Shreya knew of her weakness since her college days. If there was one thing wrong with her, it was her stamina. She got tired too easily.

She let go of the fabric she was held on to.

She would go back slower. She would not get lost though, since her phone was charged to full and the signal was great.

"Can you hurry up a little?" She heard all of a sudden.

Shreya looked up, startled. She replayed what she had just heard. He sounded frustrated. Was she really asking too much?

Before she was married, it was never a question of asking too much, but if something could even be brought up. It was definitely better now. She should be happier, but no, she wasn't.

She picked up her pace. She did not want to give up and cry before him. After all, she had longed for an opportunity to take a leisure stroll like this.

When she reached him, he was much more patient than she expected. "Shreya, are you alright?"

The display of concern surprised her.

"Yeah. I just get tired easily," she said and gave a nervous laugh.

"Then tell me when you get tired."

She felt embarrassed. "It's fine! I won't get lost..."

Lakshya stared blankly at her mouth. What was she saying?

She added, "Nothing will happen to me."

He decided not to argue with her lest he should utter any nonsense.

∼•∽

The next day was reserved for smaller temples nearby. Shreya woke Lakshya up again this morning and once again they were walking on the smooth roads atop the hill. This time Lakshya and Shreya were leading the rest.

Shreya still seemed dazed like the day before and even unsettled, with a stuffy face. She wasn't watching her step carefully.

"You okay?"

She was startled. Not a very rare occurrence these days. Something which frustrated him.

"I'm okay."

But shortly afterwards, she asked him if he could walk on the valley side instead.

He looked at her for a moment before shifting places. "Vehicles are zooming. Be careful."

Shreya took her chance and clutched his sleeve.

Lakshya quickly turned to look back. His sister and brother-in-law were busy with Akshita, who was throwing tantrums, tiring them out.

He gazed at Shreya and she didn't look much better.

Shreya felt her grasp fill with void, but soon a hand clutched hers in a death grip. Shreya looked up at him surprised.

"What!" he barked. He was more flustered than he was mad. Shreya's unusual mood seemed to affect him too. "They can see us, so can you act normal?"

Shreya beamed. "This is normal."

"I'll explain when we get back!" he hissed.

Shreya could care less at this point. Wind ruffled her hair and she lost herself in the moment. Far away, the windmills were rotating slowly, at a pace slower than reality, and she let herself be walked over to their destiny with a faint smile.

Eventually when they did get back to their guest house and Shreya asked what that was, he found himself unable to explain what came over him.

"Didn't you say that was normal?"

He looked at her up and down like she was an alien and never spoke about it again.

The trip came to an end and they landed in Mumbai pretty late at night. Amulya asked Lakshya to come home with Shreya along with them, but he rebutted saying why should he when his sister could go back to her own home. Honestly, he had something to accomplish. Something he had been trying to do but not really, to sleep in the same room at home.

Shreya was amused but she did not laugh or make any audible noise. Lakshya had quite a refreshing way of looking at things.

Lata smacked his head. "I was married off!" She put too much stress on 'off'. Rajat, who was carrying a sleeping Akshita and holding Lata's hand, tugged it.

"I'm not complaining," Lata reassured him and tried to take Akshita, but he smiled and did not let her take the girl.

Lakshya still protested. He put the blame on Shreya's work. He bellowed how she had to work overtime before the trip and how he did not want that to repeat.

He turned to Shreya and nodded, wanting her to strengthen his argument.

Shreya did not think what he said was true, but she shyly nodded at Amulya.

Finally, everyone parted ways.

∼•∽

Once home, Lakshya did not stop talking.

"So tired!"

Shreya softly hummed.

"Do you really have to work more tomorrow?"

She shook her head and smiled. "No..."

He nodded in approval. "Did you lie for me?" He winked.

Shreya was slightly embarrassed. She didn't know how to respond.

"You're in a better mood today."

Shreya knew it was true. Yet, what should she say?

"I'll go wash up." Lakshya turned towards the master bedroom. As he walked, the smile on his face turned into a line. Why? Just why couldn't he ask her to move back into the master bedroom?

Just like that, he gave up.

