•Vikram•

"Vikram, Vikram, Vikram! Do you even have any self respect?" I was annoyed with myself, standing in front of a white wall.

The white wall which practically is a part of Suhana's house.

Contemplating whether to climb the balcony or not, I stood there confused if I should just swallow my self respect, and meet her for once even though I was literally thrown under the bus by Suhana a few hours ago.

"I'll just climb to the balcony, have a peek, make sure she's okay and then I'll go back home" I convinced myself.

"At Least by that way, I can rest in ease," I concluded.

Ugh. This is killing me.

"Gosh I shouldn't have sent her in that fricking taxi! Ugh we should've talked the issue out and must have sorted it out" I covered my face with uneasiness as I stomped my foot on the ground.

Can't believe we had a huge argument because of that big nostrilled donkey, Vivaan.

"Does she also feel uncomfortable and uneasy after our fight, just as I do?" I wondered for a split second as reality gushed in.

Huh doubt that, she's probably happy that she got to choose her long time crush's wellbeing against what I had wanted, I murmured in dismay.

But I have no idea why I'm the one feeling uneasy here. Feels like something's not right. Something that's not fine with Suhana.

Or maybe it's just my intuition having fun with my emotions which has been a roller coaster ride since the past few hours.

First being upset with the way she defended Vivaan and the very next second feeling bad for sending her off in some random taxi and then...wanting to meet her as soon as possible then never wanting to meet her again until she apologizes to me, but then... Here I am standing in front of her house.

And before I even came to a conclusion, I was standing on her balcony, ready to sneak into her room.

It was pitch dark inside as I entered, just when I was heading towards the switch board, the lights turned on, throwing me off guard with young ladies' screams filling the entire room.

"Calm down sheesh" I placed a finger on my lips, actioning them, as they closed their mouths from further unwanted screams.

"What are you doing here?" Ankita whispered, staring at me.

What? Am I not allowed to be here?

"To...meet my wife?" I said out aloud, confused as Ankita and Aisha's shared shocked expressions.

"Ohhh wife..." Ankita dragged her words, making fun of me.

"What are you both doing here?" 

"Uhm...to meet your wife?" Ankita gave a smug look.

We all sat down and spent the next 15 minutes bantering to show off whose relationship with Suhana is superior. 

Of course I won.

"So...is Suhana downstairs?" I finally asked it out after chewing down the words inside me for the past 15 mins.

"No, she's not! I thought she would jump from the balcony into the room, just like you did" Aisha finally spoke up after being silent the entire time.

"What?! Then you both don't know where she is at this hour?" My voice came out louder than I expected as they both stood up as well along with me.

"No, she asked us to come for a girl's night stay...but Megha said she left home a few hours ago to meet someone. We just thought it was you" Ankita started to sound tense now as well.

Where did you go, Suha?

I immediately traced my pant's pocket and shirt pocket trying to find my phone as I realized that I had left it back in the office.

Aisha and Ankita spent the next 10 minutes trying to call Suhana, as she never picked it up, even once.

"We'll check with her school friends and some of our college friends as well...I'm sure we'll find her" Ankita said confidently as they were about to head out.

"Vikram..." Aisha moved towards me, "I'm sure she's safe. Even if Suha is in danger, she'll always find a way out of it! She has that power and magic in her" Aisha probably decided to console me by saying that, after witnessing the fear on my face.

As they headed out I nodded to myself, I decided to head out through the balcony when the landline in Suhana's room started ringing.

She has a phone here?

Confused, I moved to the table and stared at the landline as a familiar number flashed on its display.

That number....it's my landline number.

Rohit? Mom? Dad? Who would even call Suhana at this hour.

Mentally scrambling my head with confusion, I picked up the call.

"Hello?" The other side remained silent as I waited for them to continue.

But all I ever heard in return was weeping. Someone was crying on the other side.

My confusion came to an end on who it was, the second I heard her breathe in between her cries.

"Suhana?" I could hear her cry even louder this time.

What is she doing there?

"Suhana? Hello? Suha? Talk to me! What's wrong?" I panicked as every second her cries grew louder with no reply to my worried questions

Why is she calling from my landline? 

Where did her phone go?

"Vikram" In between her cries and sniffles, I could finally hear her voice.

She's scared. She's terrified.

"Suhana! What's wrong? Tell me?"

"Where did...you...even go?" She started crying very badly, with her wails clenching my heart by every passing millisecond. 

"Suha, you're there? In my house right? Calm down! I'll be there soon, don't worry"

"Vikram..I...want to see you...Please come home soon" She managed to say her sentence in between her cries.

