*Aslesha*

Have you heard the saying pairo ke neeche se zameen sarak jaana? I had heard it too. Today I experienced it.

As soon as I heard what Dr. Chawla said it's like the whole world shattered below my feet.

My papa started panicking and the doctor was speaking to him about something but I couldn't hear them. All I could think of, all I could hear was 'Aslesha tumhe brain tumor hai'

Brain tumor.

"Aslesha.. Aslesha!" the doctor shook me and I realised that now she was standing beside me.

I looked up at her as dread filled my chest and my eyes filled with tears.

"Darling listen to me first" she said rubbing my back.

I closed my eyes trying to calm down my nerves and looked at her again.

"Mr. Mathur aap bhi please ek baar puri baat sunn lijiye" she says and goes back to sit in her chair.

"Brain tumor do type ke hote hai. Benign tumor and cancerous tumor. Tumhe benign tumor hua hai. Aur vo completely curable hai. Jald hi aap MRI aur thode tests kar lijiye so that tumor ka exact location pata chale. Uske baad surgery kar ke vo pura tumor nikala ja sakta hai. The survival rate is 70%. And you're a strong girl right? I know you'll fight it. It's gonna be okay" she says.

But that doesn't help to calm down my nerves.

"Why me?" I whisper as my eyes fill with tears again.

"There are no specific reasons darling. It can be genetic. Did anyone in your family have brain tumor?" She asks.

"Mumma" I say as the first tear escapes my eye.

Papa places his hand on his forehead and rubs vigorously, blinking back tears.

"Toh ab kya kare?" he asks.

"MRI nikaalna padega aur fir kuch imaging tests. I'll write it down for you. Ye hafte sab kuch kar lijiye so that jald se jald surgery kar sake hum" she says handing a paper to papa.

Surgery..

We get up to leave and I numbly walk beside papa and get in our car.

"Aashu?" He says shaking my shoulder and I blink and look at me.

He runs his hand through my hair and takes my hand in his. "I won't let anything happen to you. Sab kuch thik ho jaayega. I've lost my wife to this but not you. Tum bilkul tension mat lo. Tumhare papa jab tak hai iss duniya me, vo tumhe kuch nahi hone denge. Understood?" He says and my tears start running down my face in full flow.

"Papa mujhe darr lag raha hai" I say sobbing loudly as he wipes my tears.

"Shh.." he says rubbing my back and finally after a few minutes my heaving chest calms down and he lets me go.

When we reach home I feel tired and my head starts paining again. I somehow eat a little food and then take the medicines and go lay down on my bed.

My phone starts ringing and I squint my eyes to look at the caller.

Dummy.

My eyes fill with tears again as a lump forms in my throat.

I clear my throat and take a long breath. "Hello" I say wiping my eyes.

"Tum pagal ho kya?" He asks angrily and I frown.

"Kya?"

"Mai tumhe pachaas call lagaya rahunga. Ho kaha tum?" He snaps.

I look at my cell phone and see that there are 7 missed calls.

Pachaas call? Drama queen kahi ka.

"Sorry vo.. mai papa ke saath.. dinner pe gayi thi" I say and he sighs.

"Bol deti na Aslesha tum. I was mad worried here" he says and those words are enough to push me on the edge as a sob escapes my mouth and I quickly cover my mouth to hold it.

"I'm sorry" I whisper.

"I miss you so much. Bass ab raha nahi ja raha. Kal finally milunga tumse. I'm gonna smother you with kisses and lick your dimple and bite you and eat you" he says cheekily and I can't help but laugh through my tears.

"Tum bilkul pagal ho" I say.

"Tumne kar diya hai" he replies instantly and I take in a long breath and there are a few seconds of silence. Just our breathing. I can't believe he actually said that.

"Viraj?" I whisper.

"Ha Aslesha" he says.

I want to tell him so bad. That I love him. About the brain tumor. I want him to come back to me right now. So that he hugs me tightly and says that it's gonna be okay. I know if I tell him, he would come back right away without a second thought.

"Aslesha?"

"Kuch nahi. Bass yuhi" I say.

He chuckles. "Ye kya Rahul Jaykar wale dialogues" he says.

"Tum aashiqui movie dekhe ho?" I ask teasingly and he scoffs.

"Vo ek baar maa dekh rahi thi toh mujhe pata hai" he says.

"Rehne do rehne do. Hamesha aunty par blame daalte ho. I know you are a hopeless romantic" I say smiling and yawn.

"Neend aa gyi ha mujhse baat karte hi" he says.

"Tum ho hi itne boring" I say and he laughs.