For a month, he had kept his door wide open. He went into her room whenever he got a chance. He created his chances. He had many times come very close to asking Shreya to forgive what he did, forgive what he had said, and if possible, open up to him.

To this day he had no clue what she truly thought, how she really felt about him, about their marriage. He was pretty convinced that she completely gave up on their marriage. It was as if she did not care. She spoke well with him, laughed when appropriate, acted like everything was great and never gave him a cold shoulder.

She stopped trying.

Before that at least she showed her cold side to him. The one that he had thought was quite ugly. But after knowing her for months, he knew many things about her. She was empathetic. She would never do anything that would hurt someone unless driven into an utterly inescapable corner. Having a husband who had a girlfriend definitely qualified that. She would cry to herself. She was almost never angry. She was timid, in fact. If she could, she'd never be confrontational. She'd mind her own business and live in the background.

Yes, he had not liked how they started. Perhaps if she was willing to give him a little more time, then maybe they'd have been in a much better place. That meant a lot of uncertainty on her part, true. But what he did not understand was why was she able to do something that she could not then so well now. If he thought back to her words now, he still disliked that she thought she could force him. But he was not as upset.

What's more, there was a time when the thought of accepting her as his wife on his own felt like a blow to his pride. Just the thought hurt his ego. He'd rather he be forced. Then that changed. He wished they could put everything behind them. He wanted to apologise. He was afraid though, that she'd look at him with confusion, and ask him what even needed apologising.

He walked into Shreya's room. Why do you think you deserve it? Just because of my hotheaded words? Why don't you be angry instead? The answers to these would come only from her.

She was asleep.

He stopped next to her bed. He looked on as so many thoughts came and went. He wondered what would become of them.

A minute later he thought he saw her lashes flutter.

Then her eyeballs moved too.

"You're awake?"

Shreya took a few moments, but she did respond. "Hm."

"I just remembered our bet. You're yet to ask me something."

She sat up. She did not forget how his countenance changed last time.

Lakshya grabbed her pillow and blanket. "Sleep there from now on." He walked to his room without waiting for her response.

Shreya followed him.

She took the side where he dropped her pillow and blanket.

Then they were silent.

"So, what do you want me to do?"

"Can I ask more than one thing?"

Lakshya smiled faintly. "Let's hear them."

"Go out together for lunch or dinner... and watch a movie, maybe bring some ice cream."

"Look at me," he said. "Are these all? Nothing more?"

Shreya thought for a while.

"Then, can I hug you?"

"Yes," he answered promptly. She was testing the waters. "Anything else?" he asked patiently

Shreya shook her head dazedly. She did not think he would agree so easily.

Lakshya pulled her into a gentle hug.

Shreya leaned in and hugged him back.

"Are you not going to ask about my girlfriend?" He asked a moment later. This was something he had not been comfortable getting across before.

Shreya tensed up and almost broke free. He held her tight in place.

"I stopped seeing her. A week after our marriage, I stopped." Although he officially broke up with Moksha much later, he had pretty much dropped her after the par incident. He could take some extra credit.

He felt her loosen her arms around him.

"Sorry..."

Lakshya was using up his entire life's patience. "Why? It was not because of what you said. It was my own choice."

Time ticked away.

Finally she hummed.

She was definitely not convinced and Lakshya could feel a headache coming. Just what should he do? He already brought it up and because she did not. If she did not believe him, why not say that? Then they could get somewhere.

The flight journey also tired him out a bit. Since he made some progress, the rest could wait. With Shreya in his arms, he leaned back onto the bed.

As much frustrated as he was, something came over him when she let him pull her down. He hugged her tighter. He wanted to curl up into a ball holding her. He put his hand on her head and pulled her into his neck.

Shreya's breath was cautiously soft. It tickled him, pleasantly and not so pleasantly too.

"Good night," she whispered.

There was a smile in her voice.

Lakshya ran his fingers through her hair. He sighed. It was such a stuffy feeling.

"Am I holding you too tight?"

"No."

"Then good night." He closed his eyes

∼•∽

Shreya could not sleep for a long time. This was her first time cuddling like this after she grew up. She was slightly awkward, but quite comfortable.

