Aryaman was watching a series on Netflix and eating dinner when someone rang the bell. He groaned and got up from his comfortable position.

"Who is it, at 10 fucking PM!" He mumbled and opened the door.

"Hello, brother." He heard the girl in front of him say.

"So-Soha?" Aryaman held on to the door, as he stumbled.

"Yes."

"How-what? How-how can you..."

"I will explain everything. Can I come inside?" She asked.

"Yeah..." Aryaman said, closing the door and sitting on the sofa. He watched Soha was admiring the photo frames which had their pictures.

"Soha...tell me. Tell me everything." Aryaman demanded.

"Arya, that day...when I tried to kill Nandini and Manik had rescued her, I slipped while trying to stop him. I slipped and hurt myself too hard. My head got injured. Somehow, dad saved me and took me to the hospital. But, the injury was so deep, I slipped into a coma for 6 months. Contrary to what others believe, I didn't have a lot of burns." Soha explained.

"Coma...? Does dad know?" Aryaman asked, clutching his head.

"Yes. He struck a deal with Manik's mom that I cannot be seen in public and that I will be declared dead, while Manik was, I guess, falsely accused of my murder. I don't know why she did that to her own son." Soha shrugged.

"Dad did that?! What the hell? How could he do that?!" Aryaman got up in anger, utterly outraged by his father's actions.

"Arya, sit down, please. I have talked to him. I am eighteen now. I have the right to be independent. I don't want to live with him anymore. I want to live with you. Please. Please don't do anything." Soha requested, rather, begged, as she held on to his arm.

"Fine. Soha, you have to be with me now. I can't afford to lose you again. Joining SPACE will be good for you." Aryaman asked.

"If you say so, Arya. I was planning to do that anyway." Soha said and smiled.

------

It was 10 AM when Manik woke up. He came out of the bedroom and saw his dad working on the laptop.

"Good morning." Shrikant wished, to which he waved.

"Good morning, Dad." He said and sat on the couch. He picked his phone up and saw a message from Nandini.

Going out of town. Nothing serious. Out with family. See you after a few days. Good luck with the album. Bye, love you.

Manik sat up straight in shock and called Nandini right away.

"Damn it! It's switched off!!" He shouted and threw the phone on the couch in frustration.

"Manik! Kya kar rahe ho?" Shrikant asked, concerned.

"Nandini left without saying goodbye! She just walked away! And I am sure there is something wrong!" Manik carded his fingers through his hair in annoyance.

"You are overthinking, Manik. I think she just wants to spend time with her family. Let her be." Shrikant said.

"Sure, dad. But if that was the case, she would've told me. And not this last-minute text. I am not falling for this." Manik said and went inside his bedroom.

He saw that she was finally online and called her immediately.

"What the fuck are you thinking? Where are you? Manik yelled into his phone.

"Hey, Manik."

"Hey?! Answer me damn it!"

"Manik, can you relax? I am with Chacha, Chachi and Rishabh. What are you so tensed about?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving? And where are you going?"

"I came to know after I reached home yesterday too. It was unplanned."

"Nandini, kahan jaa rahi ho?"

"Mangalore. Dare you come here Manik."

"I will come."

"No, you won't. Manik, you are twenty now. Stop being immature and impulsive. Stay where you are. You have an album to work for. Don't let down Fab 5." Nandini said.

Thoda sa main rootha hun

Thoda sa toota hun

Thoda sa tere bina

"And what about how you're letting me down?! What are you hiding Nandini? Why did you walk away like that? I know something's wrong."

"I let you down? You let me down! By not telling me that Soha is alive!"

Aansu ruk se gaye

Thode thak se gaye

Beh gaye, Tere bina

There was a silence on the call and after a few seconds, Manik broke the silence.

"How do...you know?"

"I overheard Mukti and Alya. You told them, but not me? How would Soha being here affect them? Shouldn't you have told me instead?" Nandini demanded.

"Nandini, main-"

"Save it Manik. Nahi sunna mujhe kuch. I need a break." Nandini said calmly.

Raahein mere kho gaye

Dhundle se ho gaye

Reh gayi, Tere bina

"Break? Iss chhoti se cheez pe break? Come on!" Manik lashed out.

"Tumhare liye choti cheez hogi Manik. Mere liye nahi. Vo vahi Soha hai jo tumse obsessed thi, aur jo mujhe maarna chahti thi. Main nahi kar sakti yeh sab handle Manik. Mujhe break chahiye, from all this chaos."

"Nandini, uske liye Mangalore kyun jaana hai? Main hoon na, I will protect you from all this."

