Third Person's POV

Naina hurriedly walks out of the lecture hall as soon as the class is over.

Noticing Rajveer about to call her, she fled from there because she is not yet to face him and has not firgured out what to say to him, especially after going to him yesterday and kissing him just like that, without even apologizing first or saying anything else.

Once out of there, she is about to turn to the corridor leading to the library when she hears his voice.

"Halt, Cadet Singh," Rajveer says, finally catching up to Naina.

After his lecture was over, he wanted to talk with Naina about what happened yesterday, but she hastily went out of the class before he could do so.

When she stops, he is about to tell her to follow him to his quarter, but an orderly interrupts them, informing them that Brigadier Chandok has called all the faculty members and the cadets to the assembly hall.

Naina lets out a breath of relief at that. Her heart been thumping erratically against her chest when Rajveer neared her earlier. She knows what he wants to talk about with her, but she is not prepared to have that conversation yet.

She first needs to sort out her thoughts and decide what to say to him and how to apologize to him before talking with him.

"Sorry, Sir. I have to go to the assembly hall. Brigadier Chandok's orders," she tells Rajveer, and leaves from there.

Sighing loudly, Rajveer also walks to the assembly hall, wondering why Brigadier has called all the cadets and faculty members at this hour in the evening after all the classes for the day are already over.

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Seeing cadets and the faculty members assembled in the hall, Brigadier walks to the podium and starts making the announcement. 

"I am pleased to inform all of you that we will be starting this year's academic appraisal after two days. The appraisal will last for a week, and all the faculty members will need to train properly for the tests.

"The cadets are also required to help their mentors in their training. Since the teachers will be busy in their training, all classes will be suspended for ten days starting tomorrow. The faculty member who tops in the appraisal will be made the vice principal of KMA."

Amidst the cheers and murmurs afloat in the hall following Brigadier's announcement, Naina stands there, stunned by it.

She had been avoiding talking with Rajveer, but now, as per the announcement, she will have to be with him most of the time starting tomorrow until the appraisal is over.

She won't even be able to give him the excuses like needing to attend class or drill because all of them have been canceled for a week.

Now she understood what Abhimanyu meant when he said mentors and cadets would be spending a lot of time with each other during the appraisal period.

Naina could not decide if she was nervous or happy with this announcement. 

On the one hand, she was dreading facing Rajveer and talking with him, but on the other hand, she was also looking forward to spending time with him.

As Brigadier dismisses everyone, she turns to leave from there, but stops when Rajveer walks to her.

"Cadet Singh, please meet me in my quarter sharp at 2000 hours. I need to discuss my plans and strategies regarding the training for the appraisal," he says, and she nods, having no other choice.

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Precisely at 2000 hours, Naina reaches Rajveer's quarter, hesitating to raise her hand and knock on the door.

Her lips twist into a wry smile as she recalls how she used to barge inside this very quarter without even bothering to knock, but now such reticent is her demeanor to even knock that it pricks her heart.

'How did things become so messed up?' She wonders, inhaling deeply to try and lessen the pinch she within her chest, before hesitantly knocking the door.

Rajveer is surprised to hear the knock at his door. Seeing the time in his watch, he knows it must be Naina.

'Why is she knocking now when she never did it before?' He frowns.

Regardless, he walks to the door and opens it, noticing nervous and hesitant Naina standing outside.

He moves aside to let her in and closes the door once she walks in.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, he decides to say something.

"Umm, I have called you here to discuss the academic appraisal, but before that, I want to ask you about something else," he says.

Hearing Rajveer, Naina's heart starts beating erratically against her chest. She knows he is now going to ask her about yesterday.

'What will I tell him? Will he believe me if tell him that I have finally understood his reason for pulling the trigger on Naveen? Will he agree to give our relationship a chance after all the accusations and taunts I hurled at him in my anger?'

She gulps the lump formed in her throat as the thought of him deciding not to patch-up their relationship enters her mind.

"Why did you stop me from leaving, Naina? Why did you....," Rajveer trails off, but she understands his unfinished question was about yesterday's kiss.

'Tell him, Naina. Tell him,' she says to herself and takes a deep breath before starting to speak.

"I felt so much anger toward you when you told me about Naveen's death. I felt betrayed because the person I trusted the most not only pulled the trigger on my brother, but also hid that truth from me.

