Hello Fam :)

A/N -1 - For all the people who said they don't need 'the kiss' because it might make Manik uncomfortable, I love you for the care you are showing to our boy. I have never had another character where people cared about them this much. 

Warning: ~ 6700 words of Manan trying to be sensible for once. They are stumbling on their new path of sanity but it's okay. We are patient until our babies recover their brains. :P

A/N -2- This is a rollercoaster of a chapter. I don't know if it's up to the mark or not but let me know. 

Dedicated to timepass72 . You would know the reason when you read the chapter. :)

Happy Reading...

Nandini and Mukti were sorting out the outfits for all the ceremonies to make sure everything was ready as per the instructions of both the mothers of the bride and groom. Surprisingly, it was Ishita who was fretting over Mukti more than Mukti's own mother. When asked, Mrs. Vardhan laughed out.

"I stopped bothering to give her instructions for years now. She would do whatever she likes and it's in favor of world peace to let her do it", she said. There might be differences between them in the past but this comment was more teasing Mukti for being so carefree.

Mukti, on the other hand, stuck her tongue out at her mother and hugged Ishita. "Ishu, even without all these stupid outfits, I am still coming to your house as your daughter-in-law."

Mrs. Vardhan slapped her head. "Ishu? That's inappropriate, Mukti."

"Let it be. They have been calling me that since they were kids. Won't change it overnight", said Ishita, pulling Mukti slightly away from her mother, before turning to Mukti. "And you? You have been the daughter of this house for a long time. The outfits would announce it to everyone. So, try not to create havoc during any of the ceremonies. My son is close to losing his mind already."

"I seriously don't know what's wrong with him. He is behaving as if this is an arranged marriage and I am a stranger."

Nandini snorted. "On the contrary, I think he is behaving as if his life depended on you and he is scared to mess up even if it's a simple task of breathing."

Mukti grinned at her. Having someone who loves you that much can result in such a reaction, thought Nandini, fighting a smile.

"Are you sure I can't meet him and put some sense in his head?", asked Mukti to both the ladies.

According to some absolute stupid tradition, these two were kept apart, and right before the wedding without having his girl's reassurance, Abhimanyu is really not in a good position, though Manik is doing a better job at keeping him sane.

Ishita grimaced at the sweet smile on Mukti's face and tilted her head towards Mrs. Vardhan. "I have been a victim of that face for a long time. Do you think you can resist that?"

Mrs. Vardhan chuckled and pulled Ishita towards her. "I think that's our cue to leave. Nandini, I hope you will keep her in line."

"I can try but it's Mukti. No guarantees there", said Nandini, winking at her best friend.

Once the ladies left the room, Mukti battled her eyelashes. "Do you seriously think I can't meet Abhimanyu to have a talk? I really don't want him to combust with nervousness during our wedding day."

Nandini chuckled. "Tomorrow is your Haldi. You will be meeting him. If not, I can arrange something tomorrow. And then there's sangeet. Don't worry. You will find him before the wedding. Or he will magically find himself in this room because he had a nightmare involving me this time."

"I know, I love you", she said, winking at her.

They were disturbed by a knock on their door.

"Who is it now?", muttered Nandini.

"Since they haven't barged into the room, it's not Abhimanyu or Cabir. Go bring your husband in", said Mukti, smirking.

As expected, when Nandini went to open the door, she found Manik, tapping something in his mobile.

"Morning, Mr. Husband", she teased, startling him.

"Morning, Nandini. Hey, I need you for something but before that, is Mukti in?"

"Yeah, come in", she said, opening the door wide.

Entering in, Manik waved at Mukti, who only grinned at the man. "Hello, there, handsomeness personified."

He rolled his eyes but then pulled a stool in front of Mukti before sitting down. "Mukti", he said, taking her hands into his, "I have been so wrapped up with Abhimanyu that I didn't try to check on you till now. Are you okay with all the wedding ceremonies? Any pre-wedding jitters, any doubts?"

"As of now, no. But I don't know, I am comfortable actually. I have spent more time here than at my home and both Abhimanyu's parents are close to me. If I am in trouble, I have more freedom to go and talk to them. It's like coming home after a vacation. I can always go and meet my parents. Seriously, except branding myself as Abhimanyu's wife, I don't see any changes", she explained.

