This is crucial. We need to talk about this. And not just about the fact that I kissed him. It's the fact that I love him and I don't want to lose him again. I made that mistake once of not telling my true feelings for him. It's not a mistake that I will make once more.

    I'm half walking, half sprinting towards Manish's apartment. My heart is pounding against my chest so hard that I think the people of the Czech Republic can hear it loud and clear.

Sweat is dampening my palms and my fingers are shaking slightly. A thousand and one thoughts are racing through my mind. At least 90% of them are questions that I need to have answered within the next 30 minutes or my head is going to explode.

I don't have to wait for long, however, because when I get to the door, I instantaneously bang my fist against it. The few seconds that come after that feel like hours. I'm just waiting for him to open the door so that we can finally put this thing to rest.

Those hour-like seconds pass by eventually, and Manish swings the door open. He doesn't even waste a second of my time. He just immediately says, "Come in, Jaya."

I bolt inside the apartment, as he closes the door and locks it. I turn back around, and restrain the urge to yell, "I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU, GODDAMNIT," that's starting to consume me. Patience is key, Jaya. Patience is key, I reiterate to myself.

Instead, I opt to start on a softer note, and I say, "We really need to talk about what happened last night."

Manish nods his head vigorously, as I can see in his eyes that he's itching to tell me something. I can see the hungry desire of wanting to get this off his chest. Like this is something he can't keep in any longer or he'll just explode. "Do you mind if I start first?" he asks gently.

I try to restrain my wildly beating heart so I don't collapse on the floor right here, but I can only do so for such a short period of time. I hope he makes this quick. "Sure."

Manish's chest inflates with a deep breath, and in one sentence, he spits out, "I love you, Jaya."

At that moment, my heart stops. My jaw falls open a little bit, and this time, the only thing I manage to croak out is, "Manish, I-"

"I'm serious," he continues. "I fell in love with you when it was too late the last time. I was at the airport, waiting for my flight to Seattle, and I realized. I didn't tell you how I felt, and that was, and forever will be, the worst mistake of my life."

I'm standing there, absolutely dumbfounded. Oh my god, he loves me back. Oh my god, we were both in love with each other. How could I have been so stupid? These thoughts ring in my head continuously, as Manish continues on.

"Jaya, leaving you and not admitting that I loved you will always be my biggest mistake. I don't want to make that mistake twice. And you don't have to feel the same way. At all. I just wanted to get this off of my chest, because you deserve to know. I can't lie to myself, and I for sure can't lie to you. Jaya, I'm in love with you. In fact, I'm, sort of, madly in love with you."

Madly.

Madly.

He's madly in love with me.

That word just keeps on playing in my head repeatedly like a broken record. Manish isn't just in love with me. He's madly in love with me. Oh my god, if I'm dreaming, please don't wake me up, I think to myself.

Manish, with nothing else to say, just looks at his feet a little bit as I can sense that he's waiting for a response from me. Breathe in, breathe out, I tell myself, as my heart is now racing at a thousand miles a minute and my mind is abuzz with a trillion thoughts.

The only thing I manage to squeak out is, "Manish?"

He looks up, with a giant mixture of fear and curiosity dulling his brown eyes. "I'm in love with you too!" I finally croak.

Relief washes over his face, as I see his lips part slightly in surprise. "You-you are?" he squeaks, as he inches up closer towards me.

This time, I feel like I've finally found my voice. The millions of thoughts that were bolting through my mind are now rolling off my tongue at the same pace. "I also realized I loved you when you left. With the song, and the picture book, and everything, it was just a huge punch."

Manish tucks a little baby hair behind my ear.

"And then now, with the dance, and me kissing you, and all that, I just can't deny-"

And then he's kissing me.

He doesn't let me blabber like an idiot for any longer. Once again, my breathing stops and I feel my eyelids gently fall until they're shut. My ramble is now reduced to a few moans of pleasure in the back of my throat, as I part my lips and taste his cherry flavored chapstick.

Our kiss deepens, as I feel Manish gently cup my face. His thumb lightly traces over my chin and I inhale his ocean scented cologne. My moans deepen slightly, as I loop my arms around his neck and my knees fully loosen.

Despite the fact that my heart had been beating all this time, this was the first time in a while I truly felt alive. The weight of my actions from years ago has now been released, and I feel like I can breathe and live again. The utterly sublime feeling of relief and satisfaction tunes out the entire world and lets me focus on Manish.

Every now and then, our lips disconnect so we can breathe and really drink in the situation to make sure we're not dreaming, before we go back to devouring each other again. But eventually, we disconnect, and my eyes slowly creep open so I can get a good look at Manish. His eyes also creep open, as we both inhale and exhale deeply.

When we both look into each other's eyes, a giant smile starts to creep up on our faces. "Woah," Manish exclaims, as I continue to just stand there, at a loss for words.

Woah indeed, I think to myself. Eventually, the right words come up at the back of my throat, and I'm able to exhale out, "That was amazing."

Manish nods excitedly, as we're both standing and letting the joy fuel our giant smiles. I chew on my lip a little bit, as I look down at my feet. I have no clue what to say now. I love him, he loves me, and we kissed again. What else needs to be said?

Manish himself looks at his own feet, before clearing his throat slightly. He stands up a little bit straighter, which adds the aura of false confidence to his slightly awkward smile. "So, uh, I guess this is the part where I ask if you want to be my girlfriend."

I shrug, as his hand goes to the back of his neck to rub it. "I mean, if you want to be my boyfriend, sure."

Manish nods positively again, as he removes his hand from the back of his neck. "Oh, of course I would. I don't want anything else. So, you tell me a yes or no. Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

The slight emphasis on the "my" causes a slightly devilish idea to pop up in my mind. A slightly evil smile curls at my lips, as I notice his lips parted with anticipation. "I've got a better answer," I say, as I lean in once more.

Manish follows suit, as I gently press my lips against his. This time, there's no nerves that are causing a thousand thoughts to run past my mind. Manish does nothing to stop me, as he groans ever so softly in the back of his throat.

My hands go to caress his chest, as his hands gently grab my waist and bring me closer towards him. Our mouths break apart, but this time, we refuse to loosen our grip around each other.

Satisfaction twinkles in Manish's awestruck eyes, as his lips stretch into a grin. "I'll take that as a yes."

My hand goes to gently cup his face so that I can look deep into his eyes easier. I exhale in pure satisfaction, as the thought of Manish as my boyfriend sends a feeling of euphoria crashing through my chest. "My answer was never going to be 'no.'"

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Ah, finally! After one and a half books, we finally get to see Manish and Jaya together! What did you think of their kiss?

I had someone predict that Manish would confess first, and they were right! What did you think of their kiss? Did you prefer this one or their very first kiss overall in Chapter 19?

I hope you guys liked this chapter, regardless of your kiss preference! As always, please vote/comment/message/share/follow (both on here and on Instagram [svts.writes]) for updates regarding my works! See you in the next chapter!

Love you guys,

Shree