In a restaurant in the afternoon, Lakshya and Moksha sat across a small table in a private corner.

They were waiting for their order.

"I really don't feel like talking about this..." Moksha said.

Lakshya gave her an apologetic smile. "I wish we didn't have to."

Moksha hummed and asked, "How are things at home?"

"I told you I saw a girl, didn't I? If it's a no from her, I said they can't force me anymore."

After a moment, he confessed, "But I don't think they'll stop. My granddad's health is weakening. He says he does not want to bother his daughters. He does not speak to my dad either." When he spoke to his parents we lied to himself that he was safe. Extreme optimism was what extreme pressure did to him.

If not for Moksha, he would have believed in it for days and months. But somehow, if he was with her, he was able to face reality better. She was his strength.

Moksha was distressed. She walked to the other side and sat beside him. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"What should I do?"

Lakshya hugged her with one arm, but didn't say anything.

Moksha looked up. "I love you. I really love you. But I don't want to be away from my mom and dad... I am not ready..."

Lakshya hugged her tighter. "I love you too, Moksha. I can't imagine my life with anyone else."

Moksha teared up but quickly got a hold of herself. She kissed him on the cheek.

Lakshya caught her lips in the next moment.

Moksha closed her eyes.

Somewhere during their warm and wet kiss, she felt Lakshya's thumbs at the corners of her eyes.

She smiled into their kiss and more tears formed in her closed eyes. This was how good she was at hiding her tears from him.

They parted when they calmed down.

Lakshya said, "She was very rude when I said I didn't want to marry. No woman in her sane mind would accept."

Moksha had an aggrieved fire in her eyes. It matches the pout on her lips. "Even if she does, I'll make her go insane. I... I don't care!"

Lakshya was stunned.

He had been scared of an imminent breakup for more than a month. Hearing Moksha's words at that moment, he kissed her again. In that kiss was their promise to each other. A promise that nothing could pull them apart, a promise of fighting fate, and a promise of forever.

Their order arrived shortly after Moksha went to the restroom to fix her appearance and returned. The waiter served them and left.

Moksha was composed and she cheered up a bit.

They enjoyed their meals sitting across.

When they were done, both messaged their bosses that they were sick and needed a leave for the rest of the day.

They went to a romantic movie and after that ate street food while walking leisurely.

When it was time for dinner, they were already full. They walked for some more time before Lakshya dropped her off.

During their date, Lakshya hugged her almost all the time. They held hands except when they rode his bike.

Moksha left after giving him one last peck.

∼•∽

Two days went by uneventfully for Shreya.

It was Friday. She was having lunch with Zahra.

"Are you okay?" Zahra asked. Shreya seemed to be out of it a little bit.

Shreya looked at her straight with her head slightly pointing down. "Why?"

"Sheesh. Stop looking at me like that..."

Shreya sighed and looked back into her lunch box. That day her mother packed lunch for her, despite her insistence that she would eat at the canteen.

She ate until she felt full. There was still half left, but she closed the box.

"Done?"

"Yeah. I'll wait."

"No problem. You said that, and that's all I need. Get going already." Zahra smiled. She did not really understand Shreya well.

She thought she brought good from home because she did not like the canteen food. She thought this time, she would complete her meal. But she did not. But she hated throwing it away.

"See you in the lab." Shreya smiled back.

She walked across the whole campus until she reached the gate. She walked another 5 minutes before she was at her destination.

It was a calm alleyway in a secluded area.

It was dead silent and very hot, thanks to the afternoon sun.

She crouched to the side and emptied the contents of her box.

Soon two medium sized dogs jumped into view from the walls of the buildings.

They quickly came wobbling to the food.

Shreya watched them eat and patted the two. They let her touch them a long time ago, when they were just half their current size.

She smiled at them and stood up.

She had to walk all the way back to the lab. Their campus was a huge one and it was going to take her 15 minutes to walk back.

She felt tired. But she was neither hungry, nor sleepy.

She slowly walked back.

∼•∽

That evening at home was another session full of dread to her.

Shekhar told her that she would have to meet a new guy the next day.

Soulless she agreed. She did not even ask any details. It was easier on her to ask the guy his job than ask her father.

Her response did not satisfy Shekhar. "Why? Did you already assume he won't be good?"

She looked up for a moment.

She then silently bowed her head.

"You think your mother's connections are better?"

Shreya did not understand where Shekhar was coming from. She stayed calm. This was not new.

He knew how to weave anything and everything into something he was blaming them for.

Other daughters had both of their parents choosing the best guy for them. Did she feel bad? Yes.

She wished for the same. But for her, her father was the only one making decisions. When he had first brought up marriage to her, her mother was completely oblivious. Shreya did not know how to talk about it to her either. Only when her father announced that soon, there will be a matchmaking session did her mother come to know.

Looking at her confusion, he had taunted, "You are such an irresponsible mother, after all. Marriage is so important but you never thought about it, did you?"

