Jai stood there, sporting a bloody lip. Blood trickled down his eyebrow and it left a trail as it slid down his right cheek.

He had a small bruise on his cheek that was turning slightly purple and his white shirt was marginally stained with what looked like small droplets of blood.

Ignoring my cry of horror, Jai angrily chucked the car keys on the table. What baffled me was that he didn't look to be in any pain at all–just very mad.

Jai went straight towards the kitchen, his eyes ablaze and his hair disheveled.

"J-Jai, what did you do?" I cried, following him like a lost puppy, wanting answers.

Jai gulped down a glass of water before placing his hands on the sink in front of him. He leaned forward and took soft breaths in and out, the anger radiating off of him as he made a visible effort to control himself.

"Leave. me. alone." His words, spoken in a low and even tone, were laced with a warning.

But, I didn't want to leave him when he was hurt. Who knew if he'd do anything to stop his cuts from getting infected?

The cut on his lip could be healed with the first aid kit. I didn't have to know what he did, but I wanted to help.

Stepping closer, I put a hand on his back but he shrugged it off and whirled around, startling me.

Jai stared me down fiercely. His jaw tensed and his eyes hardened as the fire in them flashed a warning. I ignored him, reaching up to touch his chin instead of his lips; touching his lips would be very... intimate in my eyes.

The physical contact made the both of us freeze. Anything to do with physical contact made me panic. Though, there was that day he had caught me off-guard by hugging me.

He pushed me away roughly soon after; the hug then seemed to just be because I was the only person there who he could hug to find comfort.

But, this was...different.

After the incident, I was extremely wary of physical contact, but just a feather-light touch against his skin, made me feel slightly different. Like I didn't need to be scared.

The warmth that radiated off of his skin and the contact between us, was enough to make me jump.

Jai's hard eyes softened. I tore my eyes away, daring not to look into his eyes. I was embarrassed whenever his gaze, that wasn't one filled with anger, met mine.

Instead, I fixed my eyes on his chin.

I mumbled with a frown, "Your lip is bleeding."

Due to the silence, my eyes trailed up from his chest and to his eyes slowly in hesitation. He was watching me incessantly, my stomach jolting at his gaze. I quickly looked away, fumbling with my shawl.

"I'll get the first aid kit."

"I don't nee–"

"Yes, you do!"

In a tidal wave of confidence, I grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the living room. I pushed down on his shoulders to make him sit down on the sofa.

My efforts were weak, yet, he still sat down without complaining. The glint of realisation flickered in his eyes briefly, but before I could confirm it was indeed what I thought it was, it vanished.

I stayed silent for a few seconds, before speaking softly.

"Um, I'll be back."

His eyes were firmly transfixed on me. Trying to ignore his gaze, I rushed upstairs and grabbed the first aid kit that I kept under the mini cabinet where I prayed, a big photo of Jesus placed on it.

Hurrying back down, I tried not to shy away from his intense gaze on me. Glancing at him, his eyes were narrowed as he scrutinized me with such intensity that I automatically took a step back.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked, his voice low.

"What do you mean?" I said, with incredulity. "I want to help you."

"And I want to know why."

"Because..." I sighed, biting my lip in embarrassment. I didn't want to tell him that I wanted to help because I didn't want to see him hurt. I couldn't.

"I've only ever hurt you, haven't I?"

I said nothing and he let out a loud sigh, noticing my lack of response.

"Never mind," he grumbled.

I hesitantly crossed the room towards him. As if on cue, Jai widened his legs so that I could stand between them. He then gently gripped my wrist and pulled me closer, causing me to gasp.

"You have to be close to me in order to fix my lip, not two metres away," he said, bluntly.

Nodding softly, I hesitantly held out a damp square-shaped cloth. The atmosphere wasn't awkward or as tense as I thought it would be.

It was silent. But in a gentle and relaxing way.

Reaching down, I dabbed it onto his lip. Grabbing a cotton swab, I dipped it into hydrogen peroxide.

I glanced at him unsurely.

"This might hurt a little."

He clenched his jaw, bracing himself.

"Alright," came his disgruntled reply.

I placed the swab on the vertical cut that still bled profusely. Jai instantly reacted by hissing and gritting his teeth, his body turning rigid for a few minutes.

Being as gentle as possible, I continued to deep-clean the wound and noticed that his stiff shoulders had relaxed.

"Hey," he said, softly, getting my attention.

I looked at him expectantly, freezing in place.

"Yes?"

Jai's expression displayed guilt as his eyes looked into mine.

"Look, about earlier today," he cleared his throat, "I'm sorry."

I cocked my head, surprised at his sudden apology.

"For what?"

A muscle in his jaw began to tick rapidly and he swallowed hard.

"For telling you to mind your own business. You were just trying to help."

I did nothing but blink; everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. The sudden apology and his change in behavior–none of it made sense.

There was no bad gut feeling, but it was unusual. I said nothing but gulp and nod, continuing to tend to his wounds.

Ignoring whatever happened a few minutes ago, my mind drifted back to what happened for him to be injured. But I didn't want to risk the peaceful silence that had engulfed us now as I worked in tranquil.

Nor did I want to get yelled at like a little child.

Finishing up, I fixed my eyes on the cut that looked a bit better than when I had first seen it. I let a small, satisfied smile spread across my face, not realizing Jai was silently watching me.

Not until I looked at him to tell him that I was finished.

His blazing gaze caused the words that I intended to say, to get stuck in my throat. My stomach flipped at the unexpected attention and I stood foolishly, fumbling with the first aid kit that I had zipped up in embarrassment.

After a couple of minutes of contemplative silence, he exhaled noisily through his nose.

"I got into a fight with Rahul," he said, breaking the silence.

My jaw went slack at the sudden confession and stared at him.

"What? Why?"

Jai said nothing. He averted his eyes away from me to the ground, his eyes flashing with fierce anger.

"He called–" he stopped himself, his fists clenched so hard that his knuckles gleamed white against his tanned skin.

"He called? Who?" I asked, confused.

Jai grunted in irritation. He let his fists unfurl and relax, running a hand through his hair.

"No. He called you something he shouldn't have." His voice was low, but filled with a vehement rage.

My body froze and my breath hitched as his words processed in my mind.

Did he fight with Rahul because he...called me ugly?

"What?" I uttered, in shock. "Jai, I don't understand. Why wo–"

"–because he was asking for it. So he got what he deserved." Jai cut me off and shrugged as if it was nothing. He pushed himself off of the sofa and walked past me.

I was still frozen, staring at the spot on the sofa he was sitting on.

"Why?" I spoke up louder. My eyes blurred with tears of joy and also sadness.

No one had ever fought for me. For anything.

"Because you're—you're not ugly." Came his simple reply. "Which is what I wanted to tell you earlier; you looked beautiful at the party. I didn't get to tell you that day because I was too busy being a bipolar dick."

I bit my lip to refrain from smiling and crying at the same time.

No had done that for me.

"But, why would you do that...for me?" I said softly, laughing a little, but choking on my unshed tears.

"Because..." he sounded unsure himself. He let out a sigh. "No matter what, you're still my wife. The fact that some other dick insulted you didn't sit well with me. If anything, the only one that can do that is me."

"Hey!" I protested, turning around. "That's not nice." He chuckled lowly and I smiled, wiping my tears.

There was a pause before he added, a little hesitantly, "And also, you're more beautiful than you think."

His comment made my heart soar and butterflies in my stomach to erupt.

Why am I feeling like this?

The conclusion I came to, was because I was happy at what he said. No one had ever said anything like that to me, especially not Jai, and to hear it from him, it seemed like it was a genuine compliment.

I didn't believe I was beautiful; I was dirty and disgusting. Unfortunately, nothing would ever change that.

However, having someone call me something as strong as beautiful, still managed to make me tear up and give me some sort of hope.

He looked away from me, his face giving nothing away as he turned and walked up the stairs. His absence gave me a chance to let my shoulders loosen and a couple of stray tears to run down my cheeks.

