Song: Soch Na Sake - Airlift by Arijit Singh & Tulsi Kumar 

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Before the update... I need your help!

There is this thing: Wattpad Block party. Different authors come together and share something unique with their readers. The day when their post goes up, they are featured for that entire day. There's giveaways and all sorts of wonderful things. You can find out more on the link I'm about to post.

I want to give it a try to be able to be a part of the next edition. To do that, they are giving three spots & the ones with most nominations get that. All you have to do is go here:

https://www.wattpad.com/463724746-wattpad-block-party-summer-edition-iii-august-2017

and give my username there. The link is posted as an external link as well. If you still cannot find it, inbox me! It has to be in that chapter for the nomination to count. You can nominate your other favorite authors as well, but nominate me first? (; You can only nominate an author once.

Last date to nominate is September 30. Please and thank youu! It'd be great if you'd spread the words to your friends here on Wattpad too! You'll get something special if we get in :D <3 

===

Hearing the sound of guitar strumming from upstairs, Khushi and I walked up to Armaan's room. We were working on homework, but it was certainly time for a break. Khushi pushed open the door slightly and walked in. I followed, but was surprised to hear Angad singing instead of Armaan. Armaan wasn't anywhere to be seen, until I head the tap turn on in the washroom and assumed he was in the washroom.

Angad only sang a few lines, but it was enough for me to know he had a really good voice. "Wow, I didn't know you sang." I said when he stopped singing and turned to face us.

"Eh, I dabble. I found these lyrics so figured I'd give it a try. When did Armaan get so good at writing them?"

I blushed a little at the compliment, "He didn't. I wrote them yesterday."

He raised his brows, showing surprise. "Well then, you have impressed me as well. See, this is why we are perfect for each other."

I groaned, "Don't start again." This boy didn't give up on flirting at all! I thought Armaan was a huge flirt, but atleast he didn't flirt with me. "Do you not get when to give up?"

"Give up?" He chuckled, putting aside Armaan's guitar, "Sweets, I'm just getting started."

I shook my head, leaning against what I thought was the wall. Until, a second later, it opened and I stumbled, losing my balance at the sudden movement. Thankfully, Armaan was right there and I just crashed into him instead of falling.

His hands automatically came to rest on my sides, holding me up. "I could have fallen."

He point out with amusement in his eyes, "Yeah, that'll happen when you lean against the door instead of a wall."

I look away from him, for there were already butterflies emerging from standing as close to him and looking straight into his eyes. I loosen my grip on his shirt and step back. His hands drop to his side. I move to the side and he walks out from the doorway and goes to the bed, joining Khushi.

"Anyway, what do you all want to do now?" Angad questioned, breaking the silence.

"I was hoping to work on the tune. Auditions are on Monday." Armaan answered.

Khushi informed, "Oh, you should definitely listen to what Angad was just playing."

I nodded my head, "Yeah, it was pretty good. You could use that and expand on it if Angad doesn't mind."

Angad shook his head, giving permission. "Steal away." He plays it again, humming the words. Armaan catches on and replaces his hum with the words. I walk over to the bed and instead of sitting on top, I sit on the floor and leaned my head against the bed, closing my eyes. The experience of listening to Armaan's singing voice seemed to triple with closing my eyes.

For some reason, my mind flashed back to the moment in the closet when both Armaan and I had gotten stuck in there. I felt the goosebumps, recalling the touch of his fingers on my bare skin. I would have never allowed anyone to touch me as such. Forget touch, it was hard to believe that he had been there and hooking my bra straps for me. That intimacy was at a whole new level, even if his eyes had been closed.

Where are we heading?

We haven't talked about any of it. There have been multiple instances lately when we had slept in the same bed, just the two of us. We hadn't talk about any of it. I had to wonder if it meant anything to him. We talked and argued over everything, but barely talked about real feelings. Even when we had deep conversations, like the night he came through the balcony, it was about our thoughts and beliefs, or mindless future. We hadn't specially talked about the random things between the two of us, as if they were normal occurrences between two friends. But, they shouldn't be.

I opened my eyes when he stopped singing. "What do you think?" He asked, raising his brows once.

"Amazing." I answer in one word. When I had written the song, because of the lyrics, I had imagined a more laid back tune. Something soft and slow paced, not fast paced. But fast paced wasn't bad either.

"I'll add some variations so it can be a duet."

I nod in agreement. "We should get back to our homework." I stood up, and reluctantly, Khushi stood up as well. We left the boys to their own things.

===

Muskaan opened the apartment door at the door bell. The courier guy informed, holding out a boxed package, "I've got a package for Armaan."

"I got it." She took the clipboard and signed for it. After he left, she closed the door and walked to the kitchen counter, placing it there while yelling for Armaan who was in his room, "Armaan! You've got a package."

A minute later, he came out. While asking, "Who's it from?" he headed for the counter, finding it placed there. Muskaan remained silent, knowing he'd get her silence once he read the name. He went silent as well, not knowing for a few seconds how to respond.

Nikita yelled from his room, "Armaan, we're going to skip your turn if you don't come back in five seconds!" They were all bored and playing monopoly in his room as for one of the rare times, his roommate was home and camped out in the living room watching Game of Thrones.