Manik nodded. Seriously, as Mukti had put it, there wouldn't be much difference between them. Those two have been together since forever. Abhimanyu is just being an idiot.

"Abhimanyu is thinking he would disappoint you somehow but I guess it's pointless because you know all his flaws and the perks too and still chose to stay with him all these years. Maybe, he would be fine once he is married to you and sees for himself that he wouldn't mess up."

Mukti grinned. "Or maybe, I can hit him on his head with something hard and he would come back to his senses."

Manik winced. "Whatever way you usually express your love."

The girls laughed out loud at that and Manik shook his head muttering about 'crazy friends'. He then glanced at Nandini.

"Nandini, I have got a call from Sharma uncle in the morning. He wanted to meet you to check your progress. Since the official ceremonies will start tomorrow, I was thinking if we could go and meet him today. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, sure. At what time?"

"He said after evening five. We can start by four."

"Perfect. I will be ready."

"Thank you."

With that when he left the room, Mukti huffed. "I can't believe this human is still so formal with you. You guys are married."

Nandini snorted. "I would be married to him for sixty years and he would still be formal. That's Manik Malhotra we are talking about."

She glanced up and saw tears brimming in her eyes and when Nandini panicked, Mukti pulled her into a hug. "I am so happy for you, best friend. Don't lose Manik at any cost."

"I won't", promised Nandini.

XXX

"So how are you feeling, Nandini?", asked Dr. Sharma.

Manik was quiet throughout the whole drive. Nandini tried to make small talk but then gave up and decided to give him time to come up with it. Meanwhile, she had something to get by too and she needed the courage and plan for it. Once they were inside the hospital though, after the initial formalities with Manik, when the doctor asked him to leave them alone, Nandini saw the protest on his face but then he nodded and left silently.

Glancing at the doctor, she actually thought about his answer. "Loved?", she said and knew she had taken him by surprise.

"I expected fine and maybe happy even but feeling loved is so much better. So, I guess the Malhotras are treating you nicely."

"I have never been this happy ever in my life. More than happy, I am content. I don't have to suffocate and count the hours I will be out of the house. Seriously though, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

Dr. Sharma smiled at her. "I think my work is done here. But let's cut short the medicines and alcohol for a month, just in case. What do you think about a counseling session?"

"With you?", she asked.

He shook his head. "I am not an expert and I guess you have an entire life's worth of pain hidden. I have contacts though. I can suggest a few to you."

Nandini nodded. "Thank you. I will keep that in mind if I really need a therapist. But I usually talk to Manik about this and he helps a lot. And then there's Nyonika mom too who is really great whenever I go to her."

"Whatever makes you comfortable, Nandini. I think all that is left is for you to live your life to the fullest."

"I am looking forward to it, Doctor."

Once she left the cabin, she found Manik sitting outside on a chair, restlessly tapping his foot. "Are you okay?", he said when he saw her.

"I am fine. No complications. You can be free now and stop worrying about me", she teased. That was bordering on mean and it brought a frown on Manik's head. Good, she thought. "If it's not too much of a bother to you, can you drop me home? I need to collect a few things from there. I will get back by my car."

Manik stared at her. "Why would it be a bother for me?", he muttered but then bit his lip, turned around, and started walking.

Behind his back, Nandini tried to control a smile. She thought of giving him time for whatever is bothering him and let him drift away from her. But right inside the doctor's cabin, Manik wasn't ready to leave Nandini alone and she saw the worry on his face. She was all up for giving him space but mixed signals? That she could go without. She had dealt with her parents all her life trying to be in the loop with their emotions and facial expressions. Even with the rift between them, they would smile and laugh when they had an audience and it made her feel like dealing with some double-faced idiots. Manik wasn't a double-faced idiot and she wouldn't let him act like one.

She was startled when while walking one of her hands brushed Manik's casually. It wasn't a big deal, they held hands all the time but two steps later, Manik pushed his hand into his pocket. It wasn't subtle. Coming to think about it, she thought, avoiding any physical contact with her was becoming more pronounced. Nandini rolled her eyes. Manik was being an idiot for a guy who considered her to be his wife for the past four years. If it were the physical contact like it was in their college, it would have been clear long back because they were well past holding hands and forehead kisses. Some of her favorite gestures of his. If she was honest, everything he did was her favorite and it wasn't too surprising since the person himself was her favorite too.

