Neha was helping Sanam pick an outfit to wear for the engagement party. In a week, she was going to be married, and it was a thought Sanam was still trying to digest. This was all her doing, but as the time neared, she couldn't believe she was actually going to go through with this.

Neha probed for answers. "Come on, Sanam. I'm your best friend. You have to tell me! How are things with Arjun?"

"Fine. Blue or Black?" She asked, holding up two hangers with the dresses.

"Neither." She got up from the bed to approach her closet, "And seriously? Fine? That's all I get?"

"Yeah, it's not like we spend all this time together."

She turned around, after picking out a nude colored dress with its back and shoulders netted. "You sound bitter." She concluded, "Why do you sound bitter? Did you two have a fight?"

She laughed without humor, "He'd have to share things or say something for us to have a fight."

Her brows narrowed, showing confusing. "What are you talking about, Sanam? He's the biggest blabbermouth I know."

"To you, maybe. Not to me." She informed, sitting down on the bed and letting her put an outfit together.

"But that makes no sense. He likes you."

She rolled her eyes, "Or so everyone keeps saying."

Neha sighed and went to sit next to her. "Okay, how about you lose the sarcasm and talk to me? Maybe I can help."

She shrug her shoulders. "I don't even know where to start, Neha. He confuses me. He doesn't share anything personal with me. It's like I still only know who he is on the surface. I know his friend's name, but I have only met like two of them. And I know he has a lot more friends than that. I only know how he is in the context of his family. I don't know much about his past. He doesn't talk about the year he was away from home. You know me, I don't like things to be complicated. And he's just... ugh, I don't know!"

She gave up trying to explain, frustrated at not being able to put her feelings into words. Nevertheless, she seems to be on the same page.

"He's guarded about his past, Sanam. He doesn't talk about it easily. Just give him some time. In all honesty, I'm married to his brother, and I've known Arjun and his family for years now, and none of them would tell me at first. It must have been after about two years to my relationship with Rahul when Arjun finally trusted me enough to share. So you have to give it some time."

"I guess." She answered, half-heartedly. Though her advice did help. She remembered the time he had a nightmare. If it had anything to do with his past, it had to be big. People don't have lingering nightmares otherwise.

"Have you tried asking him?" She goes through the jewelry to see which one will match the dress.

"Not really. I saw this message the other day on his phone from this girl. It looked like they were going to meet for lunch. I'd asked him if he wanted to grab lunch today, you know, to see if he would tell me. He lied and said he already told Parth he'd have lunch with him. So what am I supposed to take from that?"

"Uh... Sanam." Neha tried to speak, but she was too into her rant to stop and listen to her.

"I mean, I don't mind that he has friends that are girls. We all have friends of the opposite gender, but he didn't have to lie about that."

"Sanam!"

"What did he think I was going to react as? What?!" She finally asked seeing Neha was getting all hyper.

"She's trying to say I'm right behind you."

Her eyes widened as soon as he heard his voice. Crap. Shoot me. Right now. Neha nodded when she looked at her for confirmation that her ears weren't just ringing. She shut her eyes, trying to contain her embarrassment. Then, she turned to look at Arjun with a guilty look on her face.

"Um, hi?"

He gave a faint smile, before his eyes adverted to Neha. "Can I talk to her alone?" Neha got up from the bed and giving her a sympathetic look, walked out of the room. Arjun walked back a little to close the door.

"I had a feeling something was bothering you." He spoke after clearing his throat. This all felt very awkward to him. She thought she wanted answers, but she was not good at confrontations. At all. "Why didn't you just ask?"

"Would you have honestly answered?" She asked back, crossing her arms across her chest.

"We'll never know now, would we?" His tone made her raise her brows at him. She felt that he was attacking her, when she believed it was his fault for lying. "I'm sorry." He apologized after letting out a deep breath to calm down. "You're right. I should have told you, but Leann is not my friend. Not really."

"Then?" She questioned, worried about his answer because he looked really uncomfortable right now.

"That's also another reason I came here... to talk to you. I think you need to know."

"Okay?" She uncrossed her arms from over her chest so to not stand in a defensive stance.

He looked her in the eyes, gauging for her reaction as he confessed, "Leann... she's my therapist."

"Therapist?" She question, even though she vaguely remembered he had told her he was seeing a counsellor. He had never told her what for.

"Yeah. Psychologist. Counsellor. Shrink. Whatever you want to call her. I've been seeing her for about two-three years now. And the message you saw yesterday, it was her telling me I should tell you why I go to counselling. No one but Parth knows I go, so it was hard for me to tell you. I ended up lying about it before I could have thought about it. I'm sorry... I know I shouldn't have done that."

Therapist was far from the last thing she had in her mind. He had her stunned.

He points out, "You don't have anything to say? You were pretty pissed off a few minutes ago."

She blinked, "Hmm? Sorry, trying to wrap my head around it. I mean, I know you told me you went... but I figured others knew. Um... what do you see her for?"

"I... um..." He started fumbling and shifting his balance from one foot to another, his hand rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"That's okay. You don't have to tell me." She understood it must be hard for him to share – especially since he just said no one knows about it. "No one knows?" She confirmed, to see if his family knew.

He shook his head, "No one. It would break my parents' heart if they found out it was so bad that I had to opt for counselling. I told Parth because he covers for me whenever I have a session."

She nodded, remaining silent. Least it tells her is that the reason for not telling his family wasn't that he was afraid to show his vulnerability. It was because he didn't want to worry his family.

"Are we okay?" He asked, as if he is worried she was still mad at him.

She smiled at him to assure him. She couldn't stay mad at him for something as such. "As long as you don't lie to me again. If you aren't ready to share, it's fine. Just say that and I'll back off from asking you questions. But I can't trust you if you lie to me, and I don't want to be that person who is always paranoid."

His eyes soften, worry leaving. Even his shoulders visibly relax. "You got it." He promised without literally saying the words, but it was good enough for her. She couldn't always have her mind wondering whether or not whatever he tells her is a lie. She couldn't turn into her parents.

She nodded, "Then yes, we're okay." She had to look away from him, for the sake of her heart. She figured they would go out in the living room but his words stopped her.

"Lovely picture."

She turned to face him. He was staring at a picture on her desk and that's when she realized he had never been in her room. He had come here one morning before that Spring break, but he had only been by the entryway. The other day over that dinner interrogation, he had only been outside in the living area and dining table.

It was a picture of Sanam and Esha that had been taken on Sanam's 18th birthday. He added, "Esha looks so different here."

She was just 12 years old. She looked cute then. Now? Cute would definitely not be the first word on the list to describe her. Puberty had turned her into more of a beautiful and hot person than cute. Still, that's not the first thing that Sanam would notice about her. She was her sister, the only person who really knew her heart. She knew there was so much to Esha than looks.

Sanam offered the information, "Yeah that was taken on my 18th birthday. Just a month before I left for college. I didn't want to leave her alone at home..." She smiled sadly at the bracelet she was wearing in the picture, "See that bracelet? She gifted it to me. But... and don't tell her this, she'd be very sad. Remember I told you I went to that party in freshman year?" At his nod, she continued, "I think I lost it there. I'd always wear the bracelet but as soon as I got back to my dorm room, I realized it was missing. It was the first gift she ever bought for me with her own saved up money."

Blinking her regret away on losing one of her most prized possessions, she looked up at him. "Arjun?" She called him noticing him to be lost in memories. She joked, "You look sadder than I did when I realized it was lost and I'd never find it again."

"Just... I didn't realize this bracelet meant so much to you." He said with a haunted expression. That bracelet. The second his eyes had fell on that picture, that bracelet, it clicked for him.

She hadn't lost it. He was the one who had stolen it.

Spring break when she had told him about that party, he had realized how similar her story was with his. The first time he had heard her voice at his brothers' wedding, even then he had gotten the feeling that her voice was familiar. It's what had pushed him to agree to her crazy request of marrying her just for the sake of getting her parents off her back. But this? This confirmed all his doubts.

Clueless, she nudged his shoulder to get him out of his thoughts. "Did you hear me?"

"What?" He asked after blinking and turning his face sideways. "I'm sorry."

She chuckled at his absent-mindedness. "I just said its fine. I don't need the bracelet to remember those memories. Anyway, let's go out before Neha starts getting any ideas." She walked off towards the door and twisting the knob, pulled it open.

He followed behind, but now he had a dilemma of his own. He had decided he wouldn't be telling her of his growing feelings for her since Spring Break because he knew that wasn't a priority of her. He had been hoping whatever he felt would just fade away when they didn't spend much time together. Since the last week, he knew it'd be harder when her father had suggested they get engaged if they were going to get married, but he had figured that would be his problem. He wouldn't let her get any wind of his feelings. But with this... he didn't know if he should tell her what he'd just learned about them.

He still had her bracelet in the side drawer next to his bed.

He had safeguarded it all these years, never knowing he'd one day meet her again in these circumstances.

~

The night of Anaya's birthday celebrations and their engagement party arrived. Arjun introduced Esha to his friends. "So that's Samar, Josh, Drake, and last but not the least, Parth. And guys, this is Esha. Sanam's little sister."

