Next morning (sunday), eight-thirty am. 

Landon Stanford's house.

The door to the bedroom opened and closed, she felt the bed dip behind her, but she didn't move. She remained in her sleeping form. Her shoulder felt stiff from laying on it, facing opposite to the door for a long time, but she didn't want to give any hint of being available to talk any time soon.

"Shru...", even his voice sounded guilty. And tired.

Shruti knew Armaan didn't sleep all night, he never came to bed. He stayed in the living room after their brief conversation which went like-

'shru, can I explain? please'

'I am tired. Going to sleep'

'please, just let me tell you what was that about'

'tell Landon thank you and goodnight from me'

That was it. She turned him down to talk and then came to the bedroom, to pretend to sleep. She must have closed her eyes out of tiredness for at most two hours but she kept thinking about the evening every other moment.

Armaan's friends, the food, the dance...the intimacy.

Everything was overwhelming, nothing she couldn't handle. By the time everyone had had their dinner, she was already to call it night. She wanted nothing more than to sleep – just sleep – in the fluffy bed with Armaan at her side. But then things got ruined, for everyone.

"Shru, please, I am sorry..."

Shruti turned around, and tiredly asked him, "What are you sorry for?"

She sat up causing Armaan to back up and sit at a foot's distance from her. She tied her hair into a messy bun while she waited for Armaan to explain.

"Okay so..."

_______________

Nine am.

Brandon's house.

Olivia woke up as the sun rays hit her eyes with full force. She again thought as to why she had left the curtain open. But as usual, when she sat up, her head felt hammered. She tried to remember what had happened, but as usual, she needed a coffee before she could think of anything. The other side of the bed was empty.

A smile fleeted Olivia's face as the smell of freshly brewed coffee breezed faintly from the open bedroom door. She hastily climbed out of the bed, clutching her throbbing head, and rinsed her mouth before walking downstairs. She was dressed in an over sized t-shirt which was Brandon's. Amidst her climb down the steps, as if the smell of coffee had triggered her thinking power, a thought of Brandon changing her clothes entered her mind. She abruptly halted on the steps. Not remembering how and when Brandon changed her clothes, meant that she wasn't in her own control last night, meaning she was drunk, again.

Brandon must be so mad, she thought.

Resuming her way to the kitchen, she began thinking about the ways to start her conversation with Brandon. The need to apologize rose firmly. She saw Brandon chopping the red peppers while something sizzled on the pan beside him. From the smell of it, he was making Chinese.

Who eats Chinese in breakfast? She thought, but let it pass and stepped forward to hug Brandon from behind.

Glancing back at Olivia, he smiled lightly then turned and finished chopping the vegetables. While Brandon was turning around, Olivia pouted and said, "I am sorry."

Brandon's expression didn't change, but the smile on his face got stiffer, and he said, "What are you sorry for darling?", and then turned to the pan, tossing the veggies into it.

"For drinking so much last night. I can't remember when we arrived home or when you changed me-"

"It's okay. Go sit, I'll bring you your breakfast", He said and shuffled around to gather other ingredients, clearly indicating to Olivia that it wasn't okay. She opened her mouth to apologize again, but Brandon cut her off already, "Here-", handed her the cup of coffee, "-go ahead, I'll bring your Bean salad."

Olivia nodded dejectedly and walked to the dining room.

She tried to remember what all had happened the previous evening. she could remember some images, but no voice. The last thing she remembered clearly was handing Bryan to Brenna and then snatching another glass of alcohol from Landon. She needed to control this behaviour, she knew it. Thing was that she never realises during the moment that the glass she holds must be the last.

Brandon put the bowl of Salad in front of her and his own tossed noodles on the other side, before sitting down. Olivia thanked him, observing his expressions. But Brandon was an actor. Very good one at that. It was always hard for people to figure out what he was thinking. Even for Olivia, it was not as easy as people thought. Brandon never put any façade in front of Olivia, except for the times when he was in sour mood. Olivia felt guilty about putting Brandon through so much shit. Handling her moods, her parties, her alcohol, her bitchy attitude, and even herself, it seemed hefty work. She felt guiltier when she realised Brandon was still trying to do these small things for her.

