(A/N: Guys guys guys! Yaaay! I'm back and I'm glad y'all liked the previous chapter. Now time for some patch-up or should I say... hate-love? 😍 I don't know why I find that phase of their relationship the most beautiful of them all. Lemme know what you think of this in the comments below. Drop some votes too yeah? Thank you babies! ❤ Happy Weekend!)

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"So, the theme for the audition is prom night. I want you to do some homework and figure out which clothes best suit you and your partner, as a couple, and present to us on Tuesday evening." I heard an announcement. I was a little worried about the situation. Given, how difficult Manik was, it was going to be very hard to convince him to listen to me. I was blankly staring at the vice principal. From nowhere, the jerk had to pop up in front of me, obviously.

He was glancing at me or rather scrutinized and smirking at my helplessness. I sighed deeply and turned, to realize his presence.

"Are you ready, partner?" A steady smirk built up on his lips and it took everything in me to not punch the man's face. I fisted my hands tightly and clenched them, pursing my lips to express my irritation.

I flipped my hair and turned with so much aggression, heading towards the old guy who was making the most stupidest decisions and trying to ruin my life. I stomped and followed him to his office.

"Sir, I want to change my partner." I blurted in one-go, the moment I stepped into his cabin. He looked surprised, as far as I could comprehend. Of course, no student would've spoken to a person so high in authority the way I was. He gave me a look and I instantly tamed down. Now it was his turn to charge at me.

"What? Nandini, you know you can't do that now. It's unfair." How could he be so unreasonable? Manik, seriously?

"Sir but, I'm not comfortable with my partner." I fiddled with my bag-strap as I slipped those words out of my mouth. Just then, the office door flung open as the devil I was speaking of, made his appearance.

"Sir..." He called as he walked in, partly enjoying the fact that I was complaining against him and partly proud that he could do anything to change my life. One egoistic man, he was.

"Yes Manik. Come inside." He scanned me very quickly, his focus steady on my lips, that were quivering with confusion and irritation. I caught him staring and almost instantly, he faked a cough, pretended he wasn't doing anything I could accuse him of and engaged in conversation.

"Under no circumstances am I willing to trade my partner for anyone, okay? We're strictly playing by the rules, I have pretty tough competition and I like competition. Am I clear?" He was very stern and intimidating, the vice principal couldn't do anything but agree.

"Yes, Mr. Malhotra." Manik looked at me, his face gleaming with the sense of victory and I cringed to threaten him. He smirked at me and leaned closer. His hands touched the strands of my hair, twirling and playing with them, while he and I were face to face, centimeters away. The vice principal could sense the physical tension between us but couldn't do anything about it. Manik's intense stare turned into a subtle glance as mocked. "Bye Nandu..." He flipped my hair, or rather flung it off his fingers and left the room, with his head held high.

"I like competition..." I mimicked in a very animated tone, adding dramatic gestures to make it obvious I wasn't scared of him at all. "Gadha kahika."

"You did hear what he just said right? Follow the rules." The vice principal began to speak under Manik's supposed 'hypnosis'. I hated the way Manik had so much power for being such a baseless man with morals so weak, he couldn't even take a stand for his wife. I stomped out of the room, realizing that talking to that old loser would take me nowhere.

"Moron Manik Malhotra." I cursed over and over again as I made my way to my classroom.

"I heard you, darling." I heard a voice from behind me and it didn't take me more than a second to realize who it was. I just shrugged and rolled my eyes, hoping he'd make out what I was doing, and hurried into class. Manik Malhotra cannot rule over me.

***

"So, what are you going to do now?" Navya tapped her nail at her coffee mug restlessly. I was worried and stressed and with Manik around, 3 days were not enough, forget convincing, just to deal with him.

"We have three days until the audition and it's going to be difficult with that stupid partner of mine. Did you see the way he was smirking at me? Ayyappa, help me please." I went on and on, babbling about my problems. After all, she was the only once who would listen to me patiently and probably the only one I could speak to, openly about Manik and I.

"Nandini, look. I think... I think this idea is the perfect way for you guys to deal with your problems. You'll get to spend time with each other and who knows, you might be together again!" She loved the idea of Manik and I being together and I think everybody did; except that bitch Alya and perhaps Mukti. Mukti was still a lesser problem, because she wasn't doing things to harm our relationship at least. How is Manik so casual about Alya's interference like that? Navya seemed really excited about the fest.

