"Is everything all right? You look troubled." Ranbir said on noticing Aryan lost in his thoughts.

"Nothing much." he tried to smile.

"Don't even try to lie to me. I know you better even than your mother." Ranbir placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I got it. Yaar, Shahana is behaving really weirdly since the morning. I even tried talking to her, but she snapped at me." he sighed.

"May be she is being troubled by something. I think you should try talking to her tomorrow again." Ranbir suggested.

"I guess you are correct." Aryan said and lapsed into the thought of ways to confront Shahana the next day.

-----

"Where is Shahana?" Aryan whispered into Ranbir's ears when he couldn't find Shahana in the whole house the next morning.

"How shall I know? She's your crush, you should know about her whereabouts." he whispered back.

"Shahana's sister is your girlfriend and soon to be wife. Go and ask her please." he requested.

"Prachi is your sister too. You ask her." Ranbir pointed.

"If I ask her, she may develop suspicions that I like Shahana. Please ask her for me, please........" Aryan pleaded.

"Ok, I'm going.......Stop looking at me like that!" he said to Aryan and went to Prachi. "Hey Prachi, where is Shahana?" he asked.

"Why are you inquisitive about her?" Prachi questioned eyeing him suspiciously.

"It's not for me. Aryan had some work with her.......He has sent me here." he replied quickly.

"She has gone to Hoshiarpur for some work. She will be back on the day of our engagement." she informed.

Ranbir in turn made Aryan aware of the same. Aryan wondered if Shahana had gone to Hoshiarpur intentionally.

-----

The days seemed to fly by in the rush of making the perfect arrangements for the engagement and other functions. But it was not the case for Aryan. For him, the each minute felt like an hour. Since the day she had gone, Shahana had cut all contacts with him. Neither did she answer his calls nor did she reply to his messages. Sometimes it seemed that she was a beautiful dream which had vanished now that he was awake.

But today was different. It was the day of Prachi and Ranbir's engagement and Aryan was the happier even more than the would be husband and wife. The reason for his happiness was that he knew Shahana would be coming back for the function because she couldn't miss the marriage of her sister at any cost. So, he was here, before everyone, staring at the door.

Shahana pushed the door slightly hoping that Aryan wasn't around so that she could silently sneak into her room. To her dismay, she found Aryan standing right there, probably staring at her too. She knew he had questions and she owed him the answers but she couldn't do that. Aryan opened his mouth to say something. Luckily, Prachi came at the exact moment.

"You are so late Shahana! Where were you? I was scared that you won't be coming for the engagement." Prachi exclaimed.

"I'm sorry. The bus got delayed. Mind it that I will not miss any of your marriage functions even if you yourself forbid me." Shahana replied with a smile.

"Let's get ready. The guests will start pouring in soon." Prachi said and took away Shahana with her.

-----

"Why do these girls take so long to get ready?" Ranbir grumbled while pacing to and fro.

"I don't know, it has already been 3 hours. Have they all slept?" Aryan complained.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your wait is over. Here comes the beautiful Prachi Mehra." Shahana announced from the top of the staircase.

All the eyes turned in that direction. Prachi came into view and began descending down the stairs gracefully, followed by Shahana.

Ranbir and Aryan couldn't move their away from them.

"I understand you like her and she's looking pretty, but staring at someone is a bad manner." Purab whispered in Aryan's ears with a fake cough.

Aryan tore away his glance from Shahana and turned with an embarrassed look towards Purab. "I.....I was not staring at Shahana." he lied.

"I didn't take Shahana's name." Purab pointed with a raised eye brow.

"I....I guessed because you were pointing towards her." he tried to cover the slip up.

"In that case, it's not good to stare at your best friends would be wife." Purab smirked.

"What?" Aryan was flabbergasted.

"Did I say anything wrong? I saw you staring in that direction and you denied staring at Shahana, so the only other girl there is Prachi." Purab shrugged.

"Dad!" Aryan realized that Purab had trapped him.

"I was just stating the facts."

"Ok. I was staring at Shahana." Aryan resigned.

"I knew it. Don't lie to me the next time, I am your dad." Purab reminded.

Ranbir forwarded his hand while Prachi accepted it. The glow on their faces reflected their happiness.

Aryan was eager to talk to Shahana but she ignored him and went to a group of friends. He stood there watching her and thanked his lucky stars that he had worn the same colored dress as hers.

Ranbir and Prachi were called onto the stage to exchange the rings. They did so amidst the sound of applause from the guests. It was time for the couple to have a dance. The lights were dimmed and soft music began to play. Ranbir held Prachi's hand and guided her to the dance floor.

Shahana decided to take advantage of the darkness and slip away. She was walking in a haste when a strong hand gripped her arm and forced her to turn towards its owner.

"What type of behavior is this Aryan?" Shahana asked angrily, trying to free her hand.

"Can you stop this game of hide n seek now? I know that you are avoiding me since a week. I just want to know the reason for it." Aryan too said it a bit rudely as Shahana's behavior had irked him.

"I'm not liable to you. Leave me." she said still trying to free herself.

"I'll not leave you till I get my answer." he replied obstinately.

"The person I love doesn't wants me to be friends with you." she shouted in frustration.

Aryan's grip loosened at the news and taking the opportunity, she wriggled away.

"She is already committed to someone............." Aryan gasped.