Before you begin the read. This chapter has dual Point of Views!

_______________________________________________________

Running Away

Chapter 6

Rahul's P.O.V.

I'm going to talk to Avni and get the closure and the answers I have long awaited to hear.

Remain calm. Let her talk. Keep an open mind.

I chant repeatedly.

I take one final deep breath to calm my nervous heart as I notice I'm nearing the tenth floor on the screen inside the elevator.

It'll be okay. We are just going to talk like civilised adults. There will be no yelling and blaming. I'm going to keep an open mind. It's a talk. It'll be okay. I'll be okay.

I remind myself one last time as I watch the elevator door open. I proceed to walk towards Shelley's house, but my movement comes to a stop when I notice Avni standing before me.

I feel my eyes go wide and my lips parting.

Avni's face mimics my expression.

The only difference is, her face looks swollen. Her eyes are fluffy and red. And there's a thin stream of tears flowing down her cheeks.

I wonder what went wrong with her.

I take a step closer to her. My gaze stays fixated over her.

This wasn't something I was expecting to see.

The grieve look on her face makes my heart melt. I feel like pulling her into a tight hug, weaving my hand through her hair and slowly massaging her scalp and at the same time lightly patting her back, repeatedly. I want to wipe off the tears running down her face and whisper encouraging yet calming words in her ear.

But I refrain myself. That would be highly inappropriate.

Why do I suddenly feel overprotective of her? Why do I feel the need to comfort her? Why is her agonised face making me feel sad? I question myself.

Not a single valid, reasonable or a nearly satisfying answer registers my mind.

I must conclude by saying, I don't know why I am feeling the way I am feeling.

"Wha...What are you doing here?" I hear her ask. Her voice sounds rough and hoarse.

I choose to ignore her question. "Why are you crying? What happened to you?" I ask instead.

I take another step closer to her, but she instantly retracts a step back.

Okay. Honestly speaking, that hurt.

I try my best to ignore that little movement.

It's all right. It's all okay. We haven't been in contact for the longest of times. This sort of reaction is normal. I try convincing myself.

I intently watch her agape expression, trying to figure out what must have gone wrong.

Shelley was right to not allow me to talk to her last night. She doesn't even seem in a good state to have the blasted, closure-seeking conversation I intend to have.

It's going to have to wait for another time.

I shouldn't be adding more problems to her already full plate. She seems like she is on the verge of a major emotional breakdown.

She did run away from home. Something terrible must have happened.

I sigh. I can't believe I'll have to wait longer for my so needed closure than I already have.

"I...I...I have to go," She mutters. Her furrowed, lost and dazed looking eyes confirm the indecisiveness of her words.

"Don't leave Avni. Stay. I am here for you." I say, in the most compassionate voice.

I can't tolerate watching her cry and be alone at the same time.

"You are here...for me?" She asks, astonished.

"Yes. I am." I confirm and flash an assured, trustful smile.

Avni's P.O.V.

The current happenings are beyond my mere understanding. Either I'm dreaming or have gone delusional or it's time to admit myself into a mental asylum.

It's got be one of those three options. Because there is no way in world that Rahul would ever utter those words for me.

Because last time I checked, I'm pretty sure he was hating on me.

"Why? Why are you suddenly being so nice to me?" I ask.

I can't deal with his confusing, domineering and caring behaviour. Not right now. Or maybe ever again.

I want to be alone and far away from people and conversations. It's too tiring and painful.

Every new moment attracts new sources of headaches and problems. I don't when I am going to be done with solving every issue in my life.

Taking in regard the pace times ticking and the emotional turmoil within me, I believe it's going to take forever to sort out a single issue.

I'm too emotionally disturbed and weak to make fight way through this battle.

"I guess I can't handle seeing you cry. Not alone at least." He says and offers me a small smile.

I bite on my lower lip as I try to analyse the situation before me. I feel conflicted. I know Rahul's being truthful about his intentions, but I can't seem to ignore the feeling of weirdness up-surging within me. I am not used to Rahul being so nice and sweet.

We had spent our time arguing and ignoring each other before I left five years ago, so this sudden act of caring and love, it feels too hard to believe in.

I shake my head and move away from him.

I can't. I can't do this. I can't... I can't believe him. I can't have my hopes come crashing down again. I can't do this. And I won't. I won't do this to myself.

"What's wrong Avni?" Rahul asks, concern laced into his voice.

"You need to stop with your acting. I know you don't care. You haven't cared for me for the longest of times, you don't have to start now." I say, curtly.

"Believe it or not, I do care for you Avni. Always have." He says, never once breaking the eye contact.

I shake my head. "I don't believe you. You can't act like nothing ever happened Rahul. You were mean to me, you disrespected me, you disregarded me and now you say that you care? How can I believe you?" I challenge.

"You fucking betrayed me!" He yells. His cool, calm and collected demeanor, all gone in whif of a moment. "And you are standing there, saying that everything was my fault."

