Destined Hearts

Comments, critiques and tips are welcome.

Hey guys, I am truly sorry for the late post. I had been really busy with studies, tests and labs but as promised I will be posting when I have time. I just hope that you will love this chapter. I feel really happy and thankful because this story was welcomed wonderfully by you guys. Thank you.

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PROLOGUE

Praveen is a starry-eyed young groom, dreaming of a fairytale life with his husband. But what happens when the fairytale has no happily ever after? Watch as Praveen deals with the disappointment of his broken dreams. A courageous story of a younggt6 boy's struggle in the world that is against him.... Destined hearts starts now.

Feel the passion...

***

Praveen was standing in the door way still trying to understand what was going on. He had his eyes fixed on Antonio and the man he was holding as if his life depended on it. He expected Antonio to stop, maybe move away from the guy and then say something but he was still holding him. Praveen felt as if his breaths had just seized. He had no idea why he felt betrayed when he knew that he wasn't even close to Antonio.

On the other hand, Antonio didn't give a hoot if the boy was hurt or not. He just held Bruce closer to his body, staring at the boy that looked as if he saw a ghost. He had no idea what was going on but he was glad Praveen had come to the room to see things for himself.

Praveen couldn't still believe what he saw. He tried to say something but no word came out of his mouth. He was dumbstruck, staring at the two of them. The guy didn't even mind that Praveen had found them. He was holding on to Antonio like he wanted to be part of him.

Without saying a word, Praveen turned to leave but before he even took a step,

"Hey!" He heard Antonio harshly calling him back.

He stood still without turning because he couldn't stand seeing the two of them. Praveen took a deep breath and got his confidence.

"Mother wants you down stairs immediately." He hollered, trying to make himself sound confident. "She is waiting for you and...."

"And what?" Antonio said harshly. "Come here." He demanded.

Praveen took a deep breath, slowly turning. He didn't want to take orders from Antonio but he found himself closing the door and slowly moving to the couple that didn't want to let go of each other. It was really painful to see and he had no idea why he felt that way. He went in front of him and stood closer, staring at him as if he was the devil himself.

Seeing this, Bruce just smirked and stared at the badly looking boy. He wanted to show him that he was the only one that owned Antonio's beautiful heart. He was the only one that deserved to be married to him.

"And why exactly are you here?" Antonio groaned, still holding Bruce closer to him.

"I told you mother...." He closed his eyes and caught his breath. "...sent me here to come and...."

"Or maybe you are just following me around so that you can...."

"Why would I do that?" He asked. "I was downstairs when...."

"Anyway," Antonio smiled brightly, placing a kiss on Bruce's head. Praveen felt tears building up in his eyes slowly but he wasn't gonna cry at all because he wasn't in love with Antonio anyway. "It's a good thing that you are here." He continued. "I want to show you someone and...."

"I'm not interested." He said harshly, giving Antonio a cold look. "I just...."

"Why shouldn't you be interested?" He laughed manically. "I assure you that you are gonna love my introduction and you have no choice anyway."

Antonio moved behind Bruce, wrapping his arms around his waist. Bruce felt on top of the world. He felt like the luckiest guy ever and he actually giggled happily, hurting Praveen even more. Praveen knew that he shared no relations with Antonio but Antonio should have respected their room.

"I would like you to meet the love of my life...." Antonio announced, kissing Bruce's neck. "His name is Bruce and he is my boyfriend, the man I love and the one I will be marrying very soon."

The moment Antonio said those words, a cold wind started blowing slowly on Praveen's face. Everything went quiet and his heart felt really cold. His blood got cold and he simply froze where he stood. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. His heart started pounding weakly but really painful. He couldn't move and he couldn't even move his eyes away from Antonio, his husband.

"And the one I will be marrying very soon."

Praveen had never felt the way he felt at that time. He felt weak in the knees, a cold shiver ran down his spine and his eyes watered even more. But what surprised him the most was that he couldn't even cry. Maybe the shock was just too much for him.

"I know this is a shock to you but Bruce is the love of my life." He continued, still kissing his neck sensually. Bruce made things even worse for Praveen. "He is the only one I have ever loved and he is a supermodel. He is classy, elegant, extremely beautiful and famous unlike you. We are the perfect couple aren't we?"