"Navya... it's just that Manik and I aren't on good terms. He's not going to listen to whatever I say. We have to work as a team here, I don't want to ruin my dignity. I might not be into fashion, but I want to keep up a reputation." I sighed. It was true. Manik already had an image. If anything went wrong, I'd be pointed at; and with Manik around, I'm bound to act senselessly just to prove my point.

"So make him listen to you. Come on Nandini, we all know how he is around you. So stop thinking so much and just go with the flow." She advised but it couldn't help less. Anything concerning Manik made me crazy, especially him because he just wouldn't stop acting stupid. I nodded and slipped my phone out, typing a text.

*Nandini: 4th gate, Science department.*

***

I was standing by the staircase, flocking from side to side, waiting for that stupid man to arrive. Why is he always late? It takes hardly 2 minutes for him to come there, from where he generally hangs out, canteen.

I heard some steps and I turned to see Manik walking casually, checking his phone. He climbed up the staircase and slid his phone into his pocket.

"Ahh... now what is it, partner? Heartbroken, that you're stuck with me? Haha... sounds like a good thing to me. Now I have Nandini Ma..." He was on full sarcasm mode and I wasn't liking it one bit. The moment he addressed my name, I felt a pang of guilt invade me. I was guilt-ridden but any attempt to apologize or anything would be the worst way to approach the man.

"Whatever. I just called to discuss our plan." I rolled my eyes at him and he widened his eyes sarcastically, seeming amused by the idea.

"What plan?" He bent down in a mocking manner as he smirked at me. I stared at him and found his gaze soften. That's it. Offense is the best defense. Go for it.

"I guess you fail to understand that we can't just wear these clothes for the audition but it's okay, I didn't expect you to realize the situation anyways. You aren't that experienced in the industry, right? It's okay. You'll learn slowwwwww...ly." I faked a smile. Wow! This is impressive. Look at his face! Damn! I'm killing it here. He wasn't expecting something like that and obviously, ego issues; he couldn't shut up now! Also, one of the main reasons why he fell for me, my constant quarreling and incessant arguing, was coming back at him.

"You... Or maybe you're forgetting that it's you who needs a change of costumes, Manik Malhotra is a rockstar and is perfect just the way he is!" He shoved his hands into his pockets, standing straight and confident; making me feel intimidated and threatened. Well, that was his intention at least, but even I'm not just Nandini, you know?

"I didn't know people live in such a huge bubble where they think they matter the most, to everyone around them." I widened my smile, making him irritated. He wasn't liking that I was fighting back obviously.

"I'm not surprised, you hardly know anything; you're still just a student. You have a long way to go, sweetheart." I was fuming now. Sweetheart, really? Eww. He bent again, pulling my cheeks and it irked me when he called me such things. I needed him to stop, because obviously he couldn't care less about the audition and it was the only thing I was worried about.

"Just cut it."

"Haha... Why? Can't accept that I'm smarter than you? Hmm? Aww..." He teased further and this would go on and on, but I had priorities. It didn't seem like that idiot would understand anyways so I didn't bother explaining anything. I gave him a look and then turned away, taking a couple of steps, when I felt him clasp my hand tight. He closed in behind me, pulling me onto himself, with my back hitting his chest. He inhaled deeply. "Kahan jaa rahi ho?" His voice sounded strained. He was losing it. He breathed onto my shoulder, cool hitched breaths, as I felt his heart thumping onto my back. It felt so physically reassuring to feel his heartbeat. I just wanted to shout, 'Manik I love you. Why are we even doing this?' to him and end everything. "Don't give up so easily, Nandini. This is just the beginning." Just erase my previous sentence, Manik and I together, never again. How ironic was he? He didn't want me to fight back but when I walked away, he wanted me to? What the hell do I comprehend from his contradicting behavior?

"Cocky much?" I taunted back at him, jerking myself out of his grip, maintaining distance between us. Every time I thought, okay, let me put aside our differences and fix things, he never failed to give me a chance to regret it. "Look, I really don't care about your taunts and annoying comments. I'm just stuck with you, otherwise I couldn't care less." I spat irritably. There is a limit to contradiction. This man, has crossed all limits. He was in awe, hearing those words from me and now of course, he too had to state something on the terms of him not even bothering about me, to just prove his vanity. Stupid, stupid man!

