JAAN ( Darr 2 )

Life

 "That everything would be alright? That I'd be able to live in peace?"

Rahul flinched at her words, his head jerking up briefly before dropping again. 

His lips trembled, but no words came.

 She saw the way his shoulders hunched further, as though bracing for a blow, and it only stoked her anger.

Her fingers tightened on his shirt, nails digging into the fabric.

"Knowing what you did..." Her voice trembled, but she didn't stop. "Knowing it was because of me? Because you thought I'd be better off if you were gone?"

He trembled under her touch, his whole body numb. The weight of her words crushed him, and the rain did nothing to wash away the shame, helplessness and the pain that clung to him.

"I...I..." he stammered, but whatever he was trying to say died on his lips. 

His mind screamed with the desire to tell her everything, to explain why he thought she'd be better off without him, why his life was nothing more than a burden she shouldn't have to carry.

 But nothing came out. Only silence, mingling with the rain and his labored breaths.

She stepped closer, her hands grabbing fistfuls of his soaked shirt. Her nails dug into the fabric, her grip unrelenting. 

"Did you really think that's what I wanted?" she demanded, her voice rising. 

"Do you think I could live with that?"

He didn't respond, his head still bowed, his silence only fueling her frustration.

"Your life..." she continued, her voice cracking. "You think you can just throw it away? That you can leave me like that and end it all so simply?"

She couldn't stop the tears now, mingling with the rain as they fell. Her voice softened, though it still carried the sharp edge of her emotions.

 "Do you have any idea how much it hurt? or how afraid and helpless I felt?" she asked, her voice trembling.

 "It hurt as much as your obsession hurt me back then. You think you're saving me by leaving, but all you're doing is breaking me all over again."

His body shuddered under her grip, and she saw the tears streaming down his face, mixing with the rain. He looked so small, so defeated, and yet her anger refused to subside.

Her mind flashed back to that day on the boat, the day she had screamed at Sunil to kill him.

 The memory sent a shiver down her spine. 

She could still see the look in Rahul's eyes, that haunting mixture of anguish and resignation as he waited for death. That look had haunted her for years, and now, standing here in the rain, she saw it again.

She wasn't ready to see him dead again.

The realization hit her like a blow to the chest, knocking the air out of her lungs. 

She wanted to be free of him, 

maybe she still did, but not like this. 

Not in a way that left her carrying the weight of his absence forever.

Her grip on his shirt tightened, and when she spoke again, her voice was quieter but no less fierce. 

"Rahul," she said, leaning closer, her breath warm against his ear despite the cold.

He shivered at the sound of his name, his body trembling under her touch. 

and let out a meek sound in response.