She rolled her eyes at him and crossed her hands. Yeah, she definitely had a plan now.

Manik ignored her until they reached the car and Nandini waited. It brought a smile to her face when he threw a subtle glance at her before opening his door to make sure she got in comfortably. He couldn't stop caring about her. It was one of the things he did subconsciously. Everyone close to her knew she hated it when anyone who was driving ran to open the door for her. Instead of doing that, Manik waits till she is in whenever he is driving.

Once he had settled in, he started tapping his hand on the steering, biting his lip and a frown on his head. Nandini turned in her seat and grabbed his hand, the one that was on the gear, to entwine their fingers. It grounded her to the present and she found an unknown courage wash over her. She didn't realize she was staring at him until she heard Manik chuckle nervously.

"Nandini, I need my hand to drive."

"I feel good holding your hand. Can't you drive like this?", she asked. It was really for calming her down but Manik would agree within a blink of an eye if she told him that and it wasn't part of the plan.

There was a pause as he stared down at their hands and then at her before settling his gaze on their hands again. "Nandini, don't you think you are crossing a line here?"

Nandini bit her lip and before she could overthink herself, she leaned forward and kissed the corner of his lips. When Manik snapped his head in her direction, she made sure she was looking straight into his eyes. "Manik Malhotra, as your wife Nandini Manik Malhotra, I am not doing anything that I am not allowed to", she said with confidence she didn't really feel. Once she realized she had made her point, Nandini freed their hands and pulled away from Manik, giving him some space to breathe. She leaned back on her seat and closed her eyes, ignoring the loud thudding of her heart.

It wasn't easy to take the first step when she had pretty much hated the idea of being in love with someone all her life but she didn't want to lose Manik more than she already had. It was a reckless plan, something close to what Nyonika would do. Maybe she had inspired her to take a step when they talked two days back. She could lose Manik for this but for some reason, she decided to act on the older woman's advice and took the risk. It was all up to Manik to decide if he wanted her in his life or not. She wouldn't lose him if Cabir's audio was anything to go by and she didn't want to think if it was more complicated than this.

Vaguely, she felt Manik putting the GPS on to their home and tried not to feel guilty about it. He said he didn't need GPS to go around the city anymore. Yeah, kissing him would definitely short circuit his brain and she mentally calculated the probabilities of attending the wedding without any fatal accidents.

XXX

Manik followed her into the house almost mechanically. He snapped out of it when his phone rang once they reached their room but it had stopped in the middle. Manik cursed under his breath and plugged his mobile into charge and settled down on the couch silently.

As Nandini moved around the room, grabbing the things she would need at Thakkar's house for the next few days, she felt her husband's gaze on her and decided to ignore it until Manik tried to make a conversation. Once she was sure to gather everything, she called the guy but he was busy staring at her. Though, after standing in front of her, she realized he was thinking something and had to shake him to bring him back. "Shall we leave?", she asked and a moment later added, "or do you want me to come in my car?"

Manik dropped his gaze to the floor. "Why are you doing this, Nandini?"

"I am having multiple thoughts right now. What exactly is bothering you, Manik?"

"You coming close to me", he said, without any hesitation. It stung her but since he was continuing, she listened. "The other day when I was tired, I woke up to you sleeping beside me. There weren't any thunderstorms on that day. You kissed me in front of all those people and again in the car today. There was no reason for it except it's all hurting me. I am trying to stay away and you are making it very difficult for me."

Rejection was familiar to her. Disappointment was her companion for the most part of her life but coming from Manik was what it took to finally break her heart. She took a step away from him, trying to give him the space he needed, and slumped down on the bed. She glanced at their divorce papers. Something clicked in her brain and she laughed softly, making Manik snap his head towards her.

"I understand, you know. I just thought you-", she said and had to stop herself from completing the sentence. "I can feel the change in myself too. Everyone kept on saying that you still love me but you love Nandini, the head girl. Is that it? I hate myself, whatever version of the Nandini that I am now. But then you, you make me feel as if I am important, valid, and beautiful. If we are being honest, I am not your Nandini anymore, right?"

It was one of the reasons she didn't believe it when Cabir kept on saying that Manik was in love with her. If the fight in her has left, if she felt as if she were the skeleton of an older version of hers, was she still the girl he had fallen in love with? She gasped when Manik pulled her from where she was sitting, shaking her. When did he move?

