So, as promised. Here is the next update, before time. Thankyou for giving this story so much love. It's 50k already. Stay blessed.❤️
Also, haven't proof read the update. So I really don't know how did it turn out to be. Forgive me if its bad. Also I'm not a professional writer, so yeah. 🙈

And the response, it's decreasing. I work hard for every update. All I'd say is that it's entirely upto you to vote/comment or not. :)

Happy Reading! 😇

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Four Months Later :

There are some people in your life who make you laugh a little louder, smile a little bigger and live just a bit better because unexpected friendships are the best ones. Same was the case with Manik and Nandini, over the period of time their bond had grown too strong, even if there was a slightest happening in both their lives, they would be the first ones for each other to know it. That's how things were. In the case of Fab 4, they had started treating Nandini like their baby. Dhruv and Abhimanyu had joined the Gang of Brothers along with Cabir for Nandini and hence cared for her to no extreme. Mukti always used to talk to Nandini about her problems even before Abhimanyu and Alya, well, her and Nandini loved talking about clothes and that's how they bonded over clothes and shopping and Manik? He was still unsure of the ever increasing feelings. But as they say, when the time is right, it's right. And maybe, now wasn't the right time. And Nandini, she had just got a mini family in her new friends who she loved so much.

" Haan Manik, the GPRS is on. Don't worry." Nandini said over the call which was connected to the stereo system of the car.

" Nandini, just be careful okay? The area is not safe at all. Because of that accident the main road is blocked which is why you had to come from there. I'm really sorry I couldn't be there." He replied in a single breath as he had to leave urgently due to a family emergency while they were returning from a business party. So Manik gave her his other car's keys. After a lot of insistence, Manik finally allowed her to drive back alone. Over the period of time, Manik not only became more possessive, but also dearly protective of Nandini.

" Ohoo. Manik relax. It's alright. You don't have to be sorry, please. And as it is I'm just about to reach in another fifteen minutes." She calmly said.

" Nandini, you're okay right?" Manik asked hesitantly. During the party, there was a guy who kept looking at Nandini in a sly way which obviously made her uncomfortable and thus was noticed by Manik. After nearly threatening that man for his life, he let go of him.

" Yes Manik. I'm fine." She said softly.

" Just call me when you reach home so that I know you're safe, okay? Keep your phone on." He said calmly.

" Yes sir. Aur kuch?" Nandini sighed while chuckling.

" Nope. Take care. Bye." He said and hung up.

The road she was driving on barely had anyone except her with dim light and trees all around. Though she was acting all brave in front of Manik, but she knew how dangerous it could be. After moving forward for about ten more minutes, the car abruptly chose to stop in the middle of the secluded passage.

" Damnit! What is with this car now?! Urgh. Manik, yes Manik." She scowled as she took out her phone from her bag just to find no network.

" No network? Shit." She said as she got out of the car when she finally received some signal and immediately called up Manik, which he immediately picked.

" Nandini, are you okay? You reached? Is everything alright?" He bombarded her with questions as soon as he picked up the call.

" The car broke down." She said after he had stopped talking.

" Where are you?" He said in a panicked tone.

" On the same.." She was about to complete her sentence when someone covered her mouth with his palm making her phone drop from her hand. The only sound which was heard was her muffled screams.

~~~

" Nandini? Nandini? Helloooo?" Manik said as he heard some weird voices from the other side.

" I just hope you're safe, Nandini." He said worriedly as he immediately left his house to get her after checking her car's GPRS location which happened to be the same road.

~~~

" I found you." The man said dangerously coming close to her.

" Who..who are you? Please let me go." She said in a scared tone.

" I will let you go. But first let me quench my thirst. Just one night, and then you can go wherever you want to baby." He said in his devilish tone while running his fingers down her face making her flinch in disgust.

" Please..please leave me." She cried helplessly while the man removed his black mask from his face making her eyes widen in horror. He was the same man who had tried to grope her in the party.

" I had been lenient with you all this while but now it's show time baby." He said as he pulled her closer by her hair making her scream in pain. But alas, her screams were unheard.

" Please leave me. Please." She begged while crying while the man kept on trying to force himself upon her.

" You bitch!" The man scowled and immediately tore of one of her sleeves partly revealing her bare shoulder which left scratches on her. Scratches of disgust, making her wail even more in the pain which was being caused to her, not physically but mentally.

" Maaanik." Nandini cried helplessly as she tried to escape from his clutches when she knocked her knee in his gut making him groan in pain and taking the opportunity, she ran away. But the force wasn't with her at that time after all. She stumbled on the hard ground making her knees bruise because of her heels which made her fall. She picked herself to run again, but it was too late by then.