She watched his quiet and even breaths. She was close enough to hear his heart beating.

She moved her hand to his hair without disturbing him.

He left his hair open when he went to sleep. She played with his hair too. It was definitely longer than hers but he preferred to touch her hair instead.

She sighed in her mind. She really did not want to go to sleep.

With her fingers laced in his hair, she drifted into dreams.

∼•∽

In the morning, Lakshya woke up first.

It seemed none of them moved an inch throughout the night. Except, when he moved his head, his hair protested.

The tug awoke Shreya.

Lakshya stopped the movement and turned his head back before Shreya completely woke up.

He watched her through the process as she adjusted to the brightness of the day.

"Good morning."

"Morning," she said.

Lakshya held her hand that was tugging at his hair. "Am I handsome?"

She looked at him for a moment and then nodded with a soft smile before she took her hand back.

"You're beautiful too, Shrey."

Shreya was slow to respond. The first thought she had was that he called her a little differently. Then the words started making sense. He called her beautiful.

After looking into his eyes for a long time, just as Lakshya started to doubt if he said something wrong, she smiled and looked away.

Another new thing that happened that day was the date Shreya had asked the previous night.

It was their first date after marriage, and second date in all.

Lakshya decided on everything related to this date. He told her they'd be going to the beach. Shreya wore a pink beach frock.

Seeing her dressed up, Lakshya was dazed for a few moments. He had to admit, sex was on his mind for some days now. He had a taste and then he was left to thirst. Now looking at her supple hands from shoulders down to fingertips, and the soft skin of her legs and her delicate ankles... he had to concentrate on something else.

He turned away and looked into his phone. Maybe tonight they could do something. With so many thoughts each going astray on tangents, he managed to start his bike.

Shreya rode the bike quite a lot of times by now as he dropped and picked her up from the lab. But this time it was different. She felt conscious.

"Hold tight," he said as if to alleviate her.

Shreya leaned on his back and put her arms around his waist.

After some time, she rested her head on his back. She faced to one side and her cheek pressed to him.

The moment Lakshya felt it, every single thought of her soft body flew out of his mind. With a jolt, he called out, "Shrey?"

"Hm?"

"Don't you dare fall asleep! I didn't forget your nap on our first date. You can't do that again!"

She lifted her head and he relaxed.

"Sorry... You must have still felt bad... even if I did not mean anything and you had a girlfriend."

"What?" Lakshya did not hear properly. The air wasn't helpful at all at the speed he rode and her words were lost in the wind flowing against them.

"I won't sleep." Shreya shouted this time.

They reached the beach when the sun was around 30 degrees above horizon. They easily had an hour before sunset.

"Wanna go into the water?" Lakshya asked as he folded his pants to his knees.

"Yeah."

They left their footwear in the sand and walked along the shoreline.

The strong sound of the waves crashing against one another was soothing in its own way on one side and the evening chirping of birds as they returned to their nests added a chaotic but pleasant overtone from the other side.

The sunset was subtle but not slow, really. The colour of the sky changed every five minutes until the classic picture of half a red sun at the horizon over the water with his reflection was revealed.

Lakshya, for someone talkative, was comfortable with just the sounds around them.

Shreya walked much further in the water compared to him, the ends of her frock kissing the water. For a frail and petite woman, she was not scared of the big waves.

Lakshya was beside her soon. She did not notice him. She was trying to go further in, looking intensely at the waves and turning her body to a different angle for best stability.

"Instead of thinking so much, you could just hold my hand." He offered.

She silently held it and pulled him a little. He did not budge and held her from going further.

"We don't have a change of clothes, so where are you going?"

Shreya frowned with fresh realisation. One, he was right about the clothes issue. Two, he talked as if he would also go in more, but he already knew they should not.

Shreya sighed. "Yeah. Let's just stand here until the sun goes down completely."

Lakshya felt her tone was off a little. She did not like that she could not go any further. He smiled seeing her frown still present. So did he make his wife mad now? He sneakily moved his face closer to hers.

He could see her expression better and when he did, he went closer.

