CLUE?

Aryan and Piyush tiptoed back to the terrace where Aarav was waiting for them, a half-asleep Shahana following them, trying to make as little sound as she can. She raised an eyebrow at him and he just reciprocated the gesture.

"Took you long enough." Aarav scolded as the three reached there.

"Wait you are in the team too?" Shahana asked.

"Of course, did you think these two could work together on their own?"

"So," Started Shahana, unable to digest just how this unlikely team bundled up. "Just how did you all reach out to each other?"

"We just sensed that something is seriously wrong within Prachi, Rhea, and Ranbir that the elders are oblivious about and you two might know. So we approached him." Aarav gestured towards the Khanna heir.

"And how did you find out there was something going on between Prachi, Ranbir and that vamp?" Shahana asked again.

"Are the longing stares and large patch of dark cloud looming over their heads that hard to notice?" Aarav stated more than questioned.

Shahana nodded, getting who is addressed, "But you still didn't answer my question."

The three boys shared a look before diving into explaining the entire thing to her.

Aryan turned around to see Aarav standing in one corner, leaning to the side, resting his elbows on the boundary wall. 

"I should've guessed it. You are the only other with a seemingly working brain here." Aryan commented, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Not my fault," Aarav shrugged.

Aryan just shook his head, "So, let's get down to business."

"Fair enough." Aarav straightened up, still not answering.

"Why did you call me here?" Aaryan asked.

"I think I made it clear in the message." the groom to be raised an eyebrow.

"Speak clearly." 

"I am no stupid to not notice the small, heartfelt exchanges, the one-liners or the longing looks that Prachi and Ranbir pass each other. And the way Rhea behaves with Prachi is not at all normal."  Aarav said making Aryan snort.

He continued though, "And when on the day Rhea pushed Prachi into the pool, Shahana said that Rhea had already ruined Prachi's life enough, summed up with the way Ranbir had reacted, it planted doubt in my head."

"And how did it get confirmed?" Aryan's eyebrows furrowed.

"It didn't, even though I saw Prachi and Ranbir the after she got to know about Ruchi, in her room. Crying, as I can bet no one has ever seen her cry. And the way Ranbir cared for her, was quite intense from that of just a friend or fiancee's sister, that too when I've hardly seen them converse properly."

"Aaand..." Aryan drawled, unknown to this information.

"But, I still wanted to confirm it. Be hundred percent sure you see. So, I proposed for this wedding, with Prachi. It was a long shot. I hoped that if there actually was something going on in them, one or another would speak up." 

"And if not, it could have been Prachi's ticket out of this toxic family." Piyush added, "No offense."

"But neither objected." Aryan nodded to himself.

"I would have been fine with marrying Prachi, but her lifeless seeming being would have been the same the entire life. I know that maybe one day she would have moved on, but if she didn't I don't think I would have been able to handle the guilt."

"So, to confirm my doubt, I texted you, and the fact that you came here on the basis of a message so you could break your best friend's alliance with your sister, was proof enough. Now would you narrate your own side of the story, as I reckon you must know a large part of it."

And so, Aryan dived into telling them 'The Mighty Lovestory of Pranbir'.

Narrating every bit of information he knows, leaving out some personal information of theirs', as the regular window visits of course, along with his own fair share of moments with Shahana.

"What the hell is wrong with that girl?" Aarav said in disbelief.

"The bigger question is what the hell is wrong with this family?" Piyush added. "How could they be so blind?" 

"So, now we have to solve three problems if we want to reunite those pathetically naive lovebirds." Aarav concluded.

"First of all, why is Prachi behaving so indifferent towards Ranbir." Aryan ticked on his finger. 

"What had gotten into Pallavi aunty that she is acting so rude towards Prachi?" Piyush added.

"And what has Rhea got to do with it?" Aarav finished, nodding at the other two.

"Something tells me that Rhea got to do everything there is with it," Piyush commented, after a few moments of awkward silence.

"Of course she does." Aryan snorted, numerous crimes of his cousin making way into his mind.

"We can not jump onto conclusions just like that," Aarav reasoned, "We've got to know the entire thing."

"Shahana!" Piyush exclaimed. "She ought to know something."

"Yes, she does." Aryan heaved a sigh. "She is Shahana, she even knows if Prachi sneezes but..." He trailed off.

"But what?" The brothers shared a confused look.

"You see, we've already tried to get it out of her but Prachi had made her promise not to tell anyone anything." Aryan pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Maybe she tells us now, as this is quite a grave situation here." Aarav pondered.

"And hence here you are." Piyush ended with a proud smile.

"What are you so happy about?" Shahana inquired, eyeing him suspiciously.

 "We just got successful at abducting a live person from a house full of people who never seem to sleep." 

