Fiza woke up with a splitting headache. She tried to stretch but her leg hurt too. She opened her eyes and saw Alan next to her.

"Great!" She thought, now she was getting headaches in her dreams too. She held him close. He felt so real. She inhaled his scent-his musky cologne mixed with his own masculine scent. She smiled, she could probably recognize him with her eyes closed. This was a nice dream, despite the headache, unlike the daily nightmares she had been having: him being with other women, or dying, or her just running in a fog.

She reached up and kissed him. His lips were warm, and for a moment, she could almost convince herself that this was real. Maybe she could just live in her dreams, create an alternate reality in her head. Ha! She thought, she was all set to be a schizophrenic too. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.

She glanced down and saw the brace on her leg. She faintly remembered the nurse administering pethidine. She was sensitive to narcotics, she would get high just drinking cough syrup. She kissed him again. He opened his eyes, and she smiled at those light brown orbs. He had tanned in this dream, making his eyes look even lighter, she observed.

He reached out and caressed her cheek with his thumb. She leaned in and kissed him again, but he pulled away. She frowned.

"Don't abandon me," she said, her voice husky.

Alan took deep breaths; it was so much harder when she was right in front of him.

Fiza frowned, maybe she wasn't dreaming. She looked around, confused. "Where am I?" she asked.

"Sultan Hotel," Alan responded, looking at her intently.

She looked at him, unable to believe that he was here. "What? What am I doing here?" she asked him.

"You don't remember any of it?" he asked. He smiled gently. "You had an accident, fractured your fibula." She nodded. She remembered this part. She sped over a pothole and skidded to a stop. Despite her fractured leg, she had gotten back on the bike and ridden to the hospital.

"They gave you pethidine and alprax."

Fiza smacked her head with her hand. She couldn't remember anything except bits and pieces. Vivek and Bharti had helped her to the apartment. She remembered a guy. "Bad man," she mumbled.

"What?" Alan asked curiously.

"The bad man," she said, but she couldn't remember what her logic had been. She had gone to the pub in an Uber looking for a "bad man." She covered her face with her hands.

"Vivek called me," he concluded.

"Why?" Fiza asked, confused.

"Why what?" Alan was perplexed.

"Why did he call you? Why did you come?" She asked him, her voice getting stronger as tears filled up her eyes.

"You were in trouble," he explained, frowning.

"But you left me," she said simply. They stared at each other for a few minutes.

"I had come to Manipal," said Fiza, lying on her side and looking up at him.

He nodded.

"You didn't try to meet me," she continued. "I just wanted to talk. I wasn't going to create any drama." Her eyes filled up.

"But you didn't even want to talk to me," she whispered.

"I was at the hospital, Fiz, I was seeing pat..." Alan started to explain, but Fiza cut him off. "But you asked me to leave. I waited for you anyway. And you didn't come." She took a deep breath.

Alan opened his mouth again, but Fiza interjected once more.

"You owed me that. An explanation. Best friends for 3 years, your girlfriend for 4 years. After being together for 7 years, you thought you could just cut me off?" She didn't cry, but pain was written all over her face.

"I loved you," she whispered. Alan noticed that she had used the past tense. He remained quiet, understanding that she needed to talk, to let it all out.

"What was it? I was getting fat? I've lost weight now!" She declared, her eyes flashing.

"Fiz!" Alan exclaimed, shocked at her assumption.

"I didn't allow you to take me at your whim? Was that it? Was I not sexual enough for you?" She sat up in bed now, her every word a dagger to his heart. He winced.

"Or was it because I kissed Faisal back? Not because I was attracted to him, but I was attracted to the thought of stability." She was getting close but not quite there yet. He shook his head lightly but let her continue.

"You could have talked to me. You could have just told me what it was, and we could have worked through it." She bit her lip. "And if we couldn't, I would have accepted it."

"I waited for your messages, for your calls," Fiza said, her voice quivering with emotion. She handed her phone to him, showing the undelivered messages that had accumulated. He read through them, realizing how much she had reached out to him, hoping for a response.

"I just forced myself to believe that you were taking your time," she continued. Tears were rapidly falling from Alan's eyes as he listened to her painful confession.

"But you didn't come. And when Vivek told me you had moved on..." Fiza's voice broke, "I thought you'd at least meet me."

Alan's heart felt heavy with grief, but he knew it was crucial to let her express her feelings.

"I gave you everything. I was all in. My life began and ended with you," Fiza continued, her voice filled with anguish.

"I told you I'd only date the person I'd marry, and for me, that was you. I was committed to you. I was ready to stand by you through everything. And I have. But you..." she broke off, her eyes narrowing in anger, "you just took and took, and when I had nothing left to give you, you dumped me."

Alan couldn't find the words to respond, overwhelmed by the pain and regret that washed over him.

Fiza looked away, swallowing hard. She seemed to have exhausted herself, her emotions taking a toll. Her eyes fell on a glass of water and paracetamol tablets at her bedside. Why did he care? He had dumped her, abandoned her.

"Do you have nothing to say?" Fiza asked him, her voice now soft.

Alan shook his head, struggling to find the right words. Fiza clenched her teeth in exasperation.

"I need answers. Why?" Her voice broke.

"Because you deserve better," he said softly. "I wasn't going to stand in the way of your happiness."

"My happiness?" Fiza yelled at him now. She lunged at him, hitting and punching every part of him she could reach. He just sat there, flinching, letting her hurt him.

She finally pushed him backward with all her strength. The impact, instead of displacing him, sent her falling backward.