"Oh really? Well... guess what? ME TOO! I don't even care about you. Do whatever YOU want." He grabbed me and howled into my face and just stomped away. I pursed my lips in anger and muttered some silent curses to that impossible man.

***

"Stupid Manik. Kabhi bhi meri baat nahi sunta hai. Fine. Main khud kar lungi." I challenged to myself while taking my purse, my phone and adjusting my clothes as I left for the outfit hunt. I ran down the stairs. "Amma, main jaa rahi hu." I flung the main door open and stumbled outside. I was one clumsy girl.

I found Manik standing with his car right outside my house. He was busy doing something on his phone.
"What the hell is this, Manik? Tum yahan kya kar rahe ho?" I placed my hands on his waist, in an attempt to push him and 'woman-handle' him.

"Tumne hi toh message kiya, 'come home, let's discuss the plan'. Yaad nahi hai?" He was smirking and I gave him an impossible look.

"Really?" In a second, I grabbed his phone off his hands, turned around and tried to unlock it. He least expected that.

"Nandini, phone vapas karo mera."

"Nahi, mujhe dekhna hai." I unlocked his phone and the first thing I saw was the call log. Love (12). I was really pissed off. "Who the hell is this love of yours?" I was aggressively going through his stuff. His messages, and what not. I really wanted to know what it was, why he never picked his phone when I called, but was always doing something with his phone. Such a horrible man he was.

"Nandini..." He warned as he tried to snatch it from me but Manik couldn't do much. I opened up the gallery, finding a zillion pictures of us together, almost everything of us two only, me kissing him, him kissing me, pictures of us hanging out, selfies, honeymoon pictures, me wearing his clothes, mirror selfies with PDA, cuddling, me sleeping, and so many pictures of us kissing each other on the lips. Manik didn't stop me, for some strange reason and I found all those moments of our relationship flashing through my memory. I closed my eyes tightly for a minute as I let it sink into me. Manik realized what happened and tried to uneasily get in touch with his mobile.

"Phone vapas karo." As soon as he began tugging at it, I got defensive again. We were literally behaving like toddlers.

"Kyun? Humesha phone pe kiske saath baat karte ho? Mujhe janna hai?" I grit my teeth tightly, trying to win over the battle.

"Nandini, you can't go through my personal stuff like that." He whined, trying desperately to get his phone back. I quickly tackled him and clasped his tshirt tightly.

"What are you hiding from me, Manik? Kaun hai?" I was dead serious, eyes teary with pain. I was hurt because Manik didn't deny any of my accusations. It was like what he did the day we broke up. Whenever he went silent, horrible things happened. I stood very close to him, on my tiptoes, our faces centimeters away. We both were breathing heavily. My focus shifted to his lips, that were now at my eye-level, parted and heaving. Manik stared at me for a moment. A moment of complete silence, a moment of solace.

My feet were wobbly with the extreme tiptoeing to reach him and I was as such trembling. Manik's hands went over to my waist, as he lifted me slightly, pushing me closer to his body. He dragged one of his arms towards my face. His fingers brushed my hair strands and traced my skin, from my forehead, to my eyebrow, my cheekbone, my jawline, my collarbone and south, towards the region that most attracted him. He tactfully and stealthily grabbed his phone out of my hands and slid it into his back pocket quickly and even before I could realize, I was put down, my hands were gripped firmly behind my body and my chest was touching Manik's chest muscles.

"Tum kyun janna chahti ho voh kaun hai? Kaun lagti ho tum meri? Hmm Nandini?" He took advantage of the situation and my vulnerability, cleverly using it to get answers from me.

"Just leave me alone. I have work to do." I struggled and was shoved onto him again, his hold tighter on me. "Oww... you're hurting me." I yelped but the monster was so keen on something else. Obviously he had to exercise power on me. It would be best to say Manik and I were perfect for each other. We were only about irony, sarcasm, hypocrisy and manipulation when it came to each other.

"Really?" His tight hold pained me, but he was one impatient man and power was always the last option for him to get his ways. Extreme analysis didn't go well with him. He widened his eyes at me, and that look meant just one thing, do not mess with me. I gaped at that face crafted to perfection. Sometimes, I wondered how insane we were, fighting for ridiculous things when everything was right in front of us. Us. The most important thing.

