Chapter 5: The Child Within

Gia had always been this way. On the surface, stubborn. Moody. Quick to sulk, quick to smile. But underneath, her childlike nature came from something deeper—an absence.

Growing up, she had never been cared for the way she longed to be. No one noticed when her hair knotted or when her hands were cold. No one stayed up when she cried quietly at night. Affection was foreign, care was rare.

So when she finally found people who felt safe—Ashi, Arnav, and now Aksh—her inner child bloomed. She could pout, glare, demand, laugh, and crumble without fear of being judged. Her tantrums weren’t immaturity. They were her truest self, finally allowed to exist.

And Aksh… he had always seen it. From the very beginning, her stubbornness, her innocence, her quiet craving for care—it wasn’t new to him.

The irony was that he was the same.

Aksh never revealed his warmth to the world. To most, he was cold, distant, and unreachable. But with the rare few who crossed his invisible boundary—his sister, Arnav, and now Gia—he let pieces of his real self slip out. Not in words, but in actions. A chair pulled out. A plate set down first. A toothbrush guided gently in her mouth when she was too sleepy to do it herself.

That morning at the breakfast table, when she sat there puffing her cheeks in anger like a child, he had nearly laughed. Nearly. He swallowed it down, masked it with silence. But the truth was—her childishness didn’t annoy him.

It softened him.

Because it mirrored the part of himself he never showed anyone else.

And though he told himself she was to blame, that she was the reason he felt this chaos inside, he couldn’t ignore the truth: with Gia, he was more himself than he had ever been.

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Gia always knew her love for him wasn’t sudden. It had been building in quiet ways long before she had the courage to name it.

But it wasn’t until everything shattered that she realized just how deeply he had become part of her.

At Ashi’s wedding, when Daksh’s kiss poisoned everything, Arnav’s anger had been immediate, merciless. He hadn’t even listened. One look, and he believed the worst.

But Aksh… he had been quiet. His silence wasn’t neutral—it was heavy, weighted with doubt he didn’t want to carry. She had seen it in his eyes. He hadn’t accused her, hadn’t defended her either. Just silence.

And that silence had hurt more than Arnav’s rage.

Because in that moment she realized something terrifying: she didn’t care what Arnav believed. But Aksh’s doubt? That broke her.

And that’s when a memory surfaced—small, ordinary, forgotten until now.

It had been weeks before the wedding. She had been sitting with Arnav and Ashi, casually demanding like a spoiled queen:

“Arnav, get me a drink

He had returned with a random bunch of bottles—soda, juice, even water. Gia had raised an eyebrow, teasing, “You don’t even know what I usually drink, do you?”

Arnav had only shrugged, careless as always.

But before he could speak, another voice had slipped in from the corner.

Aksh’s.

He had named her favorite flavor, exact and precise, without even glancing up from the sketchbook in his hands.

The room went on as if nothing happened, but Gia had paused.

Her lips curved into the faintest, almost mischievous smile—an evil little grin that Arnav didn’t catch. Because in that moment she realized: Aksh had been paying attention all along.

She hadn’t forgotten that smile. And now, after everything, it burned even brighter in her memory.

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