Praveen tried to open his mouth but no word came out. The shock was just too much for him to handle. He didn't even know how to react.

"Now that I have shown you the man I love and the man I will be marrying very soon, I think it will be better for you to just leave this place so that we can all leave in peace."

Praveen felt a terrible pain in his chest. "Mother is...."

"I know because I heard that already." He raged, getting away from Bruce. "But next time, don't you ever disturb me when I have better things to do." He warned, pointing angrily at Praveen.

With an angry growl, Antonio turned and faced his lover. His face brightened up and he wrapped his arms around his waist. Praveen was supposed to leave but he was glued at the same place he stood.

"Baby, I have to go and answer my mom." He said in the sweetest voice Praveen had ever from him. "I will be back later."

"It's okay, my love." Brue moaned, wrapping his arms around Antonio's neck. "I love you."

"I love you too."

With a smile, Antonio leaned down and French kissed Bruce right there.

Praveen quickly moved his eyes and looked away, furiously rubbing the tear that went down his face. He had thought he had experienced the worst pain yet but that was too much for him. He had been suffering as it was and he didn't wanna suffer anymore.

Antonio broke the kiss, looked angrily at the ugly boy and then stormed out of the room leaving Praveen and Bruce alone. Praveen slowly raised his face, staring into the beautiful face of the man that stood in front of him giving him what looked like a smirk. He couldn't move an inch of his body. He couldn't even say anything.

He was hurt as it was and staring at the man just made things worse. He took a deep breath and started to turn before....

"Excuse me!" He heard the man finally say.

Praveen just stood and looked at the man. He tried to open his mouth to say something but he couldn't still do it. He was speechless.

"So you are the boy that got married to my boyfriend?" Bruce asked, dropping his hands as a smirk brightened his face up. "I would have said that I am happy for you and all those kinds of beautiful words but you heard it from Antonio...." He slowly started getting closer to Praveen. "...He and I are very much in love in love and we will be getting married soon."

Praveen opened his mouth to say something but....

"You don't have to say anything darling." Bruce interrupted as he got even closer. "I can tell that you are shocked already but it is something you have to face. Wake up and face reality, baby." He mocked, snapping his fingers in front of his face. "You and Antonio might be married but he still loves me. Don't think that I am trying to stand in your happiness. In fact, it should be the other way around. You are the obstacle in my way and...."

"I.... I...." Praveen's mouth shook horribly. "...I didn't know that...."

"Now you know." Bruce said hoarsely, putting more pain into Praveen. "He is the man I love and we've been together for a really long time. He might be married but he is still mine and..."

"You don't have to tell me anything." Praveen swallowed his pain and took back his confidence.

He felt really betrayed, stupid and foolish. He wanted to cry but he promised himself not to. He wasn't gonna allow anyone to step on him. His heart at that moment was pounding so deep in his chest that he felt as if he was gonna have a heart attack. His blood was moving so fast that he could have sworn he heard it passing through his ears.

"I know where I stand with Antonio." He chuckled bitterly, trying not to show any pain. "I have to go downstairs. Mother is probably waiting for me."

With one final look at Bruce, Praveen took a quick turn and started getting out of the room. He felt a headache developing and it made him really worried. When he however was about to reach the door, it opened widely and a smiling or rather smirking Andrea came inside. Praveen stopped in his tracks and looked at her without showing any emotions on his face.

"Oh!" She chuckled, folding her arms on her chest. "So you are here too?" She laughed. "This is great because I am sure you've met Antonio's lovely fiancé, the man he will be marrying very soon."

Praveen looked at his sister in law and then moved his eyes away just to avoid looking at her.

"I am sure it hurts right now because your plans have been ruined, right?"

"I don't know what you are talking about and...."

"You think I don't know." She laughed manically, raising her voice. "I know that you have been thinking about seducing my brother and then...."

"I have never had such thoughts because...."

