The Midst..

...She never enjoyed bike rides. No matter how much he tried to convince her that it's fun when you let go off your fears. He almost fought with her when she preferred moving in cabs over sitting behind him. Sara knew that Jatin loved his bike. And she had agreed to sit as his pillion only because she loved him. She really disliked the air hitting her face and messing up her hair, or the uncomfortable seat, or the fact that it was so open that it scared her wits out when he used to increase the speed even a bit. The only reason she sat behind him was because it was Jatin, the man she loved. Bike rides were never fun, it was holding him, putting her forehead on the back of his shoulder or even hearing him talk loud battling the winds.
When he told her the main purpose of buying a bike was that it would make Jatin meeting her easier; she didn't believe him even one percent. Actually, she didn't want to. She was scared of the closeness. She was phobic of this love that was crossing the limits she had set for him. They both knew it had crossed limits.. it had crossed the threshold of the limits.

Sara was an impatient being.  She used to be a restless human. She supported chaos. But meeting Jatin had calmed her down to the core, because he was an epitome of impatience and she had no other option than to compose herself so that she can handle his nerves. She lived for his excitement. Like a little kid, when he used to sit beside her and explain his day over a cup of coffee, she would hold his hand and listen to him with a tide-less sea like calmness. When he used to get all riled up about a rider overtaking his bike from the wrong side with traffic violation, she had to rub his back till he cooled down. In him, Sara had found her pilgrimage, her shrine, her meditation.
Maybe her age played a vital role in it. She wasn't sure. Jatin was like a shower of rain to her dehydrated land, like an oasis to her desert who knew exactly which buttons to push.
For Jatin too, she was not a piece of cake though. Her anxiety and her not so pleasant experiences from life used to haunt her from time to time. She was a crier, she could put a river to shame. Mostly at nights when her insomnia acted up bad it was Jatin then, who used to call her up and be on the phone for hours soothing her with his voice or distracting him with his subtle tricks even when he had to struggle to keep his eyes open.
Those calls to each other were not supposed to happen. When they started with this, Sara had specifically advised him that these calls cannot go beyond informations and explanations. They had no idea that one day it would turn into expectations and that it would become an integral ritual to them. Jatin and Sara were breaking every pact they ever made, one by one, even without realizing.
"Goodnight babe.. overcome your demons, or maybe fight with them. Hey, let's fight with them together! You know I can slash them in one go.." Jatin told her tossing on his bed.
"Naah, you can't! They're too big, even for you!" Sara replied.
"Are you challenging me again? You know I can't not complete a challenge.  You know now that I have to complete it" he was getting hyper again.
"Oh no! I'm not. Yes babe, we'll overcome it. And very soon. And I'll sleep like a rock someday soon" Sara was smiling now, with holding the pillow under her chin.
Jatin knew she was smiling now.
"Mission accomplished for tonight", and he would sleep okay now.

Little did he know, this demon of hers was about to be their biggest nightmare. Little did they know what was about to come that would make their life what they could never think of. Little did they know their story had no happy ending like every other story.
They slept peacefully that night.