Haaye, 39 votes for the previous update made my whole month basically, I was so nervous about it but I'm so happy it was received so well! <3 :") I will get to the comments as well, been meaning to spend some time replying acchese :") your support means so freaking muchhhh!

5800 words for this one team, I hope this makes up for the late update :P Keep in mind, Nandini's past is underlined content and Manik's narrative is normal text in his narrative.

Enjoy! (and please do spam! I love reading and responding to it!)

⭒

Manik

Climbing the ladder of metal stairs by one end of the pool, I clutched the earrings in my fist, feeling raw and tender with some uncertain emotions – ones I could not even put a finger on. I placed the studs on the bar table when I reached it, inching towards her diary once more.

In the guest bathroom downstairs, two flat thumbs swiped my cheeks, ensuring they were dry. Diwali was the festival of lights, a symbol of a new beginnings. Tears were no way to start it. 

Navya had caught me disappearing into the corridor some moments prior. Abandoning her food, she had followed me in. I told her everything, from the boggling differences in our financial statuses, to the brazen manner in which he had scolded me.

While she had a few contrasting thoughts to share, about Manik's wealth and the family he was born into having nothing to do with the kind of person he was from the inside, an enraged Navya had given me a thorough pep-talk about what happened by the poolside. There were other ways he could have kept our secret intact, solutions that did not involve charging at the girl he claimed to like. Her reassurance pacified my heavy heart.

She was such a wonderful friend.

The doorknob twitched and turned from the outside unexpectedly. Navya and I clung to each other in shock. "It's me, open up," came Manik's low voice. A complete 360 from the tone he used on me at the poolside. 

I eyed Navya so as to not unlock it. My reflection in the mirror was ghastly. Cheeks shiny and pale from crying, my nose and sclera a bright shade of red. She dismissed the suggestion saying no good could come from running away and hiding my pains.

She said it was essential to put the boy in his place, and that I had to take the chance; he could not keep treating me that way. 

When Navya popped her head from the gap of the ajar door, Manik's jaw fell as if he had prepared to say something and then scowling at the unwelcome visitor, he scanned my head somewhere further behind. Somewhat relieved by my presence, he callously ordered to the girl blocking his path, "Go from here, I need to speak to her."

"Speak to her, or scream at her?" Navya crossed her arms and frowned back at him.

Manik's features hardened as he stared at me. "You told her."

My gaze distractedly swept the floor at his accusation. "Yes, she's my best friend, of course she did." Navya did not even bother that he wasn't addressing her or talking to her. She played her part entirely in advocating for me. "And I'm not leaving anywhere."

"Out, now." He said firmly to my best friend, to no avail.

One sharp step had him towering her, while some inches away.

When Navya did not budge at all, no matter the threats or intimidating charges he took, his shoulders tensed as well. They were at a socially acceptable distance physically, but my blood was bothered by the sight of my boyfriend glowering at another girl – even if she was my best friend. Perhaps, some part of him did not feel comfortable getting any closer to her, not even to scare her.

Because I instinctively brought a hand to the air, halting midway at my own helplessness when he defeatedly met my eyes, "Nandini, please."

I cast a hand at Navya's shoulder. Navya hesitated, darting her eyes between Manik and I, contemplating whether to let us handle our relationship without her presence. She hoped that I would do as she suggested. With a reluctant nod, she moved sideways, causing Manik and I to come face to face with each other. Grabbing the belongings she had set on the sink, she passed one last worried glance over her shoulder before leaving us alone.

As the door closed behind Navya, Manik promptly slipped the lock and turned around.

"Look Nandini," Manik wavered without meeting my eye, his calm tone resonating from a zen-like state unfamiliar to me.  Undermining me like that, in front of his friends, made him feel like this? "I... I should not have yelled at you. In that spur of the moment, I just..."

"You don't care about how I feel," I blurted as my eyes stung from a sense of worthlessness, for not even being considered worthy of his respect. His head flicked up, freezing. "Just because you want to keep us a secret, you thought 'let me shout at her so they won't suspect anything', right? Because it's Nandini... end of the day, she will always understand, always forgive, always come around." I hiccuped.

