Aarya and Aarav made their way to the school with the children, across the street in Indore. Upon arrival, Aarya focused her attention to the children, making sure she appeared calm.

The children were kindly warned by Aarav to avoid leaving their class or talking to strangers, in a gentle manner.

"They all said "Yes, uncle Aarav" in unison, except Pooja.

""I am sorry about yesterday," Pooja said with a glum look on her face.

"Don't worry, I'm here today and it's not your fault," Aarya's reassuring smile accompanied her words.

Upon seeing Aarya's smile, Pooja responded with a half-smile of her own.

"Head to your classes, Aarav and I will be here waiting," Aarya said as she dismissed them to their classes.

The children walked hand in hand towards the gate, where they turned and waved. Aarav and Aarya returned the wave with smiles.

Aarya tracked them with her gaze as they entered the school and disappeared from view.

Aarav's hand was clasped around hers as she shifted her gaze towards him. He flashed a confident smile and asked, "Why don't you tell me about Indore?" Hoping to take her mind off her worries.

"Mumbai is much better than Indore," she admitted.

"I won't argue with that," he firmly stated.

With a look, Aarya questioned his confidence, saying "You're quite confident, aren't you?"

He said, "You said so yourself, don't look at me that way,"

Aarya couldn't help but laugh.

Within the school, a gunshot was suddenly heard, followed by screams of horror and the sound of running feet.

"The children..." Aarya exclaimed and ran into the school and saw students running out of a classroom, while adults were going in. She suspected that the gunshots came from inside the school, so she slid herself inside.

Upon entering the class, a man was near a girl lying unconscious on the floor, her uniform has blood all over it, and another man was in conversation with him when she caught sight of them.

Fear was creeping inside her, Aarya was shaken to the core as she had never seen anything as horrifying as this.

In what way was the man able to shoot the girl? She looked out the window and saw an evidence of a bullet hole in the glass. The other school building was visible in the distance, she concluded that the shot was fired from its roof. She hoped the individual responsible would be caught.

Her eyes returned to the horrifying sight, She noticed a female student was squatting near the unconscious girl who was lifted by the male now, and she assumed they were taking her to the hospital. As the female student turned, she realized it was Pooja.

Rushing to her aid, Aarya caught her in her arms as she fell. "She's my friend," Pooja murmured, leaning against Aarya's chest.

Pooja's voice was weak and full of fear as she lifted her head and stared wildly at Aarya, telling her that Bhola had shot her friend. "Bhola_ He_ shot_ my friend,"

Aarya held Pooja in a tight embrace, as if afraid she might vanish any moment. "You don't need to worry anymore, it'll all be over," Aarya's voice was tense despite her attempts to sound reassuring.

(◍•ᴗ•◍)

Everyone seemed shaken when they return, Pramitra and Anuj hugged the children while Aarya went straight to her room and slammed the door shut.

Pramitra was going to see Aarya, but Aarav intervened, sensing that Aarya needed some space and time alone. "For now, Let's leave her and talk to her later," he said.

Pramitra showed her understanding by nodding and then focused on taking care of the children with Anuj's assistance.

Dinner time arrived, Aarya was still in her room. Aarav asked if he could speak to Aarya, and everyone said 'Yes'.

He walked to her room and knocked three times but got no response, so he decided to open the door. Carefully Turning the door handle, he opened the door, and entered the room.

Inside, he saw her cuddled up on the bed, crying, with tears causing her eyes to turn red and swollen.

He wasn't sure if she had noticed him. He sat down and held her hand with their fingers clasped together.

"I'm hungry, shall we grab dinner?" he asked after some time had passed.

She said, "I'm not hungry, you go ahead and eat," her voice hoarse from crying.

"Aaru, Bhola wants you to be in a state of depression so that he can take advantage of you. Don't let him win by giving him the satisfaction of manipulating you. Don't give him what he wants; He'll use it against you later,"

"If that's what he wants," she said, interrupting him. "I'll give it to him. He just almost killed an innocent child today, Aarav."

Aarav could tell that she had a lot of emotions to express that's she's holding back, and wanted to vent out her various emotions by yelling, screaming, and complaining.

Kajal wondered. "They've been in there for quite some time, don't you think?"

"Aarya is a tough one to convince; convincing her can take a long time, sometimes even weeks," Pramitra said, while staring at the door. "It's not easy, If you're lucky, it'll only take a day,"

"A reward of 10 rupees will be given to everyone if she comes out smiling," While Anuj was speaking, Aarya came out of her room followed by Aarav.

"I hope nobody has eaten my food," she said with a smile as she walked up to them.

"Brother-in-law, we need our rupees," Kajal said, holding her hands towards Anuj. "Isn't that right, children?"

They said "Yes" and extended their hands too.

"Could you please explain what you're referring to with 10 rupees?" Aarya asked.

Pramitra replied that her husband promised to give them 10 rupees if She and Aarav come out of the room.

Faras started speaking, but Priya shut him down with a glare as he was saying, "We trust that our handsome and charming brother-in-law will convince you because you guys are..."

"What are we?" Aarya asked

"Yesterday, Priya told us that you and Mr. handsome are getting married soon and will live with us," Nareen answered.

Priya clarified that she didn't mention marriage, only that Aarya and Aarav would come to live with them to help Nareen sleep, and Faras was the one who brought up the idea of marriage, "Auntie, I only said that so Nareen would sleep and didn't mention marriage. Faras was the one who brought up the idea,"

Faras shared, "The teacher mentioned that a boy and girl should get married before living together, just like Sister Pramitra and Brother-in-law Anuj,"

"Remember, I already told you that Aarav is just a friend, don't even think about saying anything like that to yourself or anyone," she lightly scolded and reminded not to speak such things even to oneself or anyone.

"I don't agree because he is the only one who can talk to you and convince you, not even myself" Nareen countered.

"Despite our pleas for you to stay, you left, but I'm confident that if he speaks to you, you'll be convinced to stay with us," Faras said.

"Faras shush! Aarya went because it's important. Didn't she come back for us and you know nothing. Now all four of you go back to your room. Kajal, please follow them and take care of them. I would have left them alone but Bhola..." Pramitra reprimanded them.

Kajal trailed behind the children as they walked to their room.

"Aarya, don't pay attention to their hint, they just want you to be happy, not wanting your story to end up like Sennu and Junnu," Pramitra said, before leaving with Anuj.

"Starts eating, don't let the food get cold," Aarav reminded Aarya to start eating.

She nodded and then asked, "Where is Pooja?" after realizing she was not among the children.

"She's in Kalaj's room," answered Aarav, "and she's sleeping."

Aarya reproached herself mentally, acknowledging that she was being selfish. She spent the entire day feeling sad and locking herself in her room. Despite Pooja witnessed her friend being shot in front of her.

She took a plate of food and decided to visit her; Aarav followed her.

As she walked into the room, she caught sight of Pooja lying on Kajal's bed with two pillow placed between her and an extra pillow, her head on it. Pooja's gaze was fixed on the ceiling, as if she were counting the straight lines above her.

'Kajal is probably still with the children' thought Aarya.

Aarya called her, "Pooja?" while sitting on the bed, adjusting the pillow.

A half smile crossed Pooja's face as she sat up