"Fiza!" Alan exclaimed, worried.

She winced in pain, clutching her injured leg. Her broken fibula was a reminder of the accident.

"That was not your call. You don't make unilateral decisions about our relationship. We decide together. You don't decide for me," Fiza shouted at him, frustration and anger fueling her words. Alan remained quiet, absorbing her words.

"Say something, fight back," Fiza yelled, wanting some kind of response.

"I've hurt you enough. Tell me what you want, Fiza. Tell me what to do, and I'll do it. I don't want to figure it out anymore or fight it anymore. Tell me what you want, and I'll listen," Alan finally spoke, his voice filled with sincerity.

Fiza stood up and limped to the window. The sunlight outside made her head ache. What did she want? She wanted Alan. She wanted things to go back to how they were, but she knew deep down that they couldn't. The past was gone, and they had both changed. It was a painful realization.

She looked at him, searching for something in his eyes. "Do you love me?" She asked him, her voice trembling with uncertainty.

"More than I love myself," he answered honestly, his love for her evident in his words. He had loved her enough to let her go when he believed it was for the best.

Fiza hesitated, struggling to put her feelings into words. "I'm not sure about how I feel... I need time," she admitted.

Alan nodded.

She contemplated for a few minutes.

"I love you. But I don't think I can trust you anymore. I can't trust that you won't dump me again," she explained, her voice filled with pain. "Can we be friends for... for 4 weeks, like we had previously decided?" she asked, her request a mix of hope and uncertainty.

"Anything you want, Fiza," Alan mumbled, even though he knew it would be agonizing for him to be just her friend. He was willing to do it for her, to try and mend what was broken.

Fiza glanced at him, her heart heavy with the weight of their shared history. Why had things gone so wrong between them? Why couldn't they just reset and start over? So many questions lingered, but for now, they had agreed to take one step at a time.

"Are you off today?" Fiza asked Alan.

He nodded in response.

"I'm on medical leave too," she revealed. "Can you just hold me?" Her voice was soft and vulnerable.

She lay down on the bed, facing away from him. Alan moved closer, spooning her gently. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as if trying to protect her from the world.

Just touching her was intoxicating for him. Memories flooded his mind - the first time she had rested her head on his shoulder on that bus ride to Pondicherry in their first year, the first time she had stayed over at his place, their first kiss, singing together, coaching her in basketball, her hugs, her meticulously color-coded timetables. Why had they crossed the line from friendship? They had been so happy just as friends.

But then he remembered their first night together, how she had trembled beneath him, how she would jump on him, wrapping her arms and legs around him whenever they saw each other after a while. He remembered the way she kissed him, never really taking the lead, but so responsive to his touches. How she lit him on fire with just one look, one touch like no one else could. He remembered the times she had told him that everything happened for a reason, that they were the only real thing in the world, and everything else was just noise.

Fiza lay there, in Alan's arms, pondering the twists and turns of their relationship. She no longer knew what was right or wrong. But she finally felt calm, lying next to him. Like she belonged there, with him.

Alan pulled her close, wrapping his legs around her, pressing against her body, wanting to get as close as he could.

"Alan!" she gasped in surprise. He kissed her cheek, her jawline, and then her neck, nibbling and sucking her skin.

Fiza turned around to look into his eyes, her expression searching. "Are you trying to have sex with me, Alan?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.

Taken aback by her tone, Alan stammered, "I was just... kissing you..."

"It's not going to work," Fiza responded haughtily. "I'm not giving in. You said you'd listen to me. So hold me like you used to when we were best friends."

Alan looked into her eyes but his gazed shifted to her lips and lingered for a few seconds before shifting back to her eyes. "Fiza, I was never your best friend. I was always in love with you," he confessed.

She looked at him questioningly, but it wasn't a revelation to her; she had always suspected as much.

"I loved you for seven years, Fiza. Do you think I could just abandon you and be okay?" he asked. "I didn't move on, Fiza; I barely survived. The only thing that kept me going was the thought that you were in a better place." His finger gently traced the contours of her face.

"I was in touch with Vivek. I asked him to keep an eye on you. I watched over you, on the location app and on Insta," Alan confessed softly, his lips barely an inch away from hers.

Fiza's eyes remained closed, but she could feel his warm breath on her face.

"You were finally making friends, socializing, having fun. You seemed to be doing better without me than with. I didn't want to disrupt that," his forehead rested gently against hers. "If I knew you weren't coping well," his lips brushed hers lightly, "I would have come to you."

Fiza's entire body tensed at his proximity. She didn't want to give in to him, not after the way he had hurt her. She was determined to hold on to some semblance of self-respect. She didn't want to be vulnerable again, at his mercy.

She pulled her head back, and his lips landed on her throat.

He kissed it softly, repeatedly, caressing her neck and shoulders with his hands.

Fiza trembled at his touch. She bent her head down and rolled to her side, facing away from him.

He spooned her once more, his arms and legs wrapped around her, pulling her tight, his face buried in the crook of her neck.

Alan inhaled her scent deeply. He was never letting her go again. She had been right all along; they belonged together. Every problem they had faced stemmed from not believing this truth. He wasn't going to make that mistake again.

"I love you, Fiz. I'm never letting you go again," he whispered, his words filled with sincerity and determination.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

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Authors note

Should Fiza give him a second chance?

Please tell me your thoughts. Are you rooting for them or not?
Don't say I didn't warn you - there is a lot of grey in this book, unlike it's prequel.

Please vote and comment.

Thank you for reading if you have gotten this far!

❤️Faiza