Chapter 1: Her Awaited Love

High mountain peaks loaded with snow, glistening like diamonds in the light rays of the sun. Holding a golden photo frame in her hand, sitting beside a window on the couch, taking occasional sips of her hot latte was Lily. Gazing lovingly at the photograph of a boy smiling at a girl on his back who was grinning widely at him. A tender smile graced her lips as she sighed longingly and rested her head on the wall behind, clutching the photo frame close to her heart. The old memories resurfacing in her mind...

꧁ 𝑭𝑳𝑨𝑺𝑯𝑩𝑨𝑪𝑲 ꧂

It was a cold winter day, cool breezes flowing smoothly, caressing the pale leaves on the trees and making them dance in their rhythm with a mild snowfall. Unbothered by all this, in the middle of a garden covered with snow, stood a girl cloaked in faux fur clothes. A pout on her face, looking to-and-fro towards the huge mountains and the deep valley then back at her canvas. Tapping the back of her paintbrush on her cheek constantly, trying to figure out something. Colour tubes and paintbrushes were scattered beside her on a bench.

A click of a button had her gaze snapping to the side. Her pout turned into a mischievous smirk seeing him, Ryan. Eyebrows furrowed, lips set in an unsatisfied frown, eyes focused on the camera, clicking photographs of the ethereal view of mountains and valleys like a professional. An idea crept up on her mind and keeping the paintbrush aside she tiptoed towards him. A mischievous smirk played on her lips.

Unaware of her presence, he walked around the tripod and stood at a little distance from it, trying to figure out a good angle for his portrait. She took it as an opportunity to sprint towards him and jumped on his back. He was quick to regain his balance and turned his angry gaze towards her to find her grinning widely at him, his anger flew away just by the mere sight of her and he smiled back lovingly, getting lost in her chocolate brown eyes.

"Click!" their heads shot in the direction of the sound.

She got off from his back and both of them rushed towards the camera to see what had happened only to find the most adorable picture of them together.

"You were supposed to fall Ray" she teased to which he pouted annoyingly and looked back at the photograph. "But, you look cute" she complimented, and flashing him a smile she walked away unknown to his longing stare, beaming smile, and his next words "only with you..".

✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵

She snapped out of her daze by a "ping" indicating the arrival of a text. She smiled looking at the name and picked up her mobile opening the text.

Ryan :)

𝑯𝒆𝒚! <3

~𝑯𝒆𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌! 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍?

Ryan :)

𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒉, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒉𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 :(

~𝑨𝒘.. 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕..

Ryan :)

𝑵𝒂𝒉𝒉, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉

𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚 :')

~𝑶𝒉, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈?

Ryan :)

𝑴𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒉𝒖𝒉?

~𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓

Ryan :)

𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒆.

~𝑹𝑨𝒀𝒀!

Ryan :)

𝑯𝒂𝒉𝒂

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒚

𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒏 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒆 ;)

~𝑼𝒈𝒉! 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝑰 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖..

Ryan :)

𝑾𝒐𝒉𝒐𝒐! 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏!

~𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓

Ryan :)

𝑶𝒌𝒂𝒚, 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆

𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑿𝑫

~𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈!

Ryan :)

𝑯𝒂𝒉𝒂

𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒏 27𝒕𝒉!

𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆 <3

𝑻𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓? 𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒂 𝒈𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒘

~𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒆, 𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 <3

Her cheeks turned a tinge of red as usual by the random names he called her. Shaking her head at his silliness, she kept her mobile aside and got engrossed in her new creation which was supposed to be his birthday present. A wave of anxiety hit her as she thought about the what-ifs of her plan for his birthday. Pushing all the negative thoughts to the back of her mind she focused on the canvas painting. She had to take this chance, after waiting for several years. She knew he was the one...

********

The most awaited day of her life was finally here, it was 27th January, his birthday. After a chaotic day of working with the lousy team of event managers and getting all the preparations done Lily was driving back home.

Reaching there, she took a much-needed shower and was now staring at her reflection in the mirror. After several rounds of contemplation, she finally concluded that she looked good ~hopefully, and drove back to the venue.

After waiting for more than an hour, Lily was pacing the corridor's length, fuming in anger. She was a strict follower of punctuality and hated those who didn't understand the value of time. But ironically, the special person in her life had a never-ending habit of being late.

Suddenly, she felt a hand enclose her wrist, and the next moment her body collided with a hard chest. She immediately recognized his comforting warmth and intoxicating cologne.

She met with the familiar pair of pale green eyes that still held a glint of pure innocence in them and managed to erupt butterflies in her stomach, staring intensely at her chocolate brown ones. His heart-melting smile made her anger fly out of the window in an instant.

