PASSWORD?

"Sahana.... Sahana.... aee Sutli bomb."

He had to call her by the name she despise the most, as last resort, because she was not listening to him. It did worked. Her steps halted and she looked around, trying to comprehend where the voice came from. There was real chaos in the market so it was quite difficult to pinpoint the direction of the voice.

Shahana had her eyes in slits, looking for the familiar sharp face or bright eyes or that mass of hair that usually are styled to perfection. She knew who she had to look for in the crowd. God knows there is only one human specimen who call her 'Sutli Bomb'.

True to her guess, there he was, looking and waving to her, grinning like the bandar he is.

She was making her way back from the market. Cursing her stubbornness for not listening to Prachi's advise to book a cab beforehand. As a result, here she was, walking back as fast as her feet carried her and praying to god to hold the sun above the horizon for just enough time for her to reach home. It's not that she was afraid of dark or anything, it's that she was afraid of the wrath of Aarav and Prachi she'll have to face for being late.

Though she'll be happy to be a source to help Prachi release some of her frustration, caused by the she devil. Oh how she wished to slap that spoilt Bimbo. Well she can't be classified as bimbo, she was too cunning for it.

Matter at hand, she walked to the car from which Aryan was calling her, his face practically glowing as he gestured for her to come. Shahana raised an eyebrow at his enthusiasm but didn't commented on it, cause right now he was her 'knight in silver armor' Or in black car.

"What are you doing here?" they asked simultaneously and Shahana pouted.

"You tell first." She ordered, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Aryan knew that arguing will lead to nowhere and answered without second thought. "I was returning home, I went to the park nearby. Now what are you doing here?" He asked.

"I went to meet my friend, I was just returning home." Shahana explained.

"Hope in, we'll go together." Aryan offered, unlocking the car.

Shahana made her way around the car, thanking heavens for sending him, but she stopped when her hand touched the car's handle.

"What is it? Comeon." Aryan said, breaking her trance.

"What is it Sahana? We don't have the whole night." He said when he saw her conflicted eyes and her biting her lip in dilemma.

"Aryan are you sure?" Shahana asked in a low voice.

"Of course, what are you thinking about?" Aryan asked, thoroughly confused by her strange behavior.

"No, I mean, won't your mother be furious if you gave me lift? No, no, no, she as it is gives me a dangerous vibe, you leave I'll come walking." Shahana said and Aryan felt a pang of sadness.

Yes, he himself had told her about how Aaliya had asked him to stay away from her. Though he didn't wanted to tell her, but he had to, when she had became persistent on knowing the reason for why he was avoiding her for, after the first week. 

She had rounded him up in the side corridor and had threatened him to tell her the truth or she will tell everyone that he have a girlfriend, he had called her off but the further threat was what compelled him.

"Not just any girlfriend, but a middleclass one." 

She had said in a menacing tone. Though he didn't had one, but he was sure that she can manipulate anyone and if Aaliya had gotten even a sniff of it, she would have skinned him alive. 

And so, he had to tell her the truth. She had just nodded and had left from there without any word said. From that day, she herself had started to ignore him. Not looking at him, not talking to him straight, giving one word answers to anything he asked. And in just four days, this new 'silent' avatar of her had started driving him up the wall.

On confronting her, she had just told that she was 'making it easier for him'. It had pained him when she had once again tried to leave. Knowing that without talking, to her and on top of that with the tension between Pranbir, he would go mad in some days. He had requested her to talk to her or in some days he might land in a mental asylum.

She had laughed at him and they had agreed on some ways that won't raise Aaliya's suspicion. The way being talking through messaging, only while alone. After some days with this way, they had unintentionally started reading and answering through expressions only. It wasn't in their knowledge till Prachi and Ranbir had pointed it out to them individually.

It had shocked them that they could understand each other just by facial articulations, but they had not stopped it.

 Aryan broke out of his trance when he noticed her turning to leave. 

"Sahana, stop." He called her and she turned back around to look at him, eyebrows raised.

