The Strangers - Across the Silent Heartbeat-Chapter 16: Ultimate Surprise

The lecturer had only begun to drone on about advanced algorithms when Arjun's mind went to the farthest recesses of his consciousness. Thoughts automatically lined up to think about Ayesha, the female factor that returned to his life after much painful separation. Everything had been a rollercoaster over the last few weeks since that tearful reunion; he held on to her and was desperate to make up for lost time.

That familiar funny feeling he had become so used to began twisting in his gut as he woke that morning. He felt right from the moment he opened his eyes that something was buzzing in the air, but he couldn't tell what was expected from him.

Everywhere he walked down the halls of the college, people were murmuring to one another and looking out of the corners of their eyes furtively, as if everyone held the biggest secret ever held. He had sat in the classroom with his notebook lying open, miles away, with the lecture going on. Then his thoughts were broken off as the door opened.

Then complete silence, as in came the teacher and Arjun's heart raced. "Good morning, class," he welcomed. "I have something to brighten up your day. We have a new student joining our class today. Shall we put our hands together to welcome Ayesha?" Arjun's heart was pulsing. He watched, breathing hard, as Ayesha entered the room; her eyes moved around the place until they found him.

A little knowing smile curved her lips, and his breath almost caught in his throat. All around the room, the people muttered and whispered to make sense of what had just happened. "Please, have a seat, Ayesha," the teacher continued. "Let's start today's lecture." Ayesha flowed around the room, light-footed and sure, and down to the chair beside Arjun. She had barely seated herself when he leaned forward, his voice just a notch above a whisper. "What brings you here?" There was a rogue-like glint in her eyes. "Surprise! Got transferred here. Wanted to be closer to you." Arjun felt spellbound.

The girl whom he had dreamt about each day; whose lightest gestures seemed to have a fortune meant for him was now sitting beside him in the same class.

All the rest passed in a haze as he tried to process the new reality. As soon as the class ended, Arjun introduced Ayesha to all his friends and classmates. He could feel from the look in her eyes that his friends were extending a warm welcome, enquiry writ large on all their faces.

They seemed to be dying to draw her into their fold. It was lunch time now and hence everyone went towards the cafeteria. They all settled themselves and began narrating their story to their two best friends – Arjun and Ayesha. They narrated how they first met each other on the message application, how the months passed by and they two got to know every liked and dislike of the other, the happiness of falling in love, how Ayesha's disease had shattered everyone's life, and they met after so long, crying in each other's arms.

Their friends were listening to them with sober faces, from surprise, amazement, and concern about empathy. "And you went through all that?" Mira exclaimed. "Seriously, it sounds like something out of a movie." Neha nodded, her eyes widening. "You're so lucky you found each other again." Ayesha smiled at Neha. She somehow felt a camaraderie with Arjun's friends. "I guess it was hard, but I had to be with him.

My Mom was okey with it. She said she saw how much he meant to me." Arjun squeezed her hand under the table, his heart full of thankfulness and love. "I just can't believe you did this for me." Ayesha turned towards him, moisture pooling in her eyes reflecting the tender feelings. "I have done it for us. Never again do I want to be away from you." The following days held the hue of new normalcy, joy, and completeness.

Arjun and Ayesha went to their classroom together, studied together, and passed their free time together moving around the campus and creating new memories. The small incidences of the college days sprang to life just because of her. She had a way of imbuing new vigor and determination in Arjun's life.

One such evening, while they were sitting in the college garden, the soft golden rays of the setting sun created a warm atmosphere all around them. Arjun looked into Ayesha's eyes; his eyes had turned golden with the hue of the sky. "You know, I still can't believe that you're here. It always feels like a dream." Resting her head upon his shoulder, Ayesha spoke softly. "It's real, Arjun. There's nothing to change this after all we've been through. We're together, and what could matter more?" They sat in easy silence, the world around them slipping into irrelevance as they took simple pleasure in each other's company.

The more Arjun noticed how much he had missed having Ayesha in his life, the more he realized it now. Within days, which became weeks, Arjun and Ayesha became so much into the rhythm, so strangely familiar—yet so refreshingly new.

They went to classes, sat for exams, and spent their eves wandering around the campus to find new nooks where they could steal a moment of privacy. Day by day, their bonding became strong, and with the tug of college life, their love deepened up and down. That same day, they sat together on a bench overlooking the campus of the college.