She blinked and let out a shaky breath, and engulfed him in a bear hug, exclaiming, "Happy birthday Rayy!!". Holding her one hand above her head and chuckling at her excitement on his birthday, he twirled her around and replied, "Thanks a lot sunshine, you are looking gorgeous".

She blushed a deep red and mumbled a faint thanks. As she realized how late they were, she gave him a death glare and spoke, "Do you know what time it is? I have been waiting for you! You have no idea how much time you have wast-" she was stopped mid-sentence by his finger being kept tenderly on her lips. But her glare remained intact. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously and apologized for being late again flashing his heart-melting boyish smile.

She sighed and rushed towards the function hall while Ryan was walking slightly behind her, praising every single corner of the corridor, getting more curious every passing second to see what she had in stock for his birthday. As soon as they entered the hall, he stood rooted at his spot, fascinated by the elegance of everything present in the hallway.

As he moved a step forward the spotlight fell on him, making his features glow and his presence known to every individual present there. His gaze roamed randomly on the crowd present there but settled on the familiar brown eyes of his mother, who was beaming widely at him. He didn't realize it when he descended the stairs and threw his arms around her. Relishing the safety of her motherly embrace like the old times.

His mother pulled back and cupped his face in her tender palms, kissed his forehead, and gave him best wishes for his birthday along with her motherly blessings. Tears of happiness threatened to spill as he felt the love and care of his mother after being apart from her for a long time.

Before a single drop of tear could escape his eyes, he felt a tap on his right shoulder. Knowing well who it was he turned to his left and found his over-excited brother Raiden.

Raiden didn't waste another moment and hugged him, only to pull back and start complaining about Ryan not missing him enough to come back and meet him once. Ryan wanted to tell him about his busy schedule, but his words died in his throat when he noticed his cousins and friends walking toward him with a smirk on their faces.

He knew what was coming, but before he could turn around to walk away, they all ran and squeezed him in a group hug. Pulling back after a while laughing like kids, and chorused, "happy birthday Ray!".

Lily was watching all this from the top of the staircase and found it difficult to move her gaze from the flawless man with finely chiseled features, looking as elegant as ever in his pair of black shirt and trousers along with a brown colored overcoat. She missed the little talkative boy who had an adorable dimple on his right cheek. Her candy-sneaking partner and her protector from their childhood itself, keeping her safe and teaching her to protect herself too.

᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽

The bright smile plastered on Ryan's face all along the event was worth her efforts. Everything went accordingly to her plan. She was ecstatic after reuniting him with his family after eight long years.

Ryan was spending time with his dear ones, but his gaze was busy looking for a familiar beauty in the hall. He met his family after eight long years only because of Lily. ~his Lily.

He was least interested in the conversation going on among his cousins when Raiden approached him with a bouquet of white lilies. Handing over the flower bouquet, Raiden left with a knowing smile and got busy on a phone call.

Ryan's confused gaze met with the smirking group of cousins. Shaking his head at their silly antics, he inspected the bouquet and found a little note between the flowers. He opened it and found some route directions written in it with a small smiley at the end.

Wanting to know who it was, Ryan started to walk according to the directions mentioned in the note that led him out of the hall and then away from the event mansion.

After that, he entered a familiar street and crossed a bus stop ~where he used to chase a bus, just because of his habit of being late, on his way from his home to school and used to get a long lecture from Lily about the risks related to jumping in a moving bus.

He chuckled as he saw the "Pretty Pancy's cafe" whose name still sounded weird to him as it did all those years back ~but the name itself held a sweet memory for him.

Later on, he came across his school ~where he learned the lessons of life more than the lessons from textbooks, created a social life of his own by getting to know several people, and made friends along with some enemies.

After that, he proceeded from the front of the pre-primary school ~where he started the basis of his learning and development as a kid. And at last, he entered a familiar society and saw a "renewed" townhouse that was once his home ~where he grew up, living and creating uncountable memories.

His little tour around his early stages of life came to an abrupt stop when the directions mentioned in the note ended. He folded it, kept it in his pocket, and looked up to find himself in the same garden where he spent his teenage life, realizing his passion for photography and shooting with cameras.

He looked around for some clue or any person and then noticed long votive candles placed in a pair of rows, leading to a certain place where he was supposed to reach.

He walked along the pathway, enjoying the sense of harmony and romance created by the candles. His steps stopped on their way as he stood astonished by the mesmerizing view. Second time on the same day.

At the end of the path was a circular platform surrounded by vases consisting of colorful lilies, decorated with white curtains and yellow lightning series.

