25-05-2026, 01:50 PM
(This post was last modified: 25-05-2026, 01:59 PM by Hornytamilan23. Edited 2 times in total. Edited 2 times in total.)
Chapter 27: The Dream He Didn’t Explain
The apartment was silent in a way only afternoon silence could be.
Not peaceful.
Just still.
Curtains moved faintly with the fan’s airflow, sunlight resting lazily across the bedroom floor while somewhere outside, distant Chennai traffic hummed like background noise from another life.
It was already past noon.
---
Lokesh woke suddenly.
Not slowly.
Not peacefully.
Suddenly.
His chest rose sharply as if he had surfaced from underwater.
For a few seconds, he didn’t recognize where he was.
Then reality settled back: their bedroom, the ceiling fan, Shruthi sleeping beside him, Hasini already gone to college for her weekend practice session.
He rubbed his face hard and sat up.
12:07 PM.
The digital clock glowed beside the bed.
It was his nightmare, things getting sprinted out of his control. Karthick was still newbie at shruti's office and he got stumbled what if his dream becomes true..
---
Beside him, Shruthi still slept, turned slightly toward his side unconsciously. Her hair covered part of her face, one hand resting near the pillow.
For a moment, Lokesh simply looked at her quietly.
Then his eyes shifted toward the calendar near the wardrobe.
Today’s date.
Normal.
Everything normal.
Nothing had happened.
Not really.
---
His breathing slowly steadied.
Because the dream still clung to him.
Not visually.
Emotionally.
He remembered flashes: raised voices, Karthik’s face, his own anger spiraling beyond control, people watching, Shruthi trying to stop him.
And in the dream, he hadn’t stopped.
That was the terrifying part.
Not Karthik.
Not the scene.
Himself.
---
He leaned back against the headboard slowly, pressing his fingers against his eyes.
Last night’s conversation had calmed him externally, but somewhere inside, his mind had continued wrestling with everything unsaid.
Because the truth was complicated.
Shruthi had not defended Karthik.
That realization stayed with him now more clearly after sleep.
She never once said he was innocent.
Never once justified what he did.
Never once asked Lokesh to “understand him.”
No.
That wasn’t what she was trying to do.
---
What terrified her was something else entirely.
The humiliation.
The collapse.
The ugliness that would follow if Lokesh reacted emotionally in front of everyone.
She knew him.
Knew how deeply he controlled anger.
And perhaps that was exactly why she panicked.
Because once a man like Lokesh crossed a line emotionally, there would be no halfway point after that.
No simple argument.
No casual resolution.
Things would become irreversible.
Families involved. Friendships destroyed. Public embarrassment. Permanent cracks.
So in that moment, Shruthi hadn’t saved Karthik.
She had saved her marriage from spiraling into something ugly and uncontrollable.
Even if it made her look weak temporarily.
Even if people misunderstood her silence.
---
Beside him, Shruthi stirred slightly before opening her eyes slowly.
For a few seconds she looked disoriented.
Then memory returned to her face immediately.
The party. The confrontation. The conversation afterward.
And beneath all that—
shame.
Not shame because of Karthik’s actions.
Shame because she had trusted someone enough to never imagine the situation would even happen.
---
“You’re awake?” she asked softly.
“Hm.”
“What time?”
“Past twelve.”
Her eyes widened immediately.
“What?”
“We overslept.”
Shruthi groaned softly and covered her face for a second before sitting up.
The blanket slipped slightly from her shoulder as she adjusted herself against the headboard.
Then she looked at him carefully.
“You okay?”
Lokesh gave a small nod.
“Just bad sleep.”
She studied him longer this time.
“You look disturbed.”
He smiled faintly without humor.
“Bad dream.”
“About yesterday?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Which itself answered enough.
---
Shruthi stayed quiet for a moment.
Then softly:
“You think I sided with him?”
Lokesh looked at her instantly.
The question carried more weight than the words themselves.
---
“No,” he answered honestly.
And he meant it.
Because last night, after replaying everything again and again in his head, he understood something important.
Shruthi’s reaction hadn’t come from protecting Karthik emotionally.
It came from fear of destruction.
---
She looked down at her hands.
“I didn’t know what to do there.”
Lokesh stayed silent.
“I knew he crossed a line. I knew it immediately.”
Her voice tightened slightly now.
“But all I could think was… if this becomes bigger in front of everyone, there’s no coming back from it.”
---
Lokesh watched her quietly.
“You were scared I’d react.”