Arjun turned to her with eyes full of wonder and graciousness. "You know, I still can't believe that you're here. It always feels like a dream." She looked at him, eyes dancing with feelings, and said, "It's real, Arjun. We are finally together, and nothing can change that." They could sit at ease in silence as only the leaves rustling softly and the hum of campus life, which seemed so distantly far, set the calmest backdrops to their thoughts, lost there in thought—it is during such moments that Arjun says one finds some deep peace and happiness.

The more their life together was built, the more it astounded Arjun—the strength and resilience of Ayesha. She was strong in her will to stay with him, and her love and support provided him with courage and strength for whatever was ahead. That evening, as they walked in the college garden, Ayesha turned to look at Arjun. Her eyes said it all—determination with vulnerability.

"Want to know that no matter what happens, I'll be by your side. We will face everything together."

Arjun pressed her hand into his, his heart filled with love and, at the same time, gratitude.

"I know, Ayesha. And I will always be there for you."

They are days of fun-filled, quiet, and sharing days experienced in college; they still attend lessons, do assignments, and help each other in bouncing up and down in their academics. Love bloomed, the bond became stronger with each passing day.

Later in the afternoon, they decided to take a break from studies and went to a nearby park. The sun had bright rays that lighten up the view all over. They both sat under a big tree close to each other as they have laid their blanket beside them on the green grass. She sat down, reclining her head on Arjun's shoulder, with a sigh of contentment leaving her mouth.

She whispered, "I love days like these. Just you and me, away from everything."

Arjun smiled and let his arms snake around her. "Exactly. The whole world comes to a standstill, and it is just us."

Together they spent the afternoon talking about what they could do in the year ahead and what sort of life they wanted to experience.

Giggles and jibes are exchanged as hopes and fears are shared. It was a lovely day full of love and the promise of many more.

And then, as the sun dipped slowly, hues of orange and pink painted the canvas that was the sky. Ayesha looked at Arjun with his serious eyes. "Well, you know, whatever be the case, just for your information, you're very dear to me, and now I can never think that a future without you is possible."

Ayesha stared deep into his moist orbs, swimming in emotions of her own. "And for me, you are everything, Arjun. All that we have gone through and come out of, stronger—I believe in us."

Caressed with sweet promises, this soft wooing was finely bound with the lips locking in a kiss. Everything else melted away, and there was only the two of them, tight in each other's arms, bound together in their own little universe.

These changes in Arjun and Ayesha were pretty obvious to their friends back in college. The way they would stare at one another, be there for each other, and feel so close—it had been perfectly evident that they loved each other all the more now that Ayesha had been in Arjun's life.

Finally, one evening, when they got together to have a group study, Mira finally poured out words: "Oh, gosh. You guys seem so good together. Seriously, complementing. It's simply the cutest thing ever."

They smiled at each other and he could see that both love and appreciation were in their eyes. "We have been through so much," she said to Ayesha. "But it has made us stronger. We are a team, and we always will be."

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Their friends nodded in unison—something that did click deep within—is how superb the bonding was between all of them. They envied and loved how Arjun and Ayesha just managed to be there for each other, being the best buddies to each other around.

Rolling weeks into months, both Arjun and Ayesha went on with life. The love revealed without words was an unerring fount of strength and inspiration sparkling through their very beings—that they could go against the difficult waves of life rolling, while they partook in the victory that life granted them.

As Arjun gazed at the beautiful night sky full of stars, he fully turned toward Ayesha and said, "You know, whatever happens in this spectrum of time, I just want you to know that l love you more than everything. You are everything for me."

He looked at her, smiled, his eyes sparkling, and replied, "And I love you, Arjun, forever and always."

They could sit there without a word, hands clasped among them, while before their eyes the night rolled by as if unrolling—it was one of those perfect moments in which the love that brought them together has now drawn them close, promising to see them through whatever lay ahead.

It was still a long journey ahead, but what the two knew was that with each other, nothing is impossible. It was then that only with love shall there be light to show what appears to be a very long tunnel; it was then that only with love shall there be power to light in time to bring anyone out from darkness to solution.

Under the watchful stars, Arjun and Ayesha sealed their promise of a lifetime in silent words: a promise of love, to bear life for each other at every thick and thin into that resplendent future. The chronicle of every thick and thin in their love story would be what Arjun and Ayesha would go on writing in just everything now.

Holding each other on top of the house throughout the night, way into the first light of the coming dawn; whatever storm comes their way, their love shall be strong enough to bulwark them into being unbreakable.