Manik tightly closed a fist at his side, taking one step foward. "This is Navya talking, isn't it?"

Conversations of that sort were breeding ground for others to infiltrate and antagonise our relationship.

My silence added fuel to the fire. "God, can girls ever keep anything to yourselves... ugh! It's – it's not like that, okay? Why did you take the glass they offered, Nandini?"

Why? Did he just ask me why? I stared at him in disbelief. Why would I not?

Swiping a cheek, I snapped a taunt, "I value people's kindness. I can't scream or be mean to them when they are being nice to me," Manik, not expecting the brutal retort, staggered for a moment.

His jaws moved as words stayed unspoken. Letting himself ponder on that thought, he eyed the floor. When he looked back at me, something in his expressions softened. One slow step in my direction had me at his arms reach. Cold slender fingers wrapped around my elbow. Anticipating a yank in his direction, I had already relaxed my posture. Was that what 'putting him in his place' meant?

I chastised myself about it, but when he tenderly drew circles over there with his thumb, his touch rising upwards, it left behind a trail of scorched skin behind it.   

"Saying you don't want something is not rude." As he spoke, his fingertips brushed my shoulder, extended in the air and softly landed on my cheek, moving towards my earlobe where the studs he gifted sat.

It made me sick to my stomach to read that line when her voice inside my brain replayed – I don't want a relationship with you. Why had it pricked like some kind of rejection? And why, instead of accepting her wish, did I charge back at her? Was it because a part of me hoped she would... cave when it came to me, like she always did?

Why the hell are you here then... if you don't have the guts to do anything about it?

I ripped my eyes back to the pages, hating the brimming ache in my chest that formed against my will.

"If you're fasting, you can't have anything to eat or drink, bas!" He commanded, countering with pure logic while his fingers tapped and played on my skin.

Was that so wrong to expect of her? When she was so goddamn stubborn about other things, how hard was it to put her foot down that one time?

There was not an ounce of consideration for others' requests or wishes, not even his friends' – the people he claimed to care the most for. If that was how he viewed the people dearest to him, where did I – a middle-class girl with nothing valuable to offer – stand? Was that maybe why he didn't want others to know about us, because he was embarrassed to be associated with me?

Shaking my head at the utter selfishness in his words, I blinked those tears away and swat his hand off. "You know what, this is my mistake. You have done this before, and you have also warned me that if and when it comes to it, you would always choose your friends. I'm just..." My lungs half-filled with a burst of air that escaped as quickly as it entered, "I don't even know what I am to you."

Against my will, I began gasping and involuntarily crying... at both destiny for visibly marking out differences in our strata and at Manik for confirming just how easily disposable I was in his life. What was most frustrating was that instead of being angry and irritated at him for his behaviour, which I was, the best I could do was to cry in front of him! 

An arm protectively came around my naked waist, pulling me into his body as he pecked a tear away, hitching my breath.

"How could you say that? You are the only person outside my friend group I actually care about."

Locked in a trance sparked by his affection, my beady eyes drilled into his. His tender actions in private were undeniably heartwarming. When he helped me replace the assignment he himself ruined the evening he first came over to our Mumbai house, when he found an excuse for me to bunk Raghav Sir's class so I wouldn't have to present, and when he drove to my house at ten in the night just to buy me maps... they were all gestures of unadulterated concern.

"Then why don't I feel it, Manik?" As those words escaped, I reflected why a part of me wasn't satisfied with that alone. He was doing the best he could, under the circumstances that my brother could not know about us. If my brother could not know, his friends could not know either. Why was him being affectionate with me when we were alone not enough for me?

Because that side to him was only reserved for me. Nobody else witnessed it, or would believe it if I told them.

Nobody else needed to know.

"I never show you any concern?" He painfully enquired, and before I could form a response, he promptly let go of me. Was he angry about that now, about me expressing something I felt? I held his forearm, rooting him in place before he walked out on me.

"Do you even know why I wanted to be nice to your friends today?"

It was because they meant the world to me... she know they were important to me and so she was willing to bend backwards for them. What about herself? What about the beliefs she so strongly held? Was she going to throw all of it out the window for my friends, for me?