She gave a bitter laugh.
“You were already reacting.”
Fair.
That was fair.
---
Shruthi leaned back tiredly.
“I know people would think I’m stupid for stopping you.”
She paused.
“Maybe even you thought that.”
“No.”
She looked up slowly.
“I didn’t stop you because I thought Karthik was innocent.”
That sentence landed clearly between them.
“I stopped you because I suddenly saw everything breaking at once.”
The room became silent again.
---
Shruthi swallowed slowly before continuing.
“Divya’s house… people around… your anger… his stupidity…”
She shook her head.
“It would’ve become something irreversible.”
Lokesh looked away toward the balcony.
Because deep down, he knew she was right.
In another version of last night— one where he reacted emotionally instead of stopping—
everything could’ve changed permanently.
---
“I hated myself after that,” she admitted quietly.
“Why?”
“Because it looked like I was adjusting.”
Her eyes finally met his directly now.
“But inside I was angry too.”
Not loud anger.
Not dramatic anger.
The kind that leaves disappointment sitting inside your chest heavily.
---
“He kept watching me,” she whispered.
Lokesh’s jaw tightened slightly again.
Tiny reaction.
Still visible.
“And suddenly I started questioning every conversation we had before that.”
She laughed bitterly.
“That’s the worst part.”
---
Lokesh finally spoke after a long silence.
“In the dream… I hit him.”
Shruthi looked at him carefully.
“And?”
“For two seconds it felt satisfying.”
His honesty startled her again.
Then he continued quietly:
“After that everything became ugly.”
He looked toward her now.
“You were crying. People were pulling me away.”
Shruthi’s expression softened immediately.
“That’s why you checked the date after waking?”
Lokesh gave a small embarrassed smile.
“You noticed?”
“You stared at calendar like security officer interrogation suspect.”
That finally made him laugh softly.
A tired laugh.
But real.
---
Then silence settled again.
Softer now.
Not hostile.
Not distant.
Just exhausted.
---
Shruthi slowly moved closer beside him until their shoulders touched lightly.
No drama.
No grand emotional moment.
Just closeness.
“I don’t want this to become bigger than us,” she whispered.
Lokesh looked at her quietly.
And for the first time since everything happened, he understood fully what she had actually been trying to protect.
Not Karthik.
Them.
The apartment was silent in a way only afternoon silence could be.
Not peaceful.
Just still.
Curtains moved faintly with the fan’s airflow, sunlight resting lazily across the bedroom floor while somewhere outside, distant Chennai traffic hummed like background noise from another life.
It was already past noon.
---
Lokesh woke suddenly.
Not slowly.
Not peacefully.
Suddenly.
His chest rose sharply as if he had surfaced from underwater.
For a few seconds, he didn’t recognize where he was.
Then reality settled back: their bedroom, the ceiling fan, Shruthi sleeping beside him, Hasini already gone to college for her weekend practice session.
He rubbed his face hard and sat up.
12:07 PM.
The digital clock glowed beside the bed.
It was his nightmare, things getting sprinted out of his control. Karthick was still newbie at shruti's office and he got stumbled what if his dream becomes true..
---
Beside him, Shruthi still slept, turned slightly toward his side unconsciously. Her hair covered part of her face, one hand resting near the pillow.
For a moment, Lokesh simply looked at her quietly.
Then his eyes shifted toward the calendar near the wardrobe.
Today’s date.
Normal.
Everything normal.
Nothing had happened.
Not really.
---
His breathing slowly steadied.
Because the dream still clung to him.
Not visually.
Emotionally.
He remembered flashes: raised voices, Karthik’s face, his own anger spiraling beyond control, people watching, Shruthi trying to stop him.
And in the dream, he hadn’t stopped.
That was the terrifying part.
Not Karthik.
Not the scene.
Himself.
---
He leaned back against the headboard slowly, pressing his fingers against his eyes.
Last night’s conversation had calmed him externally, but somewhere inside, his mind had continued wrestling with everything unsaid.
Because the truth was complicated.
Shruthi had not defended Karthik.
That realization stayed with him now more clearly after sleep.
She never once said he was innocent.
Never once justified what he did.
Never once asked Lokesh to “understand him.”
No.
That wasn’t what she was trying to do.
---
What terrified her was something else entirely.
The humiliation.
The collapse.
The ugliness that would follow if Lokesh reacted emotionally in front of everyone.
She knew him.
Knew how deeply he controlled anger.
