A short chapter it is,
But an important one nevertheless.

And although I have the next chapter all planned out, I haven't been able to write anything. I am trying my best so if there's anything you guys want to read, let me know.

Planning a lot of things, hopefully they will be up this week. So wish me luck.

And Enjoy Reading! :)

And sometimes life throws you into situations from which you can't escape. All you can do is endure or wait for it to pass.

When Nandini woke up, her head was throbbing. Manik was nowhere to be seen. She was not in his bed. She was all alone, in a room that was way to familiar for her.

Nandini was back to where she was years ago, in the room she had decorated with her very own hands. In the home, she and Vihaan had dreamed of. Nandini was not alone, for there was a baby bump she adored back then - five months pregnant with her Ruhi.

The walls seems to close in to suffocate her. Nandini knew it was a dream, a fragment of past, a painful memory she had always wanted to forget but she was stuck.

The thunder ecohed outside making her flinch. It was all too familiar. Nandini followed her own steps, unable to stop herself even when her heart thudded in fear.

Stop. She told herself. Wake up. She forced herself. But Nandini could nothing.

Vihaan was with his mother, in her room. They were having a conversation.

"A daughter? Are you kidding me, Vihaan?" Vihaan's mother's voice echoed in the room. Nandini's breathe hitched in her throat. How did they know?

"I need a heir! A son! I swear If she gave birth to a bloody daughter, I will throw her in an orphanage myself!" The elder woman didn't seem apologetic, instead determined.

And if Nandini thought the weather was scary outside, the thought of her daughter living in an orphanage, like an orphan was terrifying.

Her daughter in an orphanage? Why will her daughter grow up as an orphan when she had a family? When she had her?

"Maa, please calm down." A coward. Vihaan was a coward. Nandini cried in frustration.

"I can't! This bitch had ruined our lives! Why did you have to chose her out of all the women I selected for you!"

Screams, loud shouts and yells followed but all Nandini heard was the word orphanage. It echoed in her head, loud and clear. The thought of her daughter being abandoned - no, Nandini wouldn't let it happen.

Her daughter was precious. She wouldn't let it happen to her. She would run away.

And then there were familiar things. Nandini was picking up the cash, crying and when she was walking out of the house, she heard Vihaan calling out for her.

She cried, loud footsteps following her but Nandini didn't stop. She didn't look back. Instead, she increased her pace, uncaring of the scary weather.

She ran.

She ran, as if there were scary monsters following her. She ran, because she had to protect her daughter.

Manik woke up abruptly, hearing small whimpers followed by movements around him. The first thing he saw was Nandini crying in sleep, trying to get away from him. Tears streamed down her face, eyes shut tightly and hands enclosed in fists. She was shaking.

"No," She whimpered,"Stop."

"Nandini?"

To say, Manik was terrified. It took him a moment to realise Nandini was having a nightmare and Manik, he had never seen anyone get a nightmare in his life. He had no experience. He had absolutely no idea what was he supposed to do.

She wouldn't wake up. He shook her shoulder, called her out but Nandini was still crying.

Was he supposed to wake her up with water droplets? Or shake her harder? It worked out in series or movies, right?

"Nandini." He tried, holding her shoulders and shaking her hard this time.

Nandini woke up with a jolt, covered in sweat and eyes blown wide, her obreathes ragged. She pushed him away with a shreik, hard enough to send him stumbling away from the bed.

"Calm down."

"W-Where am I? Ruhi. Where's my Ruhi?"

He could tell she was confused, but she was more scared. No, Nandini was horrified. She looked around frantically but still couldn't spot Ruhi who was sleeping beside her.

She flinched when he stepped ahead so he just stopped and pointed to the blob of blanket beside her.

"Ruhi is sleeping. Move the blanket, she was cold. You - you both had fever. I got you both home. Remember?"

Manik swore he had never seen her moving so fast. She ripped the blanket off from Ruhi and picked her up, uncaring to how Ruhi was still sleeping. Thankfully, Ruhi didn't wake up.

"Nandini, baba. She is sleeping."

"I know. I- I need a minute."

Manik nodded. Taking in notice how she wouldn't stop trembling. He let out a sigh, stepping forward and watched when she moved back slightly.

"It is okay. I am just giving you water."

He waited for her to nod. Only when she did, he moved forward and filled a glass of water. Nandini didn't let him feed her this time. She took the glass herself with her shaking hands and drank it.

"Ruhi is fine. With you. She is safe."

He kept the glass back on the side table. Nandini nodded, laying Ruhi back and holding her trembling hand on top of her.