"Brandon...", she said softly making him look at her.

"I am sorry. I-I will be careful next time. Please-"

"When did you sleep with Manny?", Brandon asked cutting her apology off.

Olivia froze with her mouth open and stared at him with shock. Snapping shut her mouth, she leaned back trying to assess his question.

"What the hell, Brandon? I slept with Manny? What are you talking about-"

"Yesterday", Brandon snapped, visibly trying to control his anger by clenching the fork in his hand, "you said that. You told his wife how amazing he is in bed! In front of every one! Now tell me, when did this happen?!"

Olivia's heart began racing at Brandon's words. Worst thing? She couldn't remember anything about it. She couldn't have told that in front of everyone, could she?

You were drunk, remember...you of course you don't remember anything, the snarky voice of herself reminded her.

She opened her mouth to say something, defend herself at least apologise for saying it in front of everyone but she could form sensible words.

"Olivia, I asked you something. Answer me!", Brandon said louder and on verge of yelling.

"I-I am sorry, Brandon. I don't remember anything of last night. I-I shouldn't have said anything in front of everyone...I-I mean, it isn't appropriate. I am sorry...I swear, I won't drink this much-"

"You still aren't answering my question!!"

"What! When I slept with Manny? It was almost eight years ago, You know that! I don't even remember anything! It's long time-"

"I Know That?! I KNOW THAT?! Seriously Olie?! Eight F*cking years! You never bothered to tell me that you slept with my BEST FRIEND!!!", Brandon stood up, furious at her words.

"Why are you making this such a big deal! This-this thing has been over and done with for almost a decade!!", Olivia stood up, her chair screeching backwards, "And what are you talking about! You knew that I slept with – I mean, had a one night stand with Manny, what are you talking about? Brandon, I am sorry for saying about this in front of your friends but you can't freaking yell at me for this after knowing this for EIGHT YEARS!!"

Brandon furiously walked to Olivia which had her unconsciously take a step back but he just stood in front of her and barked, "I DIDN'T F*CKING KNOW!!"

Olivia flinched a little but stared at him in confusion, "What didn't you know? That we slept together?"

Brandon's jaw clenched at her words, finally she had acknowledged her deed in words, which wasn't exactly merciful at the moment.

"No Olie! I didn't know that you and my best friend slept together behind my back! Because you NEVER told me! Why Olivia?", Brandon shook his head and stepped back, "Why would you do that to me. Eight years...seems a long time but it doesn't make it any easier Olie...you cheated on me then."

A desperate gasp left Olivia's mouth and she stepped forward, reaching for him, "I didn't cheat on you, Brandon! I never cheated on you and would never do that. Brandon...", she rounded and came to stand in front of Brandon, her hands clutching his arms, "Brandon. We weren't dating at that time. We started dating when I was eighteen, two years after Manny and I...", she shook her head trying to avoid the disappointing memories that were trying to rise in the back of her mind, "Brandon, please..."

Brandon removed her grip and stepped back with disappointed expression although with a hint of realization. They started dating when he was halfway through his college, he remembered that. Olivia had always been fascinating to him, but he had only given into his feelings when Olivia had started her higher studies in the same college as him. He was hesitant at first because of his friendship with Landon, but it was Olivia who had pursued him and had convinced Landon of their love. It wasn't much awkward, except for the time when they would quarrel and Landon had to take sides. Brandon never blamed or took it out on him.

"I thought you knew Brandon. I thought Manny had told you, guess he didn't-"

"Why didn't you tell me? I wasn't in relationship with Manny...I was in relation with you, you never told me about this-"

"You are in relationship with me."

"-Why? Didn't you think about my feelings when we started our relationship, that I would feel betrayed?-"

"That's the reason I couldn't tell you! Brandon, listen to me...come here-", Olivia said sounding desperate which was much unlike herself and she clutched hand, entwining her fingers with his, "I'll tell you what happened, okay. I was sixteen, you were away for your college. Remember, when I came with Landon to help him settle in his dorm?"

