~Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future~

Ananya POV

He left me. He left me alone, but that is what I asked for right? I shouldn't blame him for leaving me alone when he just did what I told.

I pulled my knees close to me. But, after a while, that position became difficult as there was a small bump. I let out a huge breath out, hoping all my stress and anger will go out together with that breath.

I pulled myself up and went to the bathroom. My face was so pale and my eyes were swollen and red from all those crying. My throat was dry and I immediately needed water. I washed my face and tied my hair again in a ponytail.

When I went outside, I expected Siddharth or Sandhya to be there. But, the living hall was empty. I decided to give my thirsty self some water before checking on them.

I knocked on Sandhya's door and after a while, a sleepy Sandhya greeted me. I think she has already fallen asleep.

"I am sorry, I didn't know you fell asleep already," I said. She kept analyzing my face, clearly because of my red eyes and pale skin. She pulled me into a tight hug.

"I wanted to check on you, but Sid said you wanted to be alone. Thank god you are okay," she mumbled.

"Urmm where is he?" I asked slowly.

"I don't know. I heard you guys fighting and he came out crying. He asked me to take care of you and then went out. I don't know where he went," she said and I sighed.

"I am going to go out for a while. I will be back in a while," I said.

"Where you want to go? I will come with you," she said and I shook my head.

"No Sandhya, you can go sleep. I am just going for a walk. I feel suffocated. I just want to clear my mind," I said.

"Ananya, you are pregnant. It is not safe for you to go out at this hour. Please, let me come with you," she said and I nodded. I am not in the mood to argue. Plus she is just looking out for me.

"Two minutes. I will change and come," she said and I nodded.

Where would he have gone? Did I said too much? Did I hurt him by saying all those things? I wanted to see him and ask him if he is okay? I want to see whether he is okay. I just hope he will come home safe and sound.

"Let's go," Sandhya's voice brought me out of my thoughts and I nodded again. We went down and the road was as busy as ever. I mean, it was 1 in the morning. But, there was still so many cars in the road and the noise was too much. I thought it would be quieter in the middle of the night.

"I am sorry. You were sleeping and now because of me...." I couldn't help but feel guilty. Of course, I didn't ask her to follow me, but what she did was for my own good.

"Hey, I told you, its okay. You are my friend, Ananya. Since childhood the only friend I had was Sid and Abhi and they both are boys. I have always wanted a girlfriend. Two of my closest girl friends betrayed my trust and after that I distanced myself from everyone. After Sid and Abhi, you are my only friend," she said and I nodded.

"So, you want to talk about it? The fight?" she asked. "I mean, if you don't want its okay. I thought it would be good if you let it all out instead of bottling it up," she continued.

"Two weeks before, I met my younger brother, Riddhanth. When I came out of my office, he was waiting for me. I didn't know Siddharth was there watching us. Siddharth saw me hugging him, so he got angry. You remember you asked me what is the problem between us for the last two week and I said I didn't know? It is because of this reason, he was ignoring me. He should've asked me nahh, instead of deciding for himself. Just now, he told me I can go with him if I liked him. He thought Rid was my long lost lover and that I was happy meeting him. He decided that I didn't like him and I would want to leave him," I said, tears pooling in my eyes.

"Why would he do that? He is not me. How would he know what I am thinking if he didn't ask me. He always do this Sandhya, he always runs away from the problems. Just before you came here, his designs got lost remember? That time, he was so rude to me, the whole week. He didn't tell me the reason. One day, he came home drunk and that is when Abhi told me that his design got lost. He was the one supposed to tell me, but no. I was so hurt that time, when he was rude to me. But, I thought he was hurting also, so I forgave him. But, then this time, he didn't try asking me about Rid. I can't help but feel like I am the only one in this relationship trying to work on it. If he wants to give up that easily, why should I suffer?" I asked her.

"Ananya, can I say something?" she asked me and I nodded.

"I have known him all my life. This is his first relationship and he doesn't know how things work. I am not justifying his mistake. What he did was wrong, but you have to understand also Ananya. For him to ask you to go with another man was hurting him also. Only two weeks ago, he realized he loves you," she said, and I was beyond shocked.

"What? He l-loves m-me?" I stuttered. She nodded, smiling.

"He said he had never seen a girl like you and you was everything he ever wanted as his partner. I saw in his eyes, the love he had for you. And trust me, it is true. He is in love with you. But, as I said, he is an idiot. He don't know how to show his love for you. He had his own insecurities. He feels guilty for separating you from your brothers whom you love so much. He feels he is not good enough for you and he wouldn't be able to give you the love you deserve. He is afraid you won't be happy with him. He just wants you to be happy, but he didn't know saying things like that will hurt you. Believe me, he would never intentionally hurt you," she said. It took me a few minutes to register everything she was saying.

My mind was still stuck on the words she said.

He is in love with you.

