Can you guess the wordplay in the chapter name? ;) I've split what I planned for this chapter into two updates because it's nearly 5000 words long and I'm not even finished with the last scene for the sequence (I guess that just means more MaNan and nobody's complaining hai na?) :D

Don't forget to sprinkle in your thoughts! Love you my readers! <3

Word count: 3342 (without author notes :P)

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Nandini

Rishabh had made two friends after the orientation programme, Yuvan and Latika, who lived in the hostel and invited him to join them for the afterparty within the college. It was my first glimpse into watching him start a new chapter in his life, his first steps into independence. When he looked at us eagerly, unsure whether or not to accept the offer, an invitation was extended to Mukti, Abhi, and me, which we politely declined.

It was Rishabh's day, his chance to embrace everything college life had to offer, the opportunity to experience a life TV shows and movies showed us to be the best phase of life.

A life I struggled to welcome with open arms because I was numb, completely and utterly worthless in my feelings for a boy from my past.

The car ride back was agonising. We all squeezed into our neighbor's car, which Abhi had borrowed for the night. With each passing kilometre, I found myself irrationally tearing up, overwhelmed by the ache of missing my baby brother. But it wasn't just that.

Realising Rishu was growing up and moving on was one thing, but being blatantly accused by the man I loved and the pain of admitting he had so easily moved on, while accusing me of being the sole cause of our problems was soul-crushing.As we passed a flyover, I couldn't help but replay his claims.

How was I the one to blame for everything that went wrong?

Manik had insinuated that I had betrayed his trust. His words stung, but perhaps I had exposed parts of him he wanted to keep hidden, and maybe he did feel let down by me for that. But wasn't that all after we broke up? What about the things he did to me while we were together? The countless times he abandoned me when things got complicated, or clung desperately when I was finally ready to walk away?

Today was a prime example of the power imbalance between us. Manik had blamed everything from our past on me, taking no responsibility as if I was the only one in the relationship. When I stood up for myself, explaining that I had 'broken' his trust only after he had shattered me, he had cornered me and touched me.

How could he touch me like that, like I meant something to him? And I had let him. I shivered, sick to the stomach at the thought. As far as I knew, his social media profiles were linked to another woman—the one he had moved on with. She was everything I was not: tall, determined, headstrong, and practically a successful supermodel.

The places his hands had touched seemed to burn, and fresh tears streamed down my face, at my inability to hold back and resist him despite knowing better.

Clearly, I gave him room to take control over me once again. It was me – my disgusting, pathetic self – that encouraged him to handle me as he pleased. Because I was too weak to stop it. No, even those words seemed inadequate to describe my revulsion towards myself for longing for his warmth all these years.

No wonder he never chose me; why would he pick a coward who couldn't even stand up for herself?

Mukti noticed me wiping my cheeks repeatedly while staring out of the windshield from the middle seat, but she didn't question it, seeing the same flickers of dullness on Abhimanyu's face.

For her. I was enduring all of this for her.

Once we reached the Murthy villa, antsy and eager to change into a comfortable night suit – or rather, tear up and hide away my pains in solitude – I scrambled upstairs and dashed to the cupboard in my childhood bedroom. I crouched near the bottom cabinet, almost out of habit. There, amidst the untouched clothes that had lingered over the years, were the night suits I had long outgrown.

Amma had not given them away. Perhaps because they were mine, or because she too could not come to terms with me growing up – just the way I couldn't with Rishu.

As I rifled through the neatly folded sets, noticing that they were in the same sets I usually paired them in – because mixing and matching them was like a crime! – a wave of nostalgia hit me. Merely chuckling at the bittersweet memory, I was inclined to walk in the shoes of a fourteen year old version of myself.

I unfolded one of the sets, when a bundle of Post-it notes, secured by a binder clip, fell from the creases and toppled to the floor, snapping me out of my reverie.

Sorry :(

He had written that note for me when he replaced my Cell Theory assignment after ruining it in a fit of rage on seeing Aryamann in my room.

I intricately traced those letterings as a fresh tear drop embedded the note, darkening and weakening it. Mindlessly, I flicked to the next note.

Bother me any time, any day. *kiss*

I tightly shut my eyes, wanting to recollect the incident when four folded maps were slipped under this bedroom door around ten in the night. He had gone out and got them for me so I could take them in for Social Studies class the next day.

Flipping over to the next, I froze at the note that had two push-pin sized holes on them, where a pair of earrings once sat.

Einstein once said stars disappear in sunlight. I'm sure these won't. I hope you won't return them like you returned my cufflinks :/ P.T.O

I turned it over.

Happy one month, Einstein! Muah muah muah!

It was as if I was transported down the stairs to the main door of my house, as the distant ring of the doorbell echoed in some fragment of my brain, pulling me back to a cherished moment from the past.

"Navya, thank God you're here!" I exclaimed, pulling her into a hug, oblivious to the sly smirk on her face. "Abhi for some reason asked me to bring you to the ground."

"Bring me? That's strange, because..." She peeked into the house to scan my Chikkamma, who was in the kitchen making tea and gleefully greeted her, "Hi Aunty."

"Navya beta, aao aao. Chai piyogi?" Navya cheerfully accepted the offer as she took a seat.

Affirming that Chikkamma was busy, she leaned in towards me and whispered, "Manik asked me to ditch all our homework and bring you to badminton." My heart skipped a beat, and I sat up straight, panic rising within. Navya's eyebrows playfully wiggled as she let my reactions answer her unspoken questions.

My cheeks reddened, and I shot a nervous glance at Chikkamma and my amused friend, searching for an escape. "You – you wanted those Chemistry notes na, come with me, I'll give them." I dragged her into my room.

As Navya followed, she teased, "Chemistry notes, huh?" Seating herself on the bed, she howled, "Haaye, you're turning red?! Does that mean something beautiful is happening behind my back?"

I palmed my face, struggling to find a way to explain myself. The safest, most non-confrontational way was to show it to her, so I passed the note he sent for me through a peon, that had two studs in them. Navya eagerly scrutinised the note.

Utterly guilty at hiding such an important matter from my best friend, I sat beside her on the bed and held a palm. "Navya, I am really sorry. Look, I didn't fully understand it myself before, and by the time I did, it felt too late to tell you."

Expecting her to be angry or irritated, I had come out with a full-blown apology but the girl had... lit up at the news? "Don't worry about it, I mean... I did kind of already know. As in, I got it out of Manik a long time back, and you could say I somewhat played a hand in all of this, but chuck all that..."

"What – what do you mean by that?"

She twitched her lips. "So it's been one month today since you two...? Matlab you got together on the fourth of October? Arrey, happy first monthiversary Nandu!" I was swaddled into a hug, which rocked me gently. As she pulled back, she looked at the note again. "This is so cute, haaye Matarani! Kisi ki nazar na lage..." She warded the evil eye with the back of her palm and cracked those knuckles on her temple dramatically, as I shyly giggled.

"Are these made of diamonds? I have a feeling yes, but why aren't you wearing them?"

"If I remove my gold studs and wear these, Chikkamma will ask questions," I explained, sulking.

"Arrey, then make up some excuse na?! You can't not wear a gift your boyfriend gives you! Go, wear it and come!" She insisted, guiding me toward the bathroom mirror. I began unscrewing my studs. "Waise, your brother doesn't know na?"

My heart nearly stopped at the mention of my brother.

"I haven't told anyone else, Navya but you're right, he'll also be there at the ground."

"You don't worry, Navya Naveli won't leave your side." she assured, a teasing glint in her eye. Relieved at the news, I deeply sighed. "Unless your boyfriend demands me to." She smirked, and I playfully swat her, shaking my head.

That evening, we enjoyed Chikkamma's tea before heading to the community ground. As we arrived, Manik and Abhimanyu were engaged in an intense game of badminton on one court, while the other, approximately two hundred metres further, remained empty.

Manik, in his red Ferrari cap, sweat-soaked orange-and-white gradient tank top and athletic shorts, exuded carefree confidence. Unable to contain my smile at my admiration for him, I was warned by a feminine palm that clutched mine.

"You're making it very obvious, Nandu."

"Right. Straight face. Straight face," I reminded myself.

In the approximately two minutes it took us to reach the perimeter of the court, the shuttlecock remained suspended in the air, smashed and smacked by the opponents who were equally stubborn and competitive in their spirits to not take a loss. It reminded me of the conversation Manik and I had about perseverance and dedication that can be well-exhibited through a sport.

Mukti and Alia, who were bored out of their senses on the sidelines, glanced at us on hearing our footsteps. Dhruv was the first to greet me, "Hey Nandini," startling Mukti. Was he the same boy who barely spoke even when absolutely necessary?

With a firm flick, Manik's head turned at the mention of my name and the shot that flew towards him bounced on the painted court, falling flat. Our eyes met and he stared me down with frightening intensity.