Brandon's forehead creased as he tried to remember the day Olivia was talking about. It was faint, but he still remembered those days. Brandon was the first to arrive at dorm and had already settled, he was excited and eager to meet new people. Then few hours later Landon had arrived, with his sister who had given him a seductive smirk as soon as she had seen him. Then Armaan had arrived few hours later, as their roommate. They had become good acquaintances in few hours. But what about it?

"Remember, when I had asked Landon to let me stay for the freshmen party? That evening of the party, I met Manny for the first time. I don't remember much, I was almost drunk, but I remember that you and Landon had disappeared so I had to stay with Manny so we spent the evening talking and dancing."

Brandon remembered too, that was really a hazy night. He couldn't remember seeing Olivia at that party, neither Armaan, but he was with Landon all evening. or, more precisely, Landon had decided to 0take drunk and drugged Brandon to college nurse. Landon had told him the next day that he was tricked into drinking alcoholic punch by some seniors and he had to look after him whole evening.

"Then I left and never saw him again or even talked to him until the thanksgiving break. I-I had had a bad break up with my boyfriend, and when you all decided to go to the Joel's house for the party, I had tagged along with Landon. I don't know if you were there or not, but Tristan and Manny were there. I remember I kept drinking alcohol and-and I think I told him how my relationship had taken a toll on me...then-then I don't remember correctly...but-but...I.."

"You what Olivia? What did you do?", Brandon asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at her.

Olivia averted her eyes, her grip slackening on his arm, "I think-well... I know that I had pulled him into that spare room", she said timidly, daring to look at Brandon's reaction while feeling her heart beating hastily.

She regretted it, looking at him. There was this betrayed look again. But it wasn't her fault, they weren't in a relationship yet at that time, technically Brandon had now right to question her. But she loved him, with all her heart, and she knew that Brandon loved her too. He felt betrayed because he loved her and trusted her. So even if she wasn't actually at fault, she felt guilty.

Brandon pulled his hand, stepping back and shaking his head lightly.

"Okay, even if two had something before we got into relationship, that doesn't let you off the hook. What I am asking again and again is that why didn't you tell me before we got into relationship. Or, even after."

"I tried to tell you Brandon!", Olivia said firmly, determined to not let this ruin things between them, again, "I wanted to tell you the moment we had our first date on that beach. But you were friends with Manny already, heck you guys became best friends by the time I got into the same college. I felt like I had to ask or at least tell Manny that I was going to tell you next time I met you. He told me, that I shouldn't bother about it and he was going to tell you. And I was scared about disappointing you, so I let him tell you. And I thought he did...really!", Olivia explained. All the disappointment and stress at the moment made tears fill in her eyes.

"Clearly, he did not!", Brandon snapped, glancing at her.

She was not ready to lose him over her past and she knew it would break them both if they broke up with this reason. Cheating, even though they weren't in relationship.

"Brandon, babe, I really didn't know that you didn't know. I would have told you if he hadn't assured me that he was going to handle everything. You know me Brandon, I am anything but a liar", Olivia said sadly as she remembered the similar incident not a week ago, about his arrival from India, "I hope you know that, I never lied to you Brandon. You and Landon are the only people in my life that I can be truthful to. I-I am sorry you got hurt Brandon. I can imagine if the roles were reversed, I don't know what I would have done."

Silence fell over both, rendering Olivia to wonder what more she could say to make it right. At least this time, she expected Brandon to get angry with her, but as usual, he didn't even raise his voice fully at her. He was disappointed and sure he felt betrayed, so, Olivia couldn't reason why he wasn't bombarding her with accusations. If she had come to know that Brandon had slept with her best friend and not her, she wouldn't have kept so quiet. She would have thrown him out of the house, even it was in his name. The thought of Brandon kicking her out of the house, better yet out of his life melted the resolve of not letting tears fall and she sobbed involuntarily.

Pressing her fist to her mouth she turned away from Brandon.

"Do you remember what you said yesterday while leaving?", Brandon asked her.

Without looking she shook her head then wiped the remnant of the tears paving their way on her cheeks.

"You said, and I quote, to his wife, 'you are gonna have one hella ride. He is so big!'. You getting something back now?", Brandon mocked her in high pitched voice which confused Olivia.

Was he jokingly mocking her? Or, was it the tauntingly mocking? She looked at him sideways, finding his face etched into scowl but his eyes were brimmed with betrayal.