Her mother had stayed silent, just like how she sat at present. No reaction. But she could sense her fear.

"Dad, I'll meet him with an open mind." Shreya said. Stubbornness and bitterness was taking her nowhere.

But as she said those words and saw Shekhar nod in response, her sadness doubled over. He looked at her as if she finally stopped giving him trouble.

She thought to herself, why did her father see her smallest and innocent resistances as some huge rebellions and coups? Why did every grievance she had at home find its way to her own guilt? In the midst of it all, she had wanted to disappear. But she had shied away from gathering enough courage. Then instead, she wished for him to disappear.

Wishing death upon a loved one was hard. But bearing the guilt of it was a hundred times harder.

The food in front of her once again became hard to swallow. She force fed herself. Throwing it away or putting it in the community fridge would amount to creating a huge drama to her father. She had that experience a few times. He had said she destroyed the peace of his home.

∼•∽

The day of the dreaded meeting came. Lately, all these meetings meant only one thing to Shreya: more bicker from her father.

One look at the guy and she sighed. Unimpressive. Unimpressive on many levels. Put him in a crowd and she would not be able to pick him. Put Lakshya in the crowd and she would pick him, even if the crowd was ten times bigger.

Perhaps because the meaning and reality of her life was dark, she looked at the beauty of things. It mattered more to her, despite knowing the dangers. She did not care.

She hated the golden chain on her neck. She still clearly remembered the pretty chain which had a ruby here and there. Her father had not let her buy it. She had to compromise with the one she had. This one was more expensive, but since it did not have any stones, it also gave better value for money.

"Do you have anything to say to me?"

The guy, whose name she did not care for, sat beside her. They were on the same sofa where she laughed without a care with Lakshya.

"Yes. How do you like to manage our finances?"

The guy looked at her as if he saw something incredibly funny.

"I won't take you money, don't worry!"

"You don't have any financial expectations?" She also looked at him as if he was an amusement for the cultured.

"No." He smirked.

She nodded and let him continue the conversation.

"Do you have anything else to ask me?"

"Oh yeah, I do. What do you like to do in your free time?"

"Mostly movies," he said, "If you don't mind, will you stop working later on?"

He was indeed an amusement for the cultured. "No."

"My mother gave up her career for us.

"She was an amazing banker. In fact she juggled everything until my sister was born."

He looked at her expecting praise for his mother.

Shreya had a few sentences she held back. Was your dad dead? Or was he like mine too?

"She is amazing and I want us to live with my parents. I want to be there for her until the end. My father is also very great. Everybody who knows them respects them very much."

She wanted to ask him, do you want me to stay home to take care of them? But she knew the consequences of such behaviour.

"I also want to be there for my mother."

The guy raised his brows. "Isn't your brother there?"

Shreya finally sighed out loud. "I am saying that I like to have a life of my own. You can speak directly. You don't have to be so roundabout."

He stared at her. Then he gave out a small embarrassed chuckle.

She gave him an amicable smile. The guy looked good when he smiled. She finally smiled for real since the meeting had started.

"I see. So you are not one to adjust."

The smile she had slowly disappeared. She thought he was understanding.

She thought he was handsome too. But the way he looked at her, as if she did not deserve much, hurt. It reminded her so much of her father, it hurt in her chest.

"I think we should go out," he said.

She gestured to the door with her hand.

∼•∽

When she walked out of the room, the guy, the mama's boy, was already sitting between his parents. His face did not give away much.

She felt her watcher intensely observing her. She tried to smile. She wanted to, just to get by. In the end, she failed.

She walked over with her head bent. She was going to hear a lot that night.

As expected, as soon as the family left, her father pressed for why she had such a face.

"He wants me to become a housewife!"

Shekhar gave importance to studies. So she was in a safe situation.

He frowned too. "Really? I will talk to them."

Shreya was helpless. She rubbed her toes inconspicuously. Was that the only problem?

Perhaps. Perhaps not.

She was stubborn in her own ways. She wanted someone at least as suave and handsome as Lakshya.

A phone rang.

It was Lalitha's. The caller was Amulya. Lalitha brought the phone to Shekhar. She never had any agency around him. She let him take the call lest he made a deal out of it.

"Why are they calling!" He answered the phone, "Hello?"

The voice echoing through the phone was pleasant, although Shreya could not catch any words.

Shekhar's efforts to gratify despite not being satisfied were evident, especially as he glared at Lalitha all through the call.

He pulled the phone away as he asked Lalitha, "Did you tell them we like their boy?"

Lalitha's eyes dimmed. "No."

She was never given her rightful place in the household. Shekhar decided every little thing. When did he ever give her enough respect to let her give her opinions? In the end came ridiculous questions.

He never saw how much of her life and her very self she sacrificed for him and his ego.

Shekhar still eyed Lalitha with a lot of doubt.

"After two days I will tell them we don't like the guy."