Muskaan, after filling up her bottle of water, asked walking to stand next to him, "Are you going to open it?"

He cleared his throat, realizing he had been staring at the name on the package for a lot longer. He looked up at her and she handed him a knife he could use to cut through the wrapping tape. Accepting it, he picked it up and opened the package. After the bubble wrap, he pulled out the item placed in the box.

Riddhima's song book.

He didn't need to open the book to know what it was. He had seen it a million times to recognize it. Muskaan said, "I thought she said she would never let anyone else have it."

Armaan heard it, but chose to not respond. He remembered that very well. Riddhima had said that on multiple occasions. Writing was her comfort, something she would fall back on when she was tensed and needed a peace of mind. She always let Armaan read her lyrics, but always copied on a spare piece of paper – never directly from her song book.

He didn't realize he was nervous as he flipped the cover and read the folded piece of paper tucked between the cover and the very first page.

He recognized her handwriting very well, quite familiar, as he read.

Armaan... Khushi mentioned you were going to decline the chance of a lifetime to fulfill your dream because you refuse to let anyone else write your songs. I hope this helps. Best wishes.

-Riddhima.

PS: please take care of my baby.

Muskaan, having peeked over his shoulder to read the note as well exhaled. "Wow. She pretty much gave you her most prized possession!"

It should have been happy news, that she cared enough about his dream to give up her song book. But, it somewhere tugged at the strings of his heart, aching. Muskaan was wrong. Yes, the song book was a prized possession for Riddhima, but she had given Armaan much more than that. She had always given him everything he ever wished for in his life. She always supported him and encouraged him even when he had mistaken that he didn't need it. She found a way to give him his dreams. She had given her his heart since long now, and he had realized that too late and hurt the one person who always saw the best in him even when others didn't.

Even after he hurt her, even after they stopped talking and it had been almost four months, she was still given him the best.

"Armaan?" Muskaan called him, placing her hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

He gulped, forcing down his emotions afraid they might take a physical form of tears. "Um... could you let her know I received this?"

Her brows knotted, "You could text her..."

Armaan shook his head, "We haven't talked since her birthday."

Her confusion formed into surprise. "What? Why? What happened?"

"Nothing," He answered, unwilling to give up their private matter. "Just, please, let her know? And that she doesn't have to worry.... I'll treasure this." He spoke the later glancing at the book. Muskaan stood there lost as Armaan put the book in the box and took it to his room.

He looked at Nikita and Rahul after he placed the package in his dresser drawers. "How many turns did I lose?" He asked, well aware they wouldn't have waited for him.

Muskaan came in and took her seat next to Nikita, across from Rahul. "Kamino," She cursed, "You couldn't wait for us to get back?"

Rahul mocked, "Not when you take ages to fill up a bottle of water." And then he snatched the bottle from her hands and gulped most of it down.

She informed, "Just for that, you owe me the whole appetizers menu from Raju da dhaba."

He gaped, arguing, "But that place is an hour out of the city!"

She shrugged her shoulders uncaringly, "Not my problem."

Armaan watched his friends bicker about aimlessly, but was barely listening in to their conversation. His mind was still on the package. Why was she helping him get his dream when she was obviously hurt from his earlier actions? It confused him, but also forced him to rethink. Almost half a year ago, he was certain her world was small consisting of her family, and his. She didn't let a lot of things get to her. She knew very well where to invest her emotions and time.

Now... she felt almost a stranger. He didn't know her everyday activities or schedule like he used to at the back of his head. He didn't know how many new friends she would have made, or if she was happy in her life, in Australia, away from him. He didn't know anything, but it still felt that if she cared enough to send him this, then somewhere in there, she must still be the Riddhima he remembered. She might be trying to bury her and emerge stronger, but she couldn't be erased.

He hoped against everything that her feelings for him wouldn't change with time. Nothing would break him as much as that would. Somewhere, he blamed himself for why she was so far away and out of reach. He was too worried for Khushi, and he couldn't balance it with the place in his life he should have kept reserved for Riddhima.

===

A few days later, it was Sunday. I looked up from the novel I was reading. The door to my room had opened and Armaan and Khushi had walked in.

"What are you two doing here?' I asked, checking my phone to see if either of the two had messaged to inform they were coming over. There weren't any messages.

"I got bored at home." Khushi explained, jumping on the bed to lay on her stomach.

I place the bookmark in between the pages and close the novel. I wasn't going to be able to read any more now that she was here. "What do you want to do?"

"Can we go out for a walk or something?"

"Sure. Just let me change." I answered and walked inside my closet to put on warm clothes. It was mid-October and the temperature in Shimla was dropping. Given that it was close to evening, it was sure to drop further during out walk.

I changed from leggings to skinny jeans, a full sleeved shirt with a fluffy coat, scarf, winter socks and hand gloves. I returned to the room, and without a word, we made our way down the stairs. I slipped on leather winter boots.