Her own face deepened into a scowl and she faced him again, "I-I was drunk. I don't remember."

Brandon made a face resembling to snorting donkey and stepped forward, "you f*cking insulted me in front of all my friends and you don't even remember! This is not done! You compared my d*ck to Manny's and said, 'he must have grown after all these years', I mean, come on! Are you serious?!"

Olivia's eyes widened as the scene Brandon was talking about hazily entered her mind and she remembered saying something like that.

"I did say that, didn't I?", Olivia confirmed hesitantly.

Brandon's eyes furiously portrayed caveman-ship and he said, "Yes! Tell me one thing, why do you still remember what his d*ck looks like?"

"I don't remember it! I don't even know why I said what I said. I think-I just remembered feeling sore next day-"

"Okay, stop. I don't want to hear the details. Even if it was years ago, still my ego is bruised – I mean, still it is disgusting to hear about my girlfriend and my best friend with 'big d*ck'", Brandon said and huffed, crossing his arms in front of him.

She blinked and looked at Brandon, opening and closing her mouth while wondering what she could possibly say.

Olivia stepped forward and blurted, "You are bigger", glancing down at the proof and then back at his face only to come across surprised looking Brandon.

"Ooookayyy...thank you...it was a compliment...I hope...", Brandon stuttered, frowning at the end.

"I-It was a compliment...definitely", Olivia nodded firmly. It was definitely compliment, but she didn't want to say it like that.

The conversation just paused in between them for time. Brandon couldn't let go of the disappointment. At some grade, he couldn't even come to terms with the fact that this had actually happened in between his friend and girlfriend. Even more so that Armaan lied and betrayed him for all these years. Brandon was sure for one thing, he won't be able to forgive his friend, not in near coming years.

The awkwardness of the atmosphere in the house finally broke when Brandon received a call from his secretary telling him that he had to leave for Australia the same night for a photoshoot related to his film.   

Landon's house-

"So you mean to say that, you didn't want your relation with your friend to be ruined and you also didn't want your friend and his girlfriend's to be ruined, so you didn't tell your friend that you and his girlfriend had slept before they got together. But you let Olivia believe that you had told your friend about it so she would stop hindering herself over it. Did I get it all right?", Shruti asked Armaan who was sitting comfortably in front of her, one leg tucked under other while other hung down the bed.

Armaan nodded, exhaling in relief, "Yes, you got it right."

"And this was all eight years ago?", she asked for assurance.

Armaan nodded again, "Yes".

Gosh, I was sixteen when he lost his virginity, Shruti thought to herself, far from even wearing off-shoulder tops, let alone be alone with a boy.

As they sat looking at each other, she observed Armaan's features noticing how the dark circles made him look ugly and she wondered if she was looking the same. It didn't matter. There will be many sleepless nights during the course of married life.

"But what now? Your friend knows that you...and his girlfriend...you know. He will be mad, won't he? And what about Olivia? You kind of broke her trust", Shruti asked softly, yawing not a moment later which made Armaan yawn too.

"I don't know, Shru. I will talk to him later. I know he is upset and wouldn't like it much if I just pester him to talk to me", Armaan said and rubbed his face with his palms, "god, this is so messed up. This is our honeymoon for god's sake. I am sorry Shru, this has been going wrong ever since we landed. First the hotel, then previous evening, and then there's my mother who wishes that I have a heart attack directly. I mean, who goes through their son's stuff to poke holes in the condoms?!"

Shruti laughed while fighting the blush creeping her face. Armaan joined too, grabbing her hand to pull her forward into a hug.

"I am still sorry Shru. I didn't want to hurt you. I don't ever want to hurt you. We are married for not even a week properly and I already made you feel bad. I am such a m*ron-"

"Shut up. God your mouth is so filthy!", Shruti said pulling away from him with a scrunched nose.