Abhi chuckled dismissively, approaching the net and wiping his face with a face towel tucked on his side. "Thirty-one shots, and you lost that streak for her..." He gestured towards us – or rather my two-braided friend – and I instinctively looked away, responding to Dhruv. He however caught onto Navya's enthusiastic clapping.

"Dekh raha hai bhai, kitni khush hai tumhe dekhkar?!" My brother smirked.

Manik, gripping his racket tightly, strode toward us, screaming back, "Water break." Worried about creating a scene in front of my brother, I took two reflexive steps back from Dhruv as Manik approached us. The act seemed to slow his strides, conscious of an audience surrounding us. Mukti watched the implicit exchange with a subtle smile.

Cabir dusted his palms and stood up from the steps, deciding it was enough texting on his phone for the evening. "Alright, now that we have eight people, let's split into two courts. Who's up for a game?"

Mukti snorted, "Definitely not putting Manik and Abhi on the same court. They won't let anyone else have a chance," although the undercurrent of her suggestion seemed to have a different reason backing it.

Cabir rubbed his hands together, "Let's do... Dhruv, Nandini and..." Manik's gaze fearlessly hardened while Abhi casually crossed his arms. "Abhi, and this Madhubala on one court, and..."

"No, I want to be on Nandini's court," Mukti whined, moving closer to me as her eyes were on her brother.

Navya linked arms with me. "I also want to be on Nandini's court."

Abhi sighed, "Let's make it simple. Manik, you're with them on that end of the court. The rest of us will play here. We can swap teams later."

"Cool," we all agreed, while Alia and Dhruv seemed disappointed.

As we walked to the other court, Navya said, "You all play often. Nandini and I have lost touch, so we need to make the teams fair na?"

Mukti nodded. "You're right. I'll be with Na –"

Manik cut her off, holding her hand firmly, "Navya... hai na? Yeahhhhh, Navya reeeeeeeally wanted to get to know you better, see now is the perfect chance Navya!" He enunciated dramatically, signalling her something with his gaze. Confused by the interaction, I passed looks to all three of them. Navya shot him an incredulous look.

Mukti, amused by the new information, delightedly said to Navya, "Oh is that so?" Navya was giving my boyfriend a 'I won't forget this' look and put up an awkward constipated smile for his sister. Mukti's smile widened, and she shrugged. "Okay then, in that case we'll be a team, I hope that is alright with you, Manik... I mean we didn't get to check with you," she sang, supposedly asking for his permission.

Was she teasing him?

"That's not a problem, hai na Navya?" He smirked. I bit my lip, slowly gauging what was going on. My best friend murmured something beneath her breath as she handed a racket to me. On the other side of her, Manik mouthed a "Thank you," and headed towards one end of the court, taking slower more conscious steps because I was following him to our side.

Did Mukti know something?

He turned to his shoulder as he continued pacing, suspecting a conversation to spark up anytime soon.

"You played really well earlier," I gushed, careful not to slip or trip on any rocks in the grass and make a fool of myself.

I heard him snicker as he turned to face me, and continued walking backwards in a practiced fashion, "I toh would have broken a record if you hadn't shown up, but I'm glad to know I impressed you."

"I... I didn't say that." I mumbled, tucking my hair behind my ear at which point he had stopped moving.

"I always thought stars were beautiful, but for the first time, I'm seeing that stars are enhancing someone else's beauty." He uttered tenderly, in a tone that sounded rather intense but when I stopped palpitating and finally sought his gaze, he was meekly smiling – all the seriousness gone from his face. "See, we're even now."

Navya whistled from her end of the court, while Mukti interrupted with, "Ahem... are you done planning your... 'team strategy' yet?" Her air-quotes were met with a 'are-you-serious' look from Manik.

"You ready?" He asked me gently, and touched by the unexpected question, I nodded while moving to the front of my quadrant. As if understanding me without requiring any clarification, he naturally shifted to the back of his.

Navya served the shuttlecock that soared in the air, diagonally reaching Manik at the back, who rejuvenated its flight. As it approached their side, Mukti and Navya bumped into one other, missing the shot.

"Sorry," they said in unison. Navya insisted they bump heads again so they don't sprout horns on them. Finding the superstition hilarious, Mukti and Navya spilled with laughter. Quite honestly, it made me automatically smile too.