"Yes." I blankly stated. My contemplation of emotions was bound to disagree to the fact that I was nothing without Manik, yet did nothing about it. Manik was irritated and exhausted by then.

"Fine. Andhar jao." He let go of me and the sudden distance between us made me feel foreign. I wanted to be that close to him always, forever.

"Kyun? Main tumhari baat kyun sunungi? Kaun lagte ho 'tum' mere?" I reiterated and quoted his words, trying to get him to feel guilty. He certainly didn't like that I was questioning his authority over me but also, he knew I was vulnerable, on the verge of breaking down and the last thing he wanted was to see me cry.

"Shh... just stop overacting, okay? Get inside the car." He was trying his best to keep his calm and I was being extremely difficult to handle. Yet, he was the only one who could handle me eventually, even if it took a little persuasion.

"No, Mr. Manik Malhotra; I won't listen to you." I growled and Manik slammed his hand onto my mouth, despite my wiggles and constant physical and verbal protests.

"Shhh... Amma aur Appa andhar hai." He closed in against me, really close. His face was millimeters away from his hand, that was adhered onto my pink-tinted lips. "Andhar baito." He ordered as he opened a door for me. I was extremely irritated. He couldn't be bossing around like that. I quickly held onto the skin of his palm with my teeth and pressed into his skin. "Sss... Ahh!" He yelped and jerked his hand off me. He looked at me hopelessly and I gave him a glare as I walked away, to get an auto. Even before he could chase me down on foot, I hopped into the rickshaw, vrooming away.

Manik was exhilarated and frustrated. He kicked his car tyre a couple of times and eagerly looked in the direction I'd left. He wiggled his hand in the air and examined the tiny little bite-mark I'd given him.

"Kya karu main uska?" He whined helplessly, staring at the mark I'd engraved onto his skin. He hopped into the car, turned the ignition on and drove away, hoping to follow me.

To be continued...
***
Part-2:

I entered the plaza. I was pretty confused and on second thoughts as to what to do about the audition. I didn't even have a proper plan and of course, Manik was just as good as nothing. His stupid taunts just boiled my blood.

I'd narrowed my searches down to 4 main stores, that would sell some of the best dresses. One of them was the Sherri Hill showroom, which I really wanted to buy from, but stupid budget restrictions! I stared at the showroom and suddenly, out of nowhere... "So what's the plan, partner?" He blew into my ear in a spooky tone, and I got freaked out. UGH! Manik Moron Malhotra. I was startled and Manik was having the time of his life, smirking and grinning. He was so obscene.

"Why are you here? Are you stalking me? Huh? I'll call the security right away!" I really didn't need his presence. All he would do was crack silly jokes, which are not even funny and keep scaring the shit out of me every now and then. I was about to shout for help, when Manik intervened.

"Oh okay, yeah call. Call them. Put me in jail. Then on Tuesday, take one of them with you for the audition and get disqualified. Bas, mera kya? Bulao bulao?" He actually made sense but I couldn't just accept my defeat like that. I needed to counter-attack.

"Problem kya hai tumhari?" My arms were grabbed with such intensity, I couldn't fight back. It was so difficult for the two of us to be under the same roof and behave normal.

"Tum ho meri problem! Humesha meri life main tum hi problems create karti ho, nobody else. Kabhi mujhe seriously kyun nahi leti ho?" He was raging with anger, and God knew why. Stupid man. He always just wanted to dominate me and exercise power to show his superiority and authority over me, and I didn't like that one bit. I pushed him off me with a jerk.

"Really? Me? I am the problem? What about you, Mr. oh-so-perfect Malhotra? Kabhi kuch bolte ho, toh kabhi kuch. Bolte ho that you want me to love you, but karte kya ho, taunts maarte ho, irritate karte ho. Tumhe pata hai, we're separated now only because of you. Just you. You are the reason for everything!" The blame-game was on and I wasn't going to give up so soon. How the hell was it my fault? I had a lot to say in my defense and I went on and on.

"What?! What have I done? If you didn't just walk out on me like that the other night in Melbourne, we'd have been a happy couple by now, but no, tumhe toh sab bigaadna hi tha, hai na?" I burst out laughing, listening to his lame accusations. I was finding it really funny, I didn't even know why.

