Chapter 35
Samaira
I looked at him as he said those things to me.
Things I have heard my friends say to me all this time.
Things I have told myself from the minute it happened.
But none of it made sense until now. None of it was drilled and engraved in my head till Kartik said it.
I looked at him in a different light, my ex forgotten like a piece of lint.
Kartik looked furious for me, not on me but for me. That felt good to have someone apart from your parents and friends feel that. It felt good.
In that moment, despite every attempt I’d made to deny it, despite how terrifying the realisation was, I knew I was in love with him.
With this man who I couldn’t stand just over a month ago.
This man who had kissed me like it meant something, like I meant something.
This man who stood by me without hesitation, who didn’t flinch when I unravelled, who didn’t shrink or lash out when I was unapologetically, messily myself.
He looked at me, as I lay in his arms, caressing my cheek as he gently said, “I love you.” I had no doubts he didn’t but it scared me nonetheless. The last time a man said he loved me, he broke me, broke my heart.
Kartik
I almost thought she hadn’t heard me, until her hands slipped from mine and she froze in my arms, her eyes wide, mouth parted in shock, like I’d just confessed to a felony, not to falling in love.
She stared at me like she didn’t believe I could ever mean it.
Like the idea that someone could actually love her was too impossible to digest.
She leaned back.
And before I could so much as blink, she stood up, spun around and bolted out of the room to my bedroom.
I stood there, in the middle of a damn living room, looking like a man who’d just been publicly dumped—which, I guess, in some ways, I had.
But I wasn’t pissed because she ran. I was pissed because I knew she'd run, and I still didn’t stop myself.
I should’ve told her when she wasn’t this vulnerable, where she couldn’t pull her classic track star move.
But I was glad I confessed in private where she could freak out all she wanted and I’d still be there.
For her. For me. For us .
Going to my room, there she stood, arms folded, back stiff as a board, facing the window. She hadn’t heard me approach, but she definitely felt it. Her shoulders tensed when I quietly shut the door behind me.
I didn’t say a word. I didn’t touch her. Just stood close enough to remind her I wasn’t going anywhere.
She turned. Eyes glassy, cheeks streaked with tears. Her hands landed on my chest, trying to shove me away, but I didn’t budge.
“Why… why did you say that?” she whispered.
“I meant it.”
“Why did you have to say that?!” she yelled, actually pushing me this time. I let her.
“Everything was going great! And then you go and drop the L word like a bomb. You can’t just… fall for me, Kartik!”
Oh, now I am pissed.
Because even after everything, every smile, every kiss, every late-night rant and 3 a.m. confession, she still believed she wasn’t someone worth loving.
All because some idiotic guy in her past treated her like a pit stop instead of a destination.
He was a dick. Not even deserving to call a man, he was a boy.
She wiped her face, breathing hard. “Everything was fine before. And it can still be fine. Just… take those words back.”
I stared at her. “What did you think all those kisses were for? National charity week?”
She huffed. “Let’s be real, you did enjoy publicly sticking your tongue down my throat.”
“Oh my god, Samaira, I am literally baring my soul here and you’re cracking jokes? I love you.”
She gasped, again. She really had a flair for dramatic oxygen intake.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” she whispered.
I softened. “Listen, if pretending that I never said it is what it takes for you to stay… then fine. I’ll pretend. I’ll spend every day trying to make you fall in love with me, and if you don’t… if by the end of it, you still don’t feel the same, I’ll walk away. No questions, no drama.”
I looked down, afraid I might fall apart. But when I glanced up, she looked… furious.
“I want you to stay, you idiot,” she snapped.
I let out a bitter laugh. “You want me to stay but can’t figure out how you feel about me? That’s peak rom-com nonsense.”
She threw her hands up. “You don’t get to take back your love confession! That’s cowardly and I will judge you.”
“Why not?!”
“Because I feel the same way, you absolute moron!” she shouted.
I froze. “Wait… what?”
“I love you too. And it terrifies me.”
I rushed toward her, gently gripping her arms. “Why?”
“Because I’ve never been loved like this. Never trusted someone enough to fall. But you… you scare me because I want to fall so badly .”
“Then do it,” I whispered. “I’m not asking you to jump alone. I’m already at the bottom, waiting to catch you. Fall, Samaira. I swear I’ll never let you hit the ground.”
A single tear slid down her cheek. I brushed it away.
“We’ve known each other for what, weeks? And yet, it feels like I’ve known you my entire life. I don’t care if it’s corny, I need you in my future. So take a chance. On me. On us .”
She took a shaky breath, rose on her toes, eyes locked on mine.
“A thousand times yes.”
I grinned like a fool and kissed her. Once. Twice. Ten times. Each one sealed with an “I love you.”
By the tenth, she was laughing into my mouth.
Later.
We stood on the balcony, her back to my chest, the city lights sparkling like we were in a movie.
She turned to face me, that same wonder in her eyes.
“I used to get annoyed at you so much… but I could never really hate you. Because deep down, I knew, you were the one. You were the reason it never worked out with anyone else.”
Tears burned in my eyes. She reached up and kissed me like she meant forever.
And honestly?
It felt like home.