14. NEXT TO EACH OTHER
Aarvi stiffened the moment she felt something odd in Amit’s touch. Her breath hitched, as discomfort rushed through her veins. She wanted to step back, but Pragya’s voice broke in before she could.
“Arre Amit, Kirti idhar aao!” Pragya called cheerfully, waving them closer.
Kirti moved quickly, but Amit lingered, his eyes darting once more toward Aarvi. A crooked smile tugged at his lips as he said, “Ladies are all there… what will I do?” His tone was light, but something in it made Aarvi uncomfortable. She tightened her grip on her pallu.
And then “ chachu, I need to talk to her.”
Aarvi’s head snapped toward the voice. Vivan. His tone was firm. Her stomach twisted. Now what does he want? To scold me again? To remind me this marriage is nothing? She cried silently, but her face remained calm.
“You can talk,” Amit replied with a forced grin, still not moving an inch.
“Privately,” Vivan repeated, voice low and dangerous this time.
Amit faltered. He saw the burning gaze of vivan and knew better than to test it. Without another word, he left.
Aarvi’s breath grew shallow. She stood awkwardly beside Vivan, afraid of what would come next. His gaze locked onto hers as he started “Aarvi, I am so..sorry. I didn’t mean-”
But before he could complete, she quickly whispered, “It’s okay-”
“No, it’s not okay!” Vivan cut in, his voice soft, lingered with guilt. His hand twitched at his side as he tried again, “You’re not the only one who is mar-”
But before he could complete, prisha interrupted them. “Got you!” Prisha said, gripping Aarvi's hand followed by Vedant’s laugh.
They started tugging Aarvi away before either she or Vivan could react. “Sorry bhai, but she’s ours for a while,” Vedant teased as Prisha looped her arm through Aarvi’s.
Vivan stood frozen, watching as Aarvi was dragged by his siblings. His jaw clenched tight, fists curling at his sides. The words he had almost spoken burned like fire on his tongue, leaving him restless and suffocated.
As Prisha and Vedant pulled her along, Aarvi laughed, trying to match their energy, but inside her heart was still trapped in that moment with him. He was going to say something… something important. She glanced back, her eyes scanning the crowd until they found him.
Vivan. Standing rigid, shoulders tense, eyes fixed on her with an intensity that made her chest ache.
Her lips pressed together. She smiled for Prisha’s sake, nodded at Vedant’s jokes, but her thoughts never left him.
They lingered around him.
The clock struck 2 a.m., and still, Aarvi lay awake, staring at the ceiling. Sleep wouldn’t come. Her thoughts ramied around on one absence. Vivan.
No one had seen him after the reception ended. No one seemed concerned either. His parents, his relatives, everyone had gone to bed as if this was unusual. Aarvi couldn’t figure it out. How can a family sleep so peacefully when one of their own hasn’t returned home?
Frustration increased inside her chest. Unable to bear the suffocating silence of the room any longer, she slipped out quietly and climbed to the rooftop for fresh air.
But the sight that met her eyes made her pause.
There he was. Vivan. Sitting on a cushion, his posture relaxed yet heavy with something she couldn’t name. In his hand, a cigarette burned faintly, glowing in the night. She froze, stunned. She had never known he smoked.
He noticed her almost instantly. His eyes lingered on hers for a second & then he quickly put the cigarette out, as if ashamed.
“You here?” they both asked at the same time, their voices overlapping.
Vivan exhaled a faint chuckle. “I’m not feeling sleepy.”
“Me too,” Aarvi admitted, her voice soft almost hesitant.
Silence settled between them. Then his voice cut through. “Why didn’t you protest,” he asked suddenly, his gaze fixed on her, “when they were forcing you to marry me?”
Aarvi’s heart clenched at the bluntness of his question. She lowered her eyes, fingers clutching the edge of her dupatta. How do I explain pain he doesn’t even want to see?
“I… I didn’t have any other option,” she said, her voice trembling, barely above a whisper.
For a long moment, Vivan just looked at her. His jaw tightened, his eyes unreadable.
“And you?” Aarvi asked quietly. “Why didn’t you protest? You could’ve fought harder than me. Why did you accept?”
Vivan froze, her words hitting him like a mirror. He looked away, his fists curling slightly against his knees. “Because…” he faltered, swallowing hard, “…sometimes, even when you fight, you still lose.”
Aarvi blinked, taken aback. His voice wasn’t laced with anger this time. It carried exhaustion, Defeat.
For the first time, she saw not just the arrogant, bitter man she had been forced to marry, but also the cracks underneath, the parts of him that hurt just as much as hers.
The silence between them now wasn’t suffocating. It was heavy.
She sat down near him, not too close, but not far either. Both stared into the distance, the night sky stretched wide above them. Neither had the answers, neither had the courage to say everything.
They just looked at the wide sky filled with stars.
And that's how they both drifted to sleep, first time next to each other.