A/N: So, for all of you who received a  Chapter 20 update, please take note that this is only Chapter 19 and I gaalti se mistake pressed the publish button instead of the save button by accident #perksofwritingonaphone 😅😅😅 Sorry!!!

And I've decided to take a suggestion from LilKattyNina and add "English Subtitles" in bold... I'll revisit the older chapters to add them in as well so, sorry in advanced for spamming your notifications😅

Also, Tan Tana Tan / Chalti Hai Kya 9 Se 12 is out and I'm kinda disappointed honestly... 🙁 It sounded so awesome in the trailer!!! Maybe let's wait for the full audio release to see if it can redeem itself... 🙃 Other than that, Jackie is cute as af!!! (As usual) Taapsee Pannu is amazing!!! And VD is welllll... VD... 😂😂😂 (Vid in the description😜)

Alrighty, to the story... Enjoy!!!

***

After a game of hide and seek with the media, Raina and Kabir managed to get into Kabir's room without any incidents.

"So," Raina said as she sat down on the edge of the bed. "What happened last night?"

Kabir sat down next to her.

"I ran into Tara," he revealed. "I couldn't sleep and I didn't want to disturb anyone so I went on a walk."

"And what happened when you ran into her?" Raina asked. Kabir could tell she had already switched into her 'therapist/psychiatrist mode'.

"She apologized to me," he continued. "And then she told me that she loved me, just not the same way as I loved her."

"Ok," Raina replied, a bit shocked. "And how does that make you feel?"

"Confused," he told her. Honestly, Kabir didn't even know what to feel. No one had braced him for this. Tara told him that she still loved him... But not in the way he loves her... Does she still love him or is she trying to tell him something or... "Do you know what she meant by that? Since, you're also a girl."

"I wouldn't know what she really meant by that," Raina answered truthfully. "But I think she wants closure to it. She is starting a new chapter of her life and she doesn't want to be tied down to her guilt and her past."

"But what if I don't want to forgive her?" Kabir asked.

"Then," Raina replied. "You'll not only be hurting her, but you'll also be hurting yourself at the same time. Grudges and revenge are some of the things that will make you hurt even more. You see, humans glorify the unnecessary pain and agony others go through to achieve something in order to make themselves feel better. Sometimes, things are just easy, you know? People just complicate them."

Kabir nodded.

"Are you saying I should forgive her immediately?" Kabir asked. "What if I'm not ready?"

"Then forgive her only when you're ready," she advised. "But Kabir, learn to forgive yourself also. From what I can see, you're also hurting because you keep on blaming yourself. You think you did something wrong to her but sometimes, somethings just don't work out, it happens. And when you finally do forgive yourself, it's the most liberating feeling ever."

"And how do I do that?" Kabir questioned.

"There's no fixed formula," Raina answered. "Maybe just try not to be too hard on yourself. Hating and blaming yourself won't solve anything. It may even worsen the problem."

Kabir nodded.

"You know," he told her. "I was very surprised when I got the invitation from Tara. I initially thought she wanted to torture me but then she told me yesterday that she missed me. After so much that I put her through, how could she miss me?"

"You'll have to ask her yourself," she advised. "Instead of guessing and jumping into the wrong conclusions, talk it out with her. See where she's coming from and maybe try to make peace. I heard you telling Di that you'd like to move on. Getting closure might be a good way to move on."

"I'll try," he told her.

"And maybe try it with Arjun and your parents too," she added.

He grimaced. "One step at a time, doctorji. I'd probably have a mental breakdown if I'd settled all my issues all at once. Oh well, I'll just have another excuse to spend more time with you."

Raina laughed. "Why? Do you like me that much?"

"Nah," he replied, casually. "You're too bossy and annoying. But, I like the way you treat me. It's refreshing."

"Thanks," she said. "I guess..."

"So," he said, wrapping up the session. "Where would you like to go? There's the beach, there's nature, there's heritage, clubs..."

"How much time do we have again?" Raina asked.

"Until 4.30," he replied. "That's about 5 hours?"

She begun contemplating her choices. 5 hours... She loves the water but heritage won't hurt.

"Surprise me," she told him. As much as Raina hated the unknown, she felt that Kabir would be a better judge of things. After all, yesterday was the most fun she had in her life.

"Are you sure?" Kabir asked. "I don't want you to regret things though. This may be the first and last time you go on a holiday with such an awesome tour guide like me."

Raina rolled her eyes.

"Then let's go, tour guide," she scoffed.

"You can be a bit nicer, you know?" Kabir stated more than asked.

"Fine," she huffed. "Can we please go now, Mr. Tour Guide?"