"I am sorry for pushing you." She apologized, suddenly aware of her surroundings. Her head wouldn't stop pounding and Nandini wondered how was she even awake.

Usually, nightmares end with her passing out or a fever.

"It is okay," Manik tried his best to not show the sheer panic he was feeling,"did you see a bad dream?"

"Dream?" Nandini still seemed fazed by the dream,"It was a memory. Scary."

Manik fell silent, wanting to ask but not knowing if he had the right. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable but at the same time he wanted to know what troubled her.

"Do you -," Manik paused, choosing his words correctly," - want to talk?"

She shook her head in no, head hung low but Manik just nodded his head in understanding, knowing well how difficult it must be for her to share and remember all those painful memories.

"Then," he spoke suddenly, thinking out loud,"Do you want to go on a coffee date with me?"

"Right now?" She asked, surprised.

"Ofcourse."

Nandini was not sure what he meant by the coffee date. Where would they get coffee at this hour.

"Sure." She wanted to find out.

To her surprise, Manik led her to the balcony. He told her to wait and fold out a mattress with the wall. They could sit and watch the entire sky from there.

"Sit down," he urged,"Since it is home and self service on top of that, you might need to wait for me for a few minutes?"

"Okay."

"Cool, should I give you your mobile? You might get bored."

Nandini shook her head in no,"No, I will wait for you."

Manik smiled to his fullest, sprinting downstairs as fast as he could.

He came back shorty and when he entered the balcony holding a tray that had two cups of coffee and cookies, he was surprised to find Ruhi sleeping peacefully in Nandini's lap.

Nandini had her eyes closed and she was humming along a tune while patting Ruhi.

"Did she wake up?"

Nandini flinched for a second, eyes wide and Manik chuckled at her expressions. She pouted, nodding.

"She started crying, so I got her here."

"Why? Is she hungry? We didn't even have dinner. Shit, sorry. You must be hungry too! Should I make something?"

Manik was babbling. Nandini shook her head in disbelief.

"Stop. There's no need Manik. It is past three already, we can have breakfast."

"Are you sure?"

Don't kids cry and wail so loud because of hunger? Manik had seen it in real life or even in movies and shit.

"Yeah, she was full when she had medicine. Let her sleep now."

"Okay as you say," he sighed, standing up again,"Give me a second."

Without waiting for her response, Manik walked inside and came back with a blanket in his hands. He didn't say anything but wrapped it around her before sitting beside her.

"It is cold."

"It is winter, what do you expect?"

"Yeah, I know. That's why this hot coffee."

With that he handed her the cup of coffee. Silence took over them and all that they heard were the sounds of their own sips.

Manik had so much to ask. Nandini had so much to tell. But they both didn't know where to start or end.

As if having read his thoughts from his face, Nandini spoke gaining his attention,"My in-laws, before - they didn't want Ruhi. So - I ran away."

If Manik was shocked at the half truth, he didn't show it on his face. From the way she was crying in her sleep, having a nightmare about it or how scared she looked when she woke up trembling all over, Manik knew it must have been scary, much more than she made it sound.

Running away takes courage, and to run away when you have a child - it takes more than courage.

So when Nandini looked down in guilt or maybe shame, Manik kept his hand on her head, petting it,"It is okay, you took the right decision. It must have been so hard for you."

She shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes,"I was lucky," Manik frowned,"A stranger helped me."

"Stranger?"

"Yeah, I was all alone. A nice guy helped me. If I am here today, it is all thanks to him. I wish I could thank him though."

"You didn't?"

"I never got to. I don't know who he was. He just helped me when I needed."

"I am jealous now."

"Why?"

"Why am I always late in your life?"

He pouted as she laughed.

"But I am glad I met you, Manik."

"I know right. I am an amazing person to be around."

He boasted around making her laugh. Manik chuckled, sliding down a little and keeping his head on her shoulder. Nandini seemed to have frozen for a second before she ruffled his hair.

"You are."

Manik smiled, closing his eyes. His heart content that she was safe, and she was smiling even after a nightmare because the last he remembered, she was down with a fever.

The night got colder but the warmth that slipped from the blanket and Manik sitting beside her, Ruhi sleeping in her lap, it gave Nandini the solace.

It was the first time she believed, even when life throws you into unbearably situations, there was always a way to endure, heal and to move on.

Like that night when she was all alone and a stranger helped her, or today when Manik came for her in the rain.

There's always hope, and Nandini was starting to hold onto it.