I was not worth such a huge sacrifice, that was for sure. 

"I thought you would appreciate my efforts and feel happy that I'm getting along with them, but instead you used me as a pawn to maintain your image within your group, not considering for once how that would make me feel." Manik stared at me, passing no hints of emotion.

I had already known the damage I had caused; what I had not expected was the strength with which she vulnerably confided in me – not just by asserting but actually embodying her feelings – despite me wronging her.

It was a bloody foreign feeling, to exhibit or embrace such fragility in someone or from someone. 

Feeling burdened by how he treated me before the people dearest to him, I fisted his kurta and badgered him again. "Why, why am I always your go-to person to hurt when even the smallest of problems arise?" As I broke down into tears, Manik remained mum.

It was the most heartbreaking sight I had ever witnessed, watching a girl I deeply cared about crying over me – over something I did. If anything, it only reaffirmed everyone else's idea – how thoroughly unworthy I was of possessing the heart of a girl so pure from within.     

"You're saying it as if I enjoy hurting you, like I'm a monster," he uttered, pushing my hair behind my ear. "I thought you would understand me."

Because she indeed did. She accurately picked up the reason for my outburst at her, and read between the lines of my actions. 

The thought made a lone tear fill my waterline.

"That doesn't mean it hurts any less, Manik." And that was a straight-cut fact; regardless of what I meant for it to be, I had gone about it in the worst possible way. I was just trying to protect you was not a sufficient enough explanation for shitty behaviour – nothing was.

It had become clearer to me than ever that I had to be better than myself if I still wanted her in my life.

⭒⭒⭒

Nandini

"Are you sure about this?" Mukti asked for the millionth time that night while we got out of Navya's car. Thanking her for dropping us off, I watched her SUV drift away. She had not asked any questions when I messaged her. All she wanted to know was when we wanted to be picked up, and where to drop us. I owed her a big one for it!

We were finally standing at the gate of the Malhotra Mansion.

"You have Nyonika Ma'am and your brother to worry about tonight, I have neither. I am not letting you go in by yourself to face them all alone, am I clear?"

Mukti pursed her lips and then nodded, somewhat grateful for having me in her life. Her tank top, jeans and frizzy wavy locks suited her style perfectly.

Why was she so worried? She was going to meet her brother. The brother she had known practically all her life. If anything, she should have been jumping with joy. 

The door was tended to by a familiar butler, who burst into tears on seeing his 'Baby ji' after over half a decade. He had casually dropped in the information that their 'Baba ji' had come to the house the same day as well, and if there was something special that happened.

Where was he staying prior to that, when he had come to my Mumbai home two weeks ago? Was he in Mumbai but not living in the mansion that was rightfully his?

After a rather emotional exchange between the two, we were escorted inside. Subconsciously, I had taken my slippers off on the porch and stepped in with my right foot first.

None of the interiors had changed. It was as if the house had barely been lived in, or just meticulously maintained, or both. The staircase that led upstairs to Manik's room was still at the same spot, bore the same colour and was in the same condition as seven years ago. A sliding door that separated the pool from the villa was presently ajar. Swishes and slaps of water echoed through the gap.

When the attendant informed that Manik was at the pool, my heart palpitated. Mukti passed a glance at me, and I forced a smile, urging her to go ahead. She crossed the threshold first, noting that Manik was halfway through a lap. His clothes were pooled by one of the bar stools, as if he had stripped and plunged into the water to feel some kind of liberation.

Rhythmically slicing through the surface, he covered the distance seamlessly. Mukti headed towards him, followed by me.

He approached the furthest wall from the sliding door and as his body plunged out of the water with a forceful splash, the tattoo on his back glimmering with a film that skid away, forming symmetric beads in its place.

Fingers from his hands alternatively dove into his hair, combing them as his biceps gloriously flexed in the process, squeezing water off his locks. Manik nonchalantly turned by his shoulder at some scattered footsteps, and his gaze sized up his sister. Utterly confused by her presence, he sunk her features in, and then a fleeting glance landed on me, freezing me on the spot.

It was as if he was asking, you came back?

