Chapter 319 - You are not going there again…

The car remained quiet until they reached his house. Akash started talking only after parking his car.

"Hey, you okay?" His voice was soft as he c.a.r.e.s.sed her arms.

Madhu quietly nodded her head but did not say anything more.

Akash got down and opened the doors for her. Both entered the house hand in hand. Madhu kept her head down in a daze and blindly followed him around.

Akash sat her down in the living room and asked one of the maids for some ice…

Madhu came back to her senses for a moment and winced when she felt the cold suddenly and at last, looked up at him…

"You will feel better in a while!" Akash said softly and held the ice pack against her cheeks looking into her eyes.

Madhu just stared back for the longest of time once again going into a daze… And she did not really come out of it until she felt herself floating in the air.

"Akash!" Madhu said surprised. But Akash did not reply… he just took her to his room and sat her down on his. But even then he did not let her go… just held her tightly.

"You don't have to go back to that house!! You just be here okay? I won't let you go back there…" Akash said with conviction as he pulled away.

God knows how much self-control and patience it took for Akash to not actually go into the house and give them a piece of his mind. He wanted to absolutely destroy every single person in there… but seeing Madhu, he realized his priority should first be to know if she was okay…

"I cannot do that… even you know that! They are my parents Akash…" Madhu reasoned.

"I do not care… we can get married tomorrow and you won't need to go there ever again…" Akash said without budging. He hugged her all over again. Keeping her close is the only way that seemed to work to keep his anger at bay.

"Akash!" Madhu whispered exasperatedly. She knew things are that easy for him… but it was not so for her. For one, even if nothing else, she had grown up in that house and she owes them everything she had today. But more than that, she was really surprised and puzzled by both Abhijeet and Aarav's behavior today.

"You know… I may not have been that alone in that house after all…" Madhu mumbled thoughtlessly.

"What do you mean?" Akash asked pulling away…

That is when Madhu narrated the whole thing that happened at her house. She did not dare to say out the exact words her mother had used. She just described how Aarav and Abhijeet stood up for her in spite of her mother and gran.

Akash did not seem convinced either way.

"You are not going there again… that is all!" Akash said finally with his ever so stubborn bossy tone that made refusing him almost impossible.

Madhu couldn't help let out a helpless sigh… She knew she wouldn't be able to change his mind in a short while… so, she resigned to her fate and did not argue anymore with him. She can convince him in a couple of days to come. Anyways, she wouldn't be able to go back home when her mom was like this and Aarav did instruct her to stay away from home for a few days until he gives her the green flag to come back home.

"Okay, I will just stay here… happy?" Madhu asked looked up at him with a slight smile on her face.

Akash did not answer. Instead, he actually enveloped her in a hug almost crushing her in the process.

Madhu stayed put as long as she could but after a while, she started aching.

She lightly patting on his arms as she whispered, "Akash, you are crushing me!"

Akash instantly let go and looked at her worried.

"You don't have to look at me like that you know… I may be younger than you and may even look slightly naïve, but I am a big girl. I can take care of myself. I have lived in that house for all my life… I know how to handle people there… You do not need to protect!" Madhu said beaming at him.

Madhu had calmed down a lot by now. She had come out of her head and was able to think straight now. She was surprised by what had happened in her house… If anything, she can say she had anticipated her mother's and gran's reaction to the news… but what she did not expect was Aarav's and Abhijeet's reactions… not in a million years did she think they would stand up for her… that they would fight their mother and wife for her sake…

It felt really good when people looked out for her… It made her feel as if she was not that alone in this world after all. But that did not mean that she was going to hide behind them and let them fight her battles.

"I cannot just let you go back to that house after seeing you come out of there like this, Madhu! I just can't" Akash said with conviction as his fingers traced on her still red cheeks feather-light.

"That was a result of two people in the house, Akash… there are two other people in there you know! Aarav stood up for me… he fought with his mother for me. So did father. I cannot just up and leave everything just like that just because I have a place to stay now…" Madhu reasoned with Akash very patiently. She knew his sternness came from a good place… so, she did not have to heart to say anything mean to him even when he was being unreasonably overbearing.

Akash, on the other hand, sneered.

"Stood up for you… yea right… They watched you get beat up, Madhu! You are telling me two men couldn't stop one lousy woman from beating you? I am not sending you back to that house… that's final, Madhu. You are getting nowhere arguing with me on this subject!!" Akash said and walked out of the room as anger rose inside him uncontrollably as he remembered the state she was in when she came inside his car.