Song: Saathiya - Singham by Shreya Goshal

*Not edited*

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I heard a door opening, and I called out in sleep. "Mom?" As she often came to check on me before going to bed herself, I assumed it could be her.

Someone got in the bed and answered, "No, it's me."

I sat up, confused, and turned on the lamp on my side table. "Armaan, what are you doing here?" Khushi and he had left my place after dinner just about two hours ago.

"We have our final audition tomorrow." He informed, something I was already aware of.

"Okay?" I answered, waiting for him to bring up the point where he explained what that had to do with him being here in my room in the middle of the night.

"So you need to have proper sleep if we are going to give our best tomorrow. You can't be walking around half asleep or overdosed on coffee." He commented and turned off the switch from his side. Since the connection was interconnected, the light could be turned on and off from either sides.

I turned it back on, refuting, "I'm not going to be tired. If you noticed, I was sleeping till you came and woke me up."

He rolled his eyes, "And how long do you think you'd have remained asleep? Two more hours?" He seemed to have been observing and noticed that even if I did sleep, it wasn't for long.

"That's not your problem, Armaan. It's mine and I'm dealing with it. Now leave." I turned off the lamp and proceeded to lay down.

"Dealing with it how?" He was being adamant and refusing to let the topic go or leave. Only because we lived in the same neighborhood, only a few houses away did not give him the right to come over at wee hours.

"I've talked to my dad. He's getting me the help I need." I answer vaguely, leaving the bit about sleeping pills.

"Yeah, well, until I see improvements, I'm not taking any risks."

I grumble and point out, "Seriously Armaan, stop all this. You should be home with Khushi."

"Don't worry about her. Angad is there."

I sit up, surprised and worried, "What? You left her with him?!"

"Relax, basket. I trust him and she trusts him too. He doesn't scare her. He's in my room but if he hears anything, he'll go over and wake her up."

"Wait, he knows?" I question, suddenly realizing how much I am in the dark about my best friends' life.

"Hmm. She told him." That tells me he was right. Khushi does trust Angad. If she didn't, she wouldn't have told him. She had forbade us to even tell her parents. She didn't want them to know. She didn't want anyone to know. So, if she herself made the call to confide in Angad, she must feel comfortable around him. "We're around her all the time and even know each other our whole life... I feel that she finds it easier to talk to him."

I suppose I could understand slightly. Sometimes, it can help to confide in those who may be somewhat strangers as you can speak your mind without having to worry about being judged. But that didn't mean it made sense to me. Khushi had to know that she could still talk to us and tell us everything without worrying about us judging her.

"With us, she's too emotionally involved, basket." He speaks, as if reading my mind. "And emotions are something she is running from right now. With Angad, she can talk without being too emotional and it's the only reason she prefers that."

I nodded, but what came as a surprise was that Armaan was okay with it. He didn't seem too bothered by Khushi choosing to talk to someone else other than him. He was always protective of her, but since that night, he had been more protective.

"By the way, this time your mom doesn't know I'm here. And you should really be more careful and lock your balcony door."

The one day I forget... Speaking of, I ask, "Did you climb up the pipe again?"

"No, I don't have a death wish. I used a ladder."

My brows narrow, wondering where he even found a ladder. Obviously he wouldn't carry one over all the way from his house. Still, I don't ask him about it. Having this conversation was starting to make me sleepy again.

I had my eyes closed, I could feel him shifting closer as he asked in a soft voice, "Where's the remote?"

"Drawer." I answer in a low mumble, snuggling in to the pillow and pulling the blanket up to my chest. It was going to be a cold night again. I needed to bring out my warmer blankets. This thin comforter wasn't doing it anymore when he kept popping up unannounced and turning down the temperature.

"Good night, basket." He whispered, slipping inside the blanket. I had barely heard him though, and had no consciousness left to answer as I drifted off to sleep.

===

"Riddhima."

I stirred awake at my mother's voice and opened my eyes. She didn't look too happy. I narrowed my eyes, and then they widened when I felt Armaan's body behind me. I pushed his arm off my waist and sprang up in bed.

"Mom, I..." I started to explain but she cut me off.

"You should get ready for school." She suggested, and then glancing at Armaan once, she left the room. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. She was definitely mad, and I was going to hear it from her when I got back from school. She'll probably ground me for the rest of my life, and definitely tell dad. I didn't even want to imagine what he would do.

I turned to Armaan who was sleeping with no care in the world. Directing all the blame at him, I slapped his arm.

The sting woke him up and he rubbed the spot, "Damn, basket. Why the heck are you so violent first thing in the morning?"

Well. Atleast this time he didn't call me doll. He knew who he had fallen asleep next to. I snapped at him, getting out of bed, "Why can't you ever listen to me and leave when I ask you to? Mom saw you! She saw us."

"Okay, and? We were just sleeping."

I ignore him and continue to point out, "Why can't you keep your hands to yourself anyway? You should really learn to stop cuddling."

"I can't control where my hands end up when I'm sleeping!" He exclaims, getting out of bed as well.

I inhale deeply and slowly exhale to relax. It was pointless getting into this argument with him. He wasn't the one whose life was going to be screwed up. My parents were going to kill me, not him. "Just leave." I requested, crossing my arms over my chest.

He opened his mouth to say something, but I raised my brow, daring him. His shoulders slumped as he made the wise choice to not let another comment leave his throat. I stood there with arms crossed till he left the way he came – the balcony. Then I went and locked it before disappearing into the washroom.

I was never going to make the mistake of forgetting to lock it at night ever again.

Coming down for breakfast, I looked for an opportunity to talk to her. I took it seeing dad wasn't out for breakfast yet. "Mom, listen, it's not..."

"Eat your food. You'll get late for school." She silences my attempts at an explanation once again.

This must be the quiet before the storm.

===

Nikita looked for a caller ID on Armaan's phone when it started to vibrate on his desk. There wasn't one, but she recognized the code for Australia. She was going to let it be, until she recalled his sister who lived there. She answered it, but before she could get a word in, the person on the other end started to speak.

"Oh, thank God you answered. Armaan, I'm..."

Nikita stopped her, "Hey, listen, stop. This isn't Armaan."

Riddhima stopped talking hearing the girl's voice. For a second, she wondered, "Oh sorry, I must have the wrong number." It had been months since they had any contact. She thought he could have changed his numbers and now someone else had his old number.

Before she would end the call, Nikita informed, "Oh, no. You have the right number. Armaan is just in the shower. Wait..." She walked up to the bathroom door and yelled over the noise of the shower running, "Armaan, you've got a call from Australia."

Armaan answered back, thinking it to be Khushi, "Tell her I'll call her back in a few."

Nikita spoke to the phone, "He said he'll..."

"Yeah, I heard." Riddhima spoke, cutting Nikita's response short and ending the call. She looked up at Arnav who came back after filling out the necessary forms. "Did the doctors say anything?"

He pointed out in a soft tone, "They just got her in, Riddhima."

She nodded, feeling silly. She was just so worried that she wasn't thinking of the logistics. If they weren't in the hospital right now, maybe she would have spent some time being hurt at hearing a girl answer Armaan's phone the morning after Valentine's Day.

Armaan walked out of the bathroom, dressed just as Nikita finished copying Armaan's lab assignment. She had went out on a date last night with a classmate who had asked her out, and ofcourse hadn't completed her assignment. Early in the morning, she came by to copy it just before class.

She reminded him, "Oh, you might want to call back. She sounded worried."

Armaan stopped from picking up his bag and reached for his phone instead. He clicked on the call log to dial back when his thumb froze midway. It wasn't Khushi's number saved under caller ID 'Doll'. It was an unsaved number, but he knew the number by heart.

Riddhima.

He had deleted it thinking it would stop him from messaging or calling her, but ofcourse life didn't work fair that way. It wouldn't allow him to forget her number. Even in this digital world where barely anyone remembers their parents or their own phone numbers, he clearly remembered hers.

He spoke to Nikita, "Uh, why don't you go on? I'll see you in class."

She nodded, taking up the hint that he wanted privacy. "Sure, just don't expect me to sign you in." He didn't worry of it, however. He knew Nikita would sign in his initials on the attendance log the professor passed around every class. She said it was to save time, but the truth was she could least care about who attended the lecture and who skipped. Ofcourse, the kids would sign in their friends all the time, and she knew, but she didn't care of that either. She just passed out the log as a formality. Besides, she thought it were up to the students to be serious when in college and attend lectures. They could always borrow notes from their friends, but unless their friends could give a comprehensive understanding of the notes like the professor could, they could only hope for a miracle to pass her class.

After Nikita left, he pressed on the number and it called. Barely a ring went by before she answered it. "Armaan! I didn't know who to call. You need to come here. Khushi is in the hospital and I thought of calling your parents but then they'd want to know and I couldn't tell them about what happened. I'm so worried, I don't..."

His brain took a second to wrap around the fact that she said his sister was in the hospital. When it did click in his head, he interrupted her worried ramblings aka freaking out moment, "Riddhima, stop. Deep breaths. I'm on my way."

She inhaled sharply and released it slowly. Then she nodded, but realized he couldn't see. "Okay." She mumbled and let the phone call end.

With Kripa and Arnav, the three waited until Arnav got a phone call and he had to leave. The doctor came out and read the name from his chart, "Khushi Gupta?"

Kripa and Riddhima stood up and rushed over to him. "Yes, how is she?"

The doctor explained, "She's better now. We've sent the bloodwork in to deduce what triggered her allergic reaction, and we'll know soon. For now, she's still unconscious due to the sedatives till we can get it out of her system."

Riddhima asked, trying to find a cause for relief, "So she'll be fine?"

The lady smiled and assured, "In a few days, she'll be fine."

Riddhima's shoulders visibly slumped with relief while Kripa thanked the doctor and put her arms around her friend. She was worried too, but she knew Riddhima had to be more worried. She was friends with Khushi only for few short months but Riddhima had been friends with her for years.

The doctor left for her other duties after telling them they could see Khushi once she was moved from the emergency room. So, they sat back on the chairs in the living room to wait on a nurse to come tell them when she would be allowed visitors.

===

Riddhima was walking down the corridor of the hospital floor to get coffee when she spotted Armaan at the nurse's station, waiting impatiently while the nurse looked up the patient. "Armaan." She said his name, and he turned to face her.

"Never mind," He said to the nurse and walked towards Riddhima. She too resumed and exhaled just as she stood right in front of him.

She leaned up with her arms coming around his neck. "I'm so sorry," She expressed giving into her emotions finally instead of holding back on them to appear strong, "I should have been there for her." She pulled back when Armaan leaned back, confused as to why she was apologizing, "I came all the way here to be with her, make sure she feels better and I was the worst friend I could have been."

He lifted her chin so she would look at him. Caressing her cheek, he made her listen, "Look at me, Riddhima. None of this is your fault. You are the best friend anyone could ask for, so don't even think anything different from that, you hear me?"

She shook her head, sniffing at her running nose. "You don't get it." She wanted to explain why she blamed herself. If she had just been there, she would have went with Khushi to the Valentines ball, but instead Khushi went by herself. Yes, Kripa was with her, but she didn't know anything. The only reason she had left was because she thought Arnav would be there, but she had yet to hear what had happened from when she left at the start of the new semester, and now just a little over a month after.

He said, gently tucking her head to his chest to stop her from crying and continuing to blame herself. "Let it out, it's okay."

In the moment, it didn't feel that it had been almost six months since they last saw each other, last talked to each other. The comfort and safety she felt when around him rushed to her in an instant. All that mattered was that he was here. She truly believed everything would be okay. After getting a hold of herself and her sobs subsided, she asked, "You, uh, want to see her?"

"Yeah," He whispered, his thumb wiping the tear-stained cheek of hers. She tucked strands of her hair behind her ear as she sniffed from her runny nose. Despite the situation, he smiled to himself. There were rare times when she cried, and when she did, her runny nose would bother her for hours afterwards. He retrieved his kerchief from his pocket and held it out for her. Her eyes snapped from looking past his shoulder to his eyes. For once, he wasn't mocking her for crying and having to offer his kerchief.

She accepted it wordlessly and pointed behind her, as if to say the room Khushi was in was in that direction. He nodded for her to lead and he followed. He wished he could talk to her, ask her how she really was out of the current situation, but he knew their topic would have to take the back seat for now. As always, Khushi was that one thread holding them together, and right now, he had to make sure his sister was alright before he could focus on his love story. 

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authors note:

Soooo they've met in the present timeline. I wonder what will happen next.... xP

Question: are you guys enjoying the mixture of past & present? Does it truly give you an idea of how their relationship is? I imagine past-present will be more interesting when things pick up in the present, yeah?

PS: Hopefully the part of Nikki going on a date with another guy lets you fill in the blanks that Armaan & her talked  (:

Chapter 15. Take A Detour on Saturday. 

If you want an earlier update, 5 comments and 10 votes :D