Dew's POV

It was evening and we were walking back to our lodge; I had his bag over my shoulders as we walked alongside. He was quite satisfied and contended with his sketches, but my mind was struggling with a lot of questions. I knew our families would never accept us the way we were. I wanted to talk to him about it, but he looked so relaxed that I knew I would just ruin the rest of our time together. Tonight, was our last day here.

"Our return bus leaves at 7, so let's try and reach a little early," he said smiling,

I smiled and nodded,

"Something is bothering you, isn't it?" he asked,

"Huh?"

"Something is definitely bothering you," he nodded looking at me,

I sighed and decided to talk about it,

"What will happen to us once we head back?" I asked, feeling the nervousness creep in,

He took a deep breath and looked at the syncing feet of our shadows as we walked,

"As long as we want this to work, we should be alright. Nobody needs to know about us anyway," he said calmly,

"What makes you so sure about me?" how was he so calm and unbothered as if none of this was a big deal?

I also wanted to know why he believed me so much. I know it is a stupid question to wonder, but we were literally enemies before. What was it that gave him such a guarantee about me?

"Because I want us to work out. I know how much your family, especially your father, matters to you. Growing up, I have seen him raise you with so much love, so I can understand why you worry about this, but I just want you to know, that I believe in us because even when we were rivals, I felt comfort around you.

So, I guess it assures me more now that you are walking beside me. We will keep needing constant reassurances and I am ready to put all my heart into us, into you," he said looking at me with comforted and encouraging eyes.

I felt his words indirectly telling me to relax now and deal with those bid-deal problems as they come, and that is what I did.

I smiled and held his hand, "Thank you," I felt his fingers wrap around mine as he looked at our hands with a smile.

We started walking ahead with our palms entangled, satisfied hearts and smiles playing with the atmosphere among us. Although there was not much we could do, we just let time go as it was, instead we chose each other for a little longer.

***

We reached our town an hour after dawn. It was still early so I was expecting everyone in our homes to be asleep.

We strolled up the road with our bags dragging behind us and half-asleep minds. Just when our houses came to sight, we saw our fathers out on the road, being at each other's throats and their voices echoed till the end of the road.

Throwing our bags on the ground, we ran towards them. Reaching there, I pulled my father back who was holding his father's collar. Mom and Dani were standing behind Dad looking so worried but not being able to say a word. This seemed the most serious than ever.

"What is going on?" I asked looking at Mom when I felt Dad calm down a bit,

"How about you ask that son of a scum," Dad said fiercely gesturing to Sky's father,

"Oh, let me tell you then," his dad replied and was about to come forward with a punch-ready fist, but Sky pulled him back asking him to hold back,

"Dad, please tell us what is going on?" Sky asked his father. He turned to see us both,

"Why are you two together? Where were you?" his father asked alarmingly. My father noticed this as well and looked at me with boiled-up suspicion,

"Your mother told me you were out for three days on a college project with a friend? It better not be him," my father asked gesturing to Sky, in the most angered tone,

This is exactly what I was worried and scared about.

I was just about to make an excuse when Sky interrupted, "Why would I ever go anywhere with him?" he said in a concerned voice,

"Of course, Dad. It's nothing," I agreed in the same tone as his,

"Then why did you two come together?" his father asked,

"Our buses arrived at the same time, Dad. That's all," he lied again.

This is what I was talking about, Sky. We both were so scared to face our fathers, how on Earth would we make them accept us?

"I don't care about him, don't you ever hang out with his son, Dew. Like father, like son, always remember that. He will do nothing but ruin your life," my dad commented looking at his father in fury,

"I think we should just shift to some place without him and his family," his father suggested looking at his mother,

"Look, the loser is running away again," Dad said sarcastically raising his brow,

"At least I don't do frauds like some douchebags," his father replied looking at me and then at Dad,

"I am sick of trying to prove myself, so you know what? Think whatever the heck you want. I don't care,"

"You can't prove yourself because that's exactly what a scammer cannot do,"

"You need to shut up before I break your face,"

"Or what?"

"Dad, please," I interrupted, "What fraud is he talking about?"

"Yes, Dad, what happened?" Sky asked,

"It's about time they should know," his father said, "He should know what kind of a person his father is,"

My dad scoffed, "He doesn't need to know useless things," he said shrugging,

"Ashamed to tell your own son? Fine, let me do the honors," his father sarcastically said and was about to start speaking to me when Dad stopped him,

"He doesn't need to hear anything from you," Dad held my hand, "Let's go inside," he ordered and pulled me in with him. Mom and Dani followed us in,

"Dad, I need to know what is going on. I need to know what happened to our families," I said as soon as we stepped inside,

He didn't reply anything, neither did he look at me. He stood with his arms folded and back facing me,

"Dad, at least defend yourself. Tell me you didn't do anything wrong?" I pleaded, "Look at me, Dad," my voice turned naturally deep as I walked towards him and turned him so he could look at me,

"You have to tell me. I have to know," I repeated, this time with an even more serious tone,

"Fine but promise me you will make any decisions after hearing the entire thing. You need to believe me, son. You need to have trust in me,"

I nodded. In my eyes, my Dad could never do anything wrong, he was someone I looked up to,

"You do know how we grew our family business, don't you?" he started,

I nodded again,

"I started it with Sky's father,"

"What? Why?" my eyes widened,

"Because we were best friends back then. We both have always wanted to start a business together, so we made plans, tried out various things, and started building a stronger base for the business. A few days after we received a call back from a so-called investor, ready to invest in us, but he conditioned us to lend half the money in debt. We already had a lot of debts floating over us, so we asked him for some more time.