"Are you not my Nandini?", he yelled. "You think a title is what defines you? Do you think I care about that? About how many people you could punch in a day? Do you think so low about me?"

There were tears forming at the corner of his eyes, not shedding yet. Manik hardly loses control, she thought. Manik almost never raises his voice at anyone. His fingernails were digging through her arms and his grip was almost painful. She had never thought Manik was capable of any of that.

"My Nandini who taught me to stand for myself, to protect my loved ones. My Nandini would go to any lengths to protect the people who had put their trust in her. The one who would sacrifice her personal life to fulfill her responsibilities", said Manik. Leaving her, he stepped back and ran his hand through his hair. "I fell in love with the Nandini who would come to the beach with me, who shares her favorite cheeseburgers with me, only me. I fell in love with the Nandini who trusted me enough to shed her tough character in front of me. Who gave me the privilege to see her vulnerable side, to let me hold her hand until she was ready to bounce back at the world. You know nothing about the Nandini I fell in love with, Nandini", he muttered.

No, she didn't. Because before she could get to that point, her parents had forced her to push him away and now they were attempting to revisit a missing conversation that was in pending for four years. The tears that formed in his eyes were flowing continuously. There were tears flowing from her eyes too as she saw Manik taking deep breaths through his mouth a few times.

When he next spoke, his words were calm even if the message was anything but. "I am having panic attacks, Nandini. It never got this bad. When I brought you to this home, when I thought of sharing this room with you, I never thought all those feelings would come rushing back to me. I had it under control. I didn't let our last conversation affect me. I had become the person everyone wanted me to be, calm and composed without ruining my life over a heartbreak because you asked me to.

"But then Meera asked me about you and when I talked about how much I love you, I realized I am crossing the barrier, a barrier where I can't return from because when I look back, you have filled my entire life whether you were physically with me or not. I thought it was okay to hold your hand because it calms me down and assures me that you are really with me. I thought it was okay to kiss you because I kiss Cabir all the time. I don't know when I had crossed the line and suddenly there are days when I don't want to leave your side, when I want to hold you close and I can't breathe properly knowing you would leave me eventually. It suffocates me because I have no right to ask you to stay with me forever. I am staying away and now you are kissing me all of a sudden. You are making it so difficult for me to stay away, Nandini. It was bad enough the first time and I don't know how to be normal if you leave me again."

Manik slumped down on the couch again and hunched over his knees, covering his face with both his hands. It was the last straw when she heard his shoulders shaking and the sobs coming from him.

She rushed and knelt down in front of Manik. Taking his hands, she placed a soft kiss on his palms. "When I left you on that day, I never thought I would find this super confident boss. I am so proud of you, Manik, so proud of the person you have become. You make me love you every minute of every day, whether by making sure I am comfortable and ready to face the world, or when you ask the driver if he had food, or simply let your employees boss over you because you think they are your friends more than the people you pay salaries too. No one has ever thought about me, cared enough to think what I am going through, and then you come with a bunch of chocolates because you think I am sad and they produce happy hormones?

"You have crept into my life and separated my world into Manik and non-Manik. You have shown me a life I thought existed only in ideal books. The house I was brought up in, Manik Malhotra, you are everything I dared not to dream about in a person. Anyone would love you and I am just another girl."

"You love me?", asked Manik.

"Years back, I told you, Manik, if I had the freedom to love, I would choose you."

"You have freedom now", he whispered.

Nandini saw him staring at her with unblinking eyes. There was a fear, a hesitation, in those eyes apart from the unshed tears. She wondered whether it would have been better if she had dared to stay back with Manik and give him a chance on the day during their farewell. She would have saved him with so much pain. But she knew why she did that and now that Manik was sitting in front of her safe, nothing mattered. She could make it up to him for the rest of her life.

Standing up, she cupped his face, tilting his head up slightly to look into his eyes. Those beautiful eyes which were so honest to her always. "Manik Malhotra, meeting you is the best thing that has ever happened to me and marrying me is the best decision you have taken for us. I have chosen you every time I wanted to burn the world for hurting you, every time you understood me like no one ever tried to. I have chosen you when I realized that if you are there with me, having another person in my life doesn't matter."