Armaan laughed and let himself fall beside her, his arm around her, "I love you", he whispered and watched her smile. Moments later, they were both asleep, in each other's embrace. If Armaan would have stayed awake for a few minutes, he would have noticed his wife wiping her tears away so that she could pretend that she wasn't hurt anymore. As much as Shruti wanted to yell at him, or hurt him for hurting all the people around him that love him, she was afraid. Afraid that this situation could potentially led towards the doom of their married life. She wasn't strong enough for that. Instead she choose to let go of her husband's mistake(although purposeful) for one time. She just hoped that he wouldn't do anything to hurt her again. She knew she won't be able to forgive him.

___________________

Eleven am-

The local grocery store nearest to Landon's house was bustling with customers. The Sunday discounts from the store was enough for attracting people's attention. No one notices anyone else in the way as people try to rush and snatch the items before it gets sold out. Similarly, no one would notice that the co-owner of Pearl&Amber co. wrestling with a small boy to snatch a huge pack of sour candy being sold at forty percent discount.

After an hour or two, Landon began walking to the exit leading towards the parking lot with more than dozen bags in his hands. One of them containing the packet of sour candy that he had managed to snatch from the kid earlier. Sour candies were his guilty pleasure, he wouldn't change anything if he got a chance to go back an hour or two earlier. Even if he had to scare the kid away using gummy worms, again.

He settled the bags on the trunk of his car, some on his backseat and began driving back to his house. Momentary happiness soon faded away, leaving him alone with his thoughts. His concern about his sister was increasing as the time passed. He never detained Olivia from doing anything before, thinking it was the right thing to do. However, now he wondered, if he had made a mistake. Mistake to let Olivia make her own decision from young age and never interfering with her life, whether the decisions were presumably good or bad.

He would have never guessed that his friend would have crossed his boundaries by sleeping with his sister. Upon that, Olivia made it sound like she was cheating on Brandon with Armaan. Last evening was a disaster as it is since he hadn't gotten a chance to fully enjoy the party. Previous day in the morning he had the displeasure of talking to his mother, it ruined half his mood, and then he had himself come down from high when he talked to Tristan about it. Even before previous day, when his friends had taken him to the club, he wasn't, per say, drunk enough.

Him and his friends except Armaan and Olivia, and Shruti, were waiting for some kind of explanation. By now the two must have already talked to their spouses, at least he hoped. Landon felt betrayed too, as he was sure that their other friends were feeling too. He just hoped that it wasn't what it seemed like and there was some 'legit' explanation to it. He didn't know if he would be able to forgive Olivia if she cheated on Brandon and same for Armaan.

Landon's fingers clenched roughly around the steering wheel as he thought how Brandon was feeling. It has been years since they all had become friends, more than eight years, approximately, even longer than Brandon and Olivia's dating period. From the situation last night, Landon could make out that Brandon knew nothing about the bam-bam between them, it was clear from the look on Brandon's face. Landon, being the good observer, noticed how Brandon stared at Armaan with nothing but a question which Armaan had answered by stating silent and breaking their eye contact.

Just like that he broke that bond of trust.

Landon wasn't even sure if Armaan and Brandon could actually sort it out. If something like this had happened to him, if his boyfriend had slept with one of his friends, of course hypothetically, he would never forgive them. He would move on from his boyfriend, but he won't be able to forgive his friend and his betrayal.

The word boyfriend involuntarily caused an image to pop into Landon's mind and his eyes widened at the notion of visualising Derek as his boyfriend.

'wtf', Landon thought absurdly and shook his head, directing his focus back to driving.

Just because he was the first person swinging for his team after he came out of the closet, doesn't mean he had to be the one for life, Landon explained himself.

But that didn't stop Landon from thinking about the night of Derek's birthday. The kid looked like a man, to say boldly. Landon had never been attracted to blondes, but then again, he couldn't remember the last time he ogled someone it was Blonde or Brunet.

A thought popped into his mind just as he was passing the Apple store and he slowed his car down. Even thought Landon knew the idea was impulsive, but like many other human beings, he went ahead with it anyway. And that's how, Landon spent another hour buying his 'imaginary boyfriend' slash his P.A. a kit of Apple products.

______________

Landon's house

Half past twelve

The newly married couple had woken up not much time ago, almost an hour or so, and Landon wasn't home yet. So Armaan had taken up to himself to cook them all lunch. The Late breakfast didn't contain more than two waffles for each but it was enough to contain both their hunger until lunch was done. Armaan had shooed away Shruti almost half and hour ago when she had entered the kitchen and asked if she could help. She was currently sitting in the living room, watching animated movie.