"Stay there! Just stay in our room, I'll rush there immediately " I assured as I slammed the phone back into its place and ran down through the balcony.

She's scared. She's crying. She's terrified of something. 

But what? 

•••

I rushed upstairs taking 4 steps at a time, with my heart beating against my ribs, thinking of all possible situations.

Clearing of all my thoughts, I barged into my room only to not find her inside.

"Suhana" I yelled, as there was no reply.

I'll check downstairs, I told myself as I rushed down.

But no. She wasn't anywhere downstairs. 

My mind was wandering everywhere thinking of every single possibility of what might have happened and where she might have gone constantly, making me lose my mind.

Where did she go? Did she head out?

Out? Is she outside?

Outside? Garden? 

Holding on to my heart for the wee bit of hope, I walked outside and headed towards the garden, on the backside of our house.

I hadn't noticed when, but it was pouring heavily with severe thunderstorms and lightning, as I was getting drenched.

She probably won't be here. Right? Not in this weather.

I tried to assure myself, as my eyes landed on a petite creature seated on a distant garden bench.

"Suhana?" My voice came out warily as she was curled up on top of the bench with both her legs against her chest, her head buried against her knees.

Is this something about the fight we had today morning?

But looking at how vulnerable she was right now, it was quite evident that it wasn't it.

I could feel the knot in my stomach as I took every step towards her carefully. 

"Suhana?" I raised my voice against the loud downpour and thunderstorms as she lifted her head immediately. 

She immediately got off the chair as we both were standing 10 feet apart.

I was contemplating whether to take a step forward and ask her what was wrong.

But I stayed back not wanting to push her off the cliff and make her uncomfortable as I always do.

She has never told it out before, but her nervousness always conveyed it out aloud.

She always feels uncomfortable around me.

I stayed rooted to the ground away from her, trying to control every atom in my body which wanted to pull her into a tight embrace.

"Suha?" My words failed to come off my mouth anymore on witnessing the sight in front of me.

I could hear her cries more clearly against my ears despite the heavy thunderstorms. 

She was almost about to lose her balance as she ran towards me and pulled me into an embrace I was craving for.

But now I am losing my mind.

Her hands were tightly around my neck, as she dug her face against my chest with force.

Confused and worried, I put my hands around her, stroking her back. I could feel her rapid heartbeat against mine. 

We both remained just like that as I took a few minutes to calm myself down, mentally preparing myself for anything she's upto to say to me.

Anything. Even if she wants to see my dead body. 

I'm ready to do anything she asks. Anything that would make her stop crying and be heartbroken like this. 

But one thing is for sure, no matter what she's about to say, I'm going to stand by her and pour all the support I can provide for her.

Calming myself down, I pulled her away from me, as her eyes finally met mine, as her lips started quivering. 

I held her right arm straight, she hissed loudly, shrieking in pain.

"Vikram.." Suhana clutched my shirt tightly, hesitating to utter another word.

And that look on her face.

It was enough for me to decipher her actions.

"Vikram....He...he.." Her cries made the situation more palpable, as she hugged me again, digging her face against me not wanting to face me.

This time, I pulled her away forcefully as I looked into her eyes with rage, as she looked taken aback.

"Who was it, Suha?" Her eyes grew wide as unstoppable tears started pouring out along with the heavy rain.

"Tell me who the hell did this to you" I bent my head down to face her as she no longer looked into my eyes.

"I'm sorry" Suhana kneeled down on the ground as I sat immediately in front of her.

"Suhana, it's not your fault. Please, please for God's sake please tell me everything" Tears poured down both our eyes.

•••

• Author •

Ankita and Aisha had received messages from Vikram long back that he had found Suhana.

Vikram tried his level best to remain calm not wanting Suhana to witness the rage he was controlling within him.

Only if he could break Fahid's skull into two.

Acting calm in front of her. Vikram was rubbing the towel against Suhana's hair.

They had changed from their clothes that were drenched due to the heavy rainfall, into something comfortable.

Eventhough he was physically present here, he was mentally murdering someone somewhere else.

On her sprained right arm, Vikram applied some ointment and wrapped a bandage around it.

He had no choice but to take her to the hospital tomorrow, considering the state she was in.

Seated on top of the dressing table, Suhana was biting her lips constantly to stop herself from crying further. 

She could feel the change in Vikram's emotions. It was quite palpable that he didn't want to show his anger at her for meeting Fahid in the first place.

"I'm sorry" Suhana's voice almost came out as a whisper in their dark and silent bedroom.

Standing in front of her, helping her dry her hair, Vikram stopped with his actions as he looked at her.