I didn't know what came over him to be so nice to me, but I didn't question it. I even went as far as to text Gavin a smiley face because I was elated at having someone support me about something.

And that someone being Jai!

I froze, my grin fading as I stared at the phone. It was after I had texted Gavin that I had realised what Chelsea was trying to tell me.

Grabbing my phone, I dialled Chelsea and brought it to my ear.

"Hey, Karishma. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. But you wanted to tell me—" I glanced behind my shoulder to see if Jai was around. I didn't want him misunderstanding. "—something about Gavin?"

"Yeah." She sighed, the sound a little muffled. "Look, it's nothing big but I think you should know, anyway. Gavin—ever since his ex cheated on him multiple times, he's been different. It's been five years but it's affected him a lot. He's vowed to be independent but he can be a little sensitive. He hides the fact that he doesn't care about women at all even though it may not seem like that to you.

He doesn't mean it in a nasty way—it's just that he's wary of women. I thought when he met you that he genuinely cared about you—and he does. It's just, sometimes, he's careless and at the back of his mind he's scared. He just doesn't realise that not every woman is like his ex. Basically, he doesn't want to be too vulnerable with you or with any woman so he just tries to act like he doesn't care but it backfires. That's why he did some messed up shit at that party. I know it's no excuse because he should have been there for you but I feel like I owe it to you to explain."

It was a lot of information to process. I was a tad bit shocked, to be honest.

"Why didn't he tell me this himself?"

"I wanted him to tell you but he didn't. He didn't think it was necessary but honestly I think you have the right to know."

Ross had told me about his past briefly but I didn't know it had affected his life to such a large extent.

"I didn't know he was going through that," I said, guilt lacing my tone. "I feel bad for avoiding him."

"Don't. I completely understand. He's definitely a little confusing and hard to read. The thing is, recently he's made some other friends that are bad influences on him. I sound like a worried mother but honestly I see him changing and becoming darker bit by bit. You don't see it but he's broken inside and I just want you to continue talking to him. I think you're a good influence on him. Just please give him a chance."

I let out a mini sigh. "Alright. Thanks for telling me, Chelsea."

"No problem. Thanks, Karishma. You're a good person."

As I ended the call, I let out a loud breath. My shoulders relaxed as if a huge weight was lifted off them.

It made a little sense to how he had been reacting but I didn't think there was a whole reason behind it. Not that it was an excuse but I understood why he acted the way he did.

He thought I could take care of myself and if he paid further attention to me then I would take advantage of his kindness.

Though the situation could have ended badly for me, I was lucky I had Jai. So there wasn't much reason for me to stay mad at Gavin because I was alright, at the end of the day.

But what was shocking was how different Gavin had turned out to be from what I initially thought of him.

It was so strange.

***

As I was putting out the bins, a piece of paper stapled to a nearby tree caught my attention.

It wouldn't have any other day, but since I was close to it, I could read what it said and it was for a casual job.

My heart swelled up in hope and I walked closer, only for it to drop again.

'In search of a dog walker near neighbourhood—possibly short term and if interested and for more detail, please take a tab and give me a call!'

It wasn't exactly what I had in mind but it was a job nevertheless. Plus it sounded pretty chill—it was only walking a dog.

It couldn't be that hard.

It's not like Jai would let me work, though. He probably just wants me to stay at home and do boring things.

I sighed but took a tab anyway, holding onto it tight. As I walked inside, I ventured into the kitchen,
placing the tab underneath the coaster.

I decided I wanted a change - plus I wasn't doing much - so I made some beef cutlets.

As I was shaping the beef into ovals, Jai sauntered into the kitchen and leaned against the wall leading into the kitchen.

I stuck my tongue out a little as I focused on shaping the beef into similar shapes. I could feel a familiar set of eyes on me, but I ignored it.

That was until I shaped the last cutlet, and raised my eyes to find Jai watching me. The smile on my face wobbled slightly and under his gaze, I almost squirmed at the uncomfortable feeling.

His hands were in his pockets and his eyes were trained solely on me, watching me work. I gulped because I didn't know what to make of it; I didn't know how to react.

"Yes?"