"Iska jawaab na mai tumhe kal aa ke dunga. Hamesha ki tarah" he says and I gulp as goosebumps form on my skin.

Kal Viraj se milungi. Kya karna chahiye mujhe?

"Ok ab so jaao. Kal milte hai paglu" he says.

"Ha. Nighty night" I say falling back on the bed.

"Good night" he says and hangs up. The sound of the beep comes and I press the phone closer to my ear.

"I love you" I whisper and go to sleep.

~•~•~•~•~•~•

*Viraj*

To say that I've missed Aslesha a lot is an understatement. Aaj kal itna dur rehna padd raha hai usse. Ab ye normal routine hone wali hai but I wish vo hamesha mere saath rehti. I've been selected as the captain for the under 19 team. And I can't wait to tell her. She'll be so freaking happy. She's the first person I'm gonna tell.

It's almost 6:30pm when I reach Goa's airport and I know she'll be in the library at this time.

I strictly told everyone not to come to receive me at the airport. Faaltu me sab ko taklif.

I text Aslesha.

*Where are you?*

*College. Tum wapas aa gaye?* She replies instantly.

*Yep. Ruko mai aata hu college. Saath me jaate hai ghar* I text her and get in the cab.

*Ok. See you xx* she replies and I smile.

One hour later I reach college and literally run to the library. I'm becoming to bloody sappy.

Aslesha ka paaltu kutta!

I reach the library and see Saumya leaving.

"Hey tum kab aaye?" She asks.

"Bass abhi. Aslesha nikal gayi kya?" I ask her.

"Nahi vo last aisle me hai. Chalo mai nikal rahi hu. Kal college me milte hai. Tum mil lo tumhare girlfriend se" she says and winks playfully.

I laugh and give her a side hug and walk towards the last aisle to see Aslesha leaning sideways on a wall. I can't see her face but I'm damn sure that she is completely engrossed in whatever she is reading.

What is it with her and books? Kitna padhti hai.

I decide to scare her like always but nahi. Instead I slowly walk behind her and put my hands around her waist as her body stiffens and she quickly raises the book to hit me.

"Arre mai hu" I say chuckling when she looks at me and sighs.

"Tum kabhi normally hi hello nahi bol sakte? Bass hamesha daraana hai" she says hitting my arm.

"Tum darpok ho. Mai darata nahi" I say and she turns away to keep the book aside.

I read the title - Me before you.

Mujhe hopeless romantic bolti hai. Khud dekho.

I again wrap my hands around her from behind and kiss her neck as I inhale her scent.

Jesus! Every time I take in her scent it's like I get a shot of a drug. The most addictive drug in the whole damn world. My very favourite drug.

"Koi dekh lega Viraj. Ye library hai" she scolds me weakly but leans her neck sideways to give me better access to her neck.

I smile. I love it that I have such an effect on her. But she has the same effect on me as well. This girl drives me crazy.

I turn her around to face me and take a nice long look at her. Her big brown eyes, so intense and beautiful. Her long lashes casting shadow on her smooth skin. My hand instantly goes up to caress her cheeks. I touch her hair which are now almost down to her waist. And then my fingers automatically go to her lips. Soft, plump and so bloody kissable.

I don't waste anytime further and pull her face towards mine as I kiss her hungrily. I kiss her eyes, nose, cheeks, forehead, every inch of her face as her breathing gets heavy.

She grabs my face and pulls my lips to hers and kisses me with so much passion and need, I see stars.

My hands go down to her backside as I put my hands in her back pockets and pull her further into me as I give her a squeeze.

She moans into my mouth and I bite her lip before stroking her tongue with mine.

I don't know for how long we kiss but when she pulls away she stumbles back and leans on the wall for support.

Then she looks at me with her hair messed up, her lips a shade darker and more plump due to our kiss. Her eyes filled with need and something else which I can't comprehend. She looks at me with wonder. Like I'm some artwork and I feel so fucking special and that look alone drives me insane.

Nobody has ever looked at me like that. With so much... Love?

I push that thought away quickly. Vo Aslesha hai. She can't love a worthless person like me. She deserves the world and the best. And I'm certainly not the best.

"Viraj mujhe tumse kuch kehna hai" she says and comes forward.

"Mujhe bhi" I say.

That's the moment when my idiotic stomach decides to make the hungry gud-gud sound and she clearly hears it because it's so silent here.

Mera pet bhi mujhe embarass karta hai iske saamne. Maa kam thi kya?

"Tumne kuch khaya nahi ab tak?" She asks and I shake my head.

"Chalo khate hai fir kuch" she says taking my hand in hers and leading me out.

"Tum kuch bol rahi thi na" I ask.