"You did not 'Abduct' me, I willingly came here." Shahana interjected.

Piyush ignored the comment, clapping Aryan's shoulder. "We'll be a great team."

Aryan stepped away from him, giving him an odd look. He turned his attention towards the girl, who was looking glaring at the 'curls-for-brain' threateningly.

Good.

"Shahana, we know that you know something that might help us." Aarav grasped their attention back to the topic. "Please, tell us the truth."

"I can't." Shahana bowed her head down, sitting on the small bench placed there.

"Come on Shay, please." Piyush pleaded. "This is getting so out of hands. We got to sort out this mess."

Shahana took a deep breath "I know, and even though I want to push the two of you off the roof for not telling me this earlier,-"

Do it already, Aryan thought.  

"I can't-"

Yes, you can! he thought. 

"because I too want Prachi and Ranbir to end up together."

Okay leave Aarav, we might need him but push that 'over-enthusiastic-fake-kidnaper'. 

"But I can't tell you!" Shahana whined.

"But why?" Aarav demaned.

"Because of Prachi, that stupid, emotional fool, wannabe the new era 'mother Teresa'." Shahana hissed. "She made me promise not to tell anyone anything."

The boys nodded in understanding.

"Is Rhea behind this?" Aarav asked and Aryan rolled his eyes.

"For the last time, Yes." He reported.

Aarav still looked on, Shahana nodded and he finally accepted.

"Believe now, do you?" Aryan taunted. 

"She is your sister Aryan" The elder boy replied calmly, "There are two, not only one family that will get affected by any small or big thing that we will do."

"Yeah right. Sister. She is a criminal, believe me." Shahana replied, " All of our's fingers won't be enough to count the crimes she had committed."

"Will ten more be enough?" someone called from the doorway and they all turned, their eyes wide.

~*~

Pragya made her way towards her Prachi's room. She was going to talk to her about some things but Rhea had called her and she had forgotten. And now since she couldn't sleep, she wanted to check on her once.

She opened the door of her daughter's room, making sure not to make any noise as she went and took a seat on the edge of her bed. Prachi's back facing her.

"My little girl is all grown up." Pragya cooed. "It seems yesterday when you found out that daughters leave their parental home after marriage and go with their husbands. The shocked expression you gave when you found out the last ritual of the festive seeming wedding is still so fresh."

"You had so adamantly stated that you will never leave your mother, for anyone, and look now," Pragya caressed her head, "you too will be leaving me."

"My baby is all set to step into the wind whirl of new life. But I trust you, baccha. I know, you will never do something wrong. You won't ever do anything that will hurt anyone, and also that you will always respect the knot of marriage. It is a relation that is based on the foundation of truthfulness, and I know, I know you will never belittle the importance and respect of this relation. And you and Aarav will always be happy together."

She caressed her head once more and left, closing the door behind her.

As soon as the soft click of the door echoed in the room. The girl who was assumingly sleeping on the bed stirred and sat upright in her bed. A guilty look in her eyes.

"Is what I am doing right?" Prachi whispered to herself.

"To get out of Rhea and Ranbir's way, am I using Aarav?" She questioned no one, but then contradicted herself. "But I already talked to him and he said that he is doing this for me, to take me away from here, then how am I wrong?" 

"But Aarav believes that someday or another, you and him will fall in love eventually." her heart inquired.

"So?" Her mind asked.

"Will she ever be able to love Aarav" Heart countered.

"Time will say, no one knows what it stores in its folds." Her mind played the line she had once heard while skimming through T.V. channels.

"No. What you want to say is 'No she will never be able to'." her heart corrected.

"But I can not do anything else, I'll have to leave, that's the only thing I can do." Prachi determined, shutting her heart's voice off. 

~*~

"Uhhh, Uncle? You here?" 

It was Aryan who found his voice first as non-other than the father of the person whose life they were discussing walked in on their 'secret' meeting.

"Yes, me." Vikram Kohli walked over to them slowly, taking his time. His hands in his pockets and a sober, knowing expression resting on his face.

"We, uh, we" Piyush stuttered, looking at the other three, "we were playing."

"What?" Everyone chorused.

"Game," Piyush answered, his eyes wide.

"Drop the act," Vikram said, shaking his head a little. "I know everything." 

"You do?" Piyush asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes, I do." Replied Vikram. "You guys are not so sneaky." He said, looking at Shahana, Aryan and Piyush. "And if it weren't for Pallavi's deteriorating health, I would have acted upon it too. But now I can't keep standing in the sidelines and be a mute spectator of my son's life's destruction."

"Wait, wait, wait." Shahana pulled the break. "Pallavi aunty is Sick?" 

