Song of the chapter is
Cinnamon Girl by Lana Del Rey

-49-
-Veronica D'Rosario-
-Present-

__________

Malhotra Mansion

6 December, 2030
9:20 p.m

My phone buzzed in my hand as I stared out the window of my room. The moon was coveted by clouds and only it's faint glow could be seen through them.

I glanced at the caller id and paused for a moment.

Himanshu was calling.

My brows knitted in their place as I took the call and answered. "Hey..."

There was no response on the other end. My heart constricted in it's place.

"Himanshu....?"

Again, no response. My fists bundled up.

"Moose...."

"Ronnie...."

His voice was hoarse and low, but it came out perfectly on the other end.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Mm....not...not really." I could feel a strain in his tone. I walked back towards the bed.

"What happened?" I asked but a painful silence followed. "Moose?"

"Can you....meet me at my house?" He asked, his voice getting softer with each word. I realised something must be wrong. Why else would he call me?

"Should I inform the others?" I asked, already putting on my jacket. "We can all come if you want-"

"No." He interjected, this time loud and clear. "Just you."

I stopped in my tracks as I heard that.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Blinking twice, I licked my lips before answering, "Okay. I'll be there in ten."

"Hm."

Saying that, he disconnected the call. Stuffing my phone in my jacket pocket, I stared at the ground, still processing what just happened when Zoya came in.

"Where are you going?"

I ran my hand through my hair, grabbing my bag from the nightstand. "Himanshu called. He asked me to meet at his house."

"This late at night?" Zoya asked, checking her watch as she plopped on the bed. "Did he get another message?"

" I don't really know." I answered, walking across the room to the door.

"Do you want us to come with you? Me and Kartik can come if you want. Siya can stay with Saina for the time being." She proposed.

"That won't be necessary."

"Why not?"

I licked my lips as I gave her a side look. "He specifically asked just me to come."

There was a long silence following that.

From the periphery of my vision, I saw her give me a sheepish smile.

"Don't start now, Zoya."

"What? I didn't even say anything." She raised her hands in mock surrender.

"Yeah but I know that look damn well." I said, looking back at her. "Plus, his fiance is probably going to be there."

"Exactly, V." Zoya pointed. "Why would Himanshu ask you to meet him at his house this late at night with his fiance still in his house?"

I darted my eyes away.

"I think you're finally gonna hear the good news that you've wanted to hear all this time."

"And what is that?"

"That he finally got rid of that wench." She said, confidently.

"Zoya." I gave her a delirious look.

"What?" She tilted her head at me, feigning innocence. "Like you don't believe he should've done it a long time ago."

I sighed, shaking my head.

"You're impossible, Zoya." I said. "I'll come back soon. In the meantime, do me a favor and stay with Saina. She needs someone right now."

Zoya simply shrugged. "Fine, I will."

I gave her a last nod before turning towards the door when she called from behind, "Have fun!"

Rolling my eyes, I continued on my way. But at the back of my mind, Zoya's question still lingered. Why would Moose call me to his house knowing well how much his fiancee hates me? And that too this late at night?

What could be the reason?

____________

As I stood at his doorstep, my palms freezing due to the November cold, I half contemplated running away.

Seemed like I had developed a habit to do that.

My feet stood in it's place as the bolt unlocked by itself and the door opened, revealing a weary Moose.

The loose amber sweater that he was wearing hardly hugged his body while his eyes looked strung out and exhausted. His soft brunette curls were a mess, scruffy atop his head.

"Oh....come in."

His voice was still brittle and low, hardly having any impact. I took off my shoes and stepped into the house, feeling warm immediately. The low caramel undertone of his house had always been my favourite because of the cosiness it offered.

Taking off my jacket, I placed it down on the couch as my eyes followed him walk to his kitchen isle.

"I made some coffee before. Do you want some?" He asked as I settled into the maroon couch in his living room.

"Thanks.... I'm fine." I said, glancing back at him once.

"It's just how I used to make it, back in high school." He pointed out, pouring the liquid into two cups. "Are you sure you don't want it?"

My heart missed a beat. I looked back at him.

"On second thought...."

He gave me a small grin, the same lopsided one he used to give me back when we were seventeen. All of a sudden, I felt warm inside.

A moment later, he walked into the living room, with two cups in his hands and placed them on the small glass table in front of the couch. Settling next to me, he picked one up and took a sip.

I concentrated on his face as it lit up. "Is it any good?"

"It's surprisingly better than I'd thought it'd be." He answered, giving me a smile. I returned a similar one, picking up my cup.

As I took a sip of the hot liquid, burning my tongue slightly, I smiled even wider with content. It was exactly like how he used to make it back in high school for all of us.

"Judging by the look on your face.... I think it worked right." He said, looking at me.

I chuckled softly, shaking my head. Taking another sip, I asked, "How are you?"

His eyelids fluttered once before he took another sip from his mug. "I'm fine,...why do you ask?"

"Because it.... doesn't... seem like it." I paused before speaking. "For starters, you look like a mess."

"What?"

"Yeah...uh....your hair is all tangled, your eyes look like they haven't rested in ages...and you genuinely look exhausted." I explained.

"Well," he began, looking away. "I am in an exhausting situation, aren't I?"

"Come on, Mo-" I paused, correcting myself. "Himanshu. There's something wrong, I can tell."

"Well I-"

As he raised his cup to touch his lips, I noticed his ring was missing from his finger.

"Himanshu...." I drawled, my heart hammering against my chest.

