Arjun stopped swaying at the unexpected question. Then he leaned back to look at her, "I..."

Momentarily, she looked away, suddenly feeling more conscious of the brief space between their faces. She didn't want proximity to be the reason she lost her confidence. He had definitely tried to kiss her - that much was factual for her. She needed to know if he actually would have.

He blinked a few times, needing to convince himself this wasn't a dream. She had actually asked that question and he needed to answer. He could have lied but did he really want to do that? His head returned to their previous position so he was talking in her ear, least he see the reaction on her face.

"Yes."

For the first few seconds, she couldn't react. She didn't know exactly how to react. She'd be lying if his honesty didn't scare her a little but she couldn't hold it against him either. He was being honest and she had to come to terms that he was starting to feel something for her.

She swallowed her nerves while releasing a breath she had been holding in.

He questioned worrying over her lack of reaction, "What? No other questions?"

"No." She whispered the answer. For now, a lot of things were clear to her, and she didn't know what to think of it, but she would need the time to figure it out... figure out just what she wanted.

She had thought with Arjun, it would be a safe space. She had already told him she didn't want any relationship in her life and her only goal was passing medical school and be a doctor. She had been clear to him. Yet, he was falling for her. Yet, even she couldn't ignore what was right in front of her, calling the depths of her soul to just give him a chance.

One or the other getting hurt was inevitable.

~

The night didn't seem to end without hiccups.

During dinner, there was small talk at first. Just as Sanam was slowly getting comfortable around these strangers, a question was asked directed at his father. "Ishaan, you got Arjun married in quite a rush. Any reason?"

Ishaan questioned in a light tone, "What do you mean, Ram?" If he had caught on to what his friend was insinuating, he was pretending not to.

Ram answered, "You mean what I mean, Mehta. Your boy hasn't had the most decent reputation with girls. We all know you've had issues raising him. You can't blame us for wondering if he got her pregnant."

Sanam interrupted refusing to sit back and let others talk about her as if she weren't sitting only two seats away, "Uncle, you call yourself dad's friend?" She was learning the hard way that in the rich crowd, hardly anyone was truly someone's friend. They all socialize with each other just to leech off of one another and stir trouble where there wasn't any.

Well, there was trouble in her paradise but not in the direction everyone was going at.

There was a gentle smile on Ishaan's face as he looked at Sanam, "It's alright, Sanam." He knew how to handle Ram but he still appreciated Sanam standing up for herself and the family. Mostly, he smiled because she called him dad and was started to behave a part of the family.

Arjun spoke up, "No dad, it's not okay. Just because he is your friend, he can't talk about Sanam like that." He directed the rest towards Ram, "And so what if I had a reputation? You very well know I left all that behind years ago. I get that I was with your niece but you need to face the fact that we're not together anymore. I'm with Sanam now and nothing I do in my personal life should matter to you anymore."

Having snapped that, he stood up after throwing the napkin beside his dish and left the table. Sanam grew concerned right away. She hadn't seen him ever getting mad. She did figure out this niece had to be none other than Jiyah. She looked around the table filled with silence. Preparing to stand up, she muttered, "Excuse me," and then followed behind to check up on him.

He had found a balcony connected to the party hall that was reserved for the celebrations. His back faced the door but as she stepped in, she noticed his hands gripping tightly on to the railing. She cleared her throat to announce her arrival carefully.

Taking small and silent steps towards him after he had acknowledged her presence but hadn't made an attempt to talk, she asked. "Are you okay?"

He exhaled before answering in a clipped tone, "No. That man had no right to..."

She interrupted wanting him to listen instead of letting anger get the best of him, "He didn't. It was rude but don't let it get to you." Sanam wasn't a stranger to the love and protectiveness he felt for his family. It was natural of him to get angry at what was being said about his father for not raising their kid right. "Nothing they say about your family is going to make you think any less of them, right?"

"It's not just what he said about Dad or me," Arjun argued turning slightly to look at her. She tucked her hair behind her ear since they were flailing about with the wind, waiting for him to continue. "It's about us too, Sanam." He explained his perspective looking out at the skyline, "Until now, I didn't pay attention to what others will think of our quick marriage. Just hearing it... I know how these people in my world can be but I don't know. I didn't like it. At all. They don't even know you and they're jumping to conclusions."

It was clear he was hurting himself over this when she believed he didn't need to. "Hey," she called out placing her hand on his shoulder to get him to look at her. "It doesn't matter to me what one person has to say about us. Look at it this way, there are ten times as many people in that room, family and friends, who care about us and know me. Let one person make whatever assumptions they want to about me. If they don't care enough to get to know me, I certainly am not going to waste my breath letting their thoughts bother me, and you shouldn't either."

He spoke in a strained voice, "It's not so easy, sweetheart. One can't just ignore such things about people they care about. Emotions can't be turned off so easily."

Arjun was right but having done so for years, it was different for Sanam. She spent so much time just focusing on her career and barely making friends that it was easy for her to gain the upper hand over her emotions. It was only recently that the involvement of Arjun, his family, and his friends in her life had started to make her realize what she had been missing out on by living a routine life void of genuine happiness and love.

With her hands on his shoulder, she turned him towards her. A step closer, she moved her hand up to his neck with her thumb on his cheek. Looking him in the eyes so he knew she meant every word, she confessed, "Listen to me, Arjun. Ever since we met at Neha's wedding, my life has kind of been amazing. It's not just routine anymore. I've experienced things I never thought I would... went to places I never would have thought of before. You make things lively for me, and I have loved every second of it even when it goes against everything I have believed in my whole life. And quite frankly, I hate negativity. So, I am not going to let you wallow over one man's idiotic thoughts and ruin our time together, do you get that? Or do I need to conti-"

He suddenly ordered, "Stop talking."

"What?" She questioned, creasing her brows together.

He lightly chuckled before speaking, "No one has quite given me a lecture I've actually come to enjoy instead of getting more irritated by it."

Sanam didn't mean for it to be a lecture. When she had started speaking, she had just wanted to let him know her life wasn't routine and he shouldn't sulk over the unwanted thoughts of a society. She just wanted to let him know how she felt. Unknowingly, it had turned into more. She smiled nonetheless for all that mattered was that he had listened and he seemed to be in a much better mood with that smile on his face. "My pleasure then."

He released an exhausted sigh and stepped towards her, closing the little distance between them. With his arms around her back, he pulled her to his chest. For Sanam, he was continually challenging her personal space but right about now, she was done getting tensed over it. Everything about today had been unexpected and yet, she liked his presence in her life. Like she said, he made things lively, and she welcomed the feeling with the increased beating in her chest every time she simply spotted him, even if it were from a distance.

He was turning her world into a havoc and yet she was welcoming the chaos. She had never quite loved chaos as much as she did now for even though it was chaotic, her heart was starting to be at peace. It was starting to feel as if it belonged somewhere, with someone.

Resting her chin on his shoulder, she hugged him back.

He whispered after pulling back in a few seconds. "Thank you. Not just for coming out here to check on me and for all that you said to me but also for defending my dad in there."

"He means something to me too, Arjun. You don't have to thank me for that." Sanam knew he would have done the same for her parents. It was a different matter that her parents still did not approve of him. "And why are you surprised I came to check on you?"

He leaned back on the railing as he answered, "Remember I once told you I like to be left alone with I get mad? I would have thought someone would have stopped you from coming."

She nodded her head recalling the night at his beach house when they had played twenty questions. Going to stand next to him and mimicking his posture, leaned back, "I guess you're going to have to change that habit then because I will never just let you be. I'll always come to check on you."

"Because we're married?"

"Yes." She answered without thinking. At his silence, she turned her head sideways. There was hurt on his face as he looked away. Bumping her shoulder to his arm, she continued, "But, that would never be the only reason. You're not just someone I asked to marry to get my parents off my back. You're..." She trailed off trying to find the right words but only ended up questioning herself. What exactly was he to her? His confession earlier on the dance floor rung in her ears.

"I'm...?" He questioned, urging her to finish her statement. When she remained silent, trying to find a way out of it, he flipped to stand right in front of her. Her back dug into the railing behind just as his hands rested on them at either side effectively caging her in between. With a heated stare into her eyes, he asked, "Sanam, please, be honest with me for a second. Who am I to you? Because I'm not so sure we're just friends helping each other out."

"Arjun, you're... you are my friend."

He closed his eyes with a sigh. That was the last thing he wanted to hear. He had built up hopes that in the past three weeks since their marriage, something might have changed between them. 

Reopening his eyes and gazing into hers, he challenged. "Is that why you were doing nothing earlier to stop me from kissing you?"

She opened her mouth for an instant retort but no voice escaped her throat. There wasn't any way she could justify just standing there when he had been that close to her. Still, she made another attempt. "You – uh – you surprised me. I just froze for a second okay?"

The more they delved into this conversation, the more he was feeling as if he had been slapped back to reality. It was harder than he had imagined to break down her walls she had kept around her heart for years. He closed his eyes, tilting his head away as he inhaled and exhaled. Then, his hands dropped to his sides and he stood up, inclining away. "We should go back in."

Sanam was thoroughly confused. He had admitted on the dance floor that he would have kissed her if they weren't interrupted back at the penthouse and right now he was trying to get something out of her.

As much as she hated confrontations and her heart was hammering, she lifted her hand at his turning back and grabbed his wrist to stop him. "What? No, wait. What... what have you been trying to get me to say?"

She had clearly told him too when they were playing cards the other night that she doesn't pick up on hints very well. People have to tell her things in clear terms. She didn't play these guessing games.

"Nothing, just forget it." He said tugging at his hand.

She balanced on her shaking knees and side stepped to block his path again. "No. Arjun, how about you be honest with me for a second? You lied to me about your nightmares. You..."

He interjected, "I never lied."

She rolled her eyes correcting her statement, "Fine, you didn't. You didn't tell me everything either. Then there's also the fact that people keep mentioning this Jiyah but other than her name, no one says anything. All I get are warnings from Parth and Neha that make no sense. Now, just what you said in there tells me you two were together?"

"Look, Sanam, this isn't the time or place to be talking about this, okay?" He cut her short before she could keep going on about Jiyah. "Let's just forget about this whole conversation taking place." Before giving her a chance to accept or decline, he walked around her and pulling the balcony door open, disappeared inside the hall.

Stumped, she stood out there feeling lost.

What just happened?

He tried to get her to admit something. She couldn't figure out what, and then when she tried to point out everything he kept being mysterious about. He'd just walked away. She couldn't help but feel irritated thinking that he couldn't ask her to be honest with him when he wasn't returning the favor.

~

Sanam walked inside to see Arjun walking in the opposite direction of the crowd, towards the exit. Parth quickly caught up to him, blocking his path. "Juno, please. Hold up. Listen to me. I did not invite her here, man! You have to believe that. Why would I do something like that?"

Sanam turned her head sideways when Neha placed a hand on her shoulder. Both she and Rahul were standing beside her, concern written all over their faces. "What's going on?" She couldn't hear Arjun and Parth's conversation but she could observe that Arjun was really mad about something while Parth was trying to get him to listen.

Rahul suggested, "I think you should go home with Arjun."

"Why?" Sanam needed a proper answer and eventually followed their gaze to a girl around their age, unfamiliar to her, but her eyes were glued on Arjun and Parth as well. "Is that...?"

Neha confirmed her trailing question, "Yeah."

Sanam gulped at the uncertainty of her feelings. She and Arjun just had an argument, their first, and mere seconds later, she was in front of them. Jiyah. The person around whom the mysteries related to Arjun were centered. No one ever clearly talked about her and now she was here. Blood pulsed all the way in her ear as she blinked her gaze away from Jiyah and towards Arjun.

The night had started off on a pleasing note and what had it ended with?

~

author note;

Uh-oh. Everything went downhill! Atleast Arjun was honest and probed for answers, though she wasn't ready to embrace them. So plus for him?  You may be irritated with Sanam for some time with her ability to resist but deal with her? She'll pull you to her side soon ;)

QOTD: What do you think Arjun will do next and how might be the aftereffect of Sanam knowing Jiyah is back? 

Vote, vote, and oh, vote. Throw in a comment too? They make my day! Next chapter most probably over the weekend!