"How'll you go? It's getting dark and there isn't even a taxi. Comeon, Mom, dad, chucks and Vikram uncle have a video conference right now, Ranbir told me himself, they won't be free till dinner." He explained and Shahana nodded and sat in the car.

They drove towards the house, while Aryan kept sending side glances to Shahana, who was uncharacteristically silent.

"What is it? Why are you so quiet? Cat got your tongue?" Aryan asked, in hopes of making her talk.

"Hmm ? No." Shahana answered.

"So, how are Aarav and Piyush adjusting here?" He asked, trying to get an idea about her and that curl shop.

"Okay, they aren't much accustomed to a large family, but for me and Prachi, they can do anything. We are quite close knitted since childhood. They lost their parents along with me. Their's were together with mine when they met with that horrendous accident. And Prachi didn't have Mr. Mehra, so we really understood each other. We are emotionally connected to each other. That's why Aarav is so possessive over the three of us, being the older and responsible one." Shahana chuckled humorlessly at the end. Aryan nodded, finally getting why they four resembles such understanding. 

He hadn't expected her to give away that much information. Little did he know she was thinking the same thing. How come she had opened the up her heart just like that? She might be a chatterbox, but there are some things she had locked up in the deepest dungeons of her heart that they won't come out even if someone had her on gunpoint.

But here she was, spilling them all out faster than one can turn off the mixer.

"How is Ranbir?" She asked suddenly, looking at his face as it turned dull.

"The same way as Prachi, just more irritated." He replied, looking straight ahead.

"Wha- No. What are you saying-" Shahna tried to hide Prachi's pain.

"Don't Sahana, don't try to deny it. I know her. I know Prachi. She is more my sister than Rhea ever was. What Prachi had, have, for Ranbir is too pure. I know she still loves him. What I don't know is why she is doing this. To herself, to Ranbir, to both of their lives.

And I know that you know what the matter is. Why don't you do something Sahana? Why don't you make Prachi see sense. Tell her how she is hurting Ranbir. Or tell me what the matter is. I promise Sahana, I swear, I'll do my best to unite them. I can't see my bro suffer Sahana. He's breaking. He won't be able to live without Prachi." Aryan pleaded her.

Shahana didn't reply and Aryan didn't forced her to. The car came to a halt and Shahana realized that they had reached the farmhouse. 

She turned her head sideways to see Aryan unbuckling his seat belt.

"You know Aryan, sometimes, we know everything, but still we can't do anything, because we are bound, and that feeling of helplessness hurt. But in that situation, if you see someone close to your heart suffering, it's just like a stake through your heart. And I'm feeling that stake every single day." Shahana said and left, without turning back, she ran straight into the house, leaving back Aryan amidst a hurricane of array thoughts.

~*~

Prachi and Shahana were about to make their way back to their room after dinner was finished. Shahana seemed to be a bit off since she returned from her friend's house and Prachi was thinking of asking her about it, but only when they were alone.

"Prachi, Shahana, where are you guys going?" Purab called them and they turned to where everyone were sitting. 

"Where were you off to? The main program is yet to start." Abhi said gesturing them to have seat.

"What Program?" Shahna asked.

"The punishment." Vikram explained. "That time everyone dispersed, the Punishment Ranbir and Piyush had to go through is still remaining."

"Here, I have both of their mobiles with me since then, so that they could not lock or delete anything." Abhi said, putting both mobiles on the table.

"Who'll go first?" Pragya asked looking between both boys.

Both had different set of emotions on their visages. While Piyush was passing a nervous smile, Ranbir was blank. Just Blank.

"Let's start with Piyush, since he seems so confident." Aarav joked and picked up his mobile.

"Aarav, give us live commentary, please." Shahana giggled and Piyush glared at her.

"Okay," Aarav agreed, "So, the password is..." He looked up expectantly towards Piyush, who just shrugged and lifted his finger.

Aarav just looked from his face to his finger, to face again with a raised eyebrow. 

"What? I'm not telling my password." Piyush stated and wriggled his finger, much like a worm. Aarav just rolled his eyes and pressed the finger to the print lock.

