Chapter 39

Sindhu was standing there outside the entrance. Everyone was making preparations to send her to Gautham's home. But she stood there frozen. It suddenly dawn on her that she won't be living with her own parents anymore. She suddenly realized how much comfort just the presence of her parents in her life had been. In spite of all the distance and bickering they had been there beside her every day no matter what. But after today, they won't be there beside her when she wakes up. This thought scared her.

Suddenly all she wanted to do was go home. That home she had desperately ran away from a couple of years back.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm down and focused on her surroundings. Her eyes landed on her mum and she saw Renuka's expression mirror her own and her dad did not look any less distraught. With great effort Sindhu calmed down and went and hugged her mum. It took every ounce of her self-control to not break down right there. She did not want to make things more difficult on her mum and dad than it already was. She tried to reassure and comfort her family as best as she could. She held it in until she was safely inside the car.

Even inside she just sat there staring at nothing without saying a single word for a long time. Gautham looked at her tentatively. She looked so fragile at that moment. She looked as if she would break with just one touch.

"Hey babe…" Gautham called her softly and put his arms around her.

His voice and the warmth of his hands around her served as the last straw. Her control broke and her eyes tears up. She whimpered and sobbed leaning against him. Tears just kept stumbling down her eyes one after the other without restrain. Gautham gathered her closer and comforted her as best as he could.

"The way you are crying, people are going to think I have kidnapped you or something."Gautham teased in an attempt to distract her but to no avail.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry." Sindhu started to apologize instead in between sobs.

"Why are you apologizing Sindhu??" Gautham asked confused.

"I want to go home." Sindhu said with a desperate voice between hiccups. She looked like a scared little kid who was lost asking to be taken home.

She calmed down after a while but exhaustion got to her. On top of all the functions, she did not get much sleep in three days straight and her emotional state was not helping either. Everything took a toll on her and her eyes drooped shut without her even realizing. And Gautham gently lulled her to sleep. Letting her sleep was better than her sobbing. In all honestly if Gautham saw her crying like that one more time, he will disregard everything and just take her to her home.

It scared him to see her like that. That was the first time he saw Sindhu so broken. Her cries were like a stab on his heart which painfully pierced through him. He prayed he would not have to see her like that ever again.

When they reached his house, Sindhu was in deep slumber. Gautham did not bother waking her up. Instead he hoisted her in her arms and carried her to his room and laid her on the bed gently. He arranged her properly and made sure she was comfortable before exiting the room.

Originally they still had somethings to do at his home. They had this custom of taking aarathi to jinxing evil eyes before entering the house so that the couple has a happy marriage without a hitch. And Sindhu would have to light the dia (fire lamp) in the Pooja to signify the entry of new member into the family. But at the moment he did not care. He was not ready to wake Sindhu up any time soon.

He will explain to Aruna later. If it was beyond his mum's control, he would just accept whatever scolding thrown his way.