" Come on baby, just one night! I need your body under me." He growled making her close her eyes in fear as he raised his hand to slap her but was stopped by a strong grip on his wrist.

She was drowning but nobody saw her struggle. She was helpless, waiting for a miracle to save her. Being helpless is the worst pain anyone could ever experience. But alas, it had to happen but then there he was, her guardian angel.

The man turned around to look at the source of the grip just to find him. Manik Malhotra. As soon as he heard her scream, his worries knew no boundaries because thankfully the call was still connected when her phone dropped on the ground.

" Tujhe bola tha meine, to stay away. Lekin tujhe samajh nahi aaya." Manik said dangerously with his eyes spitting fire making them red in anger.

" How dare you touch her with your filthy hands?!" He shouted furiously and punched him making blood flow from the man's nose.

" Himmat kaise hui teri haan, meri Nandini ko chhune ki?" Manik shouted angrily as he punched him to no extent making him collapse almost unconsciously on the ground when he looked on his left and found her standing under the tree while crying and covering her body with her hands. He immediately left the man's collar and rushed towards her and engulfed her in his arms. There was solace and pain. He felt her shivering uncontrollably, but he couldn't do anything. He immediately took off his jacket and covered her completely and again held her close to him, in his arms, trying to calm himself down.

She had fought enough to know that she didn't need rescuing. But then there he was, rescuing her after all.

" Nandini, you're fine. Shhh. I'm here. Nothing happened. Bass. Calm down." He patted her head softly while a couple of tears escaped his eyes too. Seeing a person so close to you suffering is nothing less than your own suffering.

" I don't like your tears. Please stop crying. I'm always here with you. Nothing happened. I won't let anything happen." He said softly and kept wiping off her flowing tears from her cheeks.

" Manik, he..he tried to r..rape me." She said while wailing uncontrollably in his arms and he without any questions, gathered her while caressing her hair softly.

" Bass. Chup. Shh Nandini." He said softly while trying to calm his blazing fury down because he thought that he was the one at fault. He couldn't keep her safe. He blamed himself for all that had happened. What else could he do?

" Manik, he..he touched and pulled my hair." She weeped making him look at her immediately. He softly kissed her hair strands while she kept crying her heart out.

" Shh. Bass bass." He said as he took her in a side hug while she was still shivering and hiccuping due to fear. She was in pain, but he could feel it too. She was crying, but his heart cried too.

That's the thing about pain, it demands to be felt.

" Make sure that this man is not spared of any torture." Manik said with his raging voice as the police reached them as soon as possible. He slowly moved forward towards the man and clutched his hands tightly making a cracking sound which was a clear indication of the bones being displaced making the man yelp more in pain.

" Aankh utha ke bhi dekha, toh jaan lelunga teri. Inspector, take him away. Make sure ki humara naam naa aaye." Manik said angrily as he turned his face away and picked up a fragile Nandini in his arms carefully and moved towards the car after asking the driver to drive as the police constables left with the criminal.

The journey was a silent one. The silence which was scary and disturbing. He could still feel her sobbing silently. She had a scar which he know only he could fill. He kept on caressing her hair, trying to calm her down but nothing worked. He had already asked the driver to take them to Malhotra Mansion as he knew that leaving her alone at this time would not be the right thing to do and also that his parents had gone to Chandigarh for a seminar for three days and he would be alone, so that he can take care of her properly. They reached as the guards opened the huge iron gates to let the car in.

He picked her up and saw her eyes closed and assumed that she had finally slept off and moved inside and took her to his room.
He slowly placed her on the bed and covered her with the duvet.

" Nandini." He softly said as he patted her cheeks to which she didn't respond, even after a couple of tries.

" Meera, change her clothes. I'm calling the doctor, she has fainted." He asked the maid servant with panic clearly prominent in his voice as he moved out of the room.

" Mrs. Verma? Can you please come to my place right now. It's an emergency!" He said as he called the doctor to which she readily agreed.

" Doctor, is she fine? She..she just fainted." He said worriedly as the doctor checked her.

" She just fainted due to stress. She will be up any moment. Make sure she takes care of herself." The doctor said and went away while Manik sat beside her, brushing her hair. Seeing her in pain wouldn't even be the last thing on earth he would want. In these months he had grown too attached to Nandini. There was nothing in their lives which they didn't share with each other and now was the time to share pain together.

Tears and smiles, two completely opposite things. Some people come into your life out of no where and fix it in the most beautiful way possible and make you smile with your heart but then there comes a time when you're broken and that person will be the only one who will be able to gather your scattered pieces.

She finally flinched her eyes just to find herself in an unfamiliar surrounding, but the feeling was weird. She felt empty.