"So," He said curtly, "The wallpaper is him with fluffy." He said and Shahana jumped, "show me, it's been ages since I last saw him." She said excitedly.

Aarav show her the picture and she awed at it. 

"God he's grown up." she commented and Piyush hummed.

"So, First is the phone book." Aarav said.

"Hmmm...." Aarav hummed while going through the contact names. "haha, Shahana he even have a leaf emoticon in front of your 'Shaymin' name. And a thunder bolt against Prachi's 'Pikachu'." Aarav laughed.

"Sweet heart?" Aarav said and Piyush draped an arm around Pragya, making Aryan roll his eyes.

"Who's Radhe? She's in your favourites and even has a peacock emoticon against her name."

"That's a friend," Piyush said nonchalantly.

"The gallery now." Aarav said exiting the phonebook.

"So 3737 total and there are about 359 screenshots, 162 dance rehearsal videos, wow that's too many, 1127 selfie, alone, 953 pictures with others, and whAT IN THE WORLD, who is THIS? You have 1139 pictures with her.

Who is she? Piyush?" Aarav asked, his eyes wide and a teasing smile playing on his lips.

"That's Radhe, I mean Mayuri, Radhe's just my pet name for her, my dance partner and she is opposite me in the play." Piyush answered, a ghost of smile on his face.

"You didn't even had to look at the picture once to know who he was talking about." Rhea commented and a soft color tinted Piyush's face, a grin breaking free.

"Umm hmm." Prachi teased and Shahana, Aryan and Ranbir raised an eyebrow at her 'Oh So Ranbir' tune. That she was herself unaware of, that she just hummed, just the iconic way Ranbir do it. Always.

"No-" *soft laugh* "No, it's nothing like that." Piyush tried to control his laugh. "We are just dance partners, and most of these pictures are from dress rehearsals." He excused.

"I can see.." Aarav said, scrolling through the phone and turning it around for everyone to see one or another picture. While Piyush filled in the info about the pictures

"That's from our friend's marriage."

"That is of holi. Before we went playing."

"That's from play, the first day."

"That's Diwali last year," "we can see," Came the reply from Shahana.

"Thaaaat is just a random picture." "Don't look like one" Commented Mitali,

"That's another random picture." "where is it?" Asked Prachi, and Piyush replied after a moment of thought. "We went to Mumbai for a trip. so it's in the backyard of the guest house we stayed in."

Just as the pictures proceeded, Aryan felt his nerves, that were in knots, settle. His irritation for the boy reduced a bit. Just a bit, though. Maybe he and Shahana are just good friends. Not that he cares much.

"She's cute," Praised Pragya and Piyush grinned in response.

"So sweet, and ven your nmes complement each other's. 'Mayuri' and 'Piyush'." Shahana said in a 'sang-a-song' voice, "Meaning Peacocks. You'll have to make us meet her one day." Shahana said and Piyush "Why'ed" inbetween.

"What 'why'?" Prachi asked, "why did you wanted to meet our friends some days prior? We just want to meet her 'just like that'." She explained, using his words.

"We'll see." Was the answer that come.

Everyone turned to Aarav to look for something more. He was just sitting there, lips pursued, scrolling through the mobile.

"Anything interesting?" Abhi asked and Aarav shook his head.

"Except for the thing that 'Radhe' is the first and last person than talks to him everyday, with first call on the crack of the dawn, and last call in the dead of the night, And there is a person saved as the 'Shipper' No, nothing interesting." Aarav answered handing the mobile back to it's rightful owner. Who was just muttering something in an inaudible tone, cheeks ablaze.

"Ranbir's turn then." Purab said and Ranbir, upon hearing his name, broke out of his trance from watching the naughty Prachi.

"Yeah?" Ranbir asked but everyone took it as approval.

"See, how brave." Abhi praised.

"Ofcourse, because he don't have anything to hide." Pallavi said with a egoistic smile.

"So? Who'll do the honor?" Purab asked, looking at the mobile placed on the table.

"I'll do. He hasn't ever hid anything from me." Abhi said, looking at Pallavi and Vikram.

"Of course go on. He is more your son as it is." Vikram said in approval.