She removed her hands to wrap them around him, close to her, and rested her head on top of his. There was a slight dip in his head and then he pressed his head more into her stomach, his hands at his side and eyes flowing. The familiarity of not returning the hug brought a smile to her face and the dampness near her stomach because of Manik's tears only made her hug him tighter.

They stayed there in that position for however long, breathing in each other's scent. If she had to choose one day to stop, for the earth to halt its motion, Nandini would choose this moment to be stuck forever. Unfortunately, the universe wanted to disagree with her as she heard the first thunder strike.

Instantly, Manik jerked back, freeing himself from her as he stood up and cupped Nandini's ears, engulfing her into a tight embrace. She chuckled, swatting his hands and pulling away. "Manik, I am not scared when you are with me."

The glare he gave her was so fierce yet reminded her of the nerd she had always known him as and she had to bite her lip from bursting out laughing. "Don't be stupid. Years of being afraid of the thunders won't go away just because you are in love. That's unrealistic", he said and tried to pull her into the hug again.

"I will try not to be scared because you are there beside me", she told, resisting. "How about this? Realistic enough."

"Nandini", he whined and pulled her close.

It wasn't that she wasn't scared. She was just too happy to think about the thunders. Tomorrow, she might be terrified again but today she was positive she could take over the world because she got to keep Manik with her forever. She heard him sigh.

"It started raining already", he muttered. "You will be fine, Nandini. You are safe inside the house."

"I know, Manik", she said, grinning. She knew she would earn a glare for that and pressed herself more into his chest. Letting the thunders fade into the background, she concentrated on his heartbeat. She was the safest.

Her peaceful moment was broken by Manik's phone. Since it was on the charge and he refused to let her go, Manik dragged Nandini along to the bedside table and freed one hand to put the mobile on speaker. It was Cabir.

"Bhai, where are you? It's raining here and you are making me worried now", said the younger twin.

"Baby, it started raining here too but luckily we are stuck at home. So, we are safe but I don't want to drive in this weather."

Nandini rolled her eyes. They were discussing the weather as if they were in two different cities. She squashed down her urge to sass at Cabir because she was too peaceful to willingly let the younger twin rile her up. She could ignore the entire world right now.

"Bhai, why don't you stay there for the night? I will manage here."

"You will?", asked Manik. "That would be great, kid. Thank you."

"Goodnight, Bhai, and remember I love you."

"I love you too, baby."

There was a softness to his tone whenever Manik said that. Cabir could throw in the words casually all the time at anyone but Manik, he means it every time. And she can hear them too now. Before she could turn into a sappy mess, she raised an eyebrow at her husband. "You two are the goofiest creatures I have ever met, do you know that? Calling each other with all those endearments without being embarrassed about what the people around you would think."

Manik hesitated for a moment. "Cabir was very small when dad passed away. I felt it as my responsibility to keep him safe and loved so that he doesn't miss dad too much. He is my child in every way that matters."

"You were twins so practically you were a kid too, Manik. You didn't have to take that responsibility but I am not discussing that. It's part of who you are as a person", she said. "You stand up for your family and try to prove every minute that they are important to you. It was also the first thing I have properly noticed about you, the way you treat him as a kid. Manik, Cabir will always be your baby first."

She needed to tell that. They were twins and practically can't live without each other. Back when Nandini first visited the office, she remembered the way Cabir thought he might be the third wheel in their relationship and cried all over Manik. Cabir shouldn't have to be afraid of losing his twin over marriage. Neither did Manik.

"Thank you", said Manik, his eyes glistening. "Thank you for understanding. You make everything easy for me. You never try to break us apart and love us equally."

"Actually, Malhotra, I love you more but don't tell to your brother. He would make my life a living hell", she said.

When Manik smiled and kissed her head, she sagged against his chest. She was home again. "Why don't you change? I will get some food and check what mom is doing."

Nandini nodded. "Call me if she's free." She wouldn't be taking this step without the interference of her favorite lady.

XXX

Manik came back with a tray of food before setting it up in front of Nandini on the bed. He himself took the opposite side to hers. "Mom went to the Thakkar house. She is staying the night there."

"I didn't know she knew the Thakkars that well."

"She expected you to be there and then since she got an invitation personally from Abhimanyu's dad, so decided to visit them and got stuck with this weather. It went awkward when she didn't find you and Cabir saved the day."