I hitched a breath and drifted my eyes, not wanting to be caught eyeing his bare back like that! Regardless, my cheeks heated up from the inside, especially when his frame swivelled to face us. He gulped, staring me down with a incomprehensible look while he progressed towards the stairs. The cyan cotton monochromatic churidar I wore, instead of the cartoon nightsuit I had dinner in, was drab but at least appropriate enough to leave the house in... if not go out on a date in.

Why was he judging me for it then?

Nervously, I looked back up but by the time he met them, his gaze had iced up. His sister seemed lost for words by that cold-blooded stare.

Bloodshot eyes, which were probably the side-effects of staring into the chlorinated water too long, made themselves apparent under the moonlight.

Mukti cleared her throat, deciding it was best to come clean rather than beating around the bush. "I... just came to see you... Bhai," It was as if that one word triggered him, because his eyebrows knit together.

There was an uncomfortable pause before he said anything. And when he spoke, it was not the slightest pleasant. "Why?" In the air, the temperature dropped to a chill. "Didn't you have a good enough look at the college orientation?"

Firmly pressing her eyes shut, Mukti drew in a breath. "I know you are angry with me and –"

Before she could continue, a flurry of footsteps from the interior of the house interrupted her. Spinning in my spot, I regarded that Alia was leading, Cabir was still behind the glass door and Dhruv was somewhere further back. Fab 5? 

Alia busted towards the sliding glass door with a wine bottle in one hand and a picnic mat rolled under an arm. Her tone emanated relief, "Thank goodness, Manik! We were looking everywhere for you. Look at what we brought!" As she showcased her goodies, her eyes sparkled. She only began to register Mukti and I once she passed the threshold and the perimeter of the pool became visible to her.

Visibly startled by the gang, I receded towards the bar stools behind me, giving them some space to pass through and reunite with Mukti.

All the while, someone from within the pool frowned as he slipped into a provoking thought, and then mutely observed the nuances of my behaviour – or so it seemed if I followed his gaze. 

And then the same tone he used with his sister was disposed on them. "Kis khushi mein aaye tum loug yahan?" said Manik irritably.

So the rest of them were all in touch, Mukti wondered.

Alia gawked at her long-lost friend, her cheerfulness still intact as she bypassed me and exclaimed, "We don't need reasons to see our friends. Hi Mukti!" The mat was dropped and Mukti was pulled in a warm unexpected embrace. Though taken aback, she managed a smile, offering a soft pat in return. "Ah, so damn long! No wonder Manik was here, you have no idea how many times I've wanted to contact you after school."

Then why didn't she? It was not like Mukti had blocked any of her friends or barred them from being a part of her life.

I reserved those thoughts within my mind, as I was quickly reminded of how I too sidelined my friendships for reasons nowhere related to them.

"Do you live here now?" At Alia's question, Mukti looked back at me, noticing that I was completely sidelined.

As did Cabir whose gaze alternated between Alia and myself.

It was no big deal, that friend group was not exactly the welcoming kind – that was clear from the get-go. I didn't quite mind it anymore; in fact it was better this way. There were fewer expectations to be liked and accepted. From the corner of my eye, an unbothered Manik lounged in the pool by leaning on the metal stairway – without a care in the world for the guests who unexpectedly invaded his house.

I smiled at Mukti; the flooding warmth she must have felt to be with her childhood friends once again would have been akin to my first reaction on reuniting with Navya. Like a switch flipped within her, she roughly pulled away from her old friend and held Alia's shoulders. The smile she gave her was so frail that I wondered if she had a different reason for detaching from her friend's embrace.

She swiftly returned to my side.

That gesture conveyed everything necessary for Cabir to make his deductions. "Hey," he uttered, snapping us out of our little bubble as he waved at me. "It's so nice to finally see you again. Both of you." I returned his greeting with a small, yet cautious smile.

Dhruv appeared behind him, bringing a reciprocally warm greeting with him, "Hi." Genuinely smiling at him incited a beam from him too, but only for a moment. It seemed like the act of looking beyond me completely wiped the grin from his face as two people picked apart his happiness carefully.

