Purvi got inside her room, making sure to lock it carefully , before she sat on her bed and took out her phone. she opened her contacts, as she scrolled through them, until she reached the letter k, and started to look carefully. She clicked on the contact, 'kavin', and then on the photo saved for it. A 16 year old kavin, hugged a 15 year old Purvi from the back, as he planted a kiss on her cheek, while she closed her eyes and captured it in a selfie. She smiled fondly at the photo, as she closed her eyes and remembered how it felt like.

"abhi bhi waise hi lagte ho..." she remarked to herself.

***

A knock was on the door, as kavin got up to see who it was, only to find dushyant there. He immediately got inside.

"saale, itna avoid kiya mereko aaj pure din tune...huh?" said dushyant, as he playfully beat kavin's arm.

"dush yaar..." attempted kavin to respond.

"mess main keh raha tha sab thik hai, koi baat nahi, ab tere baap ka tu kya kar sakta hai! Phir bilkul aisi harkatein karega jaise naraaz hai..." continued dushyant to scold him.

"pata haina, meri jaan nikal jaati hai jab baat nahi karta hai tu!" he yelled.

Only for him to drop the act of anger, and start to get serious.

"yaar, i am sorry, mujhe koi idea nahi tha woh aise act karenge tere saath..." apologised dushyant.

"i mean, i don't know, last time tu ghar aaya tha, you were helping me out with maths for our 10th boards, aur papa toh teri taarefein hi jap rahe the....pata nahi aaj, kahan se.." expressed dushyant his puzzled thoughts.

Kavin remained mum, as he remembered what had happened that year, and after all these years, Sameer must have gotten some clue of it after all.

"mujhe toh koi idea nahi tha, woh aisa sochte hain tere baarein mein..." stated dushyant, as kavin scoffed.

"just because tu mere baarein mein uss tarah nahi sochta hai, toh puri duniyaa nahi sochegi?" he questioned.

"kavin..." resisted dushyant.

"main hamesha ek canteen mein khaana banane waali ka beta hi rahunnga, dushyant. Aur saari umar waisa hi treat kiya jaayega mujhe. Aur yeh tu ya main nahi badal sakte." concluded kavin.

***

sameer kept aside his cup of tea, as he did for neelu's. 

"toh kaisa kaam kar rahi hai ladki?" he questioned. 

"arre, bahaut achi hai sameer...dekho, ab toh halka sa yeh bhi hil jata hai.." she said, eyeing towards her toe. 

"chalo, kuch toh usse aata hi hai, yeh do saal ki padhai ke baad..."he responded. 

"tum meri maano, aage jaake, bahaut badiya doctor banegi..." she commented. 

"hmm, bas shukar manao abhi iski padhai nahi puri hui thi, warna 8,000 nahi, 12,000 se upar hi dena padta. mujhe toh ajay bata raha tha ki apni maa ke liye ek nurse 20,000 ki padi usse...inn logon ne bhi loot hi machai hui hai." he retorted. 

"toh nurse banna kaunsa asaan hota hai, phir kaam bhi toh dekho kitna hota hai..." argued neelu. 

"aur kaam toh yeh doctor ke bina kar nahi sakti...phir kya faydaa..." he quipped. 

suddenly, the bell rang. 

"lagta hai aa gaya tumhara laadla." he remarked as he got up to answer the door.

                                                                           ***

sameer opened the door, as dushyant entered inside the house.

"toh, aaj bhi kavin ke saath the?" he questioned, as he locked the door. 

"aapki badtameezi ki maafi maang raha tha..." replied dushyant, as he stood with this arms crossed. 

"kyun, acha nahi laga sunke, ki uski maa karti kya hai.." retorted sameer. 

"jiss tarah se aapne kaha, woh badtameezi thi..koi zaroorat nahi thi uss sab ki." argued dushyant. 

"zaroorat thi, tumhara dost koi dhoodh ka dhula nahi hai, bahaut karname kiye hai usne ki tum andaza bhi nahi laga sakte ho..." argued sameer back. 

"acha, aur aap hai, doodh ke dhule?" questioned dushyant. 

"hadd mein raho, baap hoon tumhara..." warned sameer. 

"aapko kya pata hadd mein rehne ke baarein mein! aap toh roz hi paar karte ho!" exclaimed dushyant. 

"dushyant!" yelled sameer. 

"ek toh tum ghar ki responsibility nahi lena chahte ho, upar se tumhe zubaan bhi ladani hai! itna bhi lehaj nahi raha, ki ek baat maan lo, meri.." scolded sameer. 

"aapki laadli haina aapki baatein maane ke liye, kariye apni daadagiri uspe." responded dushyant. 

"tumhari behen responsiibilities nibha rahi hai apni...tum toh badhe ho.." argued sameer. 

"yeh joh responsibilities ki baatein aap karte hain, ismein aapki responsibilities ka kya, huh? aapka na farz banta mom ke liye kuch karne ka, kyunki jitna mujhe yaad hai, accident ke baad do din hi ghar rahe hain aap...kaam hamesha se purvi hi kar rahi hai! toh mujhe lecture aap toh mat hi de iss barein mein.." argued dushyant back. 

"toh yeh ghar free mein chalta hai kya! ab sirf main kamaata hoon ghar mein, ab main jaake na kamao!" yelled sameer. 

"dekh  raha hoon, extra kamaai kahan se laa rahe ho..." retorted dushyant, as sameer raised his brow. 

"kya haina dad, aap bhi doodh ke dhule nahi ho." stated dushyant, as he left for his room. 

***

ishita locked the bathroom carefully, as she took out two shampoo bottles that were carefully wrapped in her dupatta, as she replaced the shampoo bottle on the shelf with one of them. she then opened the lid of the other, as she started filling something from it, to the old shampoo bottle. she cleared out the new one with water by the wash basin, and wrapped the old one in her dupatta. 

she came out and threw the new one in the dustbin, as she kept the old one in a cupboard, where soaps, creams, and toothpaste was kept. 

"rakh diya na nayi waali shampoo bottle?" asked savita, as she cooked chapatis. 

"haan.." replied ishita. 

"chalo thik hai, ab subha-subha pareshaani nahi hogi..." stated savita, as ishita nodded in agreement. 

"khaana lagne waala hai, khaake padh lena, aaja!" exclaimed savita, as ishita cleared out her books, and making room for the plates to be placed on the floor. 

***

author's note: thanks for all the lovely comments on the last chapter, really appreciate it, and also for the votes, means a lot. so, as you can see, everyone is hiding a lot of things to unravel later, so keep on reading...