Sky's father was managing the finance and account books. I thought that we really needed the money. We always took all decisions together, but that day, he had gone to his hometown to visit his parents. I thought, if I took the money from that investor, it would be a great help.

So, I contacted that person. We arranged a meeting and he asked for our bank log-in details saying he would directly transfer the money," he stopped and exhaled a deep breath,

"I did not know that you don't need log-in details for any transactions back then," he added.

I was speechless,

"When he came back from his visit, I was scared to tell him because he had put his heart into this business. When he found out, he thought I purposely wanted to ruin him. He spread such a negative word about me in the market that this business was about to fall to its deepest pits. No one wanted to work with me anymore.

At first, I tried to tell him that I didn't do anything on purpose and that it was just a mistake, but he never understood. He kept spreading lies about me and at a point, it was beyond my level of control,"

"And that's why you always taught me to hate Sky," my voice was never this defeated as it is today. His silence answered me.

"Why didn't you hand this business over to him then? That was the least you could do," I asked,

"A year after that, your mother was pregnant with you. I had to have something to support our family,"

I sighed, "No matter what, it was your responsibility to be indebted to Sky's father because of what you did. You knew how much he adored that business,"

"It wasn't fully my fault, Dew,"

"You faulted exactly where you took such an important decision without your partner, Dad. If you weren't at fault, you would not have been ashamed to tell me," saying, I got up and started walking towards the door,

"Dew, wait," Dad said getting up on his feet as well,

I stopped and turned around,

"Where are you going?" he asked,

"To get some fresh air,"

"Whatever it is, I don't want you anywhere near Sky,"

"Why? What wrong did he do?"

Dad got up as well looking at me,

"Because I said so, you don't need to argue over this with me,"

"Dad, I respect and love you a lot. I really do, but what you did is just not right. Why am I supposed to take responsibility for your wrongdoings? What fault did I and Sky commit? Why can't we decide upon our own lives?" I was beyond frustrated that I almost yelled.

Emotions took the best of me, especially disappointment.

"You were definitely with him this morning, weren't you? You never once talked back to your father, and now look for yourself. Just a little time with him has changed you this much. Don't you realize what's wrong?" Dad said indignantly,

I sighed, "Nobody changed me, Dad. I am just a little disappointed that I could not be a little closer to you. Maybe I failed in this relationship of a father and a son," I felt a lump in my throat as I was fighting back those tears,

"What are you saying?"

"If I was even a little close to you, you would have told me about this earlier, you would have trusted me, Dad. And about Sky, I don't want to hide anything from you. I don't know what will happen after I tell you this, nor am I scared anymore. I don't want to be in the guilt that I couldn't tell my father about myself," I paused and took a breath,

Let's do this, Dew. Let's tell him.

"I love Sky, we are boyfriends," I finally said. Silence floated for a few minutes as shock displayed on everyone's faces. Mom stepped further and kept a hand on Dad's shoulder, looking so worried.

"Dew! What are you saying?" Mom asked raising her voice,

"Why, Mom? Did I do something wrong?" I asked as I could not control the frustration,

"I didn't mind you dating anybody in this world, no matter even if it is a boy, but why did it have to be Sky?" she asked. Dani, my younger sister, held Mom's hand,

"He must have a reason. Dew is not a person who makes rash decisions. Trust him, Mom," she reassured her, rubbing the back of her hand,

I looked at Dad and I could tell; this was the most disappointed he could ever be in me. My heart broke by the way he looked at me as if I was nothing but disgusted.

"Nonsense," he said in a deflated tone, "What do you know about love? Don't give me that nonsense." His voice told me that he chose to be against me, which broke me further.

"You're right, maybe I don't know much about love. All I know is, he makes me feel free and happier. I realized he was always there for me, starting from our childhoods. Maybe I don't know much about love, but Dad, I love you and I feel so embarrassed talking to you. I don't know if this is what adults call love. I thought it was supposed to be something beautiful," I replied and continued walking towards the door leaving behind any hope left in me.

I stepped out and closed the gates behind me. I was so blank; I couldn't think of a single thing. This is not what I had expected to hear.

He was right, I didn't know what love was. Whatever it is, I wanted it to be Sky.

Walking ahead, I saw Sky sitting on the bench at the end of the road, head dipped down, our bags lay in front of his feet. Reaching there, I stood in front of his feet. He lifted his eyes to look at me, they were already red and puffy,

He got up, and as more tears pushed out their way, he hugged me. I held him, gently strolling his back,

"I told Dad, about us," he said in a breaking voice and painful cries,

"I did too," trying my best to not break down,

"Please tell me you're not here to end things between us?" he asked still crying sounding as pained as me,

"I fought with him to come back to you," I replied caressing his back in oval patterns.

I can't break down. Someone has to be there for him,

He pulled away, still gasping trying to catch his breath. I wiped his tears off,

"I wish we could meet again, until happier times," he said in a barely audible voice.

I wish we could meet again, too, Sky...

Another couple of tears rolled down his cheek. "I didn't imagine it to be like this," he said as his voice kept shattering.

I held both his hands, "Let's get away from here," I said, nodding.

We just need to be somewhere away from this disarray. We just needed to be somewhere safe. I didn't care if I was acting immature right now, I was just doing what I feel is right. Going back to my house, leaving him like this, was too cowardly for me.

We picked ourselves up and started walking back toward the road we came from, to the bus stop. 

***