The aroma of Indian cuisine along with Italian Pasta was lingering all over the floor. The flavoured rice was ready, heap of roti (Indian bread) was ready, the mixed salad with curd and soy sauce was ready, the dessert was ready. Armaan was almost done simmering the chicken curry on one burner and the pasta on other.

Italian pasta was one of Landon's favourite dishes. Maybe out of an apology or an explanation, Armaan wanted to make sure this dish could at least make way for him to explain to his friend what had happened. Armaan felt as much responsible for hurting Landon as he did to Brandon and Olivia.

Truthfully, if someone had betrayed his sister like that, he wouldn't let that person off the hook easily. And here, Landon was one of Armaan's best friends, making it all worse.

Landon had disappeared in the morning for his Sunday discount shopping after waking him up and telling him to talk to Shruti and hadn't returned yet. He was almost grateful him being late so that Armaan could get some time to think how to explain him. If he could convince Landon about his part in this situation, he could help him talk to Olivia and Brandon.

Oh god, Brandon....

Armaan's thoughts haunted him all night. Those bare emotions in Brandon's eyes let him know that he had f*cked up, big this time. Within eight years of their friendship, there were many physical fights and pointless, baseless quarrels jammed in their history, some of them almost landed them in hospital, but the had never gone so far to hurt each other. In the beginning Armaan dreaded that Olivia would slip out there one-night adventure in front of Brandon which could push him to end their friendship, but when years passed and Brandon never confronted him, he relaxed and pushed all those memories into back of his mind. He had forgotten that day until Olivia brought this all up in her drunken state. That was why Brandon and all of Olivia's friends never liked her alcohol addiction.

If Brandon would have come to know at the time they were in college, he would have definitely broken their friendship. Now, after eight years, when the bond between the five friends was deeper than before, Armaan could imagine how Brandon was feeling. None of the both could let go of the hurt from the revelation, and neither could they throw away years of their friendship.

The sound of door opening and closing brought Armaan out of his train-thoughts. He turned the burners off and put a lid on them before walking out of kitchen. Hesitantly he walked through the hallway to living room, wondering the worst-case scenarios, probably ending up in Armaan getting kicked out of Landon's house in front of his wife.

He saw Shruti helping Landon to carry some of the bags inside, not a surprise for him to see Landon shop much more on discount sale. Thrusting his sweaty hands into his jean's pockets, Armaan sauntered further towards them intending to take the bags from Shruti.

"Here, give it to me", he told Shruti but she shook her head telling him that it was okay and walked away towards the couch.

"You can take these, mister, my hands are freaking burned", Landon exasperated dramatically, handing the bags to him.

Landon walked towards the kitchen waving his hands frantically to get blood circulated through it. Huffing in relief with a smile, Armaan walked towards the couch where Shruti had put the bags.

"You are going to talk to him?", Shruti asked leaning against the back of the couch.

Armaan glanced at her and nodded, "Yes. It's only fair if I talk to him first."

"Okay, let's hope he forgives you. He such a nice person, Armaan. I don't know why but I feel home with him. Such a loveable person", Shruti sighed looking away to the floor.

Armaan frowned lightly, replying, "Yes, Loveable GAY. I am your husband, you can feel home with me more than him."

Shruti's jaw hung open for a moment before that circle of lip turned into stretch of smile and she said, "You are jealous of your friend? You haven't forgotten that I am 'your' wife, right?"

Armaan grunted and shrugged before going off towards the kitchen. Before even he could enter the hallway, the house resonated with Landon's voice, "I LOVE YOU MANNY THE CHEF! THIS PASTA IS GOING TO KILL ME WITH OVER-EATING!"

Armaan's eyes widened and he rushed towards kitchen, just to enter and see Landon putting a spoonful of pasta into his mouth, directly from the pan.

"NO! Wait!", Armaan rushed to stop him but he couldn't reach in time causing Landon to shriek with pain as the pasta burned his mouth.

