At the living room..

"I just came here to ask you a favour. Can you please hand over this file to Boss? I'm taking a day off from the office, so I won't be able to do it today," asked Sheetal as she took out a file from her bag and handed it over to Arnav.

Arnav nodded, taking the file from her hand, wondering why she thought it was okay to go to his house and ask for this favour instead of asking her boyfriend, Aman.

As if reading his thoughts, Sheetal explained, “I am going to the hospital with my mother. Your house is on the way, so it’s easier for me to come here instead of going to Aman’s house.”

"It's okay, bitiya. Why would you bother his friend, Aman? It's Chote's duty only to come to your rescue whenever you need any help," Nani smiled a little.

Sheetal smiled, blushing. Ratna raised her brows amused at the girl's acting skills.

Arnav was feeling suffocated and wanted this nightmare to end as soon as possible. He was feeling really uncomfortable and awful acting like a boyfriend to his best friend's girlfriend. Acting in real in front of his family proved to be worse than what he, Ayan, and Aman had thought while planning this.

Ayan was feeling guilty and pity of his brother as because of his initial lie, his brother is witnessing this day in his life.

"Is everything okay with your mother's health?" Nani asked politely as she heard Sheetal mentioning to Arnav that she's going to the hospital.

"Blood pressure high hai," Sheetal replied.

"Oh. She must be tensed, thinking about your wedding," Nani said, taunting her grandson to not make them wait anymore and take the next step as soon as possible.

Sheetal smiled awkwardly, "Yes…maybe…I think she’s been stressing about this topic a lot lately.”

"See.. I just knew it," Nani said.

Arnav frowned, looking up at his mother and gesturing her through his eyes to make Nani control her mouth. She was speaking more than necessary now.

Ratna immediately spoke, "Kya Ma.. don't pressure them to get married. Let them take their own time to take the final decision when they're ready for it."

"Yeah.. so, I guess that's it.. your mother must be waiting for you downstairs," Arnav forced a smile on his face when all he wanted to do was curse Sheetal's bad timing for showing up at his house.

"Hello hi bye bye.. why don't you invite your mother to come uparstairs and have breakvrat with us? Mami made the invitation as she was curious to see Arnav's future mother in law.

Arnav silently prayed for Sheetal to deny the offer, and for his luck, she did as she stood up from the sofa, holding her bags in her hands with a polite smile, "That's so sweet of you aunty. But some other time, for sure. We're getting late now."

Mami faked a smile, trying to hide her displeasure.

Nani gestured for Arnav to accompany Sheetal to the door. And he looked at Sheetal, making way for her to walk as he followed her and instead of walking her to the door, Arnav walked her down the stairs to her car.

"Hello hi bye bye.. gentleadmi accompanying his ladki till her car," Mami giggled, teasing behind.

Everyone was giggling and in teasing mood after the first meeting with Arnav's mysterious girlfriend, except Ratna, Ayan, and Khushi.

*****************************************

While descending the stairs with Sheetal, Arnav was playing with his hands awkwardly as he finally opened his mouth to speak, clearing his throat, "Well.. hmm.. thanks, yaar.. for you know, acting along.."

Sheetal nodded understandingly, "Aman must have told you that I had no problem in acting to be your girlfriend in front of your family. So yeah, I just did my part. I hope I was good at convincing everyone that I'm indeed your girlfriend."

"Yeah, and seriously, thank you so much for accepting to be a part of this stupid plan of mine. But you don't need to act anymore as my girlfriend,"

"Matlab?" Sheetal looked at him confused.

"It means I don't want to live like this by lying to my family and friends. Also, the girl I thought I was in love with, I'm not really in love with her anymore.. I mean, it's too complicated, and before things just get more messy, we better end this now," Arnav said. He was himself confused with his explanation, but the main point he wanted to convey to Sheetal is that he doesn't want to be a part of this facade anymore.

"Uh, okay," Sheetal nodded. Arnav noticed her expressions were of someone who wasn't pleased to hear his decision. And he wondered why the sudden change of expressions on her face.

"What will you explain to your family if they ask about me?" she asked.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll manage," he said.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

Arnav blinked his eyes assuringly. Sheetal nodded and waved at him as they finally reached downstairs at the parking lot area, "Okay then, bye. Thanks once again."

"You're welcome," he smiled politely, waving back at her and at Sheetal's mother, who was watching them from the car, before he walked back upstairs to his home.

*****************************************

Arnav and Ayan's room:

Arnav and Ayan were collecting their bags to leave after having their breakfast, when Ayan halted on his step in shock after hearing Arnav's reply to his question, 'What are you going to do now bhai?'

