Post lunch, Maahi and Nikita packed up Maahi's stuff from both the apartments. Maahi did take up Nikita on the offer of leaving her extra luggage in her guest room so she wouldn't have to haul it around to the hotel. And then they had Parth use his muscles to load it all up and unload it. Ofcourse, they helped too but they were being leisurely about it while he was being serious about it so he could spend some time with Maahi afterwards.

He had only the short weekend before he'd have to return home and report back to his job.

Given it was the end of the month, Nikita and Blake had their monthly date. Maahi wouldn't let her move it to next even though both she and Blake claimed they wouldn't mind so they could all go out and celebrate.

So, that night, as luck would have it, Maahi and Parth got the chance to be alone. Parth asked, "Can I take you out somewhere?"

She patted the spot next to her on the couch, "How about we just stay in? I don't know about you but I am tired from all the moving about."

He listened and took a seat, "Yeah, I am too. I just figured you might want to go somewhere."

She smiled and shook her head, "Not tonight."

He asked the inevitable question, "So, Ms. Kaur, how do you feel the single life so far?"

She chuckled, "Don't you mean the divorced life?"

He rolled his eyes, "Please, let's not go to the technicalities. As far as I am concerned, you are single first, divorced second."

"Aww," she pinched his cheeks. "Aren't you just adorable?"

He raised a brow in amusement, "Really, love? Adorable?"

"Well, it was sweet." She cheekily admitted. "Anyway, what should we do about dinner?"

"I'm not really that hungry. Something light, maybe? You?"

"Same, how about some quick pasta? Nothing fancy, it'll take barely 15-20 minutes to make."

He was down for it and so both made their way over to the kitchen. Getting up from the couch, Maahi jumped coming to a stop in the kitchen crashing into his back and stumbling back. In amusement, he reached out for her but she'd already ran into the opposite counter where the sink was. She winced twisting her arm around to rub her lower back.

"How much did you and Nicky already drink?"

"Nothing." She answered but he raised a brow in disbelief. "I swear, we didn't. I'm just... happy." The feeling was giving her permission to do silly things.

He did believe her at that. He could see the happiness reflecting in her eyes.

He went to pull out a pot before bringing it over to the sink. He expected her to move so he could turn on the tap behind her, but she didn't. She pretended to be unaware as she checked her nails and the chipped nail polish. He gave a 'fine, be that way' look, not that she saw it as she wasn't looking at his face. Smirking, he stepped closer, having his own pretense that there was no one standing there in front of him. Her tiny frame against his molded as he leaned in.

Her thumb on her index finger froze as her vision filled with his dark green polo shirt. His chest brushed against her skin. His arms wrapped around her either sides and towering over her, he turned on the tap to fill the pan. His breath fell over her ear causing her to contain a shiver. She inhaled deeply but inaudibly, catching a faint whiff of his musky cologne.

After having baited her, he stepped away. Casually as if it had been nothing, he asked. "Get the pasta from the pantry, will you?"

She inhaled raggedly again to gain enough strength to walk without wobbly knees. It was difficult given he had just completely invaded her senses. Then again, what was she hoping for? She was the one who'd started this and he'd shown her who was better in one move itself.

Gulping, she walked into the pantry and for the longest, just stood there. She no longer remembered what she was there to get. Biting his lower lip in amusement, he followed her. Standing behind her, he placed his hand on her back to get his attention. She turned her head towards him and he nodded for her to walk out as he grabbed the box of penne pasta that was sitting right on the shelf in the front.

Embarrassed, she walked over to the stove where water was slowly starting to heat up. After placing the box on the counter, he opened the fridge to get the sauce out. "Alfredo or marinara?"

"Both." She made her choice, deciding to have the best of both while putting the pasta into the pot.

As they waited for the pasta to boil, she leaned back against the counter so she wasn't standing with her full weight on her heels. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"I'm thinking of joining a gym but other than that, nothing really. Look for places I can rent maybe? Why?"

"Well... I'm only here till Sunday." He informed her alas, and Sunday was only two days away. Tomorrow was Saturday.

"Oh."

"Yeah, so I was thinking... we could do something? Go someplace."

She nodded, "Ofcourse, yeah. Anything in mind?"

And so they discussed places in and near the city they hadn't been to in a while – and given that Parth only came to Philly when he was visiting Nicky, there were a lot of places he hadn't been to. It made the job of planning a day out easy.