We walked to nowhere in particular. We didn't talk about much either. Just being around each other was enough for us. Lately, I couldn't help but notice that Khushi was quieter than usual. She barely talked about anything meaningful. She did not pull any pranks. She didn't even joke and tease around. She was pulling herself into a shell, and I felt that there was nothing I could do to bring her out of it. It was almost as if she was going into depression or something. I used to be able to tell what was going on in her head without her having to even utter a word. Lately, she was nothing more than a blank state, and my heart ached seeing the change in her.

She used to brighten up our world, and the world was cruel to her, dimming her light.

I hooked my arm around her and rested my head on her shoulder when he stopped to sit on rocks that overlooked the mountains from one of the high spots in town.

I couldn't even bring myself to ask if she was okay, as all three of us knew the reality. Neither she nor I were okay. We were far from it – her ten times worse.

When my eyes found Armaan's, he nodded over. He walked a couple steps away. I got the hint that he wanted me to follow. I pulled away from Khushi towards him.

Turning his back to her, he informed in a whisper, "She's having nightmares." I knew that piece of information, but what worried me was the later part he added, "Almost every night the past few weeks."

My chest clenched around my heart hearing that. I couldn't imagine what she must be going through, having to revisit the moment every night in sleep, having it haunt her day in and out, while awake and asleep.

He inhaled shakily, looking towards the sky. "I don't know what to do." His voice was breaking. His eyes were watering, but the clench on his jaw showed he was trying to control them from turning into tears.

I removed my hand from the pocket of the coat and placed it on his upper arm, rubbing it up and down. "We'll think of something." I promise him. For Armaan, Khushi was everything. She was my best friend, but she was his sister, his entire world. His feelings couldn't be limited to be expressed in words. I did not want to see him or her suffer.

He exhaled, closing his eyes. The tear he had been holding back dropped straight to the ground. He used the back of his index finger to wipe his eyelash and turned back to walk to Khushi and sit next to her. He didn't want her to see his tears, worry her further. For now, I didn't mind him dumping his troubles over to my end.

I followed suit, taking a seat on the other side of Khushi. We sat there for the next hour or two, even after the sunset and everything around us turned into pitch darkness. We only made an effort to move when my phone vibrated, a call from my mother.

"We should head back." I suggested, standing up.

===

Nikita and Rahul headed back to their places after dinner. Muskaan stayed back, saying she needed Armaan's help with an assignment of hers. Armaan asked after closing the front door. "So, what'd you need help with?"

Muskaan answered, starting to walk to his room, "Nothing, just wanted to talk without them around, you know?"

Armaan said, "Muski, if you want to talk about Basket, then I am going to stop you there itself."

She shook her head, answering, "I am worried about that, but no. You two have too much that I will not meddle with."

Confused as to what else she might want to talk about, he asked, sitting on his bed, "Okay, so what do you want to talk about?"

"Nikita." She answered, taking a seat on the chair at his desk.

His brows narrowed, "I don't follow."

She put it bluntly, "Armaan, what are you doing with Nikita?"

"We're friends." He answered, not understanding where her concern laid.

She scoffed, "Friends. Like you kept saying with Ridzzi? C'mon Armaan, even after how things with Ridzzi ended... when will you learn?"

He stopped her before she would lecture, "Muskaan, I don't need to hear this, okay? I have learned. I know how wrong it would be to lead Nikki on or anything as such when I am still not over Ridzzi and I don't think I ever will be able to move on from her. So... you don't have to worry about Nikki and I. She knows I have feelings for someone else."

"Yeah, but that doesn't stop her from developing feelings for you. Every waking moment when you aren't in class, practicing your music or with your basketball team, you are with her. She's the first one you text the second you are free to see if she wants to hang out. What impression do you think she gets from all that?"

Armaan looked away, having no answers to his friend's questions. It was true. He was growing closer to Nikki by day, and it wasn't with an ulterior motive in head. He simply liked spending time with her. It was simple and he felt that he could be himself. So, even though he knew he couldn't have romantic feelings for her like he did for Riddhima, and therefore he shouldn't lead Nikita to have hopes for it, he still was.

"Armaan, I just want you to think of what you're doing. You're my friend, and so is Nikki. I don't want any of you hurt, especially when you still love..."

She trailed off, not saying Riddhima's name when Armaan's eyes snapped up to hers. He didn't need for her to say it aloud and make it more real than it already was. Softening the look in his eyes afterwards, he laid back crossway. "So what? I stop talking to Nikki too?"

He didn't think he could do that.

Muskaan answered softly, sympathizing with his situation, "I'm not saying that... but yeah, perhaps you should have a clear conversation with her. You might think you have a healthy friendship going on with her, but make sure it is just that and nothing more from her side too?"

He accepted her suggestion and sat back up deciding it was time to tell her about Rahul's feelings, "Muski, you're a good friend. And because you stopped me from making another mistake, I'm going to return the favor."

===

authors note:

Hi all! I apologize for the delay. As I had said in last AU, we were having a hurricane, and Irma knocked out our electricity. Thankfully we didn't have to evacuate and everyone I know is safe, but the after-effects were definitely felt with flooding and fallen trees.... anyway, it's all okay now (:

To makeup, I'll be updating Chapter 14  His Love Story tomorrow!