two words and Manik felt his world bursting with lights and crackers. After all this while, she finally admitted that she trusted him. And it was a big acheivement for him. He smiled in response but the twinkle in his eyes was not missed by her.

"Always stay this way Manik. The same. Dont change...", She spoke again, resting her head against his shoulder but this time manik encircled her, resting her head on his chest and pulled her closer.

"Which way?", He questioned.

" This way. Smiling. Finding happiness in the smallest of things. Hopeful. Full of positivity. Not letting the negative aura force you. Happy...", She answered and Manik felt something indifferent in her tone. Something was wrong, definitely but he couldn't understand what.

"Nandini...If all you wanted to do was compliment me, you could have done it directly..", he teased her and she chuckled.

" Manik you know right that if all I had to was your 'TAREEF' I could do it directly. I won't beat around the bush. I was serious and I am still. Dont change...", Nandini answered in a grim tone and Manik pulled her more closer.

" Ohk baba. I won't. Dont be glum. I like to see you smiling...", He said rubbing her arm to calm her and she relaxed under his touch.

Both sat just like that for sometime, without exchanging any word. Silently gazing the vast sea ahead of them.

"Nandini, when we will grow old na, like grandfather and grandmother type old, even then we will come and sit here this way, of course with shawls and sticks, but we would come...", Manik said all of a sudden excited and Nandini giggled at him.

"Say na. Promise me...", Manik asked again and she giggled again seeing his childish excitement.

"If our forevers exist still then, I would gladly come...", She said but her promise made him paas her a stern look.

"What the hell was that suppose to mean? I am not leaving you. And I am not letting you go either. You are stuck for life", he replied, his heart beat wild and his tone angrier. Nandini could feel the anxiousness her words had caused him. So she turned and kept her left hand over his heart, rubbing the area on his chest, as a gesture to calm him down.

" Manik, don't panic. Even I am not leaving you, ever for now. It's just I am being  practical. You don't know what the future holds. So why talk about something that has no existence? And anyways I don't promise you the 'lovers-kinda-forever' but I do promise you my forever. Until I exist, it will only be with you...", She spoke and Manik was surprised with the intensity of her thoughts. He couldnt hold himself and bent to drop a long forehead kiss on her temple. It was all his love and affection for her that he poured in that kiss. And somehow, ditching his expected response of a smile, nandini too bent forward and dropped a kiss on his forehead, a mark of her promise, before snuggling back into his chest. Manik smiled wider before kissing her hairline this time.

"I love you nandini...", He confessed yet again and this time got the expected response. She smiled and blushed and then again hid her face in his chest. And in each other's embrace, they spent the major part of the night before returning home.

~ my hands, your hands, tied up like two ships,
Drifting, weightless waves try to break it,
I will do anything to save it!
Why is it so hard to say it?
My heart, your heart, sits up like book ends,
Pages between us written with no ink
So many words you are not saying.
Dont wanna wait till it's gone.
You make me strong.
I am sorry if I say I need you,
But I don't care i am not scared of love!
Coz when I am not with you I am weaker,
Is that so wrong?
Is it so wrong?
You make me strong!~