“You just hate me, don’t you?” She cried, throwing a pillow from the couch at him “You just love to do anything that makes me miserable.”

“Oh yes.” He said sarcastically, “because you know how much I hate to be around you all the time. That’s why I spend every moment I can with you. I hate you so much that I am just naturally drawn to wherever you are. Logic, Drishti.”

She glared at him for a moment but took a deep breath to calm herself. Silence filled the room for several minutes. She still glared at the ground before her, trying to process exactly what was going on right now. He readjusted his position on the couch so that he could be closer to her. She looked up to find him mere inches away from her, and stared him straight in his eyes.

“Don’t get me wrong Drishti; I do hate you.” He said, “just not for the reasons you might think I would hate someone.”

Drishti was bewildered. “Then why are you?”

He gently laid his hands on her shoulders, immediately silencing her. She let out a little whimper, but did not resist.

“What--What are you doing--?” She questioned.

He let out a dry laugh “Hating you, obviously.”

“That’s not how you usually let someone know you hate them.” She said, her voice breaking.

“I am only hating you the way you want me to, and I don’t think I can express exactly how I hate you in any other way.” He moved his grip from her shoulders down to her hands, gently holding them in his, and looked her in the eyes.

“I will explain.” He said, “because I feel like I am being vague. I hate you because you are gorgeous. I hate you because you are brilliant. I hate you because you are funny. I hate you because you are the sweetest person I ever met. I hate you because it took so many years to have you, even just as a friend. I hate you because you made me mad for you. I hate you because you are perfect.”

She was internally going insane. Something didn’t feel right. Or, maybe it was right, but the feeling was so foreign.

“Aarav, this is wrong.” She ignored her thoughts and spoke.

He laughed quietly. “And you like that, don’t you?”

“N—No,I don’t” she spoke rather confused.

“Then why haven’t you let go?” he whispered.

He began to lean back into the couch, his hands still in hers. He stopped momentarily to let her decide if she wanted to lean back as well, and when she slowly began to lean back, he laid down his head on the armrest, his hands wrapped around her. She wanted to let go, to escape, to do something.

The fact was she couldn’t let go. She wanted to break free. She knew she had things she should be doing instead, but she was helpless and he was right. This was exactly what she wanted, and she couldn’t deny it to herself. Her heart was telling her where it belonged. It belonged to that guy next to her. And for once in her life, she was going to follow what her heart told her, and not what her mind did.

She turned herself around, still held closely in his arms, so that she could face him, her hands placed gently on his chest. He kept his gaze averted, his face scarlet and beads of sweat forming along his hairline. She smiled softly at him and lightly tugged his shirt to get his attention. He regained his confidence, met her eyes, and smiled back.

“You are right.” She said, “You are right about everything.”

He smirked. ”Of course I am. Aren’t I always?”

“No, but this time you were. You put away your pride for me and I am going to do the same.” She spoke

“You know I don’t usually express like this.” He said, “I feel so stupid.”

“Its cute.” She said, now bringing one of her hands up to brush back the strands of hair that had fallen in his face. “Its a human reaction. Its perfectly normal. You don’t have to keep everything bottled up all the time.” Gently stroking his hair, she felt tears welling up in her eyes. She allowed herself to snuggle up to him, her head laid on his chest and his arms still wrapped firmly around her.

This was her fairytale, where the princess always found her way to her prince charming in the end.