Manik softly gazed at his sister who was chortling while clutching her belly. "You know, it's so wonderful to hear her laugh. She doesn't do that very often." Almost hurt by the information, that the boy she loved did not make her her happiest, I was about to retort something along the lines of 'she should leave Harshad' when their team declared the point to us and I was initiated to serve.

Some shots later, when a hit returned, I impulsively moved back following the shuttlecock while Manik had pranced forward. He yelled 'mine' as he struck the yellow birdie, and a second later we bumped into each other, resulting in an immersive eye-lock.

"Haan hum samajh gaye, Manik," The opposite team said and burst into chuckles, high-fiving each other. Even though I shifted away as soon as I realised what had happened, Navya's and Mukti's giggles did not go unheard. I wanted to understand what they were saying but was under the impression that it was a teasing remark, and by the way Manik was glaring at them, the thought had been somewhat confirmed.

My cheeks turned into tomatoes.

Upon hearing footsteps, I resurfaced to the present and tossed the stacked bundle of notes in my hand underneath a pajama set. Mukti's curious tone cut through the heavy silence inside my bedroom, "You said you wanted to speak to me?"

⭒⭒⭒

Cabir

It had been over an hour since I had sent Alia and Dhruv a message:

*SOS, Manik's missing. Meet me at the hotel now.*

The hotel lobby's calm, modern decor witnessed the anxieties of three young adults as we haphazardly searched the premises to no avail. Alia's eyes were scrunched up with worry, while Dhruv's subdued composure was cast with a deep frown.

"He's not at the pool either." Alia said almost to herself as she shook her head, losing hope. "Okay Cabir, run us through what happened one more time."

"We had our performance today at 6:30PM. Our final rehearsal was at 4:45, until which he was upbeat and alright, seemingly okay... you know how he is right?" Both Alia and Dhruv nodded, their expressions reflecting the familiar image of Manik they knew well: broody, cold, cynical, nothing unusual for Manik Malhotra. "5PM comes along, each of us are getting fitted with microphones and testing our equipment with the speaker sets, that was the last I saw of him until five minutes before the performance. He seemed distressed, as if preoccupied."

Dhruv seemed deeply contemplative. "Could it be... because it's his... first real performance without... us, like Fab 5?"

"Maybe." I shrugged.

Alia brimmed with tears as a flash of thoughts crossed her mind. "He – he probably felt utterly alone."

"But he wasn't, we were all there around him."

"It's not the same though. He doesn't have history with anyone else in the band but you." As if realising something, her gaze shifted to me and she added, her voice coated with sympathy, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, I guess. I know I didn't give my 100% tonight, but not having my friends around doesn't really affect me..."

She nodded, somewhat following. "That's fair. You have other bigger problems to worry about." Oh yes, my laundry list of problems included but were not limited to my sexuality, my parched love life, a lack of fulfilling friendships, a flakey career, limited cash reserves, issues with abandonment, feeling unwanted...

Disregarding the triggers which often had me reconsidering life and its ugly turns, I cleared my throat."Back to Manik, I mean... we know he usually doesn't slip with music or let anything come in the way of it, but today, he seemed to be in a lot of pain. Now he's nowhere to be found, his line is unreachable... I'm actually quite worried about him."

"What if he did something stupid?" Alia gasped in shock.

Dhruv sternly said, "No... he is self destructive, yes... but he's not like Mukti,"

That was true.

Feeling hopeful, Alia added, "Besides, this is Mumbai, we know this place like the back of our hand. We can definitely find him."

"Yeah, let's split up," I said.

Dhruv stopped us in our tracks after a moment's thought, with deliberate enunciation as he gulped. "Do you think he... maybe went home?"

"To the Malhotra Mansion?"

Alia's scoff overlapped mine, "No way, why would he?"

"He isolates into darkness... whenever he's hurt."

Both Alia and I exchanged looks of skepticism. The idea of him stepping foot inside the Malhotra house seemed far-fetched, yet there was conviction in Dhruv's voice that made us pause.

"And if what Cabir's saying is true, that he's in pain, his house is the place he's most likely to be."

Alia and Dhruv turned to each other and nodded, almost certain that was where he was.

It was two of them against one of me. "If we're going there, we're sticking together. Deal?"

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A very long HAPPY MaNan scene for you guys finally! :")

Did you guys also celebrate monthiversaries in your past/current relationships, or was it just me? :P

Chalo chalo, abhi jaldi se vote and comment karlo, itne mein I'll finish up and get you guys the next update :P <3