Short Story Contest powered by Half Baked Beans- Aqeedat

The team at Half Baked Beans hosted UNNS-The Captivation inspired short story contest. The theme was to write one story each on the seven stages of love.

Here is the winning entry on the third stage of love-Reverence by Sudarshan Nair.

"Do you love me ?"

They stood on the hill, overlooking the banquet. The sight was quite similar, but they knew something changed.
It took a lot out of her to ask the question, and what followed wasn't astonishment, but silence. It seemed that even the breeze was caught by surprise, as it stopped brushing their cheeks under the sunlight. Her eyes were filled with tears of doubt that seemed to hold on to her eyelids somehow. She pushed on and tried to catch his line of sight, as his eyes wandered between the space that separated them. He hardly managed to look into her eyes, but that daunting look gave him a strange fright. He looked away into the bright sky, and took a deep breath, exhaling whilst closing his eyes. He swallowed the lump that had built up in his throat and as he cleared his voice, he responded
                                   

  "Why do you ask ?"

For a moment she looked to her feet and with a dense emotion, she went on
                               

   "I still remember the first time you said that you liked me, and i reacted shockingly. I wasn't expecting you to do so, maybe that was why i got scared and tried to keep as much distance away from you as i could. I know i told you to never think of us like that again, but surprisingly you never did so. You have always been there as a pillar, and to make me feel better you also have managed to keep distance. Even to my ignorance you have done lot of things that have made me happy and sad, so is there nothing that you feel?"

Clearly in a state of shock, he felt happy even in the moment that she did realize the importance of all those little things he did for her. He never asked her for her time although he longed to be with her and talk to her about life, but he felt that she was not supposed to be bound by anything or anyone and believed that she should spend her time and her life as she wanted to. Not riding on his emotions he took a deep breath and with a sweet smile he asked her.
                                 

  "Why do you ask now, does it make a difference?"
She leaned in a bit forward, she was expecting this to follow up she held her hand against her chest and said
                                   

"Yes it does!, i couldn't live with the fact that i threw away something like this, it took me time but i do realize the efforts and patience it takes to love and respect a person by not expecting anything in return, please don't push it, just tell me."

He should have just thrown away everything and shattered through the chains that kept him a slave to his emotions, instead he seemed to be at peace. He experienced the hilly breeze comforting him. It felt like nature was wiping away all the sweat on his face, all the tension and stress. His hands and feet felt numb and cold, his heart beating like a para-diddle. He was confused, he loved her, he always had, and he only wanted her to be happy. He knew if he told her how he felt, everything about what he thought and all those words he wrote for her, she would be broken, and to even think about telling her all those little things that he did for her. Ohh! he felt miserable, and those eyes, how could he throw away the look in her eyes, still in doubt, still looking for answers. He got a grip on the situation, and for a moment he let it sink in,it was the first time ever that someone had ever realized what he felt, and he knew she would feel the same way if he told her. She was getting desperate by now, he sensed it. It was very difficult for him, but with all the courage and out of utter respect and love for her and with a peaceful grin he spoke
                             

     "Hey, you are doing the right thing here; what has happened is in the past, nothing changes between us, i promise that."

It may have earned him a great deal of good deeds, but he wasn't concerned about it. Seeing her happy was all that he wanted, and he never wanted things to get ugly, although it made him morose and a little happy too. He felt at peace when she hugged him and smiled at him. She secretly knew that he loved her a lot, and was doing all of this just to make her happy. She prayed that he would find someone far better than herself, and that person would realize his importance, she realized how silence could speak when words could not, together they walked down the hill once again, but as the bride and the best man, the same hill where they had their first trip together, where his best friend confessed how he felt about her.