The brother and sister, whose first chat after over half a decade was intervened by the group, united on one matter – and one matter only.

Interrupting the pleasantries, Alia placed the wine bottle she had brought on the poolside bar. "Let's hope you guys haven't eaten yet, because we got pizzas, drinks and blankets!"

"Oh, uh –" Suddenly feeling out of place within the friend-group reunion I did not belong in, I shifted my weight on the spot, thinking of an excuse to slip away. Gate crashing a Fab 5 party was the last thing on my bucket list!

Oblivious to my inner turmoil, Cabir remarked, "Yeah, it's like the whole group is back again," just as Mukti put an arm around my shoulder.

"We can go home," She said, registering that it wasn't the right occasion to engage in a chat with her brother. In fact, it seemed like the perfect sign for her to turn back and escape from the confrontation.  

Dhruv chimed in, "Except Abhi."

Cabir quickly hopped towards us, "Arrey toh kya hua, his sister is here, na? Join us, Nandini. Stay na, both of you. We're meeting after so long."

That they were. And since all three of them apart from Manik had been overjoyed by Mukti's presence, it was only fair that she spent some quality time with them, rehashing old memories and relaxing in their company.

My fourteen year old self would have jumped at the opportunity to be around them, for Manik's sake. And for that teenage girl, Mukti usually felt compelled to show how beautiful her own friend group was – making space for the unloved, unworthy and perenially heartbroken children that were outcast by the rest of their peers. 

Looking at each other, Mukti and I came to a unanimous conclusion to stay for the other person's benefit. "Yeah su –"

But before we could finish, Manik's voice cut through the air like a jagged edge with "No."

The sudden command rooted all of us to the spot. Alia and Cabir exchanged puzzled glances, while Mukti frowned.

Taut with some frustration he channeled internally, albeit terribly, Manik continued, "She... she said she didn't want to be in the same room I was."

"What?" Mukti's head snapped in my direction, her eyes widened in horrified surprise.

WHAT?! Who was he to control what I wanted to do?

Scrutinising at his close friend, Cabir pondered something deeply. With a compressed grin, he casually remarked, "Which she do you mean?" The teasing undertone he had used did not go unnoticed.

Did they have a chat about something after Manik and I spoke today?

But why would they even talk about me?

"You told me you were okay being friends with him?"

Friends. Manik's eyebrows danced at the word so casually thrown in, mildly smirking at the irony of it. He and I could never be friends, even he knew that.

I nodded in a desperate plea to convince her, though equally bewildered by the turn of events. The turn of events he had caused. That smug smirk on his face made me want to slap it straight.

Being acquaintances with him itself was a stretch. That was why he was trying to sabotage the one request I had made to him, all for his sister's sake. Feeling some heat rush to my cheeks at his selfishness, I bridged the distance as he got out of the pool in his swim trunks. Swim trunks? So somewhere between undressing and mindlessly jumping, a part of him rationally thought of preparing for a swim?

Why was I concerned about what he did or why? I badgered Manik, who was dripping wet, "What are you saying? When did I ever say that to you?"

Manik's face tightened at being challenged before everyone... in front of his closest friend group. The shocked reactions of his friends reflected how, within the group, nobody had ever questioned him back like that. Nobody stood up to Manik Malhotra, especially not with the level of cool-headed assertiveness I countered him with.

A flicker of vulnerability broke through his fierce exterior at my refusal to his push. "You didn't?" His voice broke, and a surge of irrational empathy bombarded the cavity in my chest. For the very first time that night, I caught a glimpse of those tormented eyes, red and swollen underneath from... crying. He cried?

I heaved a breathy sigh, aching from within. He was hurting, my being there was paining him. Unable to believe the amount of sorrow he had shielded from me over the course of the night, by conveniently blaming me, I restlessly took a step forward to soothe. He quickly backed off, "Oh, I must have misunderstood in that case." His tone was defensive, but the intensity in his features betrayed his unease.

Mukti was beyond surprised by the unnatural confession that slipped his lips. Was that really her brother speaking, the boy who sought power in making other's decisions for them?