They all greeted her and with a smile, she waved back at them. Though, her gaze lingered on Parth. She just wanted to give him a piece of her mind for all the trouble he had given Sanam.

Mrs. Mehta called him from a distance, "Arjun, how can you be so rude and leave Sanam by herself? It's your engagement celebration too!"

Arjun looked at Esha but she beat him to a response, "It's fine, Jeeju. Go ahead. I'm sure I'll have a good time getting to know your friends."

Arjun passed them a look asking them to look over her and he left towards his mother. She pulled his ear and dragged him to where Sanam was with Neha and Rahul. Esha looked away from them and turned to face his friends. One in particular. With a piercing glare, she spoke. "So, you're Parth."

"If I am?" He challenged her, glaring right back.

Her gaze softened under a pretense and she smiled at the rest of the group. "Sorry guys, but excuse us for a sec. I'm trying to plan a surprise for di and jeeju and I think Parth can help me out." Parth's forehead crinkled in confusion but she straight away hooked her arm with his and pulled him away. When they were in a secluded portion, she left him and came to stand in front of him.

"Who do you think...?"

Esha interrupted his snap by stomping on his foot, causing him to wince and hop about like a fish out of water. If she hadn't been mad, she would have laughed. "No, who do you think you are to judge my sister?" She threw the question back at him while crossing her arms over her chest defensively. "You think only your best friend has been hurt and needs protection and my sister is some selfish bitch who doesn't see anything past herself? I do like Arjun Jeeju even though I know this isn't a real thing, but you don't know the first thing about her to be giving her a hard time!"

Parth gritted straight back, "So you can be protective about your sister but I can't do the same for him? But anyway, Sanam and I did reach to an agreement. As long as she keeps it clear to Arjun that this is just a mutual agreement for a year or two, I'm going to let it be."

"You know, from what I hear, if it weren't for my sister, Arjun would've went back to India. Instead of disliking my sister, you should be glad that he stayed and you all get to see him."

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, right. If you knew why he had left for India in the first place when he had never been there in his whole life here, then you wouldn't be saying that."

"Fine." She calmed down and asked with confidence. "Then explain it to me."

He scoffed, "Why would I do that?"

She answered with a smile, "Because no one knows Sanam better than I do. If after listening to you, I think for the slightest second that anything my sister might do will hurt him in the long run, I will tell her to call this off. As much as it would ruin her life, she'll listen. Despite what you may believe, she's not the kind of person to get her dreams by trampling over someone else's life."

He considered it for a second before nodding her to leave the house and step outside. She gladly followed him for his explanation. Taking a seat in the back porch after closing the door to ensure they wouldn't be disturbed, he spoke. "From what Arjun has told me, she is doing this because she wants a career and not to be tied down in a marriage. And Arjun... he has already been hurt by Jiyah. They met second year of college. Were together till the end of it but then just left him as if he were nothing, as if three years together meant nothing to her. In a heartbeat, she picked her new job over him. When Arjun lets someone in, he lets them in his life forever. He follows through with his relationships. Obviously, he was heartbroken and so much that he spent all of last year in India to get away from her memories here. Even today, I know he isn't over that. He won't say it, but I know it. He's..."

"You're wrong."

Parth turned around towards the door at the sudden voice of Arjun. "Arjun..." He said his name in wide eyed. He hadn't heard the door opening at all.

Arjun glanced from his best friend to Esha and stepped further in. "Parth, I am over her. I'm letting her go. I told you this couple days ago."

Parth refused to believe it. "I don't believe it. You still carry your picture with her in your wallet. You can't deny that. I saw it just yesterday."

Arjun exhaled and reached into his pockets. Retrieving his wallet, he flipped it open. Esha saw exactly what Parth had said. On top of the clear plastic where his drivers license was, there was a wallet size picture of Arjun and Jiyah, his arms wrapped around her laughing figure as hers lips were pressed to his cheek, right over his faint dimples.

Parth insisted, "See."

Arjun pulled the picture out, "Yeah, I do. But not because of the reason you think. I keep it there to remind myself not to fall for Sanam because unlike her, Sanam has been clear about what she's wanted since the first time I met her after Rahul's wedding. She's never lied to me about that, so no Parth... she's not like her." He let out a chuckle without humor, "Despite holding on to this, I still fell for Sanam. And this..." He trailed off for a second as he reached into his blazer pockets to pull out a piece of jewelry.

Esha inhaled sharply in confusion. "That's the bracelet I gifted Sanam on her 18th birthday. She'd lost it."

Arjun asked in surprise, "You knew?"