"Baad me" she says as an odd look passes her face.

What is it?

"Aree ek baat toh bhul gaya" I say and lick her dimple. She laughs and pushes me away. I'm fucking obsessed with her dimple.

Itna deep dimple ke usme se mai coffee pee saku!

We soon reach down and I decide to ride her scooter as she sits behind me.

"Desi Chinese?" I ask her and she happily nods.

"Good" I say and start the engine as we leave.

~•~•~•~•~•~•

Our food arrives and I thank Fareed chacha. "Tumhe kya kehna tha" she asks and I smile excitedly.

No use beating around the bush so I directly say it. "Mai India ke under 19 team ka captain bann gaya" I say and she looks shocked for a moment but then her face lights up as she smiles.

"Viraj oh my god" she leans ahead and pecks my lips and places her hand on the side of my face as she looks at me proudly. Adoringly.

"I am so proud of you" she says and I feel so good to hear her say it.

"Thank you so much. Chalo ab khana shuru karo. Waise mai kisi ko bataya nahi hu. The first person I'm telling is you. Vo tumne di hui keychain toh bahot lucky hai mere liye" I say.

"Tum kab se luck me believe karne lage?" She asks raising her eyebrows.

"Tum sahi me mere liye lucky ho. Jab se tum meri girlfriend bani ho mere saath sab achha ho raha hai. Mere life ka one and only dream pura hone ja raha hai. Mai toh bass India ke liye khelna chahta tha but mai toh captain bhi bann gaya. This is my golden chance. Agar ye series achhe se perform ki na maine Aslesha, toh bass fir aage ka koi tension nahi hai. Mai bass maa ko khush dekhna chahta hu. Vo bahot kuch face ki hai. I wanna make her so so proud. Ye chance mai bilkul miss nahi kar sakta" I say excitedly and then scratch my neck in embarrassment.

Kitna bolta hu mai. Shit.

Aslesha looks a little upset and I frown. "Kya hua? Are you not happy?" I ask her.

"Nahi nahi" she smiles quickly. "I am really very happy for you".

"Kab hai world cup?" She asks.

"Ek mahine me. Ek hafte me mujhe wapas jaana hoga Mumbai" I say and pause as her face falls.

"I'm sorry. Mai yaha tumhe time hi nahi de paata. But it's my dream Aslesha. It's my life's purpose. Tum samajh sakti ho na?" I ask her and after a few moments of pause, she nods.

"Of course mai samajh sakti hu. I just want you to be happy" she says placing her hand on mine and gives me a weak smile.

Bina dimple wali smile...

"Vo tum jo keh rahe the.. one and only chance.. um matlab? Like samjho agar tumne miss kiya ye time toh aage chances nahi milenge?" She asks.

"Nahi na. Yahi problem hai cricket ki. Cricket in India is a religion. Kitne log ki dream hoti hai ye. And I'm getting this once in a lifetime chance. Ye chance gaya toh cricket ka career gaya. Kam log nahi hai jo ruke pade hai meri jagah lene ke liye. Bass abhi nahi toh kabhi nahi" I say and she nods and looks down at her plate.

"Kyu pucha tumne Aisa?" I ask her and she shakes her head.

"Aise hi" she says and continues to eat her food.

"Tumhe kya batana tha bolo na" I ask her again.

Why does she look so upset?

"Vo mai.. vo.. college ki nayi assignment thi jo maine tumhare hisse ki bhi kar ke submit kar di hai" she says and I take her hand in mine and kiss it.

"You are the best. Koi jarurat nahi thi karne ki. But ab kar di hai toh bahot bahot thank you. You're the best girlfriend and best partner" I say and kiss her hand again.

By the time we leave it's really dark. We drive through the empty road and it's really quite. Suddenly her scooter comes to a complete halt in the middle of the empty road. Petrol toh full hai.

"Kya hua?" Aslesha asks getting down and I get down with her.

"Pata nahi" I say.

"Baby doll what's wrong. You never do this" she says patting the seat and I laugh.

"Shut up" she scolds me and I press my lips together to suppress my laughter.

Suddenly a car moves past us in full speed and comes to a complete stop as  four guys come out.

They stumble towards us and eye Aslesha as her body stiffens and she moves a little closer to me.

They are clearly drunk. Sab ke sab tapori.

Fucking hell!

"Bhai kaha se uthaya re aisi maal ko itni raat ko? Hume bhi bata zara" one of the guy who looks uglier than Skakti Kapoor says and I clench my fists together as I go ahead to punch the shit out of this asshole.

