Annika's whole body was numb, she could not decide what to do. Her mind was in chaos, was it possible that she was brain dead at that moment? He was drowning, in the water, because of her. She had moved forward to look down from the ship but her heart stopped beating for some seconds, she could feel her vision clouding. Shivaay could not be spotted in the dark blue waves of the ocean. 

Where was he? Annika had shouted his name for the fifth time, tears welling in her eyes. It was because of her, she was responsible for all of this. If she wouldn't have come here, outside to take in some fresh air, he wouldn't have fallen off the ship. 

Annika's first instinct was to call her brothers when she found no sight of him anywhere. Ayaan who was busy arguing with Rudra stopped when he saw Annika coming to him while panting. "Hey, hey, hey. Relax. What's the matter?" 

"He- he, Shivaay, he fell off the ship" Annika's low voice was heard by Rudra and he had run out of the room at the speed of light. Annika blankly stared at the floor beneath her. Ayaan rushed out of the room too, to find Aryan to help him find Shivaay. 

Annika took deep breaths in, wasn't she the one to wish in her head that he deserves worst of worst? Maybe it was coming true, whatever she had been wishing for was happening. If Rhea hadn't been passing through her room, she would have missed that Annika was still in her room. 

"Hey, Annika, are you alright?" Rhea's concerned voice made Annika quickly wipe her overflowing tears. How could she just stand there and let him drown? He deserves the worst, yes, but not death. No one does. 

"Listen to me Annika. It is going to be okay, he is going to be okay. It's not your fault. Stop blaming yourself for all of this. I am sure you never wanted this to happen. Alright, relax. We will find him. Now, let's go" Rhea knew for a fact that it wasn't the best time to give her a big comforting speech about her not being at fault. 

Annika was dragged by Rhea out of the room and outside. The cold breeze hitting her face and this time she felt cold, it wasn't calming anymore. The atmosphere was filled with immense tension. That is when Annika's gaze fell onto the person lying on the deck of the ship, Aryan, Ayaan, Rudra and Omkara surrounding him. Was he dead? 

Annika panicked, her palms profusely sweating, her face paling each passing second. No, he can't die, not when she hadn't even talked to him properly, he can't just leave her like this. Rhea saw Annika making her way towards them in fast motion. 

Gauri who had just now come out of her room, saw Annika making her way to the group where she saw Shivaay lying? Her eyes widened, she knew it was a bad time to take a shower. "What happened to him?"

"He fell off the ship" Gauri's mouth hung low, he fell off the ship? What? How? Rhea and Gauri both made her way towards them.  Spotting Annika, Gauri went to stand beside her. She gazed at his face, it was lifeless, she needed to see if he was breathing, she needed to know if his heart was still beating, she needed to know if he would still call her sweetheart.

No, she wasn't supposed to cry, that man did not deserve her tears but right now, it seemed impossible to not cry. "Is he alright Bhaiya?" Annika's shaky voice was heard by everyone. They were all waiting for him to wake up, his breathing was faint as Aryan had checked, they had removed the water from his body though but he still wasn't awake. 

Annika was more than scared to see them all dead silent, Gauri caught her in her arms, rubbing her skin. "Hey, dumbo, wake up" Annika hadn't realized those words left her mouth until and unless everyone was staring at her. But soon their attention was back to Shivaay who had now started to move, coughing more water out.

Aryan and Ayaan both had jumped into the water to save him, it took them three minutes and forty seven seconds to find him. All they knew was, Shivaay knew swimming, they had grown up together after all, everything they did was together so why did he drown? Annika sighed out in relief, she was glad that he was doing alright, she couldn't push for anything more. 

Rudra hugged Shivaay, sitting down next to him, confusing Shivaay. Rudra had started sniffling, he was so agitated that his brother would never come back. Even though, he visited them only once a year, he was his brother, he had spent his childhood and teenage years with him, his brother meant everything to him. Rudra would never ever want to see his brother again this way. 

Shivaay patted Rudra's head, assuring him that he was alright. Omkara stared down at Shivaay with concern. "How did you fall off the ship?" Omkara asked, he cared for Shivaay, there was no doubt in it. 

"I slipped, the floor was already slippery. I am fine now" Shivaay did not even mutter a single thing about Annika being there and most importantly he did not mention that he saved her. 

"It was because of me, he saved me. If he wasn't there, I would have certainly drowned" All the heads turned towards Annika, her eyes anywhere but at them. She could feel his intense gaze on her, it was burning her skin, igniting the feelings that were buried deep down. She gulped down, stealing a glance at him.

Annika sighed, now that he was alright, she took some steps back, keeping her eyes fixed on her shoes. Aryan watched Shivaay from the corner of his eye, he couldn't understand one thing, why after everything he had to come back? To break her heart furthermore? No matter what, he was going to protect her from him and everything.

Seeing Shivaay cough more loudly, Annika looked at him, her heart was breaking further. She hated to see him this way. So she turned around and ran inside ignoring all the eyes of the strangers that had been watching the scene unfold.

ミ★

The next day, Annika had spent half of her day being inside the room, a random book in her hand, avoiding everyone. Until she heard Rhea and Aryan talking right outside her room. Something along the lines "Just talk to her, ask if she is alright" But Annika ignored it, trying not to eavesdrop on their conversation.

She waited for one of them to come inside but no one did. She sighed out. The calm blue waves were being watched by Annika, her mind drifting to thoughts about him, the particular incident that took place at night. When he had caught her, his hands around her waist, she swore that she felt electric current being passed through her body. 

She hated to admit it but his touch was addicting, she wanted more and it was not a good thing. Annika had once tasted how it felt to be in love with him but he had crushed her heart into pieces. Now, she wanted to stay away from him as much as possible. She did not wanted to see the history repeating.

"Mind talking to me for some minutes?" It was Ayaan's voice and she immediately recognized it. 

"Yes, Bhaiya" 

"Can you tell me what happened yesterday exactly, if you want to. I am not forcing you"

"After I left you and Rudra to get some fresh air, I was standing between the two railing. I was about to slip and he caught me but then, he slipped off the ship. It was all my fault if it weren't for me, he wouldn't have drowned" Ayaan sighed, no way he was letting his sister take all the blame but then, he couldn't even say that it was not because of her. 

"Hey, listen to me. Now, it's alright. Don't stress it. It's all in the past now, Shivaay is alright and so are you" Annuka nodded her head, maybe she did need to stop overthinking and just enjoy this short trip. But how was she supposed to when her ex was practically always in her five meter radius. 

"Alright then, I will go. If you feel like coming out, you will find us on the first floor, if not, give us a call" With that Ayaan left. 

It was difficult for her to even ignore Shivaay. Those long dead feelings for him felt like they were surfacing slowly up and she was scared that today or tomorrow, she might end up forgiving him. Shivaay deserved anything but her forgiveness. Annika got up, throwing the sheets away and keeping the book onto the side table. 

Gauri was once more not to be seen and Annika's suspicion about her and Omkara being together was looking like a possibility. 

Annika looked at herself in the mirror, she slept for a very little time yesterday and with the thoughts of him swirling in her head, sleep felt very far away. Her hair was thankfully  not a mess, she looked more collected today, yesterday, she was just miserable. 

With her head held high, she opened the door, she wanted to face the world and show that she was strong but her eyes and legs stopped when she spotted him leaning against the wall opposite to her. What did he want now? 

ミ★

Whoop, this was hard to write and I feel like I have written crap. Thankyou for sticking to this story though. Thoughts please (: