That Sunday morning, Samrat reluctantly visits Tanvi's place with the other mutuals tagged along. It's all a part of the little meetings the gang has sometimes before going out together. Tanvi is currently busy talking to Sameera and Isha. Honestly, these days, Tanvi is too good at pretending he doesn't exist. How does she do it? Maybe her feelings changed? That's a stupid thought he has.

It is nipped the moment he grabs her sketchbook on an impulse, the one she didn't let him touch, and flips through it. She hid this sketchbook from him that day while he surprised her with the limited merchandise of her choice. The portraits in there are now for his eyes to see. She doesn't even notice he's looking at them.

On the crisp white cold-pressed papers, there are portraits of the two of them together. A few more of them with other Hawks members, some separate portraits done in watercolour, some portraits of her brother and Shamsher.

Looking at the way she painted him, Samrat can feel the deep affection she has for him. Truly, all the girls in and around the airbase that liked him before, liked him for his looks or God knows what. Their feelings weren't as deep as Tanvi's. Fortunately, he never returned their affections in any manner; hasn't gone beyond dancing or flirting. (Those too were for business reasons, weren't they?)

And when he's shown this pure, genuine affection by this generous, soft-hearted girl, (there's affection even in Tanvi's anger, right?), he doesn't know how to handle it. All his life, he was unloved. Even his abbu loved him for selfish gains. Then there was this girl Shaheen in the mulk who claimed she loved him. His naïve heart almost warmed up to her. With a bit of platonic and mixed feelings, he imagined they could be more. As days passed, he only wanted one thing from her — to not die, to live for his sake. He hated to see everyone close to him dying. An exception in the mulk.

The day of her death, he pleaded with her like he had pleaded with abbajaan weeks ago, but she defied his wishes and went on a suicide bombing mission. Her heart and life were mulk's, not his. Then how could she claim she loved him? Abbujaan never loved him either; it was all for the cause. There was no love ever. No relation. And then suddenly this naive girl Tanvi loves him unconditionally! Not knowing the monstrosities he committed. She's so pure that just even the thought of attaining her love should curse him to an eternal afterlife in jahannum.

How could she love someone like me? What's there in me to love, anyway? I want her to move on, but don't know how to make her do it. If I can make her hate me, will it work? The thought strikes him, just as Tanvi whirls around in his direction. He puts the sketchbook down and distances himself from her desk before, in that split second, she can notice his actions.

Casually draping an arm around Farhan's, he joins others' conversation. Tanvi throws him a surreptitious glance but otherwise detects nothing is wrong. She opts to stay back and not go out with the gang, no surprise.

He steps out with the other gang — Farhan, Abhi, Sameera, Isha, conscious of the fact that though the whole time he was with Tanvi inside her quarters, they didn't even exchange a single word! They truly transitioned from dost to dushman.

***

That afternoon, the heat is blitzkrieg; the gang is sprawled out on the strip of grass next to the grounds, somehow enjoying the shade and warm breeze. Samrat is sitting with Farhan, sipping a sports drink, when suddenly Tanvi marches towards him. She doesn't greet the others though they notice her. Standing before him, she glares down at him.

"Samrat! This morning you peeked into my sketchbook, nahi!? How could you!"

Samrat is baffled by the accusation. Masking his surprise, he finishes his drink and flings the crushed can into a nearby bin in a precise throw. Then he looks at Tanvi with slightly narrowed eyes.

No one has ever found out his deeds when he went undercover, so how did she find out? Okay, that's one reason to be agitated with him. These days she has too many, though she's in love with him, per se.

"Tanvi maine... woh..."

He can't lie to her face. She taps her foot in agitation.

"Aur yeh main kya sun rahi hoon, Sam! Tumne kya kiya Saumit ke sath?"

Other ex-Hawks members have their jaws dropped by now. Samrat cooly regards Tanvi.

"Kya kiya?"

"I heard from Saumit!" Tanvi's frown deepens as she shudders.

"Tumne uski — You broke his wrist? The doctors were saying it will take months for his fracture to heal! Tumne ek officer par haath uthaya! Tumhe pata hai, iski kya saza ho sakti hai? Agar usne complaint raise kar di toh? Tumhari naukri chali jayegi! You are so reckless, Sam! Why are you like this?"

"Oh, come on, really! That blabbermouth Saumit..." Samrat stands and glares at Tanvi. It might be the week's agitation, the general stress of their fallout and duties. He can't help but lash out at her. "Really, Tanvi! Yeh sari baten tum mujhse kyun keh rahi ho? Tumhe to mujhse baat hi nahi karni thi na?"

"Lekin ab karni hai, Sam!"

"Sab tumhari marzi hai?"

"Han! Kyunki hamesha tumhari marzi nahi chalegi, Samrat..."

"Uff. What a pain. Uss idiot Saumit ne tumhe sab bata diya even when I warned him to shut his mouth? Maybe I should have done something about his mouth too!"

"Huh? Gali de gunde ho tum, Sam? Mere poochne par Saumit ne mujhe sach bataya!"

"Wow... how wonderful. Tum usse mili kyu?"

"Meri marzi hai! Tumhe kyun bataun main, Sam?"

Samrat and Tanvi glare at each other more fiercely. Farhan intervenes, slipping between them—

"Arey, tum dono lad kyun rahe ho yaar?"

He's subjected to Samrat and Tanvi's twin glares and harsh words, "yeh humari aapsi mamla hai, Farhan!"

Farhan cringes and takes a step back. Isha steps into his defence.

"Samrat, Tanvi, seriously! Tum log bacchon ki tarah lad rahe ho, aur bechare Farhan par apna gussa utaar rahe ho?"

Farhan wraps an arm around Isha. "It's okay, Ishu. I understand... You also have to understand this. They both are going to so much..."

Isha calms down but still frowns at Farhan sympathetically. "I know! I mean, I fully don't know unka jhagda kya hai but I understand... Woh mere bhi dost hai, Farhan. Lekin, that's no reason to..."

She trails off, not knowing what to say. Samrat and Tanvi, who are already regretting snapping at Farhan, apologise. Farhan brushes off their apologies. That's the cue. They resume their glaring match, facing each other, ignoring the others.

Sameera remains frozen, wondering what's going on. A completely confused Abhimanyu blurts out the same words as Farhan, albeit softly — "koi yeh toh batayega lad kyun rahe hain yeh donon?"

No one answers Abhimanyu's query. Tanvi clicks her tongue at Samrat.

"Seriously, Samrat! How could you do that? Kyu?"

"Kyunki woh meri dost ko pareshan kar raha hai! Toh main wahi karunga na, jo mujhe karna chahie!"

Samrat holds his ground and returns Tanvi's glare. Farhan is surprised to see his friend taking a firm stance. Usually Samrat is all soft on Tanvi, isn't he?

Tanvi huffs. "Lekin yeh karne ki kya jarurat thi! Main handle kar sakti thi usse! Or you think I am that incapable?"

Samrat shakes his head. "It's not about your capabilities. Mujhe jo karna tha maine kar diya."

Tanvi looks away in disappointment; her shoulders sag as her energy visibly drops. She has nothing to argue about. No words.

Samrat closes the distance between them. She's shorter than him by a foot and a few inches. He puts his hands on her shoulders, causing her to look up at him. His eyes take on a menacing look as he looks at her. She gasps in surprise.

"Hairan kyu ho rahi ho? Maine kaha tha na, Tanvi! Tum mujhe nahi janti! You don't know me at all... Sabse worst kism ka ladka hoon main... Jo tumhe aage pata chal hi jaayega."

Samrat's lips curl up into an impish smirk. Tanvi looks at him in disbelief for several seconds, then brushing his arms off her shoulders, she marches away, the way she came.

Samrat sighs, ignoring the stares of the others. His head is calm now and part of him regrets arguing with Tanvi, but a part of him wants her to know... the guy he is underneath. The worst guy who can't ever deserve her love.

***

✨🩵WC: 1410✨🩵

✨🩵TBC✨🩵

✨🩵🌈Up next: Tanvi visits Farhan after which SHE??? AND ALSO IT'S REALISATION TIME FOR SAMRAT! HE REALISES HE LOVES TANVI... HOW WHAT? OMG! 🥲💓💭

WILL HE STILL AIM TO BE THE WORST KISM KA LADKA???❤️‍🩹

💋📚✨💙STAY TUNED! YOU DON'T WANNA MISS THE SEQUENCES THAT ARE COMING. THEIR HAPPY ENDING. PYAR TAKRAR NOKJHOK!💔❤️‍🩹✨🩵

RuVineet thankyou for reading n loving me n my craxzyyy stories ✨🌈🤗 hope you like it further what's coming in this story ❤️😗

✨🌈 Everyone who read🩵Don't skip V & C! Ty for reading!✨🌈🩵