"No Manik. I need a break, from you too."

"Nandini..."

"I am sorry. I gotta go."

Thodi si main tooti hu

Thodi si main roothi hu

Thodi si, Tere bina

-----

Mukti yawned while opening the door. Alya was already up and was eating her breakfast.

"Hi, Manik..." Mukti greeted him.

"To hell with your Hi." Manik barged inside and slammed the door shut, making the girls flinch.

"Sab acha chal raha tha, until you two decided to piss all over it!" Manik shouted.

"What?!"

"I know it Mukti! I know Nandini knows about Soha. And I know it's because of you two! Bathroom main gossip karne ke liye Soha topic nahi hai!"

"Manik, we're sorry!" Mukti said, trying to calm him down.

"First of all, this is a legal case. You can't talk about this in the public like this! Especially when people close to you are still involved in the case!" Manik said and sat down on the chair next to Alya.

"So sorry Manik! Whatever we did was stupid." Alya said, sounding genuinely apologetic.

"Is your sorry going to bring Nandini back?" He asked looking at her.

"What do you mean?" Mukti panicked.

"She left. She says she needs to be away from all this chaos and that she needs space. Sab achha chal raha tha kal tak!" Manik left after ranting.

"We need to sort this one out," said Alya.

----

After two long days, Nandini received a call from Cabir.

"Cabir? Why is he calling? I hope everything's alright!" Nandini went to the balcony and received the call.

"Hello Cabir, what's up?" Nandini asked.

"Nothing yaar just finished practice. How are you doing?"

"Very much relaxed. I do riyaaz all day, it's amazing."

"Yeah, I know the feeling."

"Cabir, you know can avoid small talk and tell me what's wrong," Nandini said, as a matter of fact.

"Yeah. I know. So Nandini, you know that you two are very close to my heart. Mujhe lagta hai that I am your cupid." Cabir stated.

"Haan."

"I believe I have the right to tell this to you, as your friend and Manik's best brother..."

"Uh-huh..."

"Sometimes, situation se door bhagna option nahi hai."

"Mujhe pata hai."

"Phir kyun kar rahi ho yeh sab?"

"Pata nahi Cabir! I am scared! He is my first everything. I don't want to jinx anything."

"For a smart person like yourself, you believe in jinx?!"

"Cabir...I think me and Manik are moving too fast. Itna kuch ho gaya."

"I agree...why don't you talk to him about this? Look Nandini, I'll be candid with you. If you want to be with someone, be mature enough to stick around when things get tough. Relationships aren't easy."

Nandini became quiet. She knew he was right.

"Nandini, tum aur Manik...bohot alag ho. Lekin jab saath hote ho na, you two are perfect. The previous months have taken a toll on Manik. Uska belief system hil chuka hai. Nandini, his mother is in prison!" Cabir expressed honestly.

Nandini held her head in her hands, regretting her decisions.

"I know..."

"His life has become very eventful after you entered his life. In good and bad ways. Pata hai na tumhe? Tum jab nahi hoti ho, vo kitna restless ho jaata hai?"

Nandini smiled sadly.

"I know. I regret this Cabir. But I am with my family, they need me too."

"Fair hai. Main tumhe sab chhodkar, bhaagkar aane nahi keh raha hoon. Just a heart-to-heart talk."

"I really appreciate it. You are a good best friend Cabir. Manik's, and mine." Nandini spoke with a smile and hung up. She knew she needed to fix things. But maybe the distance helped to put things into perspective.

-----

Manik took out the beer can and drank its contents while sitting beside Cabir.

"Kya soch raha hai?" Cabir asked because Manik spoke very little throughout the day, the reason being very obvious.

"I think Nandini and I are moving too fast."

Cabir sighed in relief. Those two were idiots, but at least they were on the same page.

"Really? Kyu?" He asked.

"Main usually yeh sab nahi batata...lekin, I think it might have something to do with us being intimate quite often," Manik said honestly.

"Ho sakta hai. She's still very new to all this."

"Haan Cabir. Mujhe nahi daraana usey yeh sab se. I think I need to talk to her about this." Manik said, sounding determined and Cabir smiled widely.

"Aise kyu has raha hai?!"

"Bada hogaya hai tu. Talk about this? You are not a very talky type of person na. Especially relationships."

Manik looked away, not wanting to give away the slight red hue on his cheeks. Too bad, Cabir knew him too well.

----

"Manik, good morning." Mukti wished nervously, not wanting to mess with him.

"Good morning!" He wished, surprisingly cheerfully.