"And now he is going to be your son officially by marrying your daughter." Pallavi added.

"I really am happy to get him for my daughter. All I want for my Daughters' other halfs are boys that care for them like their worlds." Abhi smiled at both Rhea and Prachi. "I've got one, the other might come along soon." 

Prachi's heart felt a pang by merely thinking of being with someone other than Ranbir, and his heart was feeling nothing different. She just bent her head down that other's took as shyness.

"Prachi you can tell if there is someone. We'll really like to meet him." Rhea asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"She'll tell me first. Won't you Prachi?" Pragya asked, teasing her.

"Arey, didn't Shahana said that day that Prachi's choice had changed and she know who it is." Mitali joined.

"Shall we continue with the mobile?" Aryan came to the rescue, identifying the hurt in both Prachi and Ranbir's eyes. He just closed his eyes momentary as the reply of the thankful look Shahana shot him.

"Look how eager he is." Aaliya commented.

"Okay, Okay let's start." Abhi said, picking up the phone.

"Attention, Attention, Attention." Abhi started in a commentary voice.

"Here we are going to proceed to go through the mobile of the other withdrawer. Just to make everyone remember, the junior Kohli here, had refused to tell the name of his first love and as the decided punishment, we are here going to uncover the dark secrets his mobile could have.

So the lock," He stopped for a moment. "Ladies and Gentlemen, there is no lock on the phone, this is a very rare thing for someone in this generation."

"I told you he don't have anything to hide." Pallavi butted in.

Abhi continued, "The wallpaper is him with Aryan, a candid picture of them hugging.

Okay so the phonebook first. There are no favourites, the names being saved.. normally. There are no nicknames haan? Only two are different, mine being 'Chief' and the other... Prachi's."

Everyone's ear's perked up at it. Rhea clenched her fist and shared a look with Aaliya. It broke when Abhi let out a short laugh.

"What is this Ranbir. 'Prachi Vrachi?'  What is that?" He turned to Ranbir.

"Vo, actually chief I saved it a long time ago, didn't change it since." Ranbir answered with a tight smile, scratching his head a bit.

"Don't have anything more interesting in Phonebook. Next step Gallery.

So, Gallery here, There are about 4011 pictures and videos in total, out of which 1104 pictures with family and friends, 869 selfies alone, 491 random pictures, 277 office work," Abhi let out a laugh, "Out of 277 office work pictures, 213 are sent by Prachi." Everyone except Rhea and Pallavi let out a laugh at that. 

"aaaannd 1270 pictures locked. What are these locked pictures Ranbir?" Abhi asked and Ranbir just looked on, his face expression no emotions while the other's have curious and confused expressions.

"Oye ullu de patthe," Vikram called him, "Why do you have locked pictures?" 

"What dad? There is a thing named privacy." Ranbir said.

"And we have the right to break it as your punishment." Pallavi said, "tell the password."

"No," Ranbir refused, "I gave my phone, I won't tell my password. Even Piyush didn't, I have the same right to.... to.." he tried.

"Hide something?" Rhea offered.

"No," Ranbir rejected, " The right to..." 

"Vote?" Aryan aired, getting a 'are-you-kidding?' look from everyone.

"Right to equality?" Prachi guessed and Ranbir gave an 'Aaha' expression.

"Yes, yes, I have a right to equality." Ranbir agreed to Prachi and Rhea fumed, while everyone praised their bonding.

"Ohk, Mr. I-Have-A-Right-To-Equality, don't tell, we'll try ourselves." Vikram said, and gestured Abhi to continue.

"Hmm, the password." Abhi said, "What could it be?"

A/N:- Hey fireflies, another 'belated' update is here. What do you think of it? Please share your views on it. In this chapter I focused much on Arhana and Aryan and Prachi's bond too. If you liked the chapter, make sure to VOTE and Comment. Inline comments are most welcome. Feel free to point out any mistake you come across in the chapter.

# What do you think of Piyush's 'Dance Partner'?

# What do think is the password?

P.S.- Take as many wild guesses you want to. ;)

Lots of Love,

Simran