The Journey

《 4 years later 》

Aarav's POV-

"I swear to God, Aarav, if I fall, I'm going to punch you so hard-"

"Calm down, Mike Tyson." I said, rolling my eyes at Ishitha's threat.

"We're almost there." I added.

"Can I take it off now?" She asked, a little bit too excited.

"Uhm.... yeah, now you can."

She took off the blind fold that was covering her eyes and looked around, taking in the beauty of the place.

"Wow!" She exclaimed, still looking around.

I stood behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, settling my chin on her shoulder.

"So?"

"It's beautiful." She complimented again.

"Very." I said, pecking her cheek.

A comfortable silence enveloped us, as we stood on the Nahargarh Fort, taking in the fort's and its surrounding's beauty as the sun was about to set.

All of a sudden Ishitha released a chuckle, which later turned into a laughing session.

"What happened to you?" I asked her, chuckling myself looking at her laugh.

"I just remembered our underwater kiss." She replied, laughing.

"Oh, ofcourse now!" I rolled my eyes at her for the second time in a day.

"It was on your bucket list, but I was the one more excited! I literally had to force you to jump into the sea with me. You were so scared." She said.

"Yeah, yeah, okay."

To which she laughed even more.

"Do you remember our kiss on top of the Eiffel Tower?" I smirked, asking her.

This time it was my turn to laugh, as Ishitha completely muted herself.

"What happened, Ish? Is something wrong?" I asked her, trying not to laugh.

She nudged my stomach with her elbow and mumbled "Go away, Aarav."

Chuckling at her, I rested my face beside hers, leaning to her side a bit.

"It's been four years already, huh?" I sighed.

"Yeah, four years since you asked me to become your girlfriend." She said, smiling to herself while looking ahead.

"It has been a tough run, hasn't it?" I asked her.

"Very, but it's all worth it for the beautiful relationship we share." She replied.

"I mean, honestly Aarav, you've got no idea what you mean to me. You've seen me at my rock bottom, you know how moody I can get, how annoying or clingy I can get sometimes, but you still chose to stay with me. You're that one person I can share anything without even thinking, or just be myself around you. You literally postpone your meetings every single time just to be with me when I need you. I honestly don't know how many right decisions I've taken till date, but I do know that the best decison I've ever made was to shout your name outside the railway station four years back." She said, chuckling at the last sentence.

I looked at her, with a smile on my face, before kissing her temple.

God, I love this girl so much.

"Well then, can I make the best decison of my life?" I questioned, looking at her.

She turned around in my arms and gave me confused look.

Holding her left hand, I went down on my knee.

"Aarav...." She whispered.

"Ishitha Sahni, if five years back someone had told me that the girl I was crushing on, just by seeing her picture, would become my girlfriend five years later, I would've laughed at their face. But then I guess, destiny had its own plans, and here I am, five years later, on my knee, proposing the same girl I was crushing on back then. Believe it or not, I thank God everyday for your birth. Life would've been different without you, and honestly, totally not worth it, if it wasn't for you." I said.

Ishitha already had tears in her eyes by now, but also had a huge smile on her face. The smile that held the power of brightening up even my worst days.

"I didn't know falling in love would be as beautiful as the person standing right infront of me." I said, genuinely, letting my feelings out.

A tear had slid down her cheek.

"You know I always thought about how falling in love would feel like. I thought I'd do this, do that, take her out on fancy dates, do fancy things for her, and you know stuffs like that, but then you entered my life. You showed me that, sitting on top of the hood of your car with your loved one beside you, on a hill, and munching on pizza while talking about random things, is way special than a fancy date. You taught me to love the little things in life, however small it might be. The only thing that matters is the person you are with." I said, looking at a now crying Ishitha.

"You were right, Ish, as with any journey, who you travel with can be more important than your destination." I said, repeating her words.

"And trust me, I'm so lucky to be sharing this journey with you." I added.

"I think, it's about time to strike one more thing off your bucket list." I said, pointing towards the sun that was setting down.

She looked at the sunset, before looking down at me again.

I took out the velvet box from my pocket, and held it open infront of her, while saying the next few sentences.

"Four years back you spent almost five days with me on a train journey, but Ishitha Sahni, would you like to join me in this life journey of mine?" I asked her.

With continuous tears rolling down her cheeks, but also with a constant smile on her face, she nodded her head as if saying yes.

A smile broke out on my face, before I slid the ring on her finger.

I stood up and pulled her into me, hugging her tightly.

"I love you." She said, crying into my chest.

Smiling to myself, I whispered in her ear, "I love you. So fucking much."

She broke the hug and pulled me by my collar for a kiss.

This kiss was so much better than the underwater kiss or the one that we shared on top of the Eiffel Tower, or all the kisses we've shared till date.

This kiss was all about love.

And only love.

Pulling away, she looked at me with affection and admiration in her eyes.

I smiled down at her, before resting my forehead against hers, while my arms rested around her waist, and hers on my chest.

"Let's get started with yet another journey?" I asked her.

To which she replied,

"This time, our journey."