Few minutes later-

"uhhink hell, ya idiot, whadaya have ta 'ake so 'elicious 'ood? 'urnt 'y 'ole tongue....", Landon grumbled as he sat on the dining table, holding a cube of ice on his tongue.

Armaan only laughed and brought the last of their meals on the dining table. Shruti gave Armaan a warning look then put her hand on Landon's shoulder sympathetically.

"So, do you think you can eat now? You won't be feeling any kind of taste, although", Armaan asked him, already making a plate for him. Armaan knew he won't pass up any opportunity to eat his favourite food.

"'ust 'et 'ee the da'h 'ood", Landon tried to say again which no one understood properly this time, nonetheless, Armaan placed a plate filled with Italian pasta in front of him and Landon carefully placed a single piece into his mouth.

When Landon gave them a nod, the couple started to fill their own plates. They began eating their food in silence, until Shruti noticed her husband behaving weirdly with his food. He was pushing the curry in his place with the piece of bread in his hand, dipping it occasionally but never actually putting the morsel in his mouth. He must have felt eyes on himself because he looked up at her with question. He was sitting opposite to Landon, And Shruti, beside Landon so she could directly look at him.

She motioned to his food with her eyes and pointed unnoticeably towards him at the same time lifting her shoulders up slightly to ask why wasn't he eating.

Armaan shrugged, trying to act casual, and put the bite into his mouth. While he was chewing the morsel, Shruti again looked at him. As soon as Armaan noticed again, she jutted her chin towards Landon still looking at him, but Armaan just nodded and motioned her to wait with his hand.

But he still didn't make a move, he was clearly stalling and at the same time trying too figure out how to start, but Shruti felt like this was a good chance at making things right, so sat back straight and stared at him with tilted head. She made sure to stare at him with determination until he sighed and dropped his half-eaten piece of chicken back.

"I am Sorry, Landon", Armaan said suddenly, startling Landon enough for the pasta sauce to drip down his chin.

"Sorry, what?", Landon said testing the rawness of his tongue as he spoke.

"I-I am sorry. For...for hiding that from you-"

"Hiding what exactly?"

"-That we – Olivia and I – we...had had a moment, back before we were all friends-"

"Moment, as in, when you decided to go f*ck my sister behind my back?", Landon said harshly although he never intended to, but it clearly surprised Shruti, much more than Armaan. The two friends had their fair share of fights and quarrels before, this was much more intimate than some petty reason.

"I...", Armaan sighed, licking his dry lips moist, "I want to explain to you what happened then, it wasn't exactly so cheap as you made it sound right now-"

"Well, that's how it sounded when Olivia said that in front of everyone!", Landon snapped making Shruti flinch discreetly.

Both the men glanced at her sensing her reaction and Landon shrunk into his seat visibly while Armaan hung his head down at the half-finished food.

"I will let you both talk while I finish my lunch in our room", Shruti said with a peace-attempting smile, and pushed her chair back.

"No, Ellie", Landon started saying but Shruti had already gotten up and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay. I Just want you two to talk. I'll be back for dessert...hopefully", she said and scooped some rice and curry in her plate before walking towards her temporary room.

Landon abandoned his fork on the plate, pasta along with that, and sat back folding his hands in front of him.

"Manny, you wanted to explain?", Landon asked staring at him gravely.

"Olivia and I first met at our freshmen party. You remember when you took Brandon to the nurse?", Landon thought about it for a moment, then nodded when Armaan reminded him of the reason for it, "-so, when you two disappeared after introducing us, Olivia and I talked a bit. Then she left next day, we never even texted each other, talking was far from it. Then remember we went to Joel's house for our vacation? We met there again and...something was wrong with her that day-"

"Excuse me, you cannot blame this on my sister...at least not without explaining."

"-no, no, I am not blaming her, I am not saying she was at fault, I can't remember exactly – oh yes, wait I remember, she was upset over her break up. She didn't know Tristan or Joel then so she stuck with me whole time. I don't...I don't remember exactly how we ended up in her room, when we woke up in the morning, we decided to not say anything to anyone, it would be gone and forgotten. I couldn't tell you at that time, we all were not even six months into our friendship. You would have been angry with me and maybe broken our friendship then..."

