meera opened the door of her house, as the packets of milk and newspaper were already lying on the floor. she bent down to collect them, only to look up and find anjula to appear from the next door, in front of her. they shared a glance of familiarity, as smiles crept up on their faces. 

"kaisi hai aap?" asked meera, as anjula nodded in agreement. 

"purvi nahi uthi, ab tak?" followed-up meera with another question, as she noticed all the lights were still off in the house. 

"arre, late hona toh riwaaz hai yahan..." remarked anjula, as  meera chuckled. 

"aur, tum batao..." continued anjula casually. 

"dushyant called me mom...." informed meera, as anjula's face lightened. 

"sach kahum, mujhe to-teen din toh yakeen hi nahi hua..." commented meera. 

"i am so happy for you..." responded anjula. 

"kavin bhi satish se ache se behave karne laga hai, he even apologised to me....it all seems to be alright now.." concluded meera. 

"told you, bache hain, they'll come around." stated anjula. 

"yeah, i, i really wanted to thank you, actually. mujhe aaye ho hafta hi hua tha, and aap pehli insaan thi, who was so kind to me...you have no idea how much it made my day better." recounted meera. 

"my pleasure..." accepted anjula. 

"see you around..." said meera, as anjula acknowledged, and they both got inside their appartments respectively.

                                                                            ***

meera got inside, juggling both the newspaper and packets of milk. she kept the newspaper on the coffee table in the living room, as she headed to the kitchen with packets of milk. but to her surprise, she found dushyant there. 

"i thought aap kisi gaayein se dhoodh nikalne chali gayi hain..." he remarked as he took the milk packet from her hand. 

"tum, tum kab uthe?" questioned a perplexed meera. 

"galat sawaal, main soya hi kahan, ki uthunga..." responded dushyant. 

"kya hua, sab thik hai?"  asked meera with concern. 

"it's ok, hota hai, kabhi-kabhi logon ko neend nahi aati hai..." assured dushyant, as meera noticed him taking the milk out. 

"tum kar kya rahe ho?" questioned meera. 

"coffee bana raha hoon....aapki, meri...." replied dushyant. 

"you don't have to do this daily...." reminded meera. 

"i know, i want to..." he replied casually. 

"acha chalo, main kavin ki chaye bana do...nashte mein kya khaoge?" asked meera, as she went to work. 

"omelet...kavin ko bhi wahi khana padega, peanut butter khatam ho gaya hai..." responded dushyant, as meera was about to say something, but was intervened by dushyant. 

"college se aate hue le aonga.." noted dushyant, as a smile came onto meera's face. 

they came around, after all. 

                                                                ***

anjula entered home to a purvi, seated on the dinning table, by the kitchen, sipping from a cup. 

"yeh kya kar rahi ho?" asked anjula. 

"chaye pee rahi hoon, aapki dhak ke rakhi hui hai.." responded purvi, pointing to the cup in  front of her, as anjula was astounded. 

she picked up the cup and stared at it. 

"chinta mat karo, zeher nahi daala..." remarked purvi, as anjula seated herself, and started to sip from her cup of tea. 

"achi hai..." complimented anjula, still trying to comprehend this. 

"main soch rahi thi ab tumhare din aa gaye hain, kisike haath se chaye peene ke..." stated purvi, as anjula secretly smiled. 

"doodh thoda kam daala karo." ordered anjula sternly, as purvi nodded in agreement, knowing how her mother really felt inside. 

                                                                ***

ishita glanced at the toast she prepared for her first breakfast alone at her home. she looked over at the seat next to her of the dinning table she was seated on.

"ishu, khaalo na bache...." requested jyoti lovingly, to a 5 year old ishita.

"nahi, nahi khaana mujhe...." declined ishita, as she tried to keep her mother's hand with the food bit away from her.

"acha, acha dekho, abhi aeroplane aa raha hai, huh, whoo...." played around jyoti, as she swinged her arm, as if it were a flying aeroplane.

young ishita, enamored by it, opened her mouth, as her mother quickly put the bite inside of it.