"I can't believe this. You really think I am responsible for this? Yet once again you've proven to me that you're the most stupidest human being on the planet; you really cannot see what's in front of you, can you? Congratulations. Kabhi romance se toh chutkara milta hi nahi na tumhe?" My tone gradually changed to utter seriousness. if he thinks he can go on picking other girls on his bike, kissing them randomly, flirting with them all and come back to me, he's really really wrong. Manik was gaping awkwardly.

"WHAT?"

"You know? Aajkal tum 'what' ke alava kuch bolte bhi nahi ho!" I screamed louder than him. I was manhandled again, despite my protests.

"You know what's your problem... you think you're really important in my life; you think... Manik mere bagair jee nahi sakta but you know what, Nandini? You're so wrong." He spat to prove a point, as usual. Somehow, it hurt when he said that, or rather implied that I was nothing for him.

"Really, Manik? Toh uss raat jo hua, voh kuch nahi tha tumhare liye?" I bit my lip and Manik softened, anticipating me to cry. He really couldn't handle crying women. "Pata nahi main sochti bhi kyun hu to save us. Because you... tum nahi chahte ki hum dono saath rahe kabhi bhi." I was poking him, nudging him and doing everything to physically hurt him, the way he emotionally hurt me. "Tumhe sabki fikar hai... Mom, Mukti, Cabir, hell even Alya; but just not me. Can you tell me honestly, where do 'I' stand, in your priority list? Batao, kya mauka dete ho mujhe tumhe seriously lene ki? Bolo Manik." I was struggling, fighting and on the verge of losing my cool. He always made me so weak and frustrated. Manik gave me a pitiful look.

"Listen... Sab dekh rahe hai." He whispered as he looked around to see a few people watching us.

"I don't care. Tell me. Bolo." My fists were clenched to both sides of me, my teeth grit together as strained words bolted out of my mouth. I was out of control now and no amount of taming or anything could calm me down.

"Nandini..." He held my hand and obviously, I created a scene for that too.

"Mera haath choddo. Don't touch me."

"Kya, kya problem hai? Bhaisaab, aap padhe-likhe lagte ho..." One of the people assembled there interrupted, trying to save me from my wild husband. Manik gave him a deadly look.

"Look, she's my wife, okay? So just please don't interfere in our personal problems." He was still holding onto me, pulling me while I struggled out.

"Main uski biwi nahi hu. Humara divorce ho gaya hai." I went on hitting Manik incessantly, forcing him to let go of me. Manik was hell furious and my stupidity was putting him on the edge.

"Nandini, stop acting dumb. You're creating a big scene, as always." He grit and shot a glare. As entertaining as we seemed, given we always carried drama along, it was pissing me off.

"Dekhiye madam, agar personal hai, toh public place main yeh sab mat karne ka. Bedroom main jaake karne ka." Someone commented from the crowd and Manik lost his calm. He grabbed the man violently and roared into his face.

"HOW DARE YOU TALK TO HER LIKE THAT? Himmat kaise hui aise baat karne ki? Jaante ho kaun hai voh?" I was trying my best to stop my man from putting himself in jail. Silly man!

"Manik, please. Manik, choddo usse. Manik!" I dug my nails into his arm, almost pleading and begging and Manik eased a bit, sensing my disapproval. He gazed at me and released the guy from his grip.

"I swear... I don't want to see you again." He spat and let the man free. I let go of Manik and he didn't even turn to pay heed to me.

"Manik..." I gasped, feeling so sorry for that man who was almost punched to death. "IDHAR DEKHO." I growled and he shot a pathetic glare at me, for acting ridiculous.

"Kya dekhu main? Dekha nahi tumne, the way he spoke to you. Mann kar raha tha muh thod du saale ka." He was again pacing and marching, almost about to punch the man and I held him back, pulling his arm with a jolt, making him face me. He wasn't even expecting that force.

"Kyun? Sirf tum hurt kar sakte ho mujhe? Tum karoge, toh no problem but koi aur kare, toh defensive hote ho? How cheap are you, Manik Malhotra? Sick!" I was really pissing him off now. His seething anger was being kindled with my not-so-soothing words. He grabbed me and shouted loudly.