I'm taken back by his tone and words. "I never betrayed you. At least my actions weren't intentional. What happened was a big mistake. I was just trying to protect you, but things went berserk." I answer, firmly.

"Protect me? From whom?" He raises his left eyebrow, demanding answers, challenging my words.

"From Kritika. I told you a hundred times she isn't the person she portrayed to be. And you didn't listen to me. Instead, you let her manipulate you and your turned against me! Your best friend!" I say, venomously.

Rahul half-chuckles, half-snorts and shoots me an unbelievable glance. "Don't drag Kritika into it. If it weren't for Kritika I would have never known about you and Sid. And how you guys kissed." He spats back.

After all these years, and he still believes Kritika's words.

"I expected more from you. I expected you to have my back. I didn't expect you to betray my trust. You should have never talked to Sid. You know how I hated that guy. It was all your fault Avni. Not Kritika's." He says in a vulnerable tone.

"Listen to me once. Listen to my side of story once, before getting all protective and possessive of Kritika. Everything I ever did was for you! I was just trying to prove to you that Kritika isn't the type of person you thought of her to be." I plead.

"How is kissing Sid, for me, huh?" Rahul glares at me.

Ugh. How am I to ever explain him anything? He is so ready to jump to conclusions all the time! He hasn't changed one bit. And nor has this conversation. Maybe expect the part where we both always walked away when it got too heated.

"Please Rahul. Give me a chance and I'll explain you everything. What I did, why I did what I did, and how Kritika isn't the person you thought of her to be." I say. I just need a little bit of his time to explain him everything. But he needs to sit down calmly, without uttering a single word. Only then I can get my side of the story out.

"There's nothing you can say against Kritika. She was one the best things to happen to me. And I won't tolerate you bad talking about her. Get that in your head." He says seriously and firmly. "And as for your explanation, nothing is ever going to justify your actions. What you did was unacceptable. Period. You did it. And that made me feel betrayed."

I feel the anger within me boil.

He is doing it again. He is making feel guilty and blaming me for everything that went wrong. No. This isn't going to happen this time.

"Well you ignored me, you took me for granted, you broke my heart, Rahul. All I ever wanted was for you to be there for me. You were my friend. My best friend. But you had managed to completely forget about me. You left me fend for myself when I actually needed you. Did you even know what was going on with me that year? Did you even notice, even once? No you didn't. You never had time for me." I say, pain seething through me.

"Oh come on! Don't make this all about you now!" Rahul states, slightly annoyed.

"You were wrong too, Rahul. Admit it. You were in the wrong too. Or are you still too proud to accept that? I know I've made mistakes, but at least I owned up to it and apologized too." I say.

Rahul stare at me, blankly. I got to him. He is thinking over my words, trying to analyse, trying to accept them, but miserably failing at it. He'll never admit he made mistakes too. I know it.

"Don't blame it on me, Avni. It was all you. You hurt me. A lot. With your baseless accusations on Kritika, you hanging around with Sid and finally when you left. Without a goddamn word. You were just gone one morning and then you ignored me. Friends don't do things like that. They support and have each other's back." Rahul says through gritted teeth, lowly. Anguish is evident in his tone.

"Friends believe each other too. You didn't believe me, Rahul."

There's a long pause, awkward silence, and two heavily breathing pair of lungs.

My gaze is fixated over Rahul, but his head is turned to his right. He is deeply lost in his thoughts. His facial expression, serious and contemplative.

This whole conversation seems so futile. For once we both are hearing each other out, but we still aren't listening. There's a gap between the bridge which can only be filled with belief and trust. Something that severely lacked at the moment.

Rahul takes a deep breath and says, "You should have stayed gone, Avni." His tone is distastefully. There is no room to fit more words into.

He turns around and faces the metallic elevator door.

I feel my heart getting heavy with pain as I watch him dab the button for the elevator and waits for it to open. The thin thread our relationship was walking upon, I feel it tearing apart. Slowly and painfully. Until now we had at least something. Misguided anger, longingness, and most importantly hope.

But now, all of that's gone too.

Things are over.

Completely.

There's no more healing.

Our friendship - it's all a history now.

I lift my hand to place it over my rapidly beating heart as I watch him enter the elevator. He turn around and presses the ground floor button on the panel to the right. He stares at me all the while. His gaze intense. His lips are curled into a thin line. He looks deeply hurt and pained.

I want to say something, stop him, but I do nothing. I feel paralysed. I too shocked by his words, too hurt to say or do anything.

The elevator door closes, and the only thing before me is the dull blue coloured metal elevator door.

He is gone.

Just like that. 

______________________________________________________________

That's an end to another chapter! 

Let me know what you think of it. 

If you enjoyed it, do share it with your friends, comment and don't forget to vote! 

Thank you for reading. 

- Love 

Soniya :D