Mishti had bided her time outside for as long as she could, her family had entered an hour ago and she had remained sat on the very cold, very hard stony steps. Likelihood was, he was either in there or on his way, but she didn't really fancy being around a crowd at the moment. She knew people likely thought she was thinking too much, but all these years away from him had led to her imagining just how it would be to see him again and neither of those times ended in her being happy with the outcome. Even after he had left, a part of him stayed with her, his taunts became the voice in her head and now every little insecurity sounded like it came straight from him, sure he had left, but in a way he hadn't, not really, anyway.

Kunal shuffled beside her, shoulder against hers and a warm smile on his lips "Thinking about my brother?"

She scoffed "Unfortunately" wringing her hands, she sighed. "I know it's worthless, I guess I just didn't realise how badly I didn't want to see him until yesterday, now there's nothing I can do about it". She'd always liked Kunal, he was calm and kind and a million miles away from being anything like his older brother, he also treated Kuhu well and if she was honest, she couldn't imagine anyone else better fitting.

"If it helps at all, he won't be expecting to see you looking so grown up, you have the element of surprise here, it's been ten years, reintroduce yourself, now is the time for you to be whoever you want to be".

His words soothed her racing heart, turning she offered him a soft smile "Thanks, Kunal, I didn't really think about it that way". Dusting off her dress, she took a deep breath and faced him "How do I look?"

Taking note of the small silver gems on the pleats of the purple skirt and then up at the attached cream top, he nodded "Beautiful". Holding out his arm for her to take, he began to lead her back through the double doors when a shout stopped them.

"Now, now, Mishti, is that really how you're going to greet me, with your back turned? Can't say I mind the view, but I'd much prefer to see those big brown eyes of yours" a husky voice called out making her whole body freeze.

She knew that voice, knew that sarcastic tone and more than anything she knew just how he always wanted her to keep her head up so he could see her eyes. Dropping her hand from Kunal's arm, she slowly began to turn around as guests crowded around them, but before she could speak, she was falling back at the sudden strength of freezing cold water being sprayed onto her body.

When he finally pushed himself off of leaning on his motorbike, he turned off the hose and jumped up the stairs. "Better go and change, white is see-through when wet and there are a whole lot of men here who may get the wrong idea" his jovial tone soon dispersed, smirk dropping when he saw the tears welling in her eyes. Abir lifted a hand to touch her, but she only shrugged him away, his chest panged at the expression on her face, all he had ever seen was her anger and annoyance, never her tears and if he'd known this would upset her he wouldn't have done it at all, truth be told he just wanted to remind her of old times, remind her that they shared something she didn't share with anyone else here. "Mishti" he whispered, "I'm".

Lifting her head ever so slightly she swallowed back the ache in her chest and tried to focus on just how different he looked, his jaw was sharper, his form fitter and his muscles clenched nicely against his leather jacket, he was all man now but his actions were that of the young boy who’d made her life a misery, any hope to move on shattered before her and she wasn’t about to wait around for it to get worse. Shoving past him, she ran back into the car park and down the empty road, ignoring the voices pleading for her to come back, she kept going, even when her legs burnt and her feet ached. She did not want to have to go through it all over again, as she'd expected nothing had changed and it would only get worse from here, that she was certain of.

“Bhai” Kunal shook his head as he patted his back. “Was there really any need for that? She’s been so worried about you coming and now-“.

“She has?” He turned back to face him, face dropping at the thought of what he’d just done. “I didn’t really expect her to react like that, it was just a joke” he seemed far away as his mother pulled him into her arms.

“Abir, I’ve missed you” Meenakshi ran her hands down his arms, checking if he was as well as he made out.

“Ma” he rolled his eyes, “I’m fine” he bent lower to take her blessings, did the same with his father then turned to gaze at the car park. He was fine, but she wasn’t and he wanted nothing more than to go and see her after his own stupid actions. “I know you hosted this party for me, but I, there’s something I need to do, I’ll be back”.

“And bring Mishti back with you” Mehul chuckled, arm around his wife’s waist, “Let him go, we all know he’s been more excited to see her than he has us, we have a long time to catch up with him”.

●●●

“Here, kitty, kitty” Mishti kept her gaze upwards, snapping her fingers at the cat up in the tree. “Come on, come on” she’d been stood there for what felt like forever trying to get this cat down, but the damn thing was adamant the jump was too big. “You have nine lives, I have one” she hissed as she began the climb up the tree, Allah better remember this sacrifice, she wasn’t ready for death yet. Stumbling on the nearest branch, she hit her head at the sound of a rough chuckle from the ground.

“Munchkin, are you stuck in a tree?” He bit on his fist to stop yet another round of laughter at her expense.

Rolling her eyes, she mimicked him silently, the nickname was a stupid one, when she was younger she had chubby cheeks and ever since his nickname had remained. “I’m not stuck” she retorted. 

She was indeed stuck, especially since her arrival made the cat finally take a leap of faith, pulling a branch from her hair, she nearly toppled backwards.

“Well, come on down then, don’t make me come up there and get you” he rested his back against the tree.

Why on earth couldn’t this be an apple tree? One apple dropping on his head and perhaps like Newton he’d make a discovery that this world did not revolve around him. “I will when you leave”.

Abir shook his head “Don’t you remember this tree? We always used to climb it”.

“Nooo” she corrected, “I used to climb it to get away from you and you’d follow me up here” at the silence in response, she was about to cheer only to see his hand an inch away from her foot, only Allah knew the strength it took not to dig her heel into his palm and watch him fall the same way she always did.

His grin was wide as he swung to sit beside her “Thought we should relive old memories, so, shall I push you or do you want to jump?”

Mishti tugged at her hair, wondering if it was long enough to form a noose she could hang herself with while she faced away from him. “How about I push you and then I’ll jump?”

“You’re into some kinky shit, Munchkin, but I’ll let it slide, you always were odd” he eyed her drenched clothing as he slid closer. “Just one question, am I the first man to make you wet?”

At that she finally lost it, shoving at his arm so he would fall backwards. It was just her luck that this stupid thirty-year-old man was determined to take her with him as he fell onto the grass and offered her a cheshire grin as she fell atop him.