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Just after they finished eating, they grabbed a tub of ice-cream from he freezer and decided to watch a movie in the guest room so they could sit comfortably on the bed instead of out on the couch in the living room. Because they were in a good mood, they watched a romantic comedy. Rumor has it and it eventually turned into a Jennifer Aniston marathon by watching Picture Perfect and The Switch. They were currently on the last one when they heard the front door opening. They didn't pay much attention to it, just thinking Nikita and Blake were back from their dinner date.

Until a minute later, the door to the bedroom next to them slammed shut in a rush. Both of them looked at each other in confusion and Parth fished for the remote to lower the voice. The walls were thin and they could hear crystal. Maahi grumbled, "Oh hell no. Nicky!"

He was on the same page, "Could have given us a little warning."

They were ofcourse talking to each other and not yelling it for the married couple to hear.

He asked, "Stay or ditch?"

Maahi suggested, knowing there was no way she was staying while her best friend was getting it on with her husband in the next room. "Ditch. You can take me to my hotel room."

"Right," he had almost forgotten she wasn't going to be staying the night. Quietly and quickly, both grabbed their things and walked out of the place.

As they got close to the hotel, he asked. "Mind if I stay for a bit?"

Sympathizing on how he probably didn't want to return to his sisters' place right away, she didn't deny. "Not at all."

They went straight to the elevators after the doorman opened the door to let him in. It was one of those nice hotels. Yes, her savings were going to take a hit but she'd decided to treat herself. It's exactly what he asked as they were in the elevator, "Can you afford this?"

She didn't take any offense and shrugged her shoulders. "For now. I don't plan on being here more than a week so it's fine."

The doors opened on the 4th floor. They walked out and she led the way to the right of the parting hallway where her room was.

She put the key in the card slot to turn on the lights. "Make yourself at home. I'm going to change."

"Wait, got your laptop? We can finish watching the movie."

At that suggestion, she took a detour to retrieve her laptop and plugged in the password. "Netflix should already be logged in." She informed.

He nodded, plopping on the bed and taking off his shoes. He took a second to take notice of her wallpaper. A picture from Nikita's wedding. The smile on Maahi's face was a different one altogether. From a time when she loved with every bit of her soul. He realized how even through some of the toughest times in her life, she had pulled through with holding on to a happy memory from before her life was turned upside down with the means of a simple wallpaper.

He didn't realize when he made a silent promise to himself to help bring that light back in her eyes. Even with the divorce finalized and Sonu technically gone from her life, he understood it would take her some time before she would feel alright.

She rummaged through her bag for a pair of clothes to change into – a cotton tank and gym shorts. She wasn't going to wear PJs and then have to change again after Parth left. Over the years, she'd gotten used to going to sleep in night slips but ofcourse that was when she was married. She wasn't going to change into that right now when Parth was here.

Minutes later, she returned having washed the light make up off her face from the day and her hair tied up in a ponytail wearing the tight tank that accentuated her curves. He hadn't at first glanced up as he'd been busy going through the photos folder in her laptop. "You don't have lot of photos in here."

"Hey!" She scolded placing her hands on her hips, "You can't be going through my stuff."

He glanced up with a smirk, planning a comeback, but didn't get there as his eyes fell on her. She was wearing the most normal thing possible and yet it had an effect on him.

Realizing he was gaping, she snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. He blinked and realized she'd come closer to the bedside. "Stop eye-raping me and move."

"Why?" She raised her brow and he clarified, "I meant why do I have to move? Just get in on the other side."

She smacked her lips in denial, "Nope, I like this side better. I compromised enough the last years."

"We're going to have a problem then," he passed the comment but moved nonetheless. She caught on that he preferred the same side as well, but oh well. She decided it won't be an issue until later. Much later.

Pulling the covers, she slipped inside and let them bunch around her waist. The blanket felt so warm and the mattress was soft as feather. She pretty much dug into the mattress under her light weight.

"Ready." She let him know and he leaned over to his side to turn off the lights. She caught a glimpse of his flexing muscles just before the blue light made it difficult for her to gaze at it. Keeping the laptop on his thigh and having it turned slightly so she could see too, he pressed play.

Five minutes later, she was sliding in the bed to better support her back and getting comfortable with her head against his shoulder. "Can you see?" He asked to ensure and felt her nod.