"mumma, aur khilao!" exclaimed the child in excitment, as jyoti chuckled and pulled her cheeks lovingly.

a fond smile came on ishita's face, as she took a piece from her toast, and swinged her arm like an aeroplane, as she took a bit of it.

"i miss you, mom...." mumbled ishita to herself, as she picked up the toast and continue to eat it.

                                                                             ***

a full family breakfast was served on the dinning table. 

"woh zaraa juice paas karna..." requested kavin, as dushyant complied. 

"sun, meri gaadi mein petrol nahi hai, aaj teri gaadi phir..." informed dushyant. 

"dekho, gaadi kisiki bhi ho, agli baar, late aate hue, inform kardena mujhe." stated satish. 

"yeah, i'm sorry about last night..." apologised kavin. 

"kyun?kaha the tum?" asked meera. 

"arre hum bahar khaa rahe the, aur kavin ko apne koi dost mil gaye, toh unke saath late ho gaya isse.." clarified dushyant. 

"hmm, bas agli baar nahi hona chahiye." stated satish, as kavin acknowledged. 

"dekho, waise maine bana diya hai khaana, par late hone ke chances kam hai aaj.." informed meera. 

"khaane mein kya hai?" asked dushyant. 

"bhindi." replied meera, as kavin and dushyant exchanged glances. 

"phir late hi ho jana..." whispered dushyant, as kavin giggled. 

(in case you don't get the joke, refer chapter 18) 

"tumne kuch kaha?" asked satish, as dushyant shook his head in no. 

"chalo, ab jaldi karo, phir late ho jata hai tumhe..." said meera, as they both nodded in agreement. 

                                                                   *** 

ishita locked the house, as a car stopped in front of her and the window of the passenger seat slid down. 

"you know, as much as a good messenger purvi is, i think it's better if you tell things to me directly." remarked dushyant, as ishita chuckled. 

"ab aa bhi jao, bore ho rahi hoon, akele peeche..." complaint purvi from the backseat, as ishita got inside the car. 

"lagta hai kal tak mera petrol bhi khatam ho jaayega..." remarked kavin as he drove away. 

                                                               ***

Author's note: so, the story has come to an end. For me, it was always about these characters who have a really complicated life, and how they will come out of it as better people, and learn their lessons. Dushyant, was someone who experienced serious abandonment issues because of his mother leaving him at such a young age, he purposefully acted rude and obnoxious to keep people at a distance. But when he gets closure from his mother, he understands that none of it was his fault. He understands that she did it because a married life was just not for her, and after the reconciliation, his relationship with kavin, meera, ishita and satish improves as he now learns to put his heart out there. Kavin, was someone who was seriously affected by losing his father at such a young age, he felt like it was unfair that his father was killed that way, and developed this idea of justice that he lived by. But when he comes face to face with purvi, he is forced to see that her guilt has been more of a huge punishment for her than any jail time could. He comes to admit the fact, that he just used this idea of justice as a way to still hold onto his dad, and the fact that this was ruining his relationship with his mom, dushyant, purvi and even satish. Slowly, then, he finds it in himself to forgive purvi and reconcile with his mother, dushyant and stop taking out unnecessary anger on satish. Purvi, has been haunted by her past mistakes. Killing someone, ended up distancing her from her best friend, she lost her sense of self, and the guilt still eats her up. This is the reason killing riaan was a major step for her character, who realised, that it can even do someone justice rather than destroying lives. Ishita, had to confront that everything she knew about her world, was wrong. She will never look at anything the same way, but she still is, finally free from a toxic family. Finally, my characters have learnt their lessons, and there isn't much to tell a story about now. I am thankful for all the love and support that kept me going, couldn't have done it without you.

P.S: tomorrow a story titled, 'prologues' will be published. it will contain first chapters of the two stories i have an idea for, read both of them, vote the chapter you like, and the one with maximum votes, will be the new story.