"Ouch! Ouch!" Neer yelled and jumped as Ahana ran behind him. She hit him if he got close and threw whatever she could find if he got away.

"What did I even do?!" Neer yelled, before a pillow smashed right into his face.

"Sympathy? Charity? Have you lost your mind?" Ahana yelled, throwing back to back pillows on him.

"Oh! She told you," Neer muttered, as stopped dodging, deciding to surrender and take whatever Ahana threw at him.

Ahana too stopped. Pillows dangling in her hands, as she huffed in exhaustion.

"Why would you do that? How can you even come up with something so bizzare?"

"What else was I supposed to think when she came up to propose to me right after we met Maanvi?" Neer asked defensively.

Ahana narrowed her eyes on her twin, before answering, "First, it wasn't right after. Many days have passed since that dreaded day. And Second, when else was she supposed to propose? Even though you felt betrayed, nothing was absolutely set before. You were still Maanvi's boyfriend.

"What else was Hritika supposed to do? She cannot confess when you are already in a relationship and now she isn't allowed to confess when you are out of it. How long was she supposed to hide her feelings for it to be the right time to propose?"

"Neer?" Ahana called out, when he didn't respond to anything and just kept looking at the floor.

"Don't tell me," she muttered in disbelief, "you aren't angry with her, are you? Nor are you actually thinking of her feelings as sympathy." Ahana huffed, palming her forehead, "what did you do Neer?"

"What was I supposed to do?" Neer asked in a low childlike voice. "I was so startled. She suddenly proposed out of nowhere."

"Say yes if you like her. Say no if you don't have feelings for her. What's so hard in it? It's not like anyone was going to force you to be in a relationship with her. Why resort to accusing her?" Ahana threw her hands up in the air, not understanding his logic.

"I panicked," Neer shouted, before sighing and speaking normally, "I panicked okay. It was too sudden and I just blurted out whatever came to my mind."

Ahana sighed. She sat down on the couch and patted the space beside it. Neer came to sit beside her, but still kept looking at the ground.

"Go and apologize to her. She doesn't deserve this, not after everything she did for us, for you," Ahana said in a soft voice, patting his back as she guided him.

"But I still don't know the answer to her question," Neer said, looking at Ahana with sad, guilty eyes. "I don't want to lose her or hurt her. But I am not ready for any relationship either."

"Then tell her the truth. Tell her that you don't know the answer right now. She will understand you," Ahana suggested.

Neer nodded, deciding to be honest. "Where is she?" He asked, knowing his twin must have left Hritika waiting for him.

Ahana chuckled. "You know me too well. She is near the waterfall."

"Please send Gyaan back," Ahana yelled, looking at Neer's back.

"Okay," Neer yelled back, and kept walking without turning back.

★★★★★

"Were you waiting for a long time?" Neer asked Hritika, upon finally reaching the waterfall.

Hritika just hummed at him, while looking over the flowing water.

Neer hit the side of his head. He was stupid if he thought he could talk casually to her after hurting her so much.

"I...I am really sorry. I didn't mean those words."

"You mean...those accusations," Hritika corrected, while folding her arms and giving him a side eye.

He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, before apologizing more sincerely.

"I was being stupid. I was startled and blurted out something that I didn't even mean. Later when I calmed down, I realized what I did but then was too ashamed to face you. Until...until..."

"Until Ahana came to kick your ass." Hritika completed the sentence for him.

"Yeah." He chuckled sheepishly, before looking at her hopefully. "Can you forgive me? I am ready to take any punishment to gain your forgiveness. I am ready to grovel."

Hritika faced him completely now, looking at him with a poker face. "Those things are meant for someone close to us. Why bother groveling for a stranger? You apologized. That's enough. You can be at peace now."

"Str...strangers?" Neer stuttered, feeling hurt.

"Are we not?" Hritika asked, raising her eyebrows at him. "Don't you remember, you already broke the friendship."

"That's...that's...," Neer trailed off, not knowing how to explain his blunder. He sighed and just stood there with his head bowed, as words refused to cooperate with him.

Hritika really wanted to act indifferent in front of him. To look like she wasn't hurt or affected by his words. However, she couldn't keep up the act when she saw his resigned face.

"I know you didn't mean to break the friendship in that way," Hritika started, making Neer's head snap towards her in hope. "But will you be able to be friends with me knowing I have feelings for you?"

Neer sighed in distress. Everything was too complicated. But at least she was willing to talk to him. It was enough for now.

"I...I don't want to lose you as a friend, but I also know that being a friend is not what you want from me. And I can't be that selfish," he said.

"But you also don't want to be in a relationship with me, right?" She asked to clarify, not wanting to make any assumptions.

"I am not sure about that right now. I haven't thought about you like that. And my mind isn't really working on this matter. I am at a total standstill," he told her honestly, wincing internally at his own words.

Hritika nodded at him in understanding, smiling internally at how cute he looked in confusion. If only the confusion wasn't about their relationship, then she would have enjoyed his expressions a lot more.

"To sum it up, it is a blank state for you now. Neither it is a yes, nor it is a no. Moreover, you don't want to be my friend because it will be awkward. But you also don't want to lose me," Hritika concluded, before giving him space to correct her if she was wrong somewhere.

"Pathetic, I know," Neer said, agreeing with her conclusion about his state of mind.

"How about just being Neer and Hritika?" Hritika suggested a solution directly, knowing no amount of words would comfort him.

"What do you mean by just being Neer and Hritika?" He asked,  feeling intrigued by her weird suggestion.

"Let's not be friends, strangers or in a relationship. Let's just be us. No labels needed.

"Let's talk if we want to, let's laugh together if we want to and let's ignore each other when it becomes too awkward. No formalities, no conditions, and most importantly no expectations."

Hritika waited patiently for Neer to digest the idea.

"Until when?" He asked, looking at her sadly. The idea would work the best for him, but it might end up getting her hurt.

"Hmm?"

"It's a great idea. But until when can we go along like this?"

Hritika pondered over it for a bit, before answering, "Until you are ready with your answer. Whether it is a yes or no, the moment you confirm the answer, we can stop this."

"What if I say no afterwards? What happens when my answer is negative after you spend months or even years for it? Won't it end up hurting you?"

"I told you no expectations, Neer. I am not going to wait for your answer," Hritika said, trying to act cool.

However, it didn't work well. Seeing Neer's deadpanned look, she relented, giving up her tough act and spoke the truth.

"It's going to hurt, real badly at that. But it is also going to hurt if we part ways now. At least there's some hope, some chance of a positive response if we go by my idea. Why give up when there is still a 50% chance of victory?

"Even if you end up not feeling anything for me, at least I wouldn't leave with any regrets. The regret of not taking a chance when I had the opportunity. Even in failure, I would at least know that I tried my best. I gave it my all."

Neer smiled at her determination. "You are something else. A total antique piece."

"That I am," Hritika said, laughing through her glistening eyes.

"To being just Neer and Hritika," Neer said, forwarding his hand to her.

"Just Neer and Hritika." Hritika shook his hand just as firmly.