"I was so blinded by the anger that I didn't even stop to listen to your explanation before judging you for your action. I even thought of punishing you by shooting you," Naina sobs, remembering that day when she had pointed the gun at Rajveer.

"I just was not thinking straight at that time. All I could understand was you killed my brother and hid the truth from me for so long, betraying the trust I had in you.

"Only when I talked to Maa and Papa, I realized why you had to take that decision that day. They told me how Naveen’s state was when they used to visit him, and I understood why Naveen asked freedom from you and why you gave it to him.

"I understood how helpless you would have been seeing Naveen in that state and how much courage it would have required for you to pull the trigger on your best friend, whom you considered more a brother than a friend.

"It was then that I realized that you didn't kill him. You freed him from the torture. How could I be angry with you then?" Naina cries openly, covering her face with her hands.

Although Rajveer's heart clenches painfully at the sight of Naina crying in front of him, he also feels a slight reprieve knowing that she finally understood his reason. 

Naina's parents had already forgiven him, and now with Naina's forgiveness for pulling trigger on Naveen, he feels like a heavy weight has been lifted from his shoulder.

"It's ok, Naina. Please don't cry. After what I told you, it was natural for you to act that way. Naveen was your brother, after all," he says after a while.

Even though her cries had reduced to hiccups, silent tears were still streaming down her face.

His feet itched to go to her, and his hands itched to take her in his arms, but his mind stopped him.

Her anger, her accusations, and each venomous word that she hurled at him are still fresh in his mind, and no matter how much he wants to forget them, he just is not able to.

And that is why he is also unable to bring himself to go to her and hug her to reassure her.

"But I should have listened to you. I should have given you one chance to explain. I am sorry for everything. I am so sorry," she says, looking apologetically at him.

"It's ok, Naina. Whatever is done is done. It's all in the past. Do not stress yourself more by thinking about that anymore. And please don't cry."

Naina feels a pinch spreading within her chest when she hears his gentle voice.

She wonders how he can still be so kind to her, trying to reassure her, after how she behaved with him.

As she continues to gaze at him, she feels her heart brim with love for him.

"I love you," she says, tears springing to her eyes with the relief and peace that settles in her heart at saying this to him after so long.

Rajveer is stunned hearing those three words from her mouth.

When she had returned the engagement ring, he had thought she would never return to his life. When she said it, he believed that their relationship would remain dead forever.

So, her unexpectedly saying these words to her made his heart jump a little, partly in joy, but there is part hesitation too.

He wants to say those words back to her. After all, he loved her, loves her, and will always love her. He can never stop loving her.

'Then why am I hesitating to say those three words to her?' He frowns at the thought.

Naina keeps looking at Rajveer, waiting for him to reply to her, but she starts to get restless when he does not say anything for a while.

"Will you not say anything?" She asks.

Rajveer sighs when he hears Naina's tearful voice.

He wants to comfort her, but at the same time, there is some hesitation in him. It is as if he is afraid of her hurting his feelings again.

"I need some time to process everything that has happened, Naina. Can you give me some space while I figure all this out?" Rajveer asks her, and Naina feels her heart crush painfully due to his words.

"I know after how I behaved, you must be hurt, and I am sorry for that. I really am. But can't we start over? I promise I will never hurt you again," she says, wanting their relationship to be the way it was before she messed it up.

"Naina, I am not angry with you because of your reaction. I had expected that kind of reaction from you from the very beginning. I know how much Naveen meant to you and how much you loved him. He was your brother. So, you being angry with me for pulling the trigger on him is understandable.

"Also, I hid that truth from you. I did not tell you even after confessing my love to you because of my fear of losing you. I didn't say anything before our engagement too because your parents requested me and also because I did not want to lose you.

"By doing that, I did betray the trust you had in me and it was right of you to be angry with me because of that. Although I was hurt by your anger, I also knew I deserved it for hiding the truth from you.

"But the thing that crushed me was how easy it was for you to break off everything with me. You did not give me even one chance to explain myself.

"Did I not mean anything to you, Naina? Was our relationship so menial to you that you did not think twice before breaking it?

"All I wanted was one chance to explain myself and the dilemma I faced that fateful day when I pulled the trigger on Naveen. But I was not even that much worth to you, was I?

