An empty box of pizza and a can of soft drink laid on the table with crumbs scattered all around. There was pin-drop silence. ON the couch, Charan and Shreya were sitting in absolute silence. They were sitting side by side cuddling. Charan kept stroking her hair and dropping kisses over her forehead every now and then.

Charan saw that Shreya did not dare close her eyes even though she looked like she could use at least a full one day's worth of sleep. It was very apparent that she did not get any sleep in the past few days or maybe even the whole of the past week.

Shreya snuggled in comfortably letting her thoughts run. Until this very moment, she did not even realize how much she had missed this in the past week.

Him and everything that came along with him.

Charan, for Shreya, was not some addiction she craved every second without reason. But for her, he was actually something joyous and wonderful. In her messed up life, he was that one thing who gave her a sense of normalcy after her parents had passed away. He and Akira had become her lifeline for staying sane in her messed up head. They gave her a place she can come back to after a hectic day.

She had been drowning in her grand schemes and wicked plots for so long that she had lost her way.. forgotten what it meant to let go and be just Shreya.. to not be on guard all the time.. to not have to think so hard every single moment.. Somehow being with Charan and Akira made her remember that part of her. Because the hardest thing she ever had to think about around Akira is probably what to have for dinner or what movie to watch. Compared to dealing with life or death of people she cared about, thinking about dinner and movies were like her saving grace.

Only when she thought of all this Shreya realized how suffocated she had felt all this week. Suddenly she craved to be closer to him even though there was practically no gap between them whatsoever. She shifted from her place and got up from the couch.

Charan frowned in confusion. He thought they were good at last, but when he saw her pulling away from him, his heart dropped. Even though he still had no clue as to what was actually wrong in the first place, he had really missed her all week. But before he could even think about protesting, Shreya sat on his lap straddling him while her hands circled around his necks holding him firmly in place. She hugged him with a sense of desperation.

She was almost smothering him but Charan did not really complain. Instead, he just circled his own hands around her and embraced her. He did not understand what was going on on her big bright brain of hers but whatever it was, he knew she would tell him if she felt like it. And he knew he had the patience to wait too.

"I'm sorry.. I missed you.." Shreya mumbled in an extremely docile voice finally pulling away from him and sitting straight on his laps. She had her head hung down without meeting his eyes.

Charan reached out and tucked a few stray strands behind her ears and just stared at her without really saying anything. Even after a long time, his hands lingered at the base of her ears caressing her cheeks with his thumbs. Shreya leaned into his touch unconsciously and her lips spread and curved without her permission while her eyes shut by themselves. She once again leaned in and nuzzled into his chests with her hands sandwiched between their bodies.

Charan rested his hands behind her head and stoke them comfortingly while peppering kisses over the top of her head every now and then.

"Get some sleep.. I will be here.." Charan said in a gentle voice eventually breaking the silence.

Shreya stayed quiet but shook her head firmly after a minute still leaning against him.

Charan paused and looked at her carefully. Then he asked in the softest of voice, "Are you having bad dreams??"

Shreya nodded her head this time around. But before Charan could ask his next question, she mumbled under her breath, "I end up waking up screaming and sweating almost immediately after I fall asleep.."

Things, at last, fell into place in Charan's head and he was slightly disappointed as he asked, "Is that why you wouldn't come over??"

Shreya shook her head at first but then slowly it turned into a nod. She had seen the dark circles on Charan's face that day in the hotel. So she did not even dare to stay the night over. And she knew if Charan saw her, he would end up reading her like an open book.. that is why she had stayed away the whole week.

Charan stopped and thought about what she was implying just now. But the more he thought, the sadder he felt.

"Why, Shreya?? Why did not come to me? You did not think you could depend on me even after all this time?? Am I so conceited that you thought you couldn't come to me?? Am I not worth even that much to you??" Charan asked. Even with great effort he couldn't keep the disappointment and hurt out of his voice.

Charan was always aware of his shortcomings when it came to his relationship with Shreya. He also knew it was beyond his capability to share her burden. So at the very least, he thought he had the ability to give her emotional support. But when she had deprived him even of that, he was lost as to how to deal with it.

"NO no-no.. It's.. It's not like that.. I just.." Shreya sat up instantly and stumbled with her words panicked. But all the excuses she had come up with in the past one week seemed sourly negligible compared to the amount of raw hurt that was visible in Charan's eyes right that moment.

So she did not even dare to verbalize her excuses. Her excuses seemed pathetic when she thought about it now. She just leaned on him all over again and apologized.

"Sorry.. I'm sorry.. I am so sorry.. I did not know.. It's just.. I'm so used to dealing with things on my own that.. I did not even realize I could have come to you. I'm really sorry Charan.. I did not mean to hurt you. It's not that you are not worth it.. it is just I.. I don't know how to.." She rambled on and on but she was barely coherent after a while.

Shreya desperately wanted to make it better for him. Even though she did not mean to, just the thought that something she did or didn't do had hurt him left a very sour taste in her stomach. She frantically wanted to make it go away. Her emotional state and lack of sleep weren't helping her either. She couldn't think straight.

The composure she had held on to in spite of all insomnia and emotional stress in the past one week came crumbling into pieces at last.

Maybe she felt safe letting herself be vulnerable in front of him or maybe she had just come to the end of her rope or maybe it's the warmth of his hands that were still holding her so carefully in spite of his sad eyes. Shreya herself did not know what it was. A heavy lump had formed at the base of her throat that made it so hard for her to even breathe properly. She felt like crying.