"Haan. Haan, I'm cheap and sick. Mujhe na... tumko hurt karne se khushi milti hai! Yes!" He said with pauses, to dramatize the effect of his words that were seemingly hilarious to himself, though he didn't even try laughing. I scrutinized and looked at him in an unservile manner. I was grabbed violently. "Tumhe toh mujhse darrna hai ab. Main ab tumhara lovey-dovey Manik Malhotra nahi hu!" He howled and I didn't seem to change my expressions at all.

"Pata nahi tumse pyaar bhi kaise kiya. You are disgusting." I hit his head and walked away, draining the shit out of him, annoying him. He pulled his hair irritably and silently cursed.

I ran into a store and selected an orange full-length dress with some sequins along the belt. It was strapless and seemed pretty elegant to me. Or not. I just  wanted to try the outfit on. I picked it quickly and ran into the changing room, avoiding Manik.

"Nandini... kahan hai yaar?" He paced into the store and looked around on his tiptoes. Though he was so tall, I was so damn short, he couldn't see me through the racks. I was probably even shorter than those racks. "Bhai... Ek ladki ko dekha hai?" The guy stared at Manik awkwardly.

"Sir..." Manik was really behaving idiotic and he had no time to listen to that guy.

"Arre yaar, chotti hai itni si, but uske peeche problems aa hi jaate hai." He rolled his eyes and the staff popped behind the man.

"Aur aap, Sir?" Manik's gaze fixed at that guy, making the comment as he began to analyze his words. It was true, he was one of the biggest problems in my life. He opened his mouth to say something in his defense, but his conscience struck him. 

"Right." He nodded with a small smile as he stormed through the store, searching everywhere. He even checked the trial room, and heard a hum. "Nandini?" He gaped as my tune buzzed beautifully in his ears.

"Hmm?" I was trying to fasten the dress just when... "Oww..."

"What? What is it? Open the door." He sounded genuinely worried as he began knocking the door senselessly. There were other people standing there waiting for the rooms to get vacant and Manik was making it very awkward for him.

"I don't need anybody's sympathy. I'm fine. Ahh..." I yelped as the misplaced zip pinched my skin, causing my blood to clot at one particular point on my lower back.

"Open the damn door, Nandini. I'm coming in." I quickly opened the door and peeped outside to see an odd 5 people waiting. Manik couldn't care less, he just barged into the room, shoving my neck on his elbow joint as he pulled me along with him into the room.

We hit the cubicle, with my back to the mirror behind and Manik millimeters away from my lips, with the intensity of his own push. His other arm reached behind, sliding the tiny lock to the left, locking the cubicle. We made intense eye-contact; and I had to admit, it was intoxicating me. I was losing bit by bit of nothing left in me, to the man who'd stolen my everything. My heart was beating at an abnormal rate and my breath were deep and surreal. His eyes were on mine, then trailed down south slowly, landing on my lips. We were getting closer and this time, I was surrendering.

Manik moved his hand slowly, from behind my head and something made him yelp bad. "Ahh..." I instantly backed out.

"Manik, dikhao. Kyun karte ho aisa? Maine bola na I'll take care? But no, tumhe meri baat kabhi nahi sunni hai." I hadn't even examined the problem yet but I already had so much to say; and everything concerning Manik made me paranoid and judgmental.

I carefully checked his hand, that had a deep slit on the side, at the base of his little finger, probably from the mirror. I turned around to see the mirror chipped off already. A piece of it must've scratched through. Blood streamed out and I panicked, ransacking my bag for some tissues and water. I wet a tissue and brushed the slit softly, hissing at even the slightest discomfort Manik had. "Zyaada dard ho raha hai?" I asked absentmindedly, trying to ease the pain. He silently watched me express concern as his lips curved into a beautiful smile.

"Jab tumhe dard hota hai, toh mujhe bhi hota hai, Nandini. Bahut hota hai dard. Yeh toh kuch bhi nahi hai..." He brushed my bangs with his 'not-injured' hand, which then cupped my cheek, as words of guilt and love poured out of his mouth. My attention, which was concentrated on his wound, now was held captivated under his mere presence.

"Toh mujhe rulate kyun ho?" I felt my eyes tear up with the realization that the Manik in front of me now, is the Manik I've lost. The romantic, ever-so-caring, beautiful man I fell in love with. My chin was held up with his fingers, as his thumb drew small arcs on my cheeks, trying to soothe me.