"Oh please!" She groaned, furiously dropping her hands. "I know what stupid boys like you think but your plans won't work because now his boyfriend is here. You will never have my brother and besides...." She paused, looking at him from head to toe as if he was the most disgusting thing she had ever seen. "....I don't think you would have succeeded because you are not in his class."

Praveen slightly closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to relieve himself from the painful tightening in his chest. He looked at her and saw nothing but evil in her eyes. There was a lot going on in his mind that he didn't even know what to do anymore.

"You are just a poor, dirty and uncivilized boy from a dirty village." She raged, pointing angrily at him. "Not even our security guard would be seduced by you. But have you taken a good look at Bruce...." She smiled, gesturing with her eyes. "...he is handsome, sexy, classy, elegant, rich and extremely famous. He is a really famous high fashion model and guess what honey...." She laughed, shaking her head in mock while she chirped. "...those are the qualities you luck and you will never have in your little pathetic life."

A tear went down Praveen's cheek which he slowly rubbed. He couldn't stay there anymore so he simply left the two of them. He could hear Andrea giving a really loud laugh.

Reaching outside, Praveen leaned to a wall and slowly thought about his life. He felt as if his chest was being compressed. He felt really suffocated and he knew at that moment that his suffering was gonna increase. He didn't know what to do anymore. He didn't even know if he could keep quiet anymore. It looked like he had been causing the family a lot of problems. He didn't even realize that he had caused a lift between Antonio and whoever. It was painful.

Praveen was so lost that he didn't even know if he wanted to continue with the party anymore. His head was so messed up that he couldn't even think properly. His heart was pounding deep in his chest that he felt a lot of pain with each beat it made.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder that made him jump and gasp. He quickly turned and found Antonio's friend Ethan looking at him with a puzzled look.

"I am sorry," Ethan apologized, looking at Praveen with worry on his face. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine." Praveen said with a serious face. "I... I..."

"You don't look so well." Ethan asked, still staring at him as if he suspected something was wrong. "Is everything alright with you?"

Praveen smiled brightly, hiding his pain and wound from Ethan. "Yes! I just feel exhausted from all the introductions and the party itself. I came to catch some air up here."

"Oh!" Ethan smiled brightly, chuckling softly. "For a moment I thought there was something wrong with you."

"No!" He shook his head.

"Anyway, you shouldn't worry about this." He rested his hand on Praveen's shoulder, squeezing it lovingly. "You will get used to it and you will enjoy it. They usually throw parties like this and I am sure you will get to enjoy all of them."

With the way everything was going, Praveen didn't even know if he was gonna reach the next party. He had no idea when Antonio was gonna wake up, insult him and throw him out. His mood was completely ruined but he had to endure it for the sake of the happiness of others.

He looked at Ethan and just that smile on his face made him feel a little better. He had no idea why Antonio couldn't just be like his best friend. He was the opposite of everything he had ever dreamed of in a man. But at least his friend seemed nice enough. With all that was going on, Praveen started wondering if Ethan knew about everything that was happening.

"Aunt Mil is waiting downstairs. She's been looking for you for some time." He said in the sweetest voice Praveen had ever heard in his life before.

"Yes!" He nodded. "Let's go."

Praveen smiled and he followed Ethan downstairs. When he was coming down the stairs, he spotted Antonio with Emilia and his heart started pounding even harder in his chest. He didn't even know if he wanted to be there anymore. His nerves were getting the best of him and he had to be confident. Antonio was laughing and smiling as if he was an angel but all that Praveen saw was this evil person that had no pity or even a heart.

He slowly came downstairs, still staring at the man that he didn't know what to think of anymore.

On the other hand, Antonio saw Praveen and it brought nothing but happiness to his heart. He could tell that he was really bothered but that was what made him so happy. He loved seeing Praveen suffering because it brought him peace and happiness.

"There you are." Emilia chuckled happily, holding Praveen's hand. "Where did you go? I thought you went to get Antonio but he is already here."

Hearing his mother's question, Antonio laughed teasingly. "Maybe he just got lost in this big house and couldn't find his way."

Praveen raised his face, staring into his husband's face without giving him any emotional expression. He couldn't believe Antonio still had to tease him when he was the one that had left him after introducing him to his lover.