"It's not your fault Suhana. You should not feel sorry, that the cheap chameleon Fahid couldn't control his hands. And don't be scared...I am and I will always be here, by your side"

"And...to be honest it's my fault here. I shouldn't have sent you back alone. I...should have respected your decision. If only I had listened to you, you wouldn't have..." Vikram stopped midway as Suhana hugged him with her head against his shoulder.

"It's not and it will never be your fault. It was mine. I should have listened to you. You were ready to even help Aisha. But my stupid mind wasn't ready to..." Suhana muttered, as fresh tears poured down against his shirt.

"That's enough. Well take about this later. For now you need to catch some sleep" Vikram wiped away her tears with his fingers, while moving her almost dry hair away from her face.

Vikram took a step back, leaving space for Suhana to get down from the dressing table.

Suhana's heartbeat was still beating rapidly. For some reason she was still feeling restless. She was feeling weak in her legs and she definitely knew that she would never be able to catch any sleep now.

Reading her mind, Vikram took a step forward, scooped her in his arms and walked towards the bed, and slowly laid her down.

Vikram moved to the other side of the bed and sat on the bed next to Suhana, having his eye on her.

5 minutes passed, 10 minutes passed and soon an hour passed by, as Suhana constantly closed her eyes and opened them wide after a few seconds.

"I have quite a number of sleeping pills, sleep aids and sedatives. Do you want any?" Vikram leaned to her side and slowly stroked her hair.

He could feel the uneasiness that she was feeling and how bad she wanted to throw that memory out of her head.

"Quite a number?" She looked at him confused. 

"You forgot that you have an insomniac husband." He smirked as he was about to get down his bed to grab his medicines, as suhana grabbed his wrist.

"Don't go...just stay here..." Suhana whispered slowly,"stay here, by my side".

Vikram nodded, staring at her tear stricken face. 

Somehow she had stopped weeping midway after he tried to make her understand that she shouldn't feel bad and that assuring that she was brave enough to fight that situation alone and how much he was proud of her.

But still he could feel that something was wrong from the look on her face.

"What's the matter?" Vikram asked, "What is bothering you?" He asked calmly, tugging her hair behind her ear.

"Nothing"

"I can see right through your eyes my little tigress." Vikram whispered against her ears.

"What's with the nickname?" Suhana looked at him flabbergasted.

"Oh lets omit the little, just a mighty tigress?" Vikram announced as Suhana's mouth was still hanging down, as Vikram chuckled.

"Come on you were brave enough to fight the nasty monster which was covered in its own poop and also probably eats his own snot" Suhana chuckled on hearing Vikram's description of Fahid.

"Finally, Took you long enough to smile at me" Vikram mocked as Suhana's smile slowly faded away, her mind wandering a few hours back.

"Spill it out, what is it?" Vikram asked again.

"Vikram...you won't grow to dislike me right?"

"Why would I dislike you?" Vikram sat up straight on the bed, staring at her.

"Suhana, get this into your head. Everything that happened today...it's not your fault. Just leave the matter to me. I'm here, so just trust me."

"And for the record, I would never ever grow to loathe or detest you under any circumstances. That's how much control you have over me"

"But I can't stop"

"You can't stop what" Vikram asked out loud, as Suhana covered her face with her hands.

"I know it's not my fault. But everytime I try to close my eyes. That disgusting memory keeps lingering in my mind. I can still feel him touching me and I can't --"Suhana clutched the bed sheets as her way of letting out of her frustration and deep anger.

Determined and Rigid, Vikram removed her hands from her face as he lifted her face with his index finger, making her look into his eyes.

"Think of me." 

Suhana looked at him, bewildered. 

"Don't let him rule your mind.
Everytime that nasty animal and his nasty memory pops up in your head...just think of me. Think of us. Our happy moments. Our stupid fights. Our bantering. Think only about me and you" He wiped away her tears as he bent in and kissed her gently on her forehead. 

"Now catch some sleep. I'll meet you there in your dreams" He intertwined his hands with Suhana assuring he is by her side, as she closed her eyes.

After assuring that Suhana was asleep for an hour already, Vikram removed his hand from hers and slowly slipped away from the bed.

With a determined look on his face, he headed out of his room, knowing exactly what he had to do next.

•••

Well this chapter was written under lots of difficulties. I found so little time to write this chapter, that's the reason for the delay. So please show your love by voting and commenting.

Well, I usually don't do this, but here's a spoiler for next chapter.

"You and me we both know that this fake marriage thing that were doing stops the minute Rohit and Megha gets married."

"And now...Rohit and Megha's marriage is fixed. It's in 2 months"

Have a good day♡