Nandini narrowed her gaze. "And Cabir told you this?"

"Yeah, how do you know?"

Nandini snorted. "The bragging. It has Cabir all over it", she told, taking a piece of roti. "Actually, I should be thanking him for making me listen to that audio with Meera."

"He did what? He recorded that conversation too?", asked Manik before composing. Staring at the plate, he shook his head. "That's an invasion of privacy", he muttered mostly to himself.

"Yeah? With you acting perfectly as someone who doesn't have any feelings for me, how am I supposed to know that? At least one hint, Manik? How did you even manage to be your perfect self without letting me know?", she asked.

"I had years of practice", he muttered again, ignoring her. There was a story there if the slight redness of the tips of his ears were anything to go by.

"How?", she asked, teasingly. She would love to see the redness spread. "How did you manage all these years?"

He raised his head to gape at her before realizing she was serious and not joking. He lowered his head, biting his lip as he tapped his spoon against his plate lightly. Finally, he sighed and tilted his head towards the table near their bed. "Get that photo frame, please."

Frowning in confusion, Nandini grabbed the frame and gave it to him. It was one of the candid pics of the twins and she really loved it. With Manik smiling at Cabir with all the love he had for him and the younger twin sticking his tongue out at the photographer, it was one of the photos Nandini used to stare at for long hours when she first came to Malhotra house. It reminded her of normalcy, took her back to her college days when she still had her life under her control.

Instead of looking at the picture, Manik removed another one from behind it and handed it to her. This one was one of the pictures of the three on the Astronomical night, their first event as the head students together. She was surprised he even had these when she had to burn her copy of photos just to keep her parents away from any happy memory of hers a few days before the farewell. She glanced down at the picture in her hand trying to recollect the memory. After a tiring day, Nandini had rested her head on Manik's lap, probably sleeping, she didn't really remember how, and Cabir was leaning on Manik's shoulder on the other side. Though the elder twin had his attention on his baby brother, the way his ears turned red told another story.

"I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable", she said, softly. It was a nice picture though.

Manik shook his head. "I never talked to anyone about you after our farewell, including Cabir. But every day, at the end of the work, I used to talk to you, telling you everything I had learned and sending you prayers to keep you safe. I liked to believe you were there with me, watching over me, even when we weren't talking."

"You know, I used to think that distance fades the love between any two people. And here you are proving me wrong yet again", she told.

"I haven't been able to fall out of love with my first fictional character. He still makes me feel safe like I used to when I was a kid. You are a real person, Nandini. Loving you is easy, really."

Nandini didn't answer that. She didn't know what to. When you have been living in a desert all your life searching for an oasis, finding an ocean would want you to grasp and drown in it. It was the same feeling. Manik was her ocean and she would happily want to drown in his love for the rest of her life, however that works. When people made her believe that there would never be anyone who would love her, when loving her was too difficult for anyone to willingly choose, she didn't know what to do on finding the person who thought loving her was easy. She didn't know if she deserved Manik or not but she needed him to prove every belief of hers wrong. She needed him to anchor her to the life she was trying to build around him.

She was startled when Manik tugged at her hand. "You were lost there for a moment. Did I say anything wrong?"

Nandini smiled and shook her head. "No. Just wondering if you could go a moment without being your perfect self", she said, teasing. Teasing him was her favorite thing to do even during her college. It flushed his entire being making him shy and blush. It was precious.

"I am not perfect", muttered Manik, ducking his head, avoiding her gaze.

Yeah, teasing him was definitely her favorite.

XXX

It was late in the night when they laid down beside each other with Nandini resting her head near his heart listening to her favorite beat as she played with Manik's button. After dinner, she had asked him to ditch his comforter and come to bed with her. "I get the best nights of sleep when I am with you."

"You don't have to ask, Nandini. It's your right", he told, laying down and making sure she was comfortable.

"Doesn't all this make you uncomfortable?", she asked. If she knew one thing, Manik took his time with the physical proximity from people except for Cabir. The twins don't seem to have any boundaries between them.

"You don't make me uncomfortable, Nandini, even when we were in college. It's just that", he said, before taking a break, weighing his words, "you startle me. The spontaneity. I haven't been with anyone like that and I don't know how to react when you take a new step. So, I panic. Like when you slept beside me or kissed me in the car today."