Unfortunately amidst deducing Manik's emotional state, I missed Cabir's emerging smirk which was further accentuated by the staggered breaths of a woman before a wet, shirtless, muscular man and the smouldering eyes of a man beyond attracted to a woman.

My fist formed at my side, controlling the hand that nearly reached out to him. Why was I always supposed to be the one to offer comfort, even when I was battered down myself? Those were the same dynamics seven years ago too, I was always giving. When was it ever my turn to receive?  

Feeling resentful for no particular reason, I shrugged nonchalantly, "You did, but that's alright. For some people, it takes a while to accept the truth that is right in front of them." His facial features twinged. Nearly regretting saying it, I snapped my gaze away, my heart painfully skipping a beat on his behalf.

The crew surrounding us fell into an uneasy silence, while silently exchanging confusing looks. Perhaps they were wondering who amongst them had the clearest picture of what went down between Manik and I, and who could get them up to speed.

Fixating a sharp daggering stare at me at the callousness of my words, Manik leaned and snatched the towel aggressively from a nearby chair, and wrapped himself at the waist, internally cursing me as did I for myself.

His bedroom.

I breathed deeply, trying to reprogram those memories out of my mind.

Cabir helplessly called out, "Manik, ruk toh sahi!" I refused to turn back and look in the direction he had escaped, most likely up the staircase and towards his bedroom.

"What was that?" Mukti made her way to me and asked softly. They were all spectators to the conversation, but the surface level actions and the gravity of our emotions remained only known to us. I gulped, registering his words from earlier in the night.

You know I have seen a side to you nobody else knows. Just as you have seen mine.

I don't think it's anyone else's business... nobody needs to know what happens between a man and a woman in private...

Mukti was eyeing her back, hoping to catch a glimpse of her brother turning back for once. Showing some remorse for once.

She didn't have to bother waiting, he was not going to turn. He was too angry to. 

Alia walked towards Cabir. Once she could lean into him, she asked, "Do you know what exactly she's doing here?" He lifted his shoulders and twisted his lips, pleasantly amused by the scenario in front of him.

"Don't you guys um... sense something – odd – between them?" Dhruv too asked, approaching them and forming a huddle.

"Bro, you're asking as if there was a time they were ever normal around each other. School ki yaadein bhool gaya kya? Filhaal chodd, let's make this night fun." He smirked, "Mukti, Nandini, come... have a seat with us. Wine, Nandini?"

"I don't drink."

"It'll loosen your nerves –"

"No, thanks."

"Alright then, I guess we would have to find another way to punish you for your sobriety," He smirked and noticing my scowl, he quickly modified, "Kidding."

⭒⭒⭒

Manik

I entered my beyond messy bedroom, raging from the inside. Once I had first come out of the water with her earrings, the urge to swim my sorrows away and exhaust myself in the pool overtook me. But by the time I got out, I was both physically drained and emotionally battered... especially after seeing her again.

Why the fuck did she have to come back?

In a fit of fury, I stormed into the shower and turned the knob all the way hot. Sensations of my skin scalding under the sprinkler wreaked less havoc than my internal turmoil, even as I registered the gentle warmth in my chest as my eyes laid on hers. I had never thought she would ever return to the mansion, it indeed was a sweet surprise.

What sweet?!  

After the quick shower to rinse off the chlorine from my skin, I changed out of the swim shorts that I had ordered my butler to bring to the poolside.

In a pair of boxers, and a towel hanging around my neck, I opened my wardrobe while paying no heed to the scattered clothes and snacks everywhere else. All I needed was some comfortable joggers... no, actually something well-fitting to wear. Something that showcased my build.

Something that would make her turn twice.

I heard a hum approaching the stairs. As he carelessly barged in without a knock, his irritating voice resounded, "Pehli nazar mein kaisa jaadu kardiya..." Glowering, I turned towards him. He had two glasses of whiskey in his hands. At least his visit upstairs wasn't futile.

Pausing in his footsteps by the door, he nervously shrugged. "Bas gaa raha hoon. Tera ban baitha hai mera jiya... nice song na? Soch raha hoon isi gaane se inspire hoke ek melody kyoon na banaaye?"

Slamming the wardrobe door, I crossed my arms. "What the fuck do you want?" 

