purvi took a deep breath, before she rang the bell. she played with her fingers in agitation as she waited for someone to answer the door. ishita opened the door, surprised to find purvi. 

"hey, woh, uhh kuch kehna tha...i'm sorry, if i disturbed you or something...." flustered purvi. 

"no, it's ok...uhhm, kya baat hai?" asked ishita. 

"uss raat jab, maine dekha tumhare papa aur tumhe uss haalat mein, i panicked, and i actually didn't know what to do. but i was convinced, that this time, i won't let him do what he did to my mom....a part of me also just, wanted to punish him for it. i thought i did the right thing, but i also felt very guilty....and i guess that was because of the effect it might have had on you...i am sorry, if i caused you problems, i guess..." explained purvi. 

"you know, purvi, today, i knew i was just coming to my home, a place i have lived for my whole life...but today, there was this strange feeling that came with it, i was not scared...i wasn't worried about my mom, or dad...i just, felt home...i am sorry for what happened to your mom, and i can't think of anything about his death, other than the fact that he, deserved it. i guess, you don't really owe me any apologies.." responded ishita, as purvi scoffed. 

"good to know, i guess.." remarked purvi. 

"curry achi thi, by the way..." added ishita, as purvi chuckled. 

"i'll tell her that..."  retorted purvi. 

"uhhm, good night, i guess.." said purvi, as she turned back to leave and ishita was about to close her door. 

"purvi!" called ishita, as purvi turned back. 

"can you, tell dushyant, i love him, a lot...i am just worried, if i get close to him right now, i'll ruin it...and i, i don't wanna do that.." she uttered as she covered her face with her hand. 

"ok, that's, not a great speech, at all..."remarked ishita as purvi chuckled. 

"don't worry, the message is great...i'll tell him." said purvi, as she left and ishita closed the door. 

she rested her back on the door as she closed her eyes and remembered what had happened a while ago:

ishita was first to break the eye-lock as she looked away. 

"that's really sweet, dushyant...but trust me, i just don't deserve that..." stated ishita. 

"why would you think that...." commented dushyant. 

"my own father tried to rape me, my mom was always angry with me...and, i tried, but, i couldn't cry when any of them died, because i missed them or that i was said about it....i was relieved! what kind of a person does that make me..." argued ishita. 

dushyant walked from the back of the sofa, to come and sit next to her on the sofa. 

"it tells me about who your parents were ishita, not you..." consoled dushyant. 

"would they have been better people, would they love me?" questioned ishita, as she looked straight into dushyant's eyes.  

"i think they did love you, maybe just, things that happened to them, left them completely incapable of expressing it." pacified dushyant. 

"sometimes, people just treat you bad, it doesn't have to do anything with you...they just, had a f**ked up life.." added dushyant. 

ishita nodded in agreement, as she face palmed herself and sighed loudly. 

"you know, you are right, you should take some time alone..." said dushyant, as he got up to leave. 

"dushyant!" called ishita,when he had almost reached the door. 

he turned back to hear what she had to say. 

"uhh, kuch nahi, uhh, i'll take some time off, alone..." flustered ishita, as he gave a cordial smile and left. 

 a tiny smile crept up on her lips, as she walked upstairs to her room. 

                                                                          ***

dushyant came home to satish waiting for him in the living room, with lights off. 

"aapki koi chudail girlfriend hai kya, ki aisa bhootiya sa ghar banake uska wait kar rahe ho..." remarked dushyant, as satish got up from the couch, and stood in front of him. 

"dushyant, tumhe jitni bhi nafrat karni hai mujhse karlo, par tum mere bete ho, aur mujhe tumhari chinta hoti hai....aur kavin kyun nahi aaya tumhare saath, tum log toh saath mein khaake aane waale the?" asked satish. 

"woh, usse kuch friends mil gaye the, keh raha tha unke saath thodi der baithke aayega..." excused dushyant, as he started to walk to his room. 

"dushyant!" called satish, as dushyant turned back to him. 