He looked back at me with the softest eyes possible. "What?"

"Where's your ring?"

"What ring?"

And right then, as I looked into his eyes, I knew I didn't need any words to know what he had done. What it meant.

I moved closer to him and locked him in a tight embrace. Just how I had dreamt of doing for the past eleven years. Slowly and gradually, he put his arm on my back, softly caressing it. We stayed like that for a solid strong moment, before breaking apart.

His eyes bored into mine as I asked, "What happened?"

"Many things." He answered, his forehead furrowed. "Things I won't bore you with."

"It's fine....you can tell me." I insisted gently. His eyelids drooped slightly before lifting back up.

"There was a lot wrong with that relationship to begin with." He said. "Whatever happened after we came to Delmore just pushed things over the edge."

I stared at him as he continued, "It was all my fault. I was too much of a coward."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because," he looked back at me, with his hazel eyes. "I knew....it since the beginning....that none of it was genuine. How could it ever be? All my life.... I've only ever loved...one person."

It stopped beating completely. My heart. For the longest moment, I remained suspended in time, thinking I'd never bounce back from this.

His eyes darted away and I half expected him to get up and leave. But he didn't. He stayed.

He always did.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I asked, "Where is she now?"

He scoffed, smiling sadly. "I think she took the first flight back to Mumbai. I'd probably have to hear a earful from her parents tomorrow."

My lips pursed into a thin line.

"What can I do....to make you feel better?" I asked.

He looked back at me intently, something weighing behind his eyes. "Do you really wanna know?"

I felt myself nod. "Yeah."

He slowly held my hand and squeezed it softly. "Stay."

"What?"

"Just stay with me today."

I blinked, not believing my ears.

"Do you think.... that's a good idea?" I asked, my voice lowered to a whisper.

He gave me a gentle nod. "There's no one else I'd want to stay with tonight."

A helpless whimper left my lips as he said those words. Those words had a weight in them, that was pushing me -pushing us - closer and closer to an emotion that took more and more room in my chest with every second I spent looking into his eyes.

He slowly touched his forehead to mine as I breathed in his cologne. His face remained inches away from me. I shuddered slightly.

Then a moment later, realisation struck me. This wasn't right.

Shaking my head, I looked away. "No, Moose....."

"Why?" His voice came out as a whisper.

"Because," I looked back at him, with pain evident in my voice. "You're vulnerable right now. I can't.... I can't take advantage of that. I won't. That'll be...wrong."

Softness graced his features. "How would you be taking advantage of me by staying the night with me?"

"Because...." I gave him a fierce look, my heart thumping against my chest. "It's you and me. Things are never that simple with us."

A long silence followed before he said, "You're right, Ronnie. It is you and me. It's always been you and me."

"Moose...."

"I know." I watched his jaw twitch. "I know things are never simple with us. They never have been."

I frowned slightly.

"But that's what makes...us...us." He breathed.

I inhaled a shaky breath.

"You're my home, Veronica." He spoke slowly. "You're the place I choose to return to again and again. The place that even when painful, means the most. You're my home because you've made me who I am, whether or not you realised what you were doing."

My body trembled; it shuddered under the weight of his words.

"You know.... I realised this a long time ago but I just... never wanted to admit it to myself." He continued. "For a long time, I was angry at you....like really angry. All I wanted was to know....what made you run away...from me. From us."

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat, looking down as fresh tears stung the back of my eyes.

"I know...now...that you had your reasons." He said, his voice low as a whisper. "I just wish you would've told me."

I fought back the tears trying to flood my system and rob me of my next breath. "I'm sorry.... I truly am. I should've never-"

"I know." He whispered, as he held my face in his own two hands. His palm felt warm against my usual cold exterior. For a moment, all I wanted was to just melt into them.

"You don't have to apologise for anything."

Tears streamed down my face, that I had so valiantly fought with till now. For the past eleven years of my life, all I had done was collect the pieces to put myself back together so that I could be a fully functioning human being again. But now that I was in his arms, I didn't feel the need to do that anymore. Because he loved me for who I was ; the disastrous mess that I was.

He always had.

My hands touched his face. At first, it felt alien, like I was still in my dream and he could not possibly be real. But then as I looked into his eyes, all doubt left my mind.

He placed a soft kiss on my forehead and I had no choice but to close my eyes. I knew in that moment that I was exactly where I belonged.

Where I've always belonged.

His lips grazed against mine, softly at first but then gradually getting fiercer, burning down the last of my defences. As I melted into him, I felt those walls of mine collapse, as if I hadn't spent all this time building them up.

My hands went around his neck as he pulled me into his chest, as if he were scared I'd run away again if he didn't. And I hung onto him equally desperately. As if my next breath depended on it. This is what it felt like to be free -- to be in the arms of the man I love and have him love me back.

Clothes were being thrown around the couch, skin left naked for trembling lips and curious hands. My heart felt as though it'd burst out of my chest any moment. As time stood still in that moment, all I could think of was him. And I wanted to be stranded in that moment for how many forevers I had.

Because he was heaven on earth and I was in love.

_____________

FINALLLYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

DOING MY VICTORY DANCE RN! OHMYGOD! HOW MUCH I HAVE WAITED TO WRITE THIS CHAPTER HOLY SHIT-

no but seriously, like I have waited for too long to write this chapter and now that it's out for you guys to read, i can't be more ecstatic!

YAYYYYYY!
HAPPY #HERONICA DAY!

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