In the middle of all this, stood the angelic girl he was dying to see, perfectly clad in an ankle-length, a down-shouldered gown which was white on the top with some intricate thread works, and turned into different shades of blue on reaching the bottom along with some patterns of flowers made up of thread working, looking like a goddess. And the jewels she wore added beauty to her already alluring look.

Taking a deep breath Lily walked toward him. Held out her hand, which he gladly took, and led him to the platform.

He tried to ask, "what is-" but was interrupted by the emotions swirling in her eyes. Lily began speaking, " I don't know when it happened, as we have been together for years creating unforgettable memories, always being together in good and bad. You were the one who always looked after me, supported me, understood me, listened to me, trusted me, had faith in me, and made me realize my true worth. You taught me how to live and love".

She looked up and met his gaze, "I am not good with words so I made this for you".

She moved aside revealing a portrait of a couple holding each other close as the moonlight cast on them. Standing on the snow-covered ground, forehead resting together and hands clasped on their sides.

He couldn't form words to describe how amazing the portrait was and that's when the idea behind it struck him. It was the same painting that's a rough sketch, Lily used to keep hidden in her diary, and when once he had secretly opened her diary and had seen the sketch. She had waved away his question about, who the couple was saying that the special person in her life will be revealed to him at the right time. He understood what she was referring to by the portrait.

She walked near him, tugged at his right hand, and turned him around to face her. She cupped his lovingly and confessed, "You have been the inspiration behind my every artwork Ray, you have been the secret behind my success, you are the one who made me who I am today and now, K can't even imagine my life without you, you are the first thought of my days and the last dream of my nights, I don't have enough words to explain your importance in my life but all that I can say is...."

She stopped and looked at his face, searching for something in his eyes while Ryan grew impatient for her to say those magical words that he always wanted to listen to. His patient reached its peak and holding her hand in his he whined, "just say it already Lily!"

She might have found what she was searching for as her facial features visibly relaxed and she stood on her tippy-toes, moving her lips closer to his, and whispered, "I love you Ryan and I always have and always will".

Her lips brushed his as she spoke the final words. Ryan's eyes moistened with tears of happiness and before she could move away he crashed his lips on her soft ones. Pulled her closer to his body by wrapping his strong arms around her waist. It was a soft and passionate kiss as if promising to always love and cherish each other.

He pulled away and picked her up slightly to twirl her around exclaiming in happiness, "I love you too Lily, I love you so much!"

Lily was still in a trance of her first kiss being so perfect but still managed to let out a beautiful laugh when he exclaimed again n again as to how much he loved her.

He lowered her down breathing heavily and got down on his knees and locked his confident gaze with Lily's confused ones. He took out a red velvet box.

Keeping his gaze steady Ryan spoke, "Words won't do justice in expressing how gorgeous you look, Lily. Like an angel who came into my life to fill it with love and happiness. I can't thank you enough for the amazing surprise you planned for my birthday. I feel so proud and lucky to have you in my life".

He took a deep breath and opened the box revealing a silver platinum ring with a round-cut diamond in between. He chuckled looking at her expression of surprise and adoration but mostly the innocent excitement dancing in her eyes. He continued, " I won't make it long as I can see how much you want to embrace me right now, so, here Lily, this is a promise ring for you from me that I'll love you to the fullest and will respect and cherish you all my life".

The moment he finished saying this, Lily got on her knees hugging him with her all might. He chuckled standing up, with her still hugging him as closely as she could.

Ryan hugged her back and remarked in a playful tone, "It's fine sweetie, I know I look handsome and all but know that I am all yours, I am not going anywhere, don't worry". Hearing this Lily shoved him away slightly laughing at his silly remark and wiping her tears that managed to spill out.

Ryan took her hand and slid the ring onto her finger delicately. " It's beautiful" Lily whispered, still adorning the ring. "Not as beautiful as you, my love" Ryan replied looking at her as she were the most beautiful person in the world.

She looked up and met his gaze, getting lost in the love swirling in his eyes and feeling lucky that all his love belonged to her, he belonged to her.

Ryan closed his eyes and placed a soft lingering kiss on her lips, getting addicted to the softness of her lips, and rested his forehead on hers. He counted stop the bright smile forming on his smile. Lily entwined her hands with his on their side and they both closed their eyes getting lost in each other's embrace, basking in their love bubble. Sharing the warmth of their love and feeling their heartbeats sync.

Finally, she got her awaited love...

#𝑹𝒚𝑳𝒚

𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨! 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬,

𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐩𝐚𝐝..

𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟....𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭?

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐢𝐭, 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞

𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬..

𝐒𝐨, 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞.

𝐒𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝!!

𝐀𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 alecmk29, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

𝐈𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐦♡'･ᴗ･'♡

❤︎ 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐲/𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ❤︎

~𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐨̀𝐧