"No!" Praveen said softly. "I was actually... doing something. I am really sorry that...."

"You don't have to apologize." Emilia said softly, rubbing on the tip of his hand with a smile on her face. "But this party was thrown for you and Antonio. It wouldn't look good if both of the grooms got lost. You need to interact with your guests."

"I think aunt is right." Ethan said with a pat on Antonio's shoulder. "You've been talking to your fans and partners alone. Why don't you take Praveen with you so that you can...."

"No!" Praveen stuttered, shaking his head. "I don't think that...."

"Why of course." Antonio seductively got closer to Praveen, staring into his beautiful blue eyes which he thought were ugly. "I am sure he'd really love that." He coiled his arm with Praveen's, pulling him closer to his body.

What now, Praveen thought as he wondered what Antonio was up to. He was hurt enough already and he didn't wanna get hurt more. He just wanted to run away from the party and be alone, somewhere where no one would be able to find him. Somewhere where he would leave in peace but he couldn't just do that.

"Let's go so that I could introduce you."

Ethan and Emilia looked at each other and then left the two of them together. As soon as they left, Antonio gave a manic chuckle, still coiled to Praveen's arm. He knew just what to do. He couldn't even explain the happiness he was feeling at that particular time.

"So what should I introduce you as?" He asked, looking all around. "All these people just look so elegant and even in those clothes you are wearing, one can still tell that you are from a really poor family. They can tell that you are the only different one."

Praveen didn't care anymore. He furiously moved his arm away, drawing a laugh from Antonio.

"Just take a good look at me and just think...." He said softly, his voice sounding like a whisper. "...what would people think of me if at all I introduced you as my husband. They would be...."

"Antonio, please..." Praveen said in the most painful voice ever. His heart was bleeding at that moment. "...you have made your point. Will you just leave me alone?"

"Why?" He asked, shrugging his shoulder. "I thought you wanted to be around me. Besides, mom wants the two of us to bond. This is what bonding with me is."

He raised his eyes and stared at Antonio. He took a deep breath, trying to leave that place but Antonio furiously pulled his arm, bringing him closer. Suddenly, Praveen's heart started pounding deep in his chest and his breaths became harsh.

"Where do you think you are going?" Antonio groaned, tightening his grip on the boy's arm. "I wasn't done talking to you."

Praveen was really scared. He moved his eyes around, trying to see if anyone was looking but they were all busy with talking and smiling at each other. Antonio had his arm painfully gripped. It was the same arm he had hurt while they were dancing.

"You are hurting me." Praveen said with a wince. "Please!"

"Don't boys like you like pain?" He breathed on his neck, making it look as if he was just talking to him. He was even smiling so that no one would suspect what was going on. "I thought you are willing to endure the pain as long as you are in this peaceful family because you only know how to destroy relationships. You are like poison to this house and...."

"Please!" He pleaded. "Let me go. My arm is bruised already and...."

"And why should I care?" He groaned, making the boy even more scared. "This is the only good thing you are good for in this house. You are in this marriage so that you could suffer so you better get used or...."

Before Antonio finished his sentence, Praveen used his entire mighty and furiously released his hand from Antonio's grip. It hurt like hell but he at least he managed to release his hand. Now he was sure from the pain he was feeling that he was definitely bruised.

He looked at Antonio and saw him smirking. He couldn't believe what he was passing through. He had a choice to just leave but he also had a promise to keep. He had no idea how much pain he was willing to endure that night.

Meanwhile, Ethan's craziness got to another level and he went in front of the guests and took a microphone. He had a crazy idea which he thought was gonna make things even spicier not knowing what Praveen was passing through.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am really sorry for interrupting your lovely moment but...." He paused and chuckled when everyone had their attention on him. "....I would like to do something special for the two grooms of the night. I think this party is getting a little boring so I would like to make it spicier." He breathed and raised his voice. "Before anything, may I have the two grooms in front please?"

"What now?" Antonio groaned, getting pissed at his friend's move.

He just wanted to be out of there so that he could be with his boyfriend. He had missed him so much that he just wanted to be with him. He wanted to hold him, kiss him and possibly make love to him. But everything was going parallel to what he thought.