And perhaps that was exactly why she panicked.
Because once a man like Lokesh crossed a line emotionally, there would be no halfway point after that.
No simple argument.
No casual resolution.
Things would become irreversible.
Families involved. Friendships destroyed. Public embarrassment. Permanent cracks.
So in that moment, Shruthi hadn’t saved Karthik.
She had saved her marriage from spiraling into something ugly and uncontrollable.
Even if it made her look weak temporarily.
Even if people misunderstood her silence.
---
Beside him, Shruthi stirred slightly before opening her eyes slowly.
For a few seconds she looked disoriented.
Then memory returned to her face immediately.
The party. The confrontation. The conversation afterward.
And beneath all that—
shame.
Not shame because of Karthik’s actions.
Shame because she had trusted someone enough to never imagine the situation would even happen.
---
“You’re awake?” she asked softly.
“Hm.”
“What time?”
“Past twelve.”
Her eyes widened immediately.
“What?”
“We overslept.”
Shruthi groaned softly and covered her face for a second before sitting up.
The blanket slipped slightly from her shoulder as she adjusted herself against the headboard.
Then she looked at him carefully.
“You okay?”
Lokesh gave a small nod.
“Just bad sleep.”
She studied him longer this time.
“You look disturbed.”
He smiled faintly without humor.
“Bad dream.”
“About yesterday?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Which itself answered enough.
---
Shruthi stayed quiet for a moment.
Then softly:
“You think I sided with him?”
Lokesh looked at her instantly.
The question carried more weight than the words themselves.
---
“No,” he answered honestly.
And he meant it.
Because last night, after replaying everything again and again in his head, he understood something important.
Shruthi’s reaction hadn’t come from protecting Karthik emotionally.
It came from fear of destruction.
---
She looked down at her hands.
“I didn’t know what to do there.”
Lokesh stayed silent.
“I knew he crossed a line. I knew it immediately.”
Her voice tightened slightly now.
“But all I could think was… if this becomes bigger in front of everyone, there’s no coming back from it.”
---
Lokesh watched her quietly.
“You were scared I’d react.”
She gave a bitter laugh.
“You were already reacting.”
Fair.
That was fair.
---
Shruthi leaned back tiredly.
“I know people would think I’m stupid for stopping you.”
She paused.
“Maybe even you thought that.”
“No.”
She looked up slowly.
“I didn’t stop you because I thought Karthik was innocent.”
That sentence landed clearly between them.
“I stopped you because I suddenly saw everything breaking at once.”
The room became silent again.
---
Shruthi swallowed slowly before continuing.
“Divya’s house… people around… your anger… his stupidity…”
She shook her head.
“It would’ve become something irreversible.”
Lokesh looked away toward the balcony.
Because deep down, he knew she was right.
In another version of last night— one where he reacted emotionally instead of stopping—
everything could’ve changed permanently.
---
“I hated myself after that,” she admitted quietly.
“Why?”
“Because it looked like I was adjusting.”
Her eyes finally met his directly now.
“But inside I was angry too.”
Not loud anger.
Not dramatic anger.
The kind that leaves disappointment sitting inside your chest heavily.
---
“He kept watching me,” she whispered.
Lokesh’s jaw tightened slightly again.
Tiny reaction.
Still visible.
“And suddenly I started questioning every conversation we had before that.”
She laughed bitterly.
“That’s the worst part.”
---
Lokesh finally spoke after a long silence.
“In the dream… I hit him.”
Shruthi looked at him carefully.
“And?”
“For two seconds it felt satisfying.”
His honesty startled her again.
Then he continued quietly:
“After that everything became ugly.”
He looked toward her now.
“You were crying. People were pulling me away.”
Shruthi’s expression softened immediately.
“That’s why you checked the date after waking?”
Lokesh gave a small embarrassed smile.
“You noticed?”
“You stared at calendar like security officer interrogation suspect.”
That finally made him laugh softly.
A tired laugh.
But real.
---
Then silence settled again.
Softer now.
Not hostile.
Not distant.
Just exhausted.
---
Shruthi slowly moved closer beside him until their shoulders touched lightly.
No drama.
No grand emotional moment.
Just closeness.
“I don’t want this to become bigger than us,” she whispered.
Lokesh looked at her quietly.
And for the first time since everything happened, he understood fully what she had actually been trying to protect.
Not Karthik.
Them.
-Pickup, drop, escape.
![[+]](https://xossipy.com/themes/sharepoint/collapse_collapsed.png)