"That's not a proper kiss, Manik. Stop complaining about it. You are getting more of them", she declared and waited until there was her favorite blush instead of any discomfort. "I am sorry though. I didn't know how to start the conversation and it looked like a good plan. Didn't know I would scare you that much."

"It's fine. It was scary when I thought you would leave me after a few days when things settle down for you", he said, stroking her hair, as if to make sure she was there still. "I was thinking though. That kiss-", he started before stopping abruptly, weighing his words again. Nandini waited, giving him time to come around. They were getting into a familiar area, him asking questions and her answering. "Would I offend you if I say that I didn't find any spark in that kiss?"

"What?", asked Nandini, confused. That wasn't a proper kiss even to be honest.

"Like any tingling sensations, electricity flowing through veins. Even the butterflies dancing. Any sort of hint."

Nandini groaned and buried her face in his shoulder. And here she thought she was getting somewhere with this idiot. "I am filling a case on every fictional writer. They exaggerate every small thing and leave you all nerds for us to deal with."

"I resent that. Fictions are supposed to be real", he protested.

"Okay, do you want to have something fictitious with someone or have the plain real life with me?", she asked. It was a stupid question. But what if someone comes tomorrow with Manik's perfect idea of a novel and sweeps him off his feet? She isn't a princess and she couldn't try to be one. She didn't have to worry though if how quickly Maanik answered her though.

"I want to have my fiction with you", he told.

Nandini chuckled and pressed a kiss on his heart, over his shirt. She took it as a good sign when he didn't push her away or appeared scared. "I don't know how love works, Manik. Maybe you will feel the electricity after 20-30 years. Seriously, long-term relationship, I am as clueless as you."

"Will you be there with me till then?", he asked.

It broke her heart to see the doubt in his words and it hurt, even more, knowing she was the cause of it, directly or indirectly. Instead of digging up the past, Nandini lifted her head to look at him, balancing herself on her elbow. "You know, I have always thought that you deserve someone who would love you forever but never realized you are my forever." There, she had promised. Manik, for the rest of her life.

Manik's eyes glistened. "And you are mine", he muttered.

"Always", she told, softly.

"That's Snape", he exclaimed, blinking away his tears.

If she was honest, there was even a sparkle in his eyes. She didn't know if it was because she had made a reference from his novel or because it was her who had made the reference. Knowing Manik, it could either of them. "Abhimanyu made us watch the entire series. We were-", she trailed off seeing the divorce papers when Manik's phone buzzed with a message and he stretched his arm to remove it from the charging. "Manik, now that I don't need those, can I tear them off?"

He followed her line of sight before laughing to himself.

"It's not funny, you know?", she complained. "I felt horrible when you gave me those and walked away from me."

"And I thought you would respect me and at least look at them once. You wouldn't have felt that horrible if you did."

When she frowned in confusion, Manik pushed her lightly off of him to sit down. She followed him when he pulled the papers and tore the envelope to open it. She hated them since their first appearance in her life and didn't bother to open them. Her husband, on the other hand, pulled two sets of papers and handed them over to her.

"We haven't registered our marriage in court yet. I didn't want to tie you into a lifelong relationship when you didn't want to but now that I know I am not forcing you, you can sign them whenever you want."

Right. Marriage registration papers along with divorce papers. Only Manik Malhotra could have thought about something like that. "Can I sign them now?", she asked, half-demanding.

"Are you sure?", asked Manik and when she nodded, he stood up from the bed to get her a pen.

She signed the papers and gave them to Manik. Along with that, she grabbed his hand and stuffed the now torn divorce papers in his hand. "I have murdered your divorce papers. You are stuck with me now", she told, with a satisfying grin. Those evil papers gave her at least a few restless nights.

Manik shook his head in disbelief but there was a smile forming on his face as he pulled her face gently in his palms before kissing her head for a long time. "Thank you for accepting me."

When she drifted to sleep that night, she didn't realize it was pouring cats and dogs or the occasional thunders that struck nearby. 

Again there's so much going on but finally, they talked. I tried covering every question but if I have missed anything, drop it down in the comments or my inbox. I would either edit the chapter or try to include it in the next ones. As I said, fingers crossed on this one. 

Any other questions, opinions, emotional imbalance, I am available. :)