He gave her a peck on the cheek and when she looked at him full of surprise, he pressed her lips onto hers firmly.

When they separated, they were out of breath. Shreya looked around instinctively. It was not that she was shy. Just that, rarely did they see a couple kiss in public.

It was nice like this though. To not have to bother what anyone thought. It was good that Lakshya was like that too.

"Look at the sun," he reminded her.

Once the sun set, they walked another round along the shore.

This time Lakshya pointed to every interesting person, he had something to comment on, almost everyone in sight, mixing some jokes in between. Shreya was engrossed in the conversation, laughing, agreeing, and adding bits of her own thoughts.

"Next date you decide the place."

"Hm. Okay."

Lakshya thought she would pick a place and tell him, but she perhaps wanted to keep it a secret. He had to admit, excitement bubbled in him.

At a beachside restaurant they had their dinner. Then on Shreya's suggestion that they could avoid peak traffic by spending more time at the beach, she sat below the moonlit sky.

It was quieter now, the only sound was that of the sea. They could not see the waters except for the white foam the waves created. It was calming and relaxing.

∼•∽

An hour later, they decided to go back home and Lakshya was indeed quite happy to be able to manoeuvre through the roads faster.

Once they were inside the privacy of their home, he pulled Shreya by the waist and kissed her.

Shreya laced her fingers in his hair. She had some lingering doubt when she brooded over his break up later on. She thought he spoke with Moksha every night months into their marriage. But he said he had broken up much earlier. That did not match up. Then again, most of her memories were never clear enough to defend her thoughts.

Now though, he definitely must have broken up. She kissed him back happily.

Throughout that night she heard him say Shrey again and again.

She liked it very much. At first she loved that he had a unique nickname for her. Nobody called her like that.

Then it was his voice humming softly in her ear as he said that name.

When the morning arrived, she woke up to his lazy voice calling her Shrey. His nickname for her said in his own voice was something very precious, she felt.

With a tilt of her head, she kissed his neck.

"I tired you out, didn't I? Take the day off." Lakshya ran his fingers through her hair. She was beautiful, especially with the hue of the morning sunshine and the afterglow yet to wear off.

"No. I must go and give them prasad. My boss specifically said so."

"You can give tomorrow."

"No..."

Lakshya hummed and said, "I'll order something then."

"Okay. What about your lunch? I will eat at the college canteen." Shreya bet he was not going to put in the effort to take himself to the office today.

"I'll order something. Work from home it is."

She nodded.

When Shreya got ready, she found he had showered and readied himself as well.

"You said you are not going today..."

"I'll drop you!" He smiled.

This was a surprise to her.

"Then you could just go to the office..."

"Hey, I'll still work."

Shreya had nothing to say. Working from home was not an option for someone who needed a house full of lab equipment.

Just as she was about to sit, Lakshya stopped her.

He was holding her hair clips. Shreya did not use them unless it was a necessity. No matter how cute they were, they made her look ugly. She frowned and dodged.

"You want to eat your hair?"

"I can eat just like this..."

"Eat what? Hair?"

Shreya relented and let him secure her hair on both sides.

Unlike Shreya, Lakshya thought she looked nice with her clips. He could see more of her pretty face this way too.

∼•∽

A/N:
When writing this chapter, I realised just how much pantsing I was doing, rather I had to. Discovery writing is definitely not bad, but it is not my type. I do things much more methodically. Therefore, this story did have a loose plot outline. But the story started taking its own route.

As per the the plot, Lakshya was to be more naiive and reckless. But somewhere his character changed without me noticing. He is and has been an ESFP. I think I should have guessed more correctly in the beginning.

Given so much time, it is not practical that the feelings he avoided would not surface, especially with Shreya becoming more unpredictable making him question many things.

I hope you do not feel he is inconsistent. I had to focus on Shreya's changes, more so because of how subtle they are and any change in Lakshya had to be understood from his perception of Shreya. Is this getting too tangled? *sigh* This is so mental no... it gave me quite some headaches and writer's blocks. Please leave any feedback or suggestions in this regard. It will help me improve my narrative style.

Coming back to the story, at this point, I really want to hear your thoughts.

Where do you think this is going?