"Sure," he said as he picked up a cap and sunglasses.

"Wait," she stopped him. "You're not to disguise yourself or something?"

"Nope," he said. "I have something else in mind."

***

Arjun was in the middle of spinning Di when his phone rang. He almost dropped Di in shock.

Di shot him a glare.

"I'll just take this," he told everyone and answered his phone.

"Hello, Arjun?" It was his father. "Where are you? I have an important meeting and the car isn't here."

"Kya?!" (What?!) Arjun shouted into the phone. "Aise kaise ho sakte? (How is that possible?) I'm still in the hotel. Unless..." Arjun's face paled.

Kabir.

"I'll call you back," Arjun told his father and then cut the call. He then dialled Kabir's number. After a few rings, he heard Kabir's voice over the phone.

"Hello?"

"Kabir!" Arjun shouted. "Where are you and what have you done with the car?!"

"What makes you think I did something to the car? I just sent the driver to get ice cream for you guys."

Arjun was fuming with anger. He knew he was going to get in trouble for it.

"And I may or may not have sent the media-walons on a wild goose chase."

"Kabir..."

"I'm actually on a bike right now and if you don't want to see my face plastered on the obituary section of tomorrow's paper, I'm going to hang up now. Ok, ta-ta, bye!"

And the line went dead.

***

The moment Kabir hung up, Raina whacked on his shoulders.

"Oi!" Kabir called out. "That's dangerous, you know?"

"So was talking on the phone," she retorted. "Is that how you speak to your brother? You could have told him nicely."

"Why should I?" Kabir asked. "He's going to go whining to his father after all. And besides, I was using Bluetooth."

Raina rolled her eyes.

"You could have at least asked for permission to use the car first," she scolded.

"I didn't hear you complain when we were leaving," he chided.

"To be fair," she defended. "I didn't know what you were up to."

"Well," he told her. "Now you know. And it's not like I did anything majorly wrong. I just sent the driver off to get ice cream for everyone."

"With a whole herd of press people following him," she pointed out. "How did you managed to get out of the car anyway? It was like one minute you stepped into the car and the other you were standing by the corner of the road waiting for me with a Honda Activa bike. Someone must have saw you getting out, right?"

"Doctorji," he boasted. "A magician never exposes his secrets."

"Fine," she huffed and crossed her hand. "Then, mat batao. (Don't tell me.)"

Kabir smiled at her antics. "You'll fall if you don't hold on," he warned her.

It wasn't like Kabir was speeding. In fact, he was going quite slowly as they were still in town and there were people everywhere. The only thing preventing him from being recognized was his tined full face motorcycle helmet.

"I'm fine," she replied.

Kabir suddenly put on the breaks and sent Raina lurching forward. She instinctively grabbed hold of Kabir's shoulders to prevent herself from falling off the bike. Kabir snickered.

Raina suddenly realised what happened and opened her mouth in disbelief.

"Idiot," she muttered under her breath. Kabir smiled.

However, Raina couldn't stay mad at Kabir for long. There was so much to see and Raina couldn't help but look around in awe... There was the sea, and greenery, rivers and the heritage. Occasionally, Kabir would stop by the road to show her something interesting or tell her something about that place. It took them about an hour and a half before the asphalt road turned into dirt road. Finally, they came into a clearing. Raina could only gape in wonder at the scene in front of her. Below them was a lake, it's water was clear and the bluest she had ever seen.

"It's called the blue lagoon," he told her. "Or the heart shape lake."

Raina took a closer look. The lake did somewhat resembled a heart shape.

"It's really quiet here," she said.

"Yup," he replied. "That's why I took you here. If you really want to see three touristy place, I suggest you head there with Di. We'll get mobbed there."

Raina laughed.

"Don't you have some magic for that?" Raina joked.

"Very funny," he replied. "My magic has its limits too. You saw how much trouble I had to go through to get away from the media-walon. Imagine if I had to drag you with me. And don't get me started on all the stupid things they'll write about us."

Raina shuddered at that thought.

"Is this the only place?" Raina asked.

"Why?" Kabir asked, concerned. "Do you not like it?"

"I love it," she replied almost immediately. Raina didn't want to give Kabir the wrong idea, she really did like it.

"In that case," Kabir said as he motioned Raina to get off the bike. He popped the seat open to reveal a small bag. "Time for lunch."

Raina smiled as he handed her a bottle of Pepsi.

"You're crazy," she grinned. "When did you manage to pack these?"

"Magician's secret," he beamed.