" Be careful." Manik said as he made her sit properly with support of the bed rest making her look at him with blank expressions.

" How do you feel now?" He asked softly to which she didn't reply and immediately shifted her gaze from him to her lap.

" Don't look down. You haven't done anything wrong, Nandini. I'm here for you. Humesha hoon. I will never let anything harm you. Ever. I promise. It's okay to cry. It's okay to breakdown. Please let all out." He said pleadingly as he cupped her face while wiping her tears with his thumb and that was it for her, within an instant without thinking of anything else, she crashed into his chest and burst out crying like a baby.

" Why me,Manik?, meine kuch nahi kiya. Please believe me. Vo pata nahi kahan se aaya, I even tried to run. S-Sab meri galti hai. It's all because of me." She cried uncontrollably after blaming herself.

" Nandini, I believe you more than anyone else okay? And you are not at fault. Tumhari galti nahi hai. Please don't blame yourself. Don't be so harsh on yourself." He said while silent tears kept flowing from her eyes over his chest.

" Bass. Ab no more crying. You know, I'm missing my wild cat so much. Bohot shaanti hogayi hai." He said playfully to lighten the atmosphere to which she gave a slight smile.

" Here. Drink this." He said as he handed over her a glass of turmeric milk which she drank without any hassles, surprisingly which made Manik worry even more. She was a person who hated having something like this.

" Time to sleep." He said as he tucked her in the bed and got up to leave when she caught hold of his wrist.

" Matt jao, please." She said in a low voice making him lie down beside her. He pulled her carefully in her arms and kept pecking her hair innumerable times and soon she was fast asleep.

" I'm so sorry Nandini." He said in a low voice and kissed her forehead to which she snuggled more into him making Manik close his eyes with a small smile.

Both of them were finally asleep but their minds were still working over time. No matter how strong you pretend to be, there will be a time when you'll break and all you'll need at that time is someone to hold your pieces tight and not let go.

It was almost 2 AM when Nandini woke up screaming and sweating because of a nightmare making Manik wide awake too.

" Hey hey. It was just a nightmare. Nothing is wrong. I'm here, I'm here." He kept saying this while she kept shivering in his arms.

" M-Manik, he will come again." She mumbled in horror.

" Koi nahi aayega. Mein hoon tumhare paas. You're safe with me. Kuch nahi hone dunga mein tumhe." He said affectionately and kissed her forehead lightly making her relax a little.

" Please make me sleep." She said slowly to which he just smiled.

Dhundhla jaayein jo manzilein
Ik pal ko tu nazar jhuka
Jhuk jaaye sar jahan wahin
Milta hai rab ka raasta
Teri kismat tu badal de
Rakh himmat bas chal de
Tere saathi mere kadmon ke hain nishaan
Tu na jaane aas pass hai khuda

He sung slowly telling her to be strong and keep moving, no matter what.

Khud pe daal tu nazar, Haalaton se haar kar
Kahaan chala re
Haath ki lakeer ko, Modta marodta,
Hai hausla re
Toh khud tere khwabon ke rang mein
Tu apne jahan ko bhi rang de
Ke chalta hoon main tere sang mein
Ho shaam bhi toh kya
Jab hoga andhera
Tab paayega dar mera
Uss dar pe phir hogi teri subah
Tu na jaane aas pass hai khuda

He sung telling her that no matter what happens, he will always be there for her. While coloring your dreams, color your world too.

Mitt jaate hain sabke nishaan
Bas ek woh mitt ta nahin haye
Maan le jo har mushkil ko marzi meri haye
Ho humsafar na tera jab koi
Tu ho jahan rahunga main wahi
Tujhse kabhi na ik pal bhi main judaa
Tu na jaane aas pass hai khuda,
Tu na jaane aas pass hai khuda.

He ended the song asking her to have faith in herself and God, and everything will be alright and she was sound asleep.

He softly brushed her forehead with his thumb to erase the tiny frown lines and kissed it softly.
He picked up his phone from the side table with his other hand as his one arm was entirely cocooning Nandini with him, to call someone -

" Rohan, I want you to stay with Nandini at all times, no matter what happens. Make sure that she doesn't get to know about it. You are my trusted bodyguard which is why I'm asking you to do this. Am I clear?" He said in a stern voice

" Yes sir. Your work will be done. Don't worry, I will not disappoint you." Rohan said from the other side and Manik disconnected the call.

" I won't ever let anything happen to you. I promise." He said softly as he kissed her forehead gently and pulled her closer to him and slipped into slumber.

Yeh jo gehre sannate hain,
Waqt ne sabko hi baante hain.
Thoda ghum hai sabka qissa
Thodi dhoop hai sabka hissa.

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Thanks for reading! 😘