"Why!" Shreya asked, "Just because this match was suggested by a distant relative of mom? I like him!"

"You think you know everything? You are still my daughter, so stay within your limits!"

"If someone is not like you, they are not improper... Since she likes him, we should support her..." Lalitha said. Her voice was as meek as always.

"Stop teaching her to go against me all the time!"

Shreya let out a silent sigh. "Last time, you thought I was acting when I said I was suicidal. This time, I'll see how you will still think that." She pulled her legs below her chair and continued rubbing her toes.

Wounds from childhood were the most difficult to heal. While she forgot all about her classmates and the games she played, she remembered all the lowest points she faced. They occupied her memory. They occupied her entire memory.

The room went silent.

Shreya felt her lips starting to shake. She tightened them. If her father saw her shiver, he would ask her to stop acting and making him out to be a bad guy.

The silence comforted her a little. But it did not last long.

"Hah! I, I should kill myself for having such an unsupportive family!" Shekhar gaped and said. Then he stormed off.

Shreya sat down when she felt she was losing her balance. It was silent again. But not comforting anymore. Neither her mother nor her brother spoke to her.

Perhaps they also thought she bluffed when she came clean about her condition.

She smiled. It looked sick. Maybe she knew it too. She got up and went inside her room.

Only then did she relax her fists. Her fingers trembled.

She wasted no time before she flipped through her phone and put on the movie, I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. She skipped it a little here and there. She wanted to cry, but the sad parts were not helping either.

She was weird. Sometimes she could not control her tears. Sometimes, she could not cry.

She opened her cupboard. Her eyes stayed on a stack of notebooks.

After some thought, she decided against opening them.

∼•∽

Two days later, Shekhar told Shreya that he would say yes to Lakshya's family.

Shreya had some doubts. She nodded.

"If you regret later on, don't blame me!"

"I won't," she mumbled. She did not know much about Lakshya, but she knew enough about the rest.

Shekhar did not speak anymore and she did not bother about it either.

Her mood was extremely low that day. However, there was a lot to be happy about. Her father always gave her a choice. But when he was not pleased with what she chose, he gave her another choice eliminating that particular one out. In the end, she would be choosing what he wanted by her own free wish.

Of course, it was still early, but this was going to be the last choice he was ever going to offer to her. He told her she was not a part of this family forever, that one day, she would be a part of another family and that she should hence know her place and behave accordingly.

She smiled. Her countenance did not change much, but it was still a smile, a wry one.

Since it was time for her to get out anyway, she hoped he would give her a real choice this time and stick to his words.

That whole week, whenever her father spoke her spine was straight. Worry ran through her.

In the end, he never brought to her another 'better' potential partner.

"Are you ready?" Lalitha stepped into Shreya's room.

"Yeah." Her response was weak.

They were going to attend someone's marriage.

Through that night at the function, Shreya and Shreekant sat in a corner undisturbed. Their mother was amongst the other ladies. Their father was with the men. Within their circle of relatives, it was common knowledge that this set of kids always kept to themselves, and that their home was never peaceful.

If anyone approached them, they would be polite. But speaking anything with them was awkward.

Everyone ignored them. Ironically, that was what made them feel safe exactly.

"Shreya! My dear sister!"

They were playing on their phones.

"Stay put. Let the enemy take the bait. I'll save you."

"You can't do this to your teammate! You'll get banned!"

"Unless you report. I don't do this with any teammate, only you."

Shreekant put a hand to his head as he waited for his health to drop.

Ten minutes later, their team won. With him alive, of course! His sister would always have his back.

"Acho!" Shreekant sneezed out of nowhere.

"Is it cold?" Shreya asked, shutting down her phone. No matter how many wins she had, her mood was as low as before.

He shrugged. "Feels like that." They were in an open garden at night, after all.

"Must be the ice cream."

On the way home, Shreekant sneezed more and more.

The ride was unusually stiff and silent, but it was something usual for the family.

∼•∽

A/N:
Hola, hola, hola! How is everyone?

I am great and I hope you're all doing well too! If I may make a request, please pray for my exam results. I took the test just yesterday and it went well I believe.

I've turned 24. My meds dosage decreased slightly.

If you find any mistakes, please let me know. I only checked for mistakes as I wrote and did not read again before uploading. Helping me rectify any sort of mistakes/inconsistencies will make this work better and also give me better chances at winning any awards I participate in. Just don't be shy and comment them out.

Coming to the story~~ I know things are yet to fall in place and might seem why I'm even writing about these 'side' characters i.e., say her family so much, but believe me I have plans for each of them. Oh, and our main characters are going to meet and fight over the next two chapters! And... Looking forward to your comments on this one!

Quiz: Guess how the meeting happens? Comment your answers inline in the next section.

A. Lakshya reaches out.
B. Shreya reaches out.
C. Accidental meeting.
D. Their families decide that they meet.
E. None of the above.

Thank you so much for reading! Just hold on some more and things will take off.

See you on the 21st again!