Kabir laid down a picnic blanket and sat on it. He patted a spot next to him and Raina joined him. He pulled out another bottle of Pepsi for himself and they sat there in silence, taking in the serene atmosphere.

"How did you find out about this place?"Raina asked, breaking three silence.

"I came here once with my family," he recalled. "I was 16. It was the same time mom set up her shop here."

"Seema's Boutique," she guessed. "That's your mom's place?"

"Unfortunately so," he replied. "After the launch, we decided to go for a road trip. A local told us about this place and we decided to randomly make a detour here. It was one of the best choices ever made."

She couldn't help but smile along. Kabir's smile was infectious, especially, when he was truly happy.

He passed her a sandwich from the bag before grabbing another one for himself. She took a bite. It was good.

"That was the last family vacation we had," he continued. "After that, it was all exams, then college and then VKAS happened."

Raina could see Kabir's smile slowly falter. She placed a hand on top of his for support. Kabir bit off a huge chunk of the sandwich to try to get his mind off the painful memories.

"Arjun was 13 when he first joined the band," he reminisced. "Music was the only thing that we could bond over. Or I thought at least it would... And Ayesha? Ayesha was horrible at singing but she was good with dance. She's the one who would help us come up with ideas for music videos and choreography. Of course, their father wasn't happy with it. He wanted his children to take over the family business. And after 5 years of persuasion, my brother finally gave in to his father's demands. After our last tour, he told me he was quitting the band... That VKAS was over. We had a terrible fight and we never spoke to each other again. The only time we would speak would be when Ayesha was around. She was like the glue that held everyone together."

Kabir took another bite out of his sandwich and stared at the view. Suddenly, he didn't feel hungry anymore. He put the sandwich down on the blanket next to his Pepsi bottle. He got up and walked to the edge of the cliff.

"I HATE YOU RAVI DESAI!" Kabir shouted. "YOU TOOK MY FAMILY FROM ME!"

Raina guessed that this Ravi Desai was Kabir's stepfather.

"YOU TOOK MY MOM!" Kabir continued shouting. "YOU TOOK MY BROTHER! YOU TOOK MY LIFE FROM ME!"

Kabir then suddenly crouched to the floor, collapsing in tears. Raina immediately got off the blanket and ran up to him.

"Kabir," she called. "Look at me, Kabir."

Kabir made no attempt to move. He just crouched there and sobbed. She placed an arm around him.

"I hate you dad," he whimpered.

Raina's heart broke for him. She couldn't imagine what he was going through, to have his father and brother betray him.

"It's alright," she soothed him. "Just let it all out."

"Can I get a hug?" Kabir asked.

Raina nodded. She wrapped her arms around him and rubbed circles on his back. Kabir continued sobbing in her arms.

They stayed there for a few minutes before both their legs started getting numb. Kabir broke the hug and wiped his face with his sleeves. Raina stood up after him.

"No tissue?" Kabir asked, jokingly.

Raina lets out a chuckle.

"Not this time," she replied. "Chalo (Let's go), we have to get back before Di throws a fit."

Raina headed to the blanket and started picking up the left overs. Kabir followed, like a lost puppy. She handed Kabir his bottle.

"Drink it," she told him. "Crying can be rather dehydrating."

He quietly obeyed and finished the entire bottle.

"Do you still want your sandwich?" Raina asked.

Kabir shook his head.

"I'm not hungry," he told her.

She nodded and dropped it into the trash bag.

Kabir put the empty bottle in as well. As there were no trash cans in sight, Raina put the trash bag into the bag that Kabir brought. Kabir helped her fold the blanket and put it back into the bag. He placed the bag into the storage space and handed Raina her helmet.

He too, put on his helmet before starting the bike. Once he felt Raina's hands on his shoulders, he took off.

***

A/N: #week2!!! After so much research and thanks to the help of my very wonderful reasearch partner in crime, JazBex (I don't care, you deserve the credit) who is undercover spy, an awesome story teller (some of you might know her as MsMovieMadness on YouTube), and the only reason I discovered Wattpad, she found this somewhat secluded lake for this scene to take place... (Idk how secluded or hidden is it, but this bachcha found it online and said it's really some secret place... Can anyone vouch for this?) It's really called Heart Shape Lake and it's in Bogmalo, Goa... Google map it!!! It looks awesome, I suddenly want to buy a plane ticket and fly there now!!! (But kya karu??? Aish karne ke liye bhi cash chahiye... (But what to do??? You need cash to have fun...) 😂

So, let me know how you feel about this chapter and Kabir's backstory progress? Or would you rather more of Raina's? Or shall we do that information exchange thingy again? 😂😂😂

Till the next chapter!!! 🖑