New Beginnings and Strange Sufferings

"Is there any specific reason why you would feel that?" Ilyan braced himself for an outburst, aware of the myriad of emotions that were overwhelming her. He could see there was a lot going inside her mind, and he would have been glad if she could vent it all out. Bottling things up was going to mess things up more than they already were.

He waited, but she kept her lips sealed. They sat in fraught silence. He had let her have her space, not interrupting her silent thoughts that were keeping her company apart from him. For a fleeting moment, a strange desire passed through him - if she would ever enjoy his company more than theirs - but the next moment, he found himself surprised at the way his mind and heart were proceeding when it came to her.

"Ayden and I… have seen such beautiful moments that I can't come in terms with the fact that he can never be a part of my life again. You know that feeling… when you have someone's time, attention, and affection for a significant period of time, it's unimaginably tough to start all over again. Start… without them by your side," Irene spoke breaking the silence that had hovered between them. Collecting words to put it all in had never seemed so easier to her than it did, that night. It flowed smoothly, almost opposite to how it went in her mind.

"When have beginnings been easy anyway!" Ilyan exclaimed. His head turned toward her, and coincidentally, so did hers. "But as tough as they may be, the first step must be taken. Go slow… uncaring the judgments of the world. You must not let them bother you because once you allow them to creep in, know that they will have you crumpled down even before you can realize."

'You cannot fall weak now.' She had to remind herself for yet another time. Despite breaking all the ties with Ayden, having Kiara getting closer to Ayden was somehow unsettling her. Though she had always known about the soft corner Kiara held for Ayden, she had never been bothered because of it, but now, when she was strictly not supposed to bother, she was. She was bothered, and she was not going to lie to herself about it.

"It can't happen overnight. It is going to take time, and you must give yourself that time. Healing… demands you to know that the broken needs time before starting to make it whole again."

Ilyan's words of wisdom continued when she did not say a word.

"Take me back home, can you?"

"Sure." He obliged right as the request escaped her mouth and made their way back to her place.

<>

Kiara's eyes brimmed as she watched Ayden regaining his consciousness. She swiftly turned her head away to wipe those water drops escaping her eyes before he could see them.

"How are you feeling?" She approached him, and stood near the bed he lay on.

His lips parted, and she could see them moving, but she could not hear anything. His struggle to speak continued for a couple of minutes before he was finally able to get some voice out of his throat.

"H...how is the pu...puppy?"

Wow. There her heart was going crazy, scared for his life, and there he was… worried about the dog.

"He is okay. At the animal care center. I just had a word with them," she told him in a calm tone, masking the terror in her heart and pain in her eyes. It wasn't hard for her. She had been concealing her emotions for so long now that she had become good at it. Initially - it was troublesome.

She had thought that she wouldn't be able to manage to be normal around him and hide all that her heart held for him, but with time and practice, she had mastered the art to keep a grip on her emotions if not keep them in check.

Ayden's first attempt of lifting his body was a brutal failure. His half-in-air body slumped back on the bed, and his already pounding head began throbbing.

"Careful." She rushed forward, her hand stretching out to comfort his head, but she pulled it back within the time.

His eyes fluttered open, but he had to shut them. Getting them to fully open was just worsening his headache.

"Don't try to get up. Just rest here for the night," Kiara said, her heart aching to move closer to him to run her hand through his hair until he felt better but no, she could not do that. That was out of boundary. The unsaid boundary that his love for someone else had made her draw. Perhaps, he would never know what it took her to watch him wincing in pain and stand at a distance. Being helpless was usual when it came to him, she sighed.

"Where am I?" His half-open eyes scanned the unfamiliar surrounding.

"My home."

Her home? He was at her home? 'What the fuck?' He cursed in mind as he forcibly pushed his body forward ignoring the tremendous pain shooting through his muscles. He couldn't spend a night at her place. Nah. Not happening.

"I have to go." With that, he tried to get himself out of the bed but his tired body refused to support him in any way and came crashing on the bed. He prepared himself for another bad hit to his already throbbing head but when seconds passed and he stayed unhurt and rather felt his head resting on something soft, he opened his eyes to see what had happened.

He looked dazed for a moment upon realizing that - that soft something - was Kiara's hand. She had held it a little above the bed to protect his head from roughly landing on the bed.

His eyes locked with hers for a moment until she softly placed his head on the bed. The concern in her eyes was alien to him. Just the same as what he had felt the other night when she had been there to comfort him. Why Kiara was doing what she was doing was beyond him. He couldn't fathom why she would care in the first place.

"You can't go. The medicines will make you dizzy. You won't be able to go on your own and my parents are already mad at me for stepping out -" She bit her lower lip when his eyes widened at the information. Mad at herself for mentioning that, she tried to cover up. "No, I mean, the storm is bad. I am scared and won't be able to drop you home so just stay here for the night, okay? You take rest. I'll be back in a while." She needed to exit the place for the blunder she had made.

'Damn, no.' She had just turned around to leave when her wrist was gripped.

"You are scared to step out now but you weren't scared to step out earlier to get me out of the storm?"

'Why the heck this guy was hell-bent on making her break every promise that she had made to herself?' His voice was a threat to her pretense. She couldn't risk turning behind and meet his gaze. No, not at that moment so she did the best she could - struggle to escape.

"Kiara."

His voice softened, and almost magically put an end to her struggling self.

"Is there anything that I should know and I don't?"