"Tum batao Nandini, kyun ladti ho itna? Our breaks make no sense against the amount of energy we have to fight against each other and it is ridiculous." He sighed and honestly, whatever he said was true. We were so busy fighting, we never really spent time with each other.

"Tum meri baat kabhi sunte hi nahi ho! Issliye hota hai yeh sab. Tumhari wajah se." I spoke in my defense and was countered by the only person who could fight endlessly with me.

"WHAT? Meri wajah se? Agar tum apni zidd ko control main rakhti, toh yeh sab problems create hi nahi hote!" I never failed to acknowledge how every time we fought, Manik always made it a point to keep me closer to him, contradicting himself in ways words could never explain. Also, how ironic it was when we said we wanted to avoid each other, yet ended up closer than before. Manik and I, we're different and it's complicated.

I was pulled by my waist again, clinging close to Manik. I eyed his lips as my fingers slowly brushed that deprived pair of satisfaction. "Manik, agar tumne Alya ko kiss nahi kiya hota; toh ab hum saath hote."

***

"Kal toh main outfit decide karne ke liye gayi but yeh Manik toh... he's out of his mind. I don't know what to do about that man." I grit my teeth as I munched on my chocolate muffin I'd bought for a snack, along with coffee. "But I think... we had a moment yesterday." She grinned at me as I said the words and I rolled my eyes, pretending to not notice.

"You guys are a team now, you have to talk and understand each other. You don't have to sort the mess out, but you can at least ignore it for a while, and concentrate on the event." Navya prompted and Cabir just silently listened to me. He was the only person who could put some sense into the two of us.

"Hmm... dekhte hai Navya." I said, sipping my coffee. I was feeling guilty for ruining their 'coffee-date-like' private moment with the stupidity of my relationship with Manik.

"Guys... Manik aa raha hai, mujhe jaana hai." Cabir alerted and headed off, kissing Navya quickly on the lip. She flushed and I smirked, wiggling my eyebrows at her, in an attempt to tease her.

"Wassup partner? Oh, coffee for me? Wow Nandini! Kamaal hai, tum mera khayal bhi rakhti ho?" Manik propped himself next to me and threw his arm around my neck as he sipped Cabir's coffee. I pursed my lips angrily and pushed his hand off me. He casually took a bite of my muffin and ignored me.

"Look Manik, we need to discuss our idea. It's not going to work like this."

"Mmm... this is heaven!" He conveniently ignored whatever I was saying and I wasn't really liking his indifference. We were together as a team.

"Manik, main kuch bol rahi hu."

"Ahh... muffins ho toh aise!"

"Ayyappa, aapko kisi aur nahi mila aise torture karne ko?" I grunted at the God above me, who was making everything so difficult and irritating.

"Lol. Ayyappa!" He chuckled as he sarcastically nodded an approving nod.

"I'm serious, Malhotra." I grabbed the muffin back and tossed it on my plate. "We have just have today and tomorrow and it's a massive audition. We need to rehearse. So I have an idea... tonight, my place."

"What? Why will I come to your place? No. I have a better idea. Tonight, my place. The house is big and..." I didn't even let him finish.

"I am not interested. Sorry."

"But why?"

"It's my wish. I don't want to come there. I don't want to be put in awkward situations and to explain myself unnecessarily." I shrugged. Manik didn't like that attitude. He took my muffin back, and chomped a big piece out of that little thing.

"For your kind information, I don't stay there anymore. I stay outside home for most nights, so Mom doesn't know anything."

"I don't care. I'm not comfortable with it."

"Fine. Then let's just ditch this stupid plan."

"No. The plan is on." I snapped as I took my muffin and walked away. He watched me leave and smiled. He stood up, with his hands inside his pockets.

"It is." He looked at the floor, and back at me; with his lower lip in between his teeth. Navya looked at him suspiciously and Manik straightened himself. "Bas thodi der aur Nandini... tum maan hi jaaogi meri baat. Maanna hi padega."

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(Question of the chapter: What would you do if you were either Manik or Nandini? 😂 Choose one to speak for, and drop your opinions ❤
Ab dekhte hai kya hota hai, aap log guess karte raho, drop your ideas to progressing the patch-up and suggest some idea for how to get back at Alya! 🙊 Thanks bubba. Vote and comment. Abhi kal milte hai 😍 Bubyee.)