She jumped....

Recap:

But can I do that? Force her to love me? Ruin her happiness? Will that give me relief? Is my love that selfish?

***********

Present:

No. I can never do that. Though I love her unconditionally, I can never force her. Her happiness is what matters the most to me. I am not selfish and I will never ruin her happiness for my own sake. If her happiness is with someone else, then so be it. I will support her, no matter what.

Easier said than done, Isn't it? This is when the struggle begins.

__________________________________________________________________

Next morning, I wake up to my phone going off furiously. Groaning, I check the caller id to find the culprit who's disturbing my sleep only to realize that it's none other than, Daisy. I am still mad at her, not for breaking my heart but for hiding such a huge thing from me, from her best friend.

I want her to realize how much she hurt me. And that's why I decided to ignore her. Declining the call. I slumped back on my comfortable bed. Seconds later, a text notification arrives which goes like this

Daisy: Waiting for you outside, get here in 20.

I ignore and try to fall back asleep. But Daisy being the adamant one, texts again

Daisy: I know you're ignoring me. Just come here, I just wanna talk to you. Later, ignore me as much as you want.

5 minutes later, another text.

Daisy: Ron, please

Daisy: Pretty please.

Daisy: I'll be texting u until u come out.

Daisy: R

Daisy: O

Daisy: N!

Daisy: Dude!! I love u..pleasee come out. Please please, please.

25 more text messages later, I finally give up on the tough guy act and text her back.

Me: Fine. I'll b there in 15.

Daisy: ♡;)

Taking my own time, I walk out of the house, slamming the door shut behind me. I walk towards her car which is parked in my driveway. I notice her sitting in the driver seat, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel while humming the music playing in the car.

I knock on the window to get her attention. A huge smile grazes her face when she sees me.

"You took your sweet time." She says unlocking the door for me.

I roll my eyes and don't tell anything in return. I just sit there in silence.

"Okay so silent treatment. No problem." She says starting the engine and driving out.

After driving for five minutes in silence, I finally break it

"Where are we heading to, Daisy?"

"Somewhere." She replies shrugging her shoulders

"Daisy, I'm not in the mood for your bullshit. I came here with you doesn't mean I've forgiven you. Just tell me where we're going otherwise stop here, I'll hire a cab home." I say a bit harshly, staring out of the window.

I'm greeted by silence in response.

"We're here." She says while turning off the engine.

I notice that we're outside the same park we met the other day. Getting out she doesn't walk into the park, instead, she walks in the other direction. I very well know where she is heading. I don't walk with her instead I fold my arms against my chest and lean against the front of her car.

Suddenly she stops walking, I guess by sensing my absence. She walks back to the door, unlocks the door to the back seat and takes out a shopping bag. Closing the door behind her, she clasps her hand around my wrist and drags me with her without uttering a word.

I follow her without protesting and start climbing the cliff closely behind her. Reaching the top, she leaves my hand and starts unpacking the things she got with her. To say I'm confused after seeing the things is an understatement.

Laid down on the picnic mat are a bottle of onion juice, few eggs, pink and purple food colouring, water and a food container. Once she's done laying the things on the mat, she stands in front of me with a smile on her face but there are fear, doubt and something else in her eyes that I can't put my finger on.

Whatever she's thinking, surely isn't good. I had a feeling this was going to result in something terrible.

"Uh.....Ron! I know what I did was wrong and I'm really sorry about that. I know I can't do anything to lessen your pain or how much hurt you are but believe me, Ron, I want to do anything to get your forgiveness." She says with tears brimming in her eyes.

Slowly, she takes my hand in hers and stops me from speaking

"I'm sorry for what I did, Ron. You matter to me the most. I don't know why I hid it from you, I wasn't thinking straight I guess. I know that's not a reasonable explanation but believe me when I say that you matter to me. Though I love Jake, Luke and Lizz too but you are the most important one. I'm sorry, Aaron. You know I suck at expressing my feelings and I'm horrible with words, just get the message across please."

"Daisy, I didn't expect this from you of all people. We've been the closest since childhood and now when I learned.......this, I couldn't accept it. It hurt a lot, Daisy. Out of all people, I thought you wouldn't hurt me but I was proved otherwise." I say expressing my feelings honestly.

I know I am sounding irrational for holding it for so long but I just felt the need to express my feelings.

"I know what I did was wrong Aaron and I regret it. Okay listen, let's do this. I want you to forgive me and for your forgiveness, I'm ready to do anything. By anything" She closes her tightly as if the next thing she's going to say is the most horrible or the difficult thing in the world. "I mean anything." She says.

Taking a deep breath she continues, "Okay let me do this and get over with. See, there's the lake and here are the things I hate the most, so take them and dump on me. You know I hate water and this time just for you, I'm ready to jump in there" She gulps looking down at the lake beneath the cliff "Just for you and only this once. It's your forgiveness that matters the most and I'll have it."

How can I stay mad at this person when she's so adorable and loving? I can't. I know she hates water, she is scared of depths. She would rather eat chillies, jump in front of a speeding car or go through high school again but never go into a swimming pool or lake. That was the level of fear she had for water.

"Okay, Aaron! I'm doing this just for you." She says breaking me out of my thoughts but before I can comprehend anything, she jumped...

My heart clenches in my chest, already knowing the outcome of this. And the next thing I do is even more irrational.