"Maine dekha, kya kya scenes ban rahe the neeche,"

"What scenes?" 

Cabir rose his eyebrows mystified. "Short-term memory loss... Very nice, very impressive." He seated himself on the one spot on my bed where space prevailed, not mess, and stretched one glass towards me. Grateful for the drink, I took the glass and gulped a sip, as did he. "Ah... Let's play a game. Two truths and a lie. You guess correctly, and I drink, else you will. I'll start." He suggested, without even waiting for a response.

"Manik Malhotra is a hypocrite. Manik Malhotra does not want anything to do with Nandini Murthy anymore. Manik Malhotra ki nazre nahi hatthi Nandini Murthy se. Pick your poison." He brimmed, peaking in sadistic pleasure at my devastated state. 

I rolled my eyes, turned around and set my glass on a shelf in my wardrobe. "Think whatever you want, I don't care."

Unable to contain his smile, Cabir hopped to his feet and stumbled on his way out, "Two truths and a lie it is."

My gaze snapped at his disappearing frame. By the edge of my bedroom door, I put a hand out and gripped his shoulder. "Where the hell are you doing? Cabir? Cabir!"

"Yaar, itne saal baad ghar mein mehmaan aayi hai. Usse entertain karne jaa raha hoon..."

"Entertain? Couldn't you see, I was trying to send her away?!" I grumbled.

"Uska hi ghar hai, why would you send her away?"

"What? Yeh... Nandini ka ghar kabse ban gaya?"

Cabir frowned. "Nandini? Dude, Nandini beechme kahan se aa gayi? I was talking about Mukti."

"Mukti beechme kahan se aa gayi? I meant Nandini."

"Par... woh..."

"Par kya?"

"Abhi abhi toh tune kaha 'think whatever you want', so I'm thinking whatever I want. I saw you blatantly checking her out, so that confirms it for me. Manik Malhotra is a hypocrite. Cheers," he clinked his glass in the air to nothing in particular.

Noticing my frown after he took two steps forward, he reversed the same way, swaying in front of me. "Besides, you weren't looking to rekindle anything, so this should be okay with you, nahi?" As I snapped my eyes to the floor, Cabir widened his lips and whistled as he left.

Huffing to myself, I chose a tight fitting black shirt and camo shorts and hurried down the stairs, not wanting to lose time by being away from my friends.  

When I passed the sliding door, they were all sitting in a circle on a picnic mat. My friends all had drinks beside them or in their hands, and a slice of pizza in the other. Nandini was leaning on one side, her knees and ankles joined and tucked by the opposite side, lost in conversation with Mukti. 

Cabir turned around at my rushed footsteps, and then receiving the necessary reaction, he incited, "So Nandini Murthy, two truths and a lie."

She stilled. "What?"

"Since you don't have a drink, we'll bend the rules for you a little bit. The general game goes like this: if the neck of the bottle lands on you, you make three statements about any person you choose. Two truths and a lie. Whoever guesses correctly is safe but the losers take a sip. But you... since you're not drinking, for every loss of yours, you will take a dip in the pool. Fully clothed, of course. Sound fair?"

A dip in the pool for every loss, so late at night? Was he out of his fucking mind? She would shiver or worse, fall sick and her long hair – wouldn't that take forever to dry, and...

Even before I said anything, Mukti barged in, "No, she doesn't know anyone well enough."

"Well... That's the punishment for sobriety," Cabir smirked slyly.

Nandini blankly stared at him for a few moments, and then without a flicker of change in her emotions, she calmly said, "I'll do it."

⭒

It's so incredibly hard to write this book without digressing into my own emotions, I just get major whiplash and temporarily go numb while writing scenes itself.

Knowing things are going to be okay for MaNan helps a LOTTTT but I don't know if I'm doing full justice to their emotional states :"(

tfshutupbish yeh lo MaNan ke present moments aa rahe hai ;) and lilcheesecurl_27 aapke bhi aayenge abhi :P

Any suggestions you guys have for the "game night"? ;) I have some twistessss planned lekin readers ki marzi bhi toh sunni padhegi :P <3

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