Is it true? He loves me? I felt butterflies erupt in my stomach. There was a funny feeling and my heart beats faster every time I think of the possibilities of him being in love with me.

"Yeah, but I was so tired of everything and I kind of burst out just now. I said too many things to him," I kind of regret half of the things I told him. Only half, because the other half was needed so that he would try to work on this relationship equally with me.

"He will come around. Please don't give up on him. I am being selfish here, because I have never seen my best friend that happy before you came into his life. I want my friend to be happy forever and that will happen only if you are with him. But, don't worry, I will teach him some lessons on how to make you happy," she winked at last and I smiled. I feel like I smiled after so long, but this was genuine.

"Don't tell him about this conversation we had today. Don't tell him I know he is in love with me. I want him to tell me," I said and she motioned zipping her mouth and lock it. I chuckled slightly.

"Okay, let's head back home, I think I am clear now," I said and he nodded. We turned the opposite way and started walking towards our home.

"Thank you so much, for everything," I said and hugged her tightly before going to our separate rooms.

"I know. I am always here for you okay?" she said and I nodded, "Always!"

"Sleep well and don't think about anything," she said.

"Urmm, about that, can I sleep with you today? I mean, just today. He is not home also, so...." I trailed off.

"Of course, what kind of question is that. Of course you can sleep with me," she said. I wanted someone to accompany me, because I know if I was alone, I will never sleep and overthink things. We both lay down in the bed and talked for sometime before drifting off to sleep.

In the middle of the night, oh wait its probably morning considering we slept late, we heard a loud banging on the door. Sandhya groaned in her sleep, mentally cursing who was waking her up from her slumber.

"Sandhya!!! SANDHYA WAKE UP!!!" Siddharth's frantic voice startled her and she woke up with a jerk into a sitting position. I was already awake to see all this, but I was too tired to respond.

"What the hell do you want Sid?" Sandhya growled. One thing I learned about her is, she doesn't like if someone disturbs her beauty sleep. The next morning will be the hardest for others to handle her because she will become too grumpy.

"Sandhya I messed up. Ananya left. She is not in my room. I searched the whole house and she is not here. She left me. The only person I've ever wanted left me. I am horrible. SANDHYA ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME? ANANYA LEFT AND I DONT KNOW WHERE IS SHE NOW!!!" he practically shouted when he didn't find Sandhya's voice. I was about to respond when Sandhya hold my hand, stopping me.

I gave her questioning look and she motioned me to keep quiet.

What is she trying to do?

He probably would've expected her to be all shocked, but she wasn't because she knows I am still here and in fact I was listening to his rambling. I felt happy hearing someone care about me and saying they wanted me. One point in my life I thought no one would care if I just left. Then Sandhya's voice clicked me.

He is in love with you.

It is true then, he really care for me.

"Sandhya why are you so quiet. Didn't you hear me? Ananya is not at home and she was angry. She is alone out there and she is pregnant. What if something happened to her. I really messed up this time. She would never forgive me and she will never be with me again. Sandhya, what do I do now? How am I to apologize to her? Damn it, you are not helping at all. Are you not worried at all?" he practically yelled.

"See I told you, he cares about you. Now you can go," she said. "And, don't disturb my sleep," she yawned before lying back on the bed. I got off the bed and went to the door to greet a very depressed Siddharth.

"Fina..." he stopped seeing my face. "Omg, I thought you left. Thank god, I am really sorry for messing up like this. I really didn't mean to do that. I am really sorry," he said, tears continuously rolling down his cheeks. He looked desperate, is that the correct word. I don't know how to explain him.

The next thing he did was unexpected to me. He hugged me, tightly may I add. He hugged me like I will disappear the moment he release me.

"Shhh, its okay. I am here okay? I didn't leave. Relax," I whispered in his ears. I patted his back, hoping it would calm him down.

I guess it did the trick as he visibly relaxed and his breathing returned to normal.

He pulled back from the hug and looked at me, more like stared at me. I was wondering what was going on in his mind. I became slightly conscious under his stare. Come on, I was in my pajama with my hair looking like I have been through a storm. I couldn't feel even more uglier.

"Urmm Siddharth, you are s-staring at m-me," I said and he broke his glance and looked down.

"I am sorry," he said softly.

"No, its okay. I mean, urmm do you want to go sleep?" I asked him and he nodded.

"Do you not want to stay in the same room as me anymore?" He asked.

"No, I just didn't want to be alone so I came to Sandhya's room. That is it," I said and he nodded, not convinced. "You know what, you wait here, I will get my phone and join you," I added when he showed no sign of moving and his face lit up.

I know I know, you all will probably think I forgave him so easily, but its not. Its just that I understand things more now and I decided to be matured about this. Holding onto one mistake he did will probably destroy both our happiness. Now I am just trying to avoid any conflicts and just be happy with my life.

So, being the big person I was, I decided to forgive him. It is not his fault that he is not experienced in relationships before.