Broken - Once Again?

Akshat’s POV

Love can happen at the most unexpected time with the least expected person. But have you ever wondered how much love can damage you to the core? Have you ever felt how unfair it is when one person takes all the decisions without thinking of the other?

Do you think it is fair?

Do you think love is something that can change with just one wrong move?

Certainly not. But it happened. It happened right in front of my eyes this morning when I woke up and heard some noises. Without wasting a single second, I moved to the living room, following the voices, and found my younger brother standing with a girl, garlands around their necks. The girl had a nuptial chain around her neck, along with vermillion in the partition of her hair — a direct proof of their marriage.

But I was not shocked looking at them. What caught my attention was the girl — my best friend, Aaria — who was standing like a statue. She had no emotion on her face, but her red, puffy eyes, shivering lips, and the shock on her face were clear.

Soon I heard her say, “Do you want me to congratulate them?”

“You want me to give them blessings? Okay, I will do that,” she said, looking at her mother.

“I will do it,” she said again and went near Shubham and Sakshi.

She hugged Sakshi and said, “I wish you both a very happy married life.”

Shubham interrupted her, “Thank you.”

“Let me complete,” Aaria suddenly said and turned to Sakshi. “Yes, I was saying I wish both of you a very happy married life — but not together.”

“I wish Shubham loves you exactly how much I have loved him, and you love him just as much,” she turned and looked at Shubham, “but someone else.”

“And you leave him exactly the way he left me — broken, devastated, begging, and—”

Suddenly Sana interrupted and held Aaria’s hand, dragging her to the room.

“Are you really serious? You were cursing him?” Sana asked after dragging Aaria into her room.

“He also cursed my life by leaving me alone to suffer and marrying someone else,” Aaria replied while sitting on the bed with no emotions. Sana reminded her, “Aaria, he is your best friend.”

“He is my love,” Aaria corrected her and said, “And I was the one who was destined for him. But no, he left me only to marry that friend of his. Then how can you expect me to congratulate him? How can you ask me to bless him for a happy married life?”

“You are not getting anything out of it,” Sana said, and heard, “I am getting my peace of mind.”

“Aaria, it’s not you,” Sana tried to make her understand, and suddenly Aaria stood and said in a high pitch, “Aaria has died — the one who cared for others. Now I will think about myself only.”

“I pledge to love myself and make me my own priority,” she declared and left the room barefoot.

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As soon as I saw Aaria getting out of the room, I followed her. She was running like a mad woman on the streets. She was wearing a white suit, and her clothes were completely soaked in rain. The mud was making her dirty, but she was nowhere close to stopping.

I was following her, but she was not listening. Chasing after her, we moved to the isolated road where barely any vehicle passed, and the road was covered with trees.

It was dark in the daytime, but her bleeding feet were visible to my eyes, and I was getting more worried every second.

I ran faster, yelling, “Aaria! Aaria!”

I ran even faster and held her hand in mine, yelling, “Where the hell are you going?”

“Stay away from me,” she yelled back and tried to push me. But I didn’t budge. I held her close to my body by her waist and said through gritted teeth, “Aaria?”

“Stop it,” I warned her and saw her breathing heavily. I requested, “Just listen to me.”

She suddenly punched me and was about to run, but I held her again, more tightly, and yelled, “Aaria!”

“Leave me,” she was struggling, trying to get out of my hold, and said, “How dare you touch me? I never gave you—”

But I pointed my finger at her and raised my voice, “Shut up.”

“Just shut up,” I said and asked her while keeping her body close to mine, “May I know what the fuck is wrong with you? How can you behave like a mad girl? You could have hurt yourself.”

I finished, and she looked at me like I had grown two horns. She asked me, “What did you say?”

I was shocked by her reaction, and she continued, “Hurt?”

“Are you worried about me getting injured?” she asked with teary eyes, and I nodded. Suddenly, she held my collar and asked, “What about my heart that is bleeding because of your fucking coward brother?”

“He chose that girl over me,” she screamed, trying to get away. “He made me a fucking side character in his life.”

She was yelling and screaming, but I was only listening since I knew what she was feeling. Although I haven’t gone through the same pain, my pain is not less than hers.

“Do you know what I am feeling?” she asked. And before I could say anything, she continued, “Do you know how I felt when I saw him getting married to her?”

“Do you know—” she was about to say more, and I gave up and replied rudely, holding her waist, “Yes, I know.”

Shock was clearly visible on her face when I said, “I know how it feels to see your love with someone else.

I know how the heart breaks into a million pieces when your love gives up on you,” I continued and palmed her face, saying, “I know every fucking thing.”

I was thinking about everything I had faced, and unknowingly, my hold on her body tightened. I heard her say, “Akshat, leave me.”

“Do you want to know how I know all these things?” I asked, pulling her lower body closer to mine. She struggled, “Leave me, Akshat.”

“No, I won’t,” I denied, and she was giving me the exact killer looks she gave me at our first meeting. I continued, “I won’t let you go away this time.”

“What?” She suddenly stood still, and I found her body tensed. The next moment, she pushed me.

She was about to run when I hugged her from behind and said in a husky tone in her ears, “Yes, I love you. I fucking love you, Aaria Gill.”

She wasn’t saying anything, but I knew she was trying to digest what she had just heard.

“I died every moment I saw you with Shubham,” I said, resting my face on her shoulder while the rain didn’t leave a single inch of us dry.

“I dealt with my broken heart alone,” I said and suddenly made her turn, and she was face to face with me when I declared,

“I am in love with you, Aaria.”