"I will tell the truth to Khushi," Arnav replied in a no-nonsense tone.

"What? No bhai. You can't tell the truth to Khushi didi. She will distance herself from you," Ayan cried.

"I've no other option, Ayan. Also, I've learned my lesson the hard way. I should have never lied to our family that I've a girlfriend only to avoid Nani and Mami from keeping an eye on me and Khushi," Arnav explained, "And you too, learn from your elder brother's mistake to not repeat them again in your life. Never lie to anyone and be very careful of the words that come out of your mouth when you talk with others in the heat of the moment. The words spoken out of anger and frustration have the power to break someone's heart, and it's really difficult to repair the pieces of a broken heart."

Ayan nodded his head sadly. He hugged his brother tightly, shutting his eyes, "I'm sorry, bhai. Ye sab mere wajah se hua (this all happened because of me). If I hadn't lied to Nani and Ma that Sheetal is your girlfriend, then -"

"Shh," Arnav hugged him back, patting his head affectionately, "It's not your fault, Ayan. You did everything you could to save me. It's only because of you that I got to spend quality time with Khushi without being watched and disturbed by Nani and Mami's constant tauntings. The fault is actually mine. Being the elder and mature one here, I should have acted more maturely instead of accepting to be a part of this plan. I should have known that in the future, this plan could backfire on me only."

*****************************************

Arnav dropped Ayan at his school first, then he drove to Khushi's college. The whole driving journey was filled with silence from both sides. It was only when they reached Khushi's college that Arnav parked the car near the gate and asked her to give him a few minutes as he needed to talk with her urgently.

"I'm getting late.. my classes have already started," Khushi said, avoiding eye contact with him as she unbuckled her seat belt, ready to leave.

"Khushi, please.. I made sure we reached 30 minutes earlier so you don't miss your classes," Arnav said, looking at him with  pleading eyes.

Khushi shut her eyes momentarily, embarrassed as he caught her lie before she sat back, waiting for him to speak.

"So.. I don't know where to start," he gulped, playing with his fingers nervously as Khushi looked really disinterested and impatient now.

"Maybe by explaining who Sheetal actually is? Is she your girlfriend or Aman bhai's girlfriend?" Khushi asked as she looked at him disappointed.

Arnav's eyes widened as he stared at her flabbergasted, "How do you know Sheetal is Aman's girlfriend?"

"Lavanya once told me about brother's girlfriend and showed me her picture," Khushi replied, with almost what it looked like a 'Duh!' expression to him. He knows she tried to mask that expression by looking away at the window side, pretending to look at the students walking here and there.

"I'm relieved to know that you already know Sheetal is not my girlfriend," he said softly.

"Can I go now?" she asked, trying to sound like impatient. But the truth is she's still upset with him. Okay, that she knows Sheetal is Aman's girlfriend, but he's still lying to everyone at home that she's his girlfriend. She doesn't know why, but this was making her doubt him. It's showing another side of his that she had no idea about. And now she's not sure if she still thinks he's a good man, the one she felt comfortable with before. She really wanted to distance herself from him as soon as possible before she regrets having accepted his friendship proposal.

"Khushi, wait.. I still owe you explanations,"  he said guiltily.

"No, you don't, Arnav ji. I have nothing to do with you, Sheetal or Aman bhai. I don't know why you're lying to your family, and neither do I want to know about it. Please keep me out of this mess," Khushi said, staring at him seriously, "I came here to Delhi with a purpose. I just want to concentrate on my studies for now."

"For the sake of the friendship we once shared, can you please listen to what I've to share with you? After this, I promise I really won't bother you anymore," he spoke hurt.

Khushi sat in silence. She calmed herself, feeling bad for speaking so harshly with the only person who had helped her so much since she shifted to Delhi.

"I just want to let go of what I've been hiding from you for a long time. You always shared everything about your personal life and your feelings with me. But I never shared my feelings with you. I wasn't a good friend to you. I admit it. I hide a lot of things from you. And after knowing what I've been hiding from you, you might not even want to be my friend anymore. I'll completely respect your decision, Khushi. But today, I just want to say everything that's in my heart to you," he said, determined to speak nothing but the truth to her.

Khushi looked at him, feeling her heart beating fast as she prepared herself for worse.

"Khushi.. the first day I saw you, I clearly remember you sitting with your father, a timid girl wearing a plain white and pink salwar kameez suit. When I saw you, this word, 'Oh Rabba (Oh God)', left my mouth in flow and unconsciously. I was mesmerised by your beauty, and I was convinced that I fell in love with you at first sight," he took a deliberate pause to glance at her, waiting to see her reaction.