"Viraj nahi.. chalte hai chalo" Aslesha says walking towards the scooter but another guy, jiske dono mote eyebrows chipke hue hai, goes ahead and kicks it. The scooter falls and I hear Aslesha gasp behind me.

Saale ne galat insaan se panga le liya. Anger fumes inside me.

I straight away give him a slap which echoes through the silence.

There's a moment of silence as all the guys come ahead to hit me but I push them away. One of them, mota genda, goes towards Aslesha and starts pulling her towards their car and the other two hold me from either side.

"Jyada shaana bann raha hai. Lag toh raha hai jaise saathvi me padhta hai aur muh uthaa ke hum jaise logo se panga le raha hai" he says punching me.

Fuck fuck fuck.

That hurt!

These guys are clearly in their mid twenties aur hum dono 18 saal ke.

"Viraj" Aslesha screams trying to push away motu. I look at her and see that she's started crying.

Iski maa ka..

I push both the bastards holding me, unibrow and patlu, with full force and run towards her as I pull her away from that hippopotamus.

I grab his collar and before he has a chance to think, start throwing continuous punches on his face until his nose starts bleeding.

The other guys try to pull me away but I keep on punching him until his body becomes limp and he falls to the floor.

One of the guy punches me in the gut and suddenly my vision turns blur but I blink a couple of times and hit back with double force.

These guys are really strong. Nahi bhaag paayenge hum. I grab unibrow and Shakti Kapoor around the neck as patlu pulls Aslesha by the hair.

"Abeyy saale maachis ki tilli! Himmat hai toh mujhe maar. Ladki ko kya pakad raha hai baayla saala!" I scream at him but he just laughs and starts pulling her again.

I am so screwed. I want to beat the fucking crap out of these bastards and I want to chop off their hands.

Aslesha suddenly bites his arm hard and when he topples over kicks him in the balls.

Once, twice and then thrice.

Ouch ouch ouch.

Way to go my superwoman!

"Yess good good! Aslesha ab bhaago yaha se" I say holding the other two by their necks tightly as they try to hit me and push me away.

Instead that dumb girl starts running towards me.

"Aslesha bhaago! For once in your life listen to me" I shout at her angrily.

"No I'm not going without you" she says.

"TUM BHAAGO PLEASE" I shout at her again and this times she thankfully listens and goes back towards the scooter.

Thank God.

Mujhe kuch hoga toh chalega but usse kuch nahi hona chahiye.

Shakti Kapoor somehow escapes from my clutch and punches me straight on my nose.

Toot gayi meri naak! Itne handsome ladke ka naksha badal diya. I kick him.

Suddenly I hear a loud thud and see to the side as Aslesha stands there with my cricket bat in her hand.

Motu was about to hit me with a broken glass bottle and now he is again on the ground withering in pain.

Ye ab tak yahi hai!

I quickly take the bat from her hand and hide her behind me. "Ek ek sarr pe padegi na.. dimaag bahar nikal jaayega. Aao kisko maar khani hai?" I say swinging the bat towards them as they duck away and slowly start backing out.

"Aslesha police ko phone karo" I say and as soon as she removes her phone from her pocket they all run towards their bike.

I run behind them but Aslesha grabs my hand from behind stopping me.

We stand there for a moment with just the sound of our heavy breathing around us.

What the fuck was this?

Fuck!

My anger builds again and I look at Aslesha behind me.

"Bola tha na bhaagne? Samajh me nahi aata?" I shout at her.

"Are you seriously shouting at me? I saved your ass! Warna ab tak laal peele ho jaate."

"I don't fucking care! Mujhe jo hota vo ho jaata. Tumhe kuch nahi hona chahiye bass" I say grabbing her face and looking all over it to find any injuries. I touch her hands and shoulders to see if she is hurt.

I was so fucking scared.

But to be honest, she seriously saved my ass.

"I'm okay" she says running her fingertips down my face. "You're not" she says touching my skin below my eye which hurts really bad and I am sure an ugly blue bruise is forming there.

I look into her eyes for a moment. I would've seriously given my life to protect her. Without a second thought. She did the same for me.

She leans ahead and gets on her tip toes and kisses my forehead gently. Just a brush of her lips. But I feel it to the very core of my heart.

And in that moment. I know. With all the adrenaline rush and the blood pumping through my entire being, I just know it.

This is it.

"I love you" I whisper. "I love you Aslesha Mathur".

~•~•~•~•~•~•

Oh. My. God.
That's all I'm gonna say. Baaki ka mai aap logo se sunna chahti hu. Zor ka jhatka haaye zoro se laga.. ha laga.. heheh. Please please please iss chapter pe mujhe aapke comments chahiye. Ily :)