Serendipity {Complete}

... such sweet sorrow

"Give me your phone." Veer rasps at the end of that earth-shattering kiss.

Trying to catch her breath, Miraya feels that if she loosens her hold on him, her heart will rip out of her chest and stay stuck to him. Reluctantly, she peels herself off of him and fishes her phone out, unlocks it, and hands it to him.

Veer quickly taps in his number, saves it, and hands the phone back to her.

"Listen. You call me if you need help, if you are in trouble, or... for anything. Okay?" With his knuckles, he gently grabs her chin and tilts her head up. "I'll be on the road, but I know people; I have contacts almost everywhere. Even if I cannot do anything directly, I'll make sure someone can."

He may be terrible with nicknames and compliments, but he scored off the charts in thoughtfulness. Surprised and overwhelmed by his unexpected offer, Miraya stares up at him, trying not to cry.

"W-what? No-no... You have done enough, Veer. I-I'm not going to bother y-you anymore." She shakes her head, widening her eyes, hoping it prevents the tears from trickling down.

"Shut up. Miraya." He shakes her slightly, his large hands squeezing her shoulders. "If it were a bother, I would not give you my number."

"No, no... I'm n-not going to. You are not even l-letting me pay you-"

He cuts her off with another shake, making her teeth rattle. "We settled that, shishi."

"We did n-not!"

He glowers at her as she continues to shake her head, refusing to look at him. "I'll tell you what shishi means if you promise to call me if you need help."

Her head snaps up, and she scans his face as curiosity gets the better of her. It was hardly a trade-off, but he had been so reluctant to share his thoughts that she couldn't pass it up.

She slowly nods in agreement. "Okay. I promise."

Veer stares down at her, his mouth twitching as if he were debating with himself if he should reveal the meaning. Her expectation grows as she sees him hesitate.

How bad could it be?

"Fragile." His curt response is anticlimactic.

Huh. I already knew that.

Glass equals breakable, which equals fragile. That was his big reveal?

"Fragile? So, g-glass... that breaks. I already guessed that." She pouts, feeling cheated.

He mutters under his breath, then sighs loudly, dropping his hands from her shoulders.

"No. Something you want to be careful with." His voice dips to that low, gravelly, rough level that sends shivers down her spine to her toes. "Something that you want to protect."

"Oh." Dazed, she blinks up at him. She had not expected that at all.

This is so unfair! All the things I have wanted to hear all my life, and it's by this guy? This guy I will never see again. This guy I will never have.

Her face crumples as tears fall; she is past caring how much and often she has cried in front of him.

Veer groans softly as he reaches for her again, and she sinks into his arms. He squeezes her tightly until she can't breathe, and it's still not enough; she wants to fuse herself to him. Right, wrong, logic, and sense are meaningless to her at this point.

"Why d-did you tell me?" Her wail is muffled against his chest.

"I thought it would make you happy. Not set off the waterworks." He mutters, exasperated.