Khushi shifted her gaze away from him, taken aback by his sudden confession. She shifted her on her seat uncomfortably.

"Relax, Khushi, please. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable," he whispered in a soothing tone.

But Khushi didn't look at his face. She just sat quietly there when inside, she could feel her heart beat so fast as if it would burst with the intensity of the emotions she was going through.

"So, now you know why I was always against you calling me bhai. Then I noticed that even after staying with us for two weeks, you were still shy, afraid, and uncomfortable with us. You used to stay locked up in your room most of the time and rarely interacted with any of us at home. I tried to interact with you and be your friend, but you were reluctant to accept my friendship because your family doesn't allow you to have male friends. But, still, I managed to convince you to be my friend, and you finally agreed. This is where I failed as a friend, because that day you made me promise that we would be only friends, nothing more than that. I accepted it, but then I crossed my fingers behind my back, invalidating my promise. Because I thought I would make you my friend first and then later you would fall in love with me too. Nani started to get suspicious about my feelings for you, especially because I didn't want you to call me bhai whereas Akash and Ayan had no problem with it, and I used to look at you differently. Nani was afraid we would get closer to each other and take a wrong step that would bring shame to our families, especially because your father trusted her with your responsibility. Your father  instructed her to keep an eye on you and your activities, make sure you only concentrate on your studies, and don't distract yourself with other things. That's why she was constantly making efforts to keep us far away from each other and make you stay at home, mostly as she would be assured you won't do anything wrong then. And this is why Ayan had to lie to Nani and my mother that I've no such feelings for you because I already have a girlfriend, Sheetal. By letting Nani know I already have a girlfriend, she would stop controlling your moves every time, and she wouldn't have a problem if I talked with you or took you out sometimes. That's exactly what happened, Nani stopped looking at me suspiciously as if I'm committing a crime every time I interacted with you. Everything was going well, and this Nani's issue was temporarily solved. And I had more time to spend with you and make you fall for me and also time to start impressing Shashi uncle, your father that I was good option for him to choose as your groom."

"With the conviction that you would fall in love with me too during these four years, I started making plans to impress your father so that it becomes easy for me when I ask your hand in marriage to him. I wanted to convince him to let me help him by paying half of your college fees. I spoke to Ma about this. This is when I woke up to reality when my mother gave me a reality check, not only Ma.. Aman had previously talked with me. They made me understand the risk I'm taking by falling for you. They told me to take things easy, give it time to make sure that what I'm feeling for you.. is it true, love or not.. is it worth it or not.. and most importantly, I was just planning things for the future.. but I didn't even ask for your consent.. I was not even sure if in future you would fall for me or not.. what if in future you fall for someone else.. then only I will get heartbroken."

He continued getting nothing but silence from her side, "I realized they were right.. it's just recently that I started questioning myself if what I feel for you is indeed love, attraction, or infatuation. I still don't know the answer. But I'm not worried about it anymore. Now, I just want to end this mess I created and live the moment like I used to before you came into my life. I'm really sorry, Khushi. You know everything I was planning for our future didn't sound as awful as it is now when I'm sharing with you. But unfortunately, I can't change anything now."

"And yeah, also, the day you found me muttering to myself that Mami and Shashi uncle are playing Amrish Puri's role in my life, I was indeed talking about your father, not my senior in office. When I said to you that I'm going to show you our house, I was including you as a member of my family too, and when I said to Ma that I would wait for four years to get married, it was also because you would have completed your studies by that time. These are small things I lied to you as well," he added with an innocent guilty tone.

"So this is everything I wanted to share with you, Khushi. See, I've no problem if we continue to be friends, this time I promise to you sirf dosti hi hoga aur kuch nahi (only friendship and nothing else), but I also understand after knowing about all this I shared with you, you may not want to continue this friendship with me. I'll respect whatever your decision is," he said genuinely.

"I need time to think," she whispered. Her eyes moistened, and he was dying every minute in guilt now seeing her state only because of his stupidity.

"Take your time," he nodded. She opened the car's door and walked away.

Arnav was sad, yet relieved that he finally told her the truth. He had nothing to hide anymore. He chanted to himself to rub off this anxious feeling that was taking control of his mind and body, "Sochna kya.. joh bhi hoga dekha jayega, kal ke liye aaj ko na khona, aaj yeh na kal aayega (why think about it, we'll face whatever happens, don't lose today for tomorrow, today will not come again tomorrow)."