"i am sorry beta, tumhare maa ke jaane ke baad, mujhe dhyaan dena chahiye tha tum pe...aur main apne dukh mein tumhara dukh dekh hi nahi paaya....humne khaana bhi nahi khaaya saath mein itne waqt, meera aur kavin ke aane se pehle...mujhe toh yeh bhi nahi pata tha ki woh seventh floor waali ladki dost hai tumhari...pata nahi hum, itne ajnabee kaise ho gaye..." repented satish. 

"hum dono pe asar pada tha dad, mom ke jaane ka, hum dono ne apne ways mein cope kiya...humari apni alag zindagi ho gayi, lekin, i still loved you...lekin aapne, yeh shaadi karli bas, and, suddenly, do ajnabee mere ghar mein aa gaye, aur apne kabhi pucha bhi nahi mujhse, yeh sab hone se pehle....mujhe aisa laga ki, aap ko bhi koi kadar nahi meri, mom ki tarah..." recounted dushyant. 

"nahi, beta, aisa nahi hai...main aaj bhi tujhse utna hi pyaar karta hoon, jitna main tab karta tha, jab pehli baar tujhe dekha tha, tujhe godh mein uthaya tha...uss waqt se leke ab tak, mere pyaar badha hi hai..." assured satish. 

"maine bhi kabhi aapse nafrat nahi ki hai, bas gussa tha..."stated dushyant, as they shared a glance together, and a smile crept up on their faces. 

                                                               ***

meera opened the door, exhausted, as she realised it was already midnight. she started to move to her bedroom, planning to go straight to bed, only to find a dark, shadowy figure, around the fridge. 

"kaun hai?" questioned meera suspiciously. 

"mom?" questioned a voice back, which meera recognized. 

"kavin...tum, tum kya kar rahe ho itni raat ko yahan?" asked meera, as she got near the fridge. 

"paani peene aaya tha...relax!" replied kavin, as he carried the water bottle to the kitchen. 

he grabbed two glasses, and filled them with water, and offered one to meera. 

"pee lo, thak gayi hogi.." suggested kavin, as he drank from his glass. 

"yaad hai, papa ke jaane ke baad, aise hi mera wait kiya karte the tum, khaane ke saath....phir hum saath mein khaate the." reminisced meera, as kavin smiled too fondly. 

"mom, kuch kehna tha aapse..." stated kavin. 

"and, i am sorry, maine jiss tarah behave kiya hai aapke saath, iss shaadi ke baad se...i just, wasn't ready to move on from dad, and it was wrong to take it out on you." apologised kavin. 

"i am glad you realised your mistake.." accepted meera the apology. 

 "ab dono glass sink ke paas rakho, aur suno jao chup-chap!" ordered meera, as kavin complied immediately. 

"good night!" said kavin snarkily, as meera chuckled. 

                                                                 ***

author's note: So, i just wanted to elaborate on kavin and purvi's end scene from the last chapter, see, when we lose someone, it is hard to go through that pain. If it happens due to some crime, we feel it's unfair, and therefore, we think of punishing the criminal as a resort to justice. But, if you really think about it, it's just a way for us to still hold onto that person, and find peace in punishing someone who did wrong, but you can't really find peace from it. the loved one you lost won't back. so, what is the justice here? Law is supposed to stop people from doing crimes, but when someone is really pushed, that is the only time, they decide to do it. so, is punishing someone really going to stop them, because they knew the punishment of their crime before and did it anyways. what if someone really made a mistake, and regrets it and is already miserable because of it, how will jail help then? Finally, a criminal comes from our society, from our rigid thinking and prejudices. If we want to stop crimes, punishing one won't help, it is through questioning our wrong ways as a part of this society, and correcting them, because it is us who create a society, and it is us who can fix it.

also, the story is coming to an end, this is the second last chapter, and for the next story, i have two ideas, so what would i be doing is, after the last chapter, i would make one story titled-prologues, where i would sort of give like the first chapter for both of them, so whichever story you like, just vote on the first chapter of that story, and i'll continue with the one that get's maximum votes. thanks for all the love and support, you keep me going.