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It had been around 6 hours to their final outbursts and no one spoke about it after that. Nandini being highly tired after exhausting herself emotionally and mentally, had slept in Manik's arms after crying for a long time. Manik after carefully tucking her in the bed, had come out only to witness four worried people walking to and fro around the living room. Seeing him, they immediately rushed to him asking how did it go and he assured them that everything was fine between them now....hopefully.
George and Lexie finally left to their home, taking a promise from Manik to call them if some problem arises and to keep them updated on Nandini's condition. Arya and Maddy too left for Singhania House in NYC, to give the couple some privacy.
So presently, Manik and Nandini sat in each other's embrace in Nandini's balcony, after Nandini woke up with another nightmare an hour ago. No words were being spoken. They were just trying to feel each other's presence after such a long time.
Nandini was time to time looking back at Manik's face to make sure that he was with her and not vanished. This act of her's pierced Manik's heart seeing the amount of fear she had. He could feel her tense sometimes when his hands stopped caressing her hairs, maybe thinking that he was a mere imagination and that he would leave her. There he would just bend down to place a soft kiss on her forehead to assure her that everything was fine and that he was with her in real.
After a long silence, Manik finally decided to break it. " Shona.", and Nandini closed her eyes to take in the moment when she heard this endearment after so long. When he encountered her last, he not for once called her with this name and that had settled an unknown fear in her. She feared that maybe their love has reduced. She feared that maybe they would never be the same again.
Manik noticed this change in her and decided to make things clear for once. He adjusted Nandini comfortably on his lap inspite of her protests that it would affect his wound and made her look at him.
" Tell me Shona. What are you thinking? You want me heal you na? So Bacha you have to tell me everything thats going on in this stupid mind of yours. Trust me, I won't judge you.", he said, clicking her forehead playfully, earning a slightest flick in her lips. The slightest smile he has ever seen. It pained him to see the girl who used to give him the widest and most beautiful smiles ever, the girl whose laughs and giggles would literally make his day, struggle to even smile once now. But he can't blame her. She has probably not smiled for about two months now, and with the level of depression she had, we can't expect her to change suddenly. But she was making efforts and that gave him assurance that she was still his Shona.
