Aditya sighed gathering his courage and said, 'It all started when I was just finished with my graduation. At that time, I had a girlfriend, Sneha. I was so in love with her that I had all my future planned. She was everything to me.' Aditya smiled at the memory but then the sadness returned to his face.

'After our final exams, we went to the graduation party where all of our friends and batchmates were present. The party was rich and crowded. There was a lot of music and alcohol.

It was one of a time, when I was too much happy. I had everything I've ever wanted but I didn't know what my life had in store for me.' Aditya paused while Avni waited patiently for him to continue.

After a second or two he spoke again, ' That night, regardless of Sneha telling me not to drink too much, I drank that shit and lost track of time. I was such a moron!! I never listened to anybody not even my parents. It was the stupidest thing I ever did in my life.'

Aditya paused and moved his hand over his face. It was too difficult for him to let everything out. Avni reached for his hand and entwined her fingers with him.

She said, 'We all make stupid decisions at some point of time Adi.' She gave him a smile when he looked at her.

Aditya nodded and then continued, 'After sometime, when I looked around, Sneha was nowhere to be seen. I thought she might have left with her friends to talk and have fun. I was too careless.'

'I was enjoying with my friends when one of her best friend came to me asking about her. Then, I got worried and looked around. But I couldn't find her. I went outside thinking she might be relaxing near the trees in the air but it was like she wasn't even there in the party. I called her name and then a scream came out through the woods.' Aditya closed his eyes reliving the memory. It was like everything came back rushing to him. He was feeling pain.. so much pain now that he was thinking about it.

He then continued, 'I panicked and ran towards her voice but in my drunk condition I couldn't do much good at running. I reached there at last struggling with myself and found Sneha injured and held by three guys..' He took a deep breath trying hard to hold himself and said with a heavy hearted voice, 'Oh god, Avni!!! She was bleeding!! Bleeding from her wounds. It was like I couldn't breathe, seeing her in that state.'

Aditya sniffed and held Avni's hand tightly. He said, 'I lashed towards them without thinking. I struggled to fight with them but they outnumbered me and beat me. I got punched in my gut and my jaw. I fell to the ground in pain. The only thing I remembered after that was I passed out on the ground with Sneha's scream in the background.'

Avni's eyes were glassy now and she asked Aditya, 'Why did those guys do it? Who were they?'

Aditya said, 'Those guys were in my college. I had a fight with them once or twice so they were taking revenge from me.'

Now there were too many questions in Avni's mind. She then asked, 'What happened to Sneha, Adi?'

Aditya's expressions turned hard and his jaw tightened. His gaze turned dark when he said, 'She died that night. Those bastards killed her.. And I was there, lying on the ground passed out. When I came to my senses the next morning, I saw her lying dead. I never hated myself so much before as I hated myself in that moment. I don't know why they didn't kill me. God knows she was innocent. It was only me who deserved to die that day, not her. Maybe this was my punishment for everything bad I have done, for bothering everyone including my father during those years.'

Avni started moving her thumb in circles on Aditya's hand and said, 'Adi! Don't beat yourself like that. You didn't do anything wrong. You didn't know that it would happen. It was all about the circumstances. '

Aditya looked at Avni and said, 'Don't you see Avni? It was all my fault. I shouldn't have let her go and drunk so much. I was naive and an idiot. It was all because of me that she is dead.' Now, there were tears in Aditya's eyes and he did nothing to hide them from Avni.

Avni encircled her arms around Aditya and started soothing him.

After few moments, he collected himself and said, 'You know I didn't stop after that. I chased for those guys and searched for them to seek justice. I got them arrested but you know what happened after that?'

At this point Avni was teary eyed too, she wiped her eyes and shook her head. Aditya said, 'The authorities told me to take my statement back in exchange of money. I was pissed as hell. When they saw I wasn't the one to budge, they threatened me that they would lock me down instead for Sneha's murder.'

Avni's eyes widened and she said, 'WHAT!!! How could they do this? It is so.. stupid and doesn't make any sense. And what about your father? He didn't help you?' Avni was getting angry that Aditya had to face so much alone.

'Yeah! I didn't understand at first why the hell would anybody do this and who could have such a power but then I found out from one of my friend that those murderers had a connection to a political member.

One of them was the son of a politician of highest rank. I did everything that I could do. I was so mad, my world shattered in pieces all because of that incident that I didn't care who those people were.'

'I fought for it but then there wasn't any proof left so nothing happened to them, instead I got few months of imprisonment for making a false appeal.

But fortunately, I was released soon with my father's money and connections. My life became a mess after that.'

'I couldn't sleep when I came back home. I used to get nightmares about her. I failed her precious! I couldn't get the justice she deserved.' But I will not stop now and I am sorry precious, he thought.

Avni placed her hand on his face and caressed his stubble. She felt him relax under the touch of her cold fingers. She started moving her fingers through his hair and said, 'Don't think about it too much Adi. Everything is in the past now. You can't change anything that's happened.

We can't stay in the past forever Adi. You should feel good about everything you did for her. The result wasn't in your hand so don't get depressed about it. You have achieved so much on your own. It doesn't matter who we were in our past but what matters is who we are in our present and who will we become in our future. Don't worry Adi, we will go through this together.'

Aditya looked at her but avoided looking in her eyes. He was afraid she would see through his soul. He was ashamed to tell her what was in his mind. So he closed his eyes nodding and gave up to his sleep.