"Do you want some help?"

He strolled over casually and stood beside me, patiently waiting for me to give him instructions.

It was very weird for him to be speaking so civil with me, so I was a bit wary.

"Help? You? Helping me?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh—"

He let out a soft sigh. "I know I haven't been the greatest husband, nor the greatest person in the world. I've apologized way too much and then hurt you again."

I looked away, awkward all of a sudden.

"Aisha is history. I want you to know that." I could feel his gaze on the side of my head. "I can't force my feelings for her away but I'm not going to act on them either."

"You're not going to act on them because she's a horrible person," I finally glanced up at him, "right?"

Jai ran a hand through his hair, his unblinking eyes fixed on me.

"Her being a horrible bitch is part of the reason," he agreed, nodding, "but, that's not why. I'm doing it so that we can be civil with each other."

I nodded, not entirely convinced and turned away, ignoring his gaze and what he said. I pushed the tray of breadcrumbs towards him.

"Can you please cover the cutlets in bread crumbs after I dip them in the egg mixture?"

I could feel his eyes still on me, and silence engulfed us before he sighed at my lack of response.

"Yeah," he said, "sure."

Jai pulled up his sleeves and we both got to work, the happiness that was bubbling up inside me from before, coming back as we worked slowly.

"Quickly, quickly!" I hurried him.

We were currently racing to finish the last cutlets we had and Jai was struggling. His cutlets were breaking and falling apart before he could cover the cutlet with the crumbs. 

Jai used both hands to mush the last broken cutlet together, attempting to cover it in bread crumbs.

"Ah, shit! Why isn't this bloo–"

"Jai! If you could use that energy into shaping the cutlets, that would be much appreciated!" I scolded.

Jai scowled at the cutlet and I resisted the urge to snort in amusement. It was funny how in this situation, I was the boss.

I was scolding him for a change and he was obedient.

It felt nice.

I watched as Jai somehow managed to squish the cracks together and quickly covered it with more bread crumbs.

He hurriedly placed the finished cutlet onto a tray alongside the other cutlets, his face expressing vexation.

"Shit." He let out a deep, relieved breath and turned to look at me, appreciation in his eyes. "If that's what you have to go through when cooking, then I'm impressed."

I smiled, laughter bubbling up. "It's fun and easy once you get used to it."

"Fun?" He let the word slip out distastefully, his eyes wide. "You call losing all your hard-work, fun?"

I blinked up at him. It didn't sound very fun when he worded it like that.

"I mean I don't have much to do. This is the only source of entertainment I really have."

He raised an eyebrow. "You know, you can work if you want to."

"Wait, really? I mean, I just want something to do to fill up my time. I don't really want a job-job."

It felt too good to be true. Just when I had found a job that seemed to be perfect, Jai was actually encouraging me to work as well.

"Yeah." He shrugged. "I don't mind what you do as long as you're happy with it."

My smile couldn't have been any broader than it was then. I raced over to the coaster I had placed the tab under and brought it out.

"Well, then I want to be a dog walker!"

He raised an eyebrow, lips twitching in amusement.

"A dog walker?" He snickered a little. "That's not really a proper job?" Seeing my face, he added in, "Well, are you sure?"

I frowned. "I know it's not a proper job—I just want to do something that's casual. Is there something wrong with being a dog walker?"

"No, there's nothing wrong with that." He shrugged. "I just wanna warn you that it's probably harder than it sounds."

"I get paid, right?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then I think it's a great idea. And plus I love dogs!"

Jai looked at me skeptically and I tried really hard to push down the growing fear in me. He wasn't very encouraging about this and his word of 'warning' was beginning to scare me.

"You love dogs? Really? I've never seen you with an animal before," he said, crossing his arms.

I shrugged. "That's because you don't know me well. I've been around plenty!" I fibbed, forcing a smile.

The truth was, regardless of whether I was an animal lover or not, I just really wanted to do something small with my time even if it wasn't a seven day thing or a proper job.

It was better than sitting in the house doing nothing, cooking or just browsing through the laptop — which I could do after the dog walking anyway.

Besides, the owner