She nodded, "She never said it but I knew that had to be the only reason she stopped wearing it else since the day I got it for her, she never took it off. How do you have it?"

Parth didn't wait for his reply as he made a connection of his own, "That's the bracelet you held on to for the longest that first year in college, right? I hadn't seen it since you met Jiyah."

Arjun informed his best friend with his eyes on the bracelet recalling the moment he had slipped it off Sanam's wrist. "It's Sanam's. I just found out yesterday. I'm giving it back to her tonight. I'm going to tell her everything and then she can decide..."

Esha exclaimed at once and took the bracelet away. "No!"

"What?" Arjun asked.

Esha fisted the bracelet in her palm, "Arjun, I do respect you as a person but you can't tell her. You can't tell her you're that guy from college or that you've started to like her. She will run at the first mention of it and it won't end well."

"I don't understand."

Esha sighed, took his wrist and made him sit. "Okay, I wouldn't be telling you this because Sanam wouldn't like it but I think you need to know. She runs from feelings like it's nobody's business. She's done this since as long as I know. Whenever she starts getting the impression that some guy might like her, she cuts off all contact from them. Her whole life, all she has seen is her dream to be a doctor, be independent, and never depend on a guy for her happiness. If you tell her, she'll do the same thing she's always done."

Arjun announced in a dejected tone, "Then she'll do that."

Esha reprimanded, "No! Don't you see it? She'll do it even if she feels something back for you. Just... give her a chance to really know you, show her that despite all her fears of loving someone, her thoughts on relationships and everything, that you'll still be there, then she won't hurt you. I promise. But yeah, only do that if you really are falling for her like you say. Otherwise, fine. Go tell her everything."

Arjun was uncertain, "But what I'd be doing is lying to her."

Esha shook her head, "No, you'd be giving the both of you a chance you'd never get if you don't take this risk and show her its okay for her to take the same risk."

Parth interjected reminding the two he was a silent spectator of this conversation, "Why does she fear love or relationships?"

Esha contemplated an answer before putting it as simply as she could. "Because of our parents. I imagine all of you grew up in a loving family but we never had that. I don't remember a lot of their fighting because I was still a kid, but Sanam heard the worst of it almost daily. All that abuse... something just snapped and it just turned off her emotions. Better to not feel than be hurt by it every day."

Arjun finished understanding a lot of things about Sanam in a new light. "And so she pushed herself into a world filled with logic and reasoning. That way, she wouldn't be hurt again."

Esha confirmed in a bare whisper. "Something like that. Not ideal, but she did the best she could."

"But if I do this... when she does eventually find out, she'd feel hurt and betrayed."

Esha shook her head, "No, by then, she'd have really gotten to know you. My sister, Arjun... she's the most understanding person I know. It's like what Parth said about you. Once she'll let you in, she'll have let you in for good. Once she realizes the two of you have more than friendship, she will follow through on the two of you. No doubt she'll fight you at first but her ability to be forgiving is just as big as her ability to be stubborn headed."

Esha stood up, reached for his palm and placed the bracelet back in it. "It's your choice. All I know is that my sister has a chance of happiness with you if you'd give her that. If you want the same."

With her last piece having said everything she felt the need to, she left the two friends on the porch and went inside the house to find her sister. She'd never imagined she'd go behind Sanam's back to tell Arjun everything – no doubt in the most shortest version ever – but she convinced herself that she was doing this for Sanam and so she didn't hold any guilt or regret over it.

She had learnt whatever she needed to about Arjun from Parth to trust him with her sister else she never would've been as open to sharing about their family life that had affected both of them. She might not remember much of the fighting, but she did remember all the silence in the house all the time after Sanam had left for college and she had only been 12. She'd grown up surrounded by that silence and having lost the one person who used to make her life livelier: Sanam.

Arjun glanced at his friend for advice, "What do I do?"

Parth took a sit next to him where Esha had been previous sitting. With a sigh, he pointed out. "Bro, everything about Sanam just changed in a second. When you first told me about this girl with the bracelet back in freshman year, I saw how you changed yourself. You stopped having flings. You became serious. You tried to be a better person, and I always wished I could have thanked that person who made this happen in less than ten minutes. And now... if that girl is Sanam, then I think you need to go for it. Listen to Esha."

Arjun admitted with a heavy clenching around his heart, "She was the one who had returned my heart to me."

Parth informed while putting his arm around his shoulder and squeezing it, "And any girl who saved you from yourself without even realizing it... I don't believe she'd break your heart. I know you don't like to show your vulnerable side to people after what happened to you as a kid and even more so after Jiyah, but like they say. Nothing worth keeping comes without taking a risk or two."

~