"Yeah," Aryan supported, "didn't I tell you? That day when Ranbir was leaving the house forever to go to Prachi, Pallavi aunty had a heart attack."

"Is that why Ranbir is marrying Rhea?" Aarav asked.

"Yes, in the hospital, Pallavi asked Ranbir, made him promise, that he will marry Rhea for her sake." Vikram informed.

"Is that why Ranbir was behaving like that on Mr. Mehra and Meera aunty's fake wedding rituals?" Shahana asked.

"Yeah," Aryan replied, "Because Ranbir wanted Prachi to hate him and leave him and move on."

"Wow, these two really think same." Shahana commented.

"Wait Prachi too is faking all this to make Ranbir hate her and move on with Rhea?" It was Aryan's turn to ask.

"Ofcourse." Shahana replied.

"Well, looks like it's working." Vikram pursued his lips, "I mean, Ranbir is marrying Rhea."

Aryan shook his head midway Vikram's observation, "Ranbir is not, he is only acting to be fine with marring Rhea so that Prachi will stop the marriage, much like Mami stopped Chucks and Meera aunty's"

"Wait, Masi stopped that wedding?" Shahana exclaimed, her eyes wide and mouth ajar.

"Who did you think?" Aryan raised an eyebrow at her

"That lying scumbag!" Shahana bellowed.

"Something tells me that you know all the things that we need to know, Shahana." Aarav commented.

"I know..." She complained whiningly.

"Then why are you not telling us something?" Vikram asked.

"Because Prachi had made me promise not to tell anyone anything." 

Vikram nodded and they all fell into a deep silence. 

Minutes passed and they all scattered around the terrace. Some pacing to and fro, some sitting on the metallic bench/chair, some leaning against the side railings.

"Shahana," Aryan called, standing right in front of the girl who was sitting on the white bench, his eyes sparkling in the dark night, for a moment she forgot that there were others present too.

"Hmm" She hummed in response.

"You can not tell us but you can lead us to clues that may help us put the pieces together." He asked with hope in his voice. And she felt soft currents in her being when he talked to her in that authoritative tone.

"What?" Piyush asked, making her snap out of her fantasies.

A soft colour touched her cheeks and she thanked that it was a night meeting.

"Yeah." Aryan replied to Piyush as Shahana raced her brain to contemplate what he said.

"Yes." She said softly. 

"Is this possible?" Aarav asked Shahana, whose eyes were widening more and more per second as she racked her brain for all the information they needed.

"Yes. YEs. YES." She squealed, bouncing up and down, twice before jumping right onto the person who was standing in front of her, who also happened to be the one to give the idea. And also happened to have a crush on her, not that he would accept yet.

Aryan lost his footing, stumbling a little backward by the sudden force, before wrapping his arms strongly around her to pacify them both. Her hair tickled his neck and her warm breath raised goosebumps on his nape in the cold night. Her arms wrapped around his neck causing him to lose himself in fantasy and stay in reality both at the same time.

Shahana realized what she was doing quite late. As her tackling prey wrapped his hands around her, did she realize what she had done. She wanted to jerk away, but the feeling of strong arms supporting her restrained her.

His hands, on her sides, were making her skin burn in soothing heat. The breath she had managed to knock out of him with the force of her jump caused them to be in a closer than a normal hug and when he inhaled again, she felt his heart in her own body.

"So, is that possible?" Piyush chimed as they did not let go just yet.

Shahana unwillingly peeled her arms from his neck and felt the warmth of his arms slowly retracing from her waist.

"Uhhh," She trailed, whatever was happening before her small enthusiastic act well out of her mind.

"Is it possible for you to tell us something through which we can piece everything together?" Vikram supplied, trying to keep a straight face.

"Uh, yes, yes, um I'll text you all about it and you will have to gather it up." Shahana replied, looking down to cover her face with her hair, a very futile attempt to cover her burning cheeks.

"We'll have to do it quickly, the Mehandi is the day after tomorrow morning and the sangeet will be the followed evening." Vikram informed, "Then the next day will be Haldi and wedding that night."

"What about all the kundali's and all?" Shahana asked.

"If they are not listening to the groom himself, what is the chance of priest having any say?" Piyush stated.

"Let's get some sleep, we'll be having a very busy day tomorrow and some very emotionally exhausting ones after those." Vikram ordered.

A/N:- Hey Gummy Bears, Happy festive season to you all!! Here is another chapter as a gift from my side. A late of course, but one nonetheless. The next chapter will be up hopefully sooner. Hope you like it.

If you do then make sure to VOTE and comment. Inline comments are always welcome. Feel free to point out any mistake you might come across in the chapter.

# Who do you think walked in on the #ReunitePranbir gang?

Lots of Love,

Simran