"I am not saying that you should not have been angry. It was ok for you to be angry and even ok to say anything to me.

"It had been just a few months that we had been in a relationship, but your relationship with Naveen had been since the time you were born. So, yes, I can understand your love for your brother, and I know it is much more than your love for me. And it is ok, Naina. It really is.

"But what gashed me deeply was the cognizance that I was not even worth one explanation to you.

"After everything we had been through, didn't you think I deserved a place in your life?

"I am not saying that it should have been as big as the place that your parents and Naveen have in your life. But didn't I deserve at least a small place in your heart, Naina?" Rajveer asks, his eyes red due to unshed tears.

Naina feels a jolt in her heart when she looks at Rajveer’s anguished face.

She begins to understand what her behavior toward him has caused him to believe.

Vehemently shaking her head, she starts speaking to clear his misunderstanding.

"Rajveer, listen to me. Of course, you do deserve a place in my life and heart. And believe me—"

"I don't believe you, Naina. I am sorry, but I don't," Rajveer says, interrupting her. "Because if I had even a small place in your life, you would have listened to me before jumping to the conclusion.

"I am not saying that you should have forgiven me. It would have been ok if you had gotten angry and said and did all those things you did, but after listening to me at least once.

"I would have consoled myself by thinking that I at least had some importance in your life that you gave me a chance to explain myself before taking any decision.

"But what did you do instead? You said you hated me the moment I told you that I pulled the trigger on Naveen," Rajveer says, turning away to wipe the tears that escaped his eyes.

Naina quickly walks to Rajveer and turns her to him, her heart feeling as if someone was squeezing it relentlessly.

"I know what I did has hurt you, but please give me a chance to erase all your hurt with my love. Please, Rajveer. Please, do not distance yourself from me."

"Do you remember the day I had taken you to the meadow on our first outing?" Rajveer asks suddenly, and although Naina frowns at him for abruptly changing the direction of their conversation, she nods at him.

"Yes. I do remember that day."

"That day, too, you questioned our relationship by asking me if we were doing right by being in a relationship. Even if it was for a few moments, you had doubted our relationship then too.

"It had been easy for you then to question our relationship, and it had been easy for you a few days back to break off our relationship in your anger without giving it a proper thought.

"Do you know why it is? It is because our relationship does not matter much to you, Naina. You think you can break it off whenever you want and make up again whenever you feel like it," Rajveer says, his heart beating erratically in protest, telling him to stop opposing Naina, but his mind stopping him from giving in.

"No, Rajveer. You are thinking wrong. Please, let me—" Naina starts saying, but Rajveer interjects.

"I am scared to give in, Naina. I had told you that day in the meadow, too, that I have been alone all my life," he says.

“That day in the meadow when you told me you would never let me be alone in my life ever again, I believed you, Naina. Or the other day, when you told me you would always want me, I believed you then too. And that night, when you promised me you would forever be with me, I blindly believed you.

"I believed in each word you said to me, Naina. I believed in all your promises. But those words and promises did not matter to you when you told me I no longer had any place in your life. That too without giving me a chance to explain myself and my action.

"Those words and promises meant nothing to you when you broke off our engagement and declared our relationship to be dead," he continues.

"So, tell me, how can I believe your words now? What if something else happened someday, and you felt like you cannot be with me anymore?"

Naina stands still in her spot, dumbfounded, not knowing what to say to Rajveer to make him believe how much important he and his love are to her.

"You are thinking wrong, Rajveer. You are important to me. Our relationship is important to me. Please, believe me," she says, trying one more time to convince him.

"Please, Naina, give me some time. Everything is so messed up right now that I don't know what to believe in.

"Well, to be honest, I am scared to believe. My heart is still broken after what happened, and I fear that it will be completely shattered if you turn away from your words and promises again in the future, leaving me all alone," Rajveer tells her.

Naina sighs, nodding at him even when she could feel her heart breaking with every breath she took.

Gulping past the thick knot formed in her throat, she looks at Rajveer, her eyes teary.

"Ok, Rajveer. I will give you all the time you need and will wait for you until you are ready to believe in me," she says, her voice hoarse. "Just know that I love you so much, and our relationship means the world to me."

Raising her hand, she caresses Rajveer’s cheek gently for a few seconds, before turning away and walking out of his quarter with a heavy heart and tear-filled eyes.