She sighed at the scene when the main characters meet again after years. "He just needs to tell her how he feels about her!"

He scolded, "Shh, no whining until the end."

She chuckled, "Dude, I'm sure you've watched this movie a couple times before." It was one of Nikita's favorite actress, so yeah – she was certain she'd have made her twin brother watch it with her.

He wrapped his arm around her to rest on her side and she shifted her head halfway to his chest. "So what? I still prefer to watch movies in silence."

She lifted her head to look at him and commented with a smirk, "Then ditching was definitely the right choice."

He laughed well aware what she was talking about. "Definitely." Before she'd say anything else, he moved his hand from her side to cover her mouth, "Now shh, no more talking."

Just because it felt natural, she answered by kissing the inside of his cupped palm. He glanced down at her, removing his hand and she teased, "You so don't know how to take advantage of the concept 'Netflix and chill'.

His lips twitched in a smirk, "Oh, trust me, love. I do. I'm trying to pick Jennifer Anniston over you for one night."

She swatted his chest at the teasing. "You don't say that to a girl on a date."

"I wasn't aware this was a date." He countered playfully. He kept on saying he wanted to watch the movie in silence, and yet he kept replying to her. Definitely having caught that on, she purposely kept the conversation going because it was fun. That smile was staying on her lips. It had stayed on pretty much the entire night. It was a wonder how her cheeks and jaws weren't hurting already.

"Isn't it? We had food. Movies. You came to drop me back. Invited yourself in."

His tongue slipped out to wet his bottom lip, "Ah, it does look like one, but no. When we have our first date, it'll be an event. This is just two people hanging out. Getting to know each other."

She laughed, "Parth, I'm pretty sure that is a proper definition of dating."

He opened his mouth to counter when he finally realized what she was doing. He narrowed his eyes in a scolding, "Stop being sly." He rewinded the movie a bit for the parts he'd missed.

Shaking her head, she remained quiet as much as she wanted to continue pulling his leg. Minutes later, his thumb brushed against her bare side with the tank riding up a bit. It was unintentional at first. She glanced up at him at the contact, her stomach stiffening, until she realized he was too engrossed in the movie. She went back to it and he might have been engrossed in it, but after that, she definitely had his attention.

The pad of his thumb grazed her skin again, this time on purpose. She bit her bottom lip to bite back a gasp as she felt the tickle. His hand slipped under her top, resting on her belly. She felt the tingles to her core. When she'd commented about Netflix and Chill and everything, she was ofcourse just joking about. She didn't mean it. She wasn't ready to fool about.

"This," he whispered leaning his face in to speak by her ear, "is how you distract without talking."

She released a breath realizing he was just teasing and making a point. Once again in a single move, he'd won her over. He moved his hand away and nudged the top back down to cover her waist. Arm around her neck, he pressed his lips into a chaste peck over her temple. In a way, he was letting her know he didn't need to have anything more with her right away. He'd said it a week ago how he did want more with her, but he'd meant that as emotionally as well.

And, he very well understood she needed to heal on her own first from her broken marriage before she'd be ready for any physical intimacy. Until then, he knew he had lots to learn about her and vice-versa.

Right now, this time in the present with watching the movie and cooking a simple dinner together and eating – that in itself was a huge thing. He couldn't remember a time with any of the girls he'd dated before where he'd felt such comfort initially itself where he didn't feel the need to impress anyone or the pressure of working up a conversation. Especially given how they had been his teenage and early 20s, he was ofcourse more interested in sex than a proper commitment. He had been no different than any other guy then.

Leaving the stupidity behind and growing up, it certainly wasn't the same anymore.

With her, it had always been natural and there wasn't even the need to be constantly talking about something. Silence wasn't awkward.

In a few minutes, she felt her eyes heavy with sleep. She tried to push it back. She knew she should sit up so she wouldn't fall asleep. Alas, she didn't even have that strength. The month-long fight over the divorce settlements were coming down on her. And something about dozing off listening to his quiet, rhythmic heart beat brought about a whole different level of solace.

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【 Author Note 】

A new start for them! Mostly light with a few quick moments but more upcoming! Let me know what you think and I'll see you on Wednesday! Hope you'll have a good week!

It's my last week at home and I might not be able to come visit for an entire year so I know I'll be trying to make the most of it. (: