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Josh audibly sighed before delving into the "actual talk," saying, "Those 5 hours I searched for you, I was scared you had taken your life. What were you even thinking, Shivi? Until I found you, my heart was in my hand. For 22 years, I lived without knowing you existed, but the thought of even 22 seconds without you now sends me into a panic."

As Shivi hugged him, sobbing, Josh cupped her face, put his forehead on hers, and rubbed his thumb on her cheek.

His voice broke as he said, "Don't say sorry. No matter what happens, you will never think about ending your life. If you put an end to your breathing, I swear I might end up doing the same."

Shivi shed more tears, saying, "Sorry, I felt I didn't have a reason to live."

Josh snapped back, "Dammit, but I want you to be the reason I breathe."

He put her palm on his chest and looked at her, his heart racing.

Shivi exclaimed, "No... this is not happening..."

Josh stammered, "Do you... Do you feel that? I feel this every moment I am around you or even when I think about you. And I know your heart is racing at a higher speed than my own heart."

Shivi softly put her hands on his mouth, urging him not to say more, and shut her eyes tightly, weeping profusely. She knew what he was going to say. "Shhhh... please don't say it... please..." He removed her hand to say the thing he wanted to tell her for a long time.

Josh gently kissed her hand. "I am going to. You will have to hear it. And I am not saying this expecting anything in return, but you have to know what is there in my heart." He kissed her softly on her lips, and she tried to step back.

Shivi attempted one last time to stop him, "Josh... please...don't... please.... please..I beg you." He pulled her back to embrace and held her tightly by her waist. He looked into the almond-shaped eyes of hers.

Josh paused for a moment. There was complete silence, or probably just the sounds of their racing hearts. "I love you... I love you so much. I want you to be just mine. I want to make you go crimson all day, every day. I will wait until the timing is right, until the stars are perfectly aligned, and you are ready to accept me, my love. Take your time, think with a clear mind, I will wait, because for me, you are worth every wait, every fight. Just trust me once so that I can really show what true love feels like. I will spend an eternity loving you, caring for you, and most of all, respecting you, showing you every day that I hold you as high as any bright star in the sky."

He wiped the tears that were flowing from her eyes. His touch acted like medicine to her broken heart. "I really want to show you how respectfully you should be treated. You deserve much more, and I want to give it to you, all of it. I know you are a bright girl who will get so many job offers and achieve a lot of things in life. I want to be there when you conquer the entire world. I want to be there to celebrate your success. Someday you will be giving an interview to the media, and I would be whistling for you from the audience, and you would say I thank my husband for being supportive and call me to the stage."

She chuckled amid her tears, when he said, "I want to be there when you smile, laugh, cry, and feel pain. Please..."

She pushed him apart gently and took a step back. Shivi wiped her tears from her eyes and said, "Josh, you are too good, but I cannot agree with this, you know, right? As much as I want to, I cannot. My existence doesn't matter to my parents, but I cannot take decisions ignoring them. I value them, irrespective of how they treat me. If I behave like them, what is the difference between me and them?"

Josh let out a loud sigh and said, "Any relationship is not hard, Shivi. It becomes hard when we stay with people who don't reflect the same energy. In your case, you keep giving, and they keep consuming all your light. Even the sun will die after a billion years of burning. How long will you be able to burn like this? They are literally draining your mere existence."

Shivi closed her eyes tightly for a moment, knowing what he was saying was absolutely true, but she had been chained so long that now she felt chained even though her family cut those.

Shivi nodded her head in agreement. "I know. But what can I do? This is the family I was born into. If I push them out of my life, a big part of my identity will be lost."

Josh debated, "Then what about the identity you want to create for yourself in the future? You did come here to do master's to create one, remember? What would be your identity if you were going to end up with a guy like Dinesh, whom your parents chose for you? Are you ready to sign up your entire life just to do his dirty laundry all day and open your legs all night? Shivi baby, please......Will your soul be able to live a life like that for the rest of your life?"

"Shivi taking a decision will take only a minute but enduring this all your life is what you are signing for."

Shivi attempted to reason again, her brows furrowing with concern, "But..." then she trailed off as couldn't think of anything worthy to defend her family against Josh's words.

Josh wiped his own tears as he spoke, his expression heavy with emotion. He gently rubbed his forehead, sighing, and passionately debated, "Shivi, if they are just pushy about your marriage, it's a different case, Shivi, but they don't even treat you like a human. Leave me, Shivi, you need not choose me, I am fine with that, but please stand up for what you deserve. If not for love and affection, you at least deserve respect. If they had at least that to offer, your father would not have slapped you in front of the entire dorm, and your mother wouldn't have sent a big message and blocked you like that."

Shivi shrugged as she tried to dodge the question, "Josh, I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Sighing heavily, Josh wore a pained expression, "Fine, I will never talk about your toxic parents, but I want to tell you one thing, until you really feel the true affection and respect, you will never understand what these people have been keeping you away from."

Shivi wrapped herself around him and held him tightly, feeling his warmth over her entire length, "Maybe..."

Her eyes sought his, finding solace in the connection and raised her toes to meet him on his lips. She placed a fleeting kiss on his lips, gently, and he reciprocated with the same passion and intensity. As she parted from him, she felt that she was cold, already missing his warmth.

Shivi said, "Josh, I am going for a walk."

Now Josh was worried, as just some time back, she was thinking about taking her life, and now she wanted to go alone. He began to sweat with the very thought. She reassured him, "Josh, now I know there is someone who will be broken if I do something to myself. I will never ever think that way."

Josh glared with narrowed eyes, questioning, "What were you even thinking when you told me you want to have sex with me once and then go and die? Which Bollywood movie were you watching? You even thought I will have sex with you just like that and then give you a send-off to go and die."

Shivi looked down, feeling ashamed of what she did, "I was not in my senses. Thank you for putting some into my little brain. Now I am going for a walk to just clear my mind. I will come back here, to you. Trust me."
She nestled against him again tightly and said, "I will come back for this warmth; as of now, this is my only elixir."

Josh insisted, saying, "Let me come with you."

Shivi dismissed his request, saying, "I need to be alone for some time."

She grabbed one of Josh's coats and walked outside. Josh wanted to trust her, but if his trust cost her life, he would never be able to forgive himself. So, he grabbed another coat and followed her in the distance. Shivi didn't cry anymore; maybe she had shed all the tears she had for her family already.

Shivi: I have 4 people in my family but not even one person has spoken nice words to me. They don't even have a family picture with me. I have not seen my younger sister for the past 10 years. Is this even normal? I don't even remember her face. She has never even tried to speak to me, nor did my parents pay much attention when I asked for her phone number and my brother's. Will this happen in any normal family? Be it American or Italian or Indian. I was so blindly loving them that I am not seeing things.

Josh was right, no one deserves such a family. My mom has never ever sat and spoken to me. She didn't even give me the period talk, which every mother does to her teenage daughter. But why? And my father, he speaks to me only to scold me. They never tried to know the real me. They share my blood but still they are total strangers to me. In fact, I know Josh better than my own brother.

All my life I kept longing, and they kept ignoring me. Yes, maybe staying a night with Josh in the resort was wrong according to them. But if I had wanted, I could have had sex in the daytime in the same resort or even in his room.

We both feel that way towards each other, but we are young people but still behave maturely and stay within our limits. But Appa reacted in this way in front of others. I have to study here for one more year, if he had bothered even a little, he wouldn't have done it in front of so many people. He is so worried about his reputation but what about mine? All the people in dorm knew I was out, and they saw me being slapped by my dad. He could have questioned me more privately, even slapped me in private, as he had every right to.
And they are wrong actually many times. If not for Josh, I would have ended up with Dinesh. My opinions don't matter to them. Their ego is bigger than my life.

I don't want to disrespect them or even get angry with them, but I should protect myself. I can't allow them to keep hurting me. I am losing my sanity. What was I even thinking when I asked him to have sex with me.  Maybe he is only person on earth I want to do that with, but I was so vulnerable right then that I was even ready to end my life. He is the purest soul I have ever seen. If he wanted, he could have taken advantage of me in so many situations but in all those times he proved himself as a gentleman.

When my father doesn't think twice before choosing a guy like Dinesh. I guess maybe a guy like Josh definitely deserve a chance. Should I choose him and experience the love he was talking about? But I am scared I will not be able to honor my commitment. I don't want to break his heart. He is so good that I will never want him to go through any pain.

But now she knew one thing for sure. If it was not for her family, she would choose him, only him, over and over again.

Having ventured too far from Josh's room, she contemplated retracing her steps when her attention was abruptly seized by a truck hurtling toward her at an alarming speed. Whether the driver had lost control or was impaired, the truck bore down on her with its headlights fixated directly on her. Caught in a moment of indecision, she froze. Seizing the urgency of the situation, Josh, who was following her at a distance, raced against the clock, realizing he had little time to spare. He pushed her out of the truck's path just in the nick of time, causing her to tumble to the ground a few feet away. Now he was in the line of truck. Overwhelmed by the intensity of the moment, she succumbed to unconsciousness right there screaming "Josh".

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