"Does Olivia know that you hadn't told anyone?", Landon asked monotonously.

"No. She thought that I had told Brandon-"

"She thought? What does that mean?"

"Olivia told me, when she and Brandon had just started dating, that she wanted to tell Brandon about our... rendezvous. I got scared that it would ruin everyone's relationship, mine with yours and Brandon's, Olivia's with her boyfriend...So", Armaan swallowed the guilt long enough to speak, "So, I told her that I would take care of everything and ... she believed me."

"So, when she brought up that yesterday, she thought everyone knew?"

"Apparently yes."

Landon didn't reply for some time. It didn't help Armaan's wildly beating heart. Landon's stare at him was worse than Shruti's ignorance at him. It was as if Landon could penetrate right through Armaan's soul and catch his deepest secret. And when Landon spoke, it really did put a dent in Armaan's guilty conscience.

"Do you know what you have done Manny? Don't you know how much Brandon hates people when they lie. You are one of his best friends, you think he is going to take this lightly? And what about Olivia? Do you even know how much they both were trying to work their relationship after you left last year? Can you imagine how much they are going to suffer this time to make it all normal between them? Do you really think an explanation is going to make it all right? Because you tried with me, I don't think it's working!", Landon scoffed shaking his head with disappointment.

Oh, didn't he know that, "I know Landon...that's the exact reasons I never told anyone. At all. I knew that it would create a rift between all of us. It doesn't even matter now, I know I have ruined something between us, you, me, Brandon....even Tristan and Joel must be disappointed with me, but...but this was all over half a decade ago, and now, I don't think Brandon can hold a thing from past much longer with him. I will talk to him eventually, I know he needs space. I just want to come clean to you", Armaan blinked the moisture away desperately, trying to exhale his tension out, "You are my friend Landon, no less than any other of our friends. I consider all of you as my family. I know I did wrong by hiding it from you considering it was your sister in the middle of it, but I want you to know that ... I am sorry, for building our friendship on a buried secret. I hope you understand."

Landon stared at his friend with eyes full of emotions. How could he actually stay mad at him for not telling him about his sex life? He had never interfered with his sister's choices. How could he interfere with his friend's? And they weren't even that close to each other eight years ago, it obviously takes time for any relationship to grow.

"Nothing happened between you two when Brandon and her were together?", Landon asked as his resolve melted visibly.

"No, no, I swear, nothing happened after that. We always made it clear to each other that we are friends, nothing more", Armaan replied.

Landon nodded, then leaned forward and resumed eating his pasta. It did nothing to solve Armaan's dilemma so he asked, "So...am I forgiven?"

Landon looked at him with furrowed eyebrows and said, "I didn't know you were asking for my forgiveness, I thought you just wanted to explain."

"Of course I am asking for your forgiveness, you idiot. Do I spell it out for you?", Armaan said making Landon smirk lightly as he nodded.

"I, Landon Stanford, the co-owner of Pearl&Amber company, the absolutely handsome single gay, forgive you Armaan O'Verma."

Armaan made a face at his non-attractive acting but let himself relax now that a part of his apologies was done. Or maybe he still wasn't forgiven. Armaan wasn't sure, but he couldn't ask anymore at the moment.

"Are you serious Lan? You-You forgive me? Or was the mocking you were doing?", he asked hesitantly, half joking yet half hopefully.

Landon's smirk faded into a gentle upturn, diverting his eyes he said, "Manny, I am grateful that you bothered to clarify the matter with me. But that was it. You don't even have to ask for my forgiveness. It is Brandon and Olivia that you need to apologize to. And I am not going to help you even a bit in that."

Armaan nodded at him, felt as if one of the locks on his chest had opened up. Landon was right. He only needed to explain to him and that was it. he had to apologize to the close friends that he had disappointed. Armaan smiled at him and nodded, "Thank you, sister, I hope my other sisters would be as generous as you too", Armaan told him and remembered that Shruti had went into their room with her food.

"I don't think Brandon is going to go easy on you. But you are free to try, it would be entertaining to watch him grill you", Landon said and scooped some more food into his plate the same time Armaan stood up, "where are you going?"

"To bring desert and my wife out", he said and walked away.