"Tu itna khush kyu hai?" Dhruv asked him because not more than 24 hours ago, Manik had almost smashed his guitar.

"Kuch nahi. Aaj humaara album officially complete ho jaayega. I have some things to look after." Manik said, rubbing his palms together.

"Buddy tu bohot ajeeb tarah se behave kar raha hai." Dhruv pointed out.

"Chhod na yaar! Chalo, let's do this bitchessss!"

-----

Nandini was walking back home in the evening, from the local market, when she spotted something familiar.

"Aiyapppaaaa! You must be kidding me!" She groaned and marched towards the black Audi. She tapped on the window and it was truly who she had thought, Mr. Manik Monkey Malhotra.

He smiled and opened the door for her. As soon as he did that, she threw the bag she was holding at his face.

"Ouch! That one hurt!" He hissed, rubbing his chin.

"Agar aana hi tha toh thoda kam obvious hote! Black Audi?! Really? This is a small town Manik! People talk! Now let's get the hell out of here. Quick, go straight and don't stop." Nandini commanded and Manik smiled proudly.

"There's my baby-"

"Manikkkk! Just drive!" Nandini groaned.

"Okay, okay."

Manik kept driving as Nandini had told him to, drive straight without stopping.

"Amms ko bol deti hu late ho jaayega." Nandini said.

"No! I have it all covered. Just don't ask questions, alright?" Manik asked.

"Fine."

Manik finally stopped when they were at a safe distance from the main town.

"Nandini, this looks very creepy." Manik stated as he looked at the forest.

"It's safe Manik. I literally grew up here, I know stuff. Ab bahar niklo car se."

They got out and they slowly walked into the woods. Surprisingly for Manik, it didn't appear creepy. It was well lit and looked peaceful.

"Kyu aaye ho tum? Bola tha na maine, mat aana."

"Nandini, FYI, album kal hi complete hua. In fact, album launch ka planning chal raha hai. Photoshoot hai parso."

"That is great! I am so happy for y'all!" Nandini said, beaming in pride. Manik smiled but didn't say anything.

"Manik, I am sorry." Nandini came closer to him and spoke.

"Main darr gayi thi Manik. Kya ek din bhi peaceful tha inn months main? Ek, hum khud ladte hai yaa phir kisi aur se ladte hai."

"That is what makes us special Nandini, tum samajh kyu nahi rahi ho? Aur aa bhi toh jaate hain na hum saath me." He cupped her cheeks and expressed himself.

"Haa Manik, I really want to be with you, but can we go away somewhere, from all this? One day?" Nandini asked something Manik never thought she would.

"I would love that, you know?" Manik smiled widely.

"I know, also Manik, I was thinking-"

"Ki everything is moving very fast." Manik completed the sentence for her.

"Haan." Nandini said, sighing in relief. She had thought the conversation would be much more difficult.

"Don't worry, we'll take it slow. Mujhe samajh raha hai tum kya bolna chahti ho." Manik held her hand and kept walking. Just then he noticed some shiny little insects flying all around the place.

"Bachpan mein hamesha aati thi mai, jab bhi mai Amma aur Appa ke baarein sochti thi, yahan ke fireflies hamesha glow hote the. They got their true love with each other."

"Humein bhi. I will never let you go Nandini, aur main tumhe yeh nahi promise kar sakta ke hum kabhi nahi ladenge. Both of us are stubborn. But I promise, whenever you come running away from me to Mangalore, I will keep chasing you, and bring you back. Even if we are 60, I will. That is my promise." Manik said earnestly, kissing her fingers.

"Manik, I love you so much!" Nandini exclaimed, clearly overwhelmed with his promise. She pressed her lips against his, and as usual, bright, yellow fireflies surrounded them, showing their love.

Nandini snuck into the house after bidding bye to Manik. He decided to leave because he couldn't afford to get in trouble with Amms and Chacha. He drove back to Mumbai, thinking of Nandini and Fab 5's album and reached Mumbai the next day.

------

Author's note-

Also, OMG, I stay out of the fandom for a year or two and come back to two PaNi live chats? The heck? Did y'all watch? What are your opinions?

Tbh, I am so glad they talk to each other in such a friendly manner now. Just imagine how it would have been if they did the same in 2014-2015. God, I would have fainted.

Also is it just me or were they too eager to do an S4? I mean yeah, like Parth said, aage kya hi dikhaayenge, other than family and stuff? But I don't think I would mind lmfao. After all, Manik and Nandini marrying and having kids is such a cute concept (will definitely explore it in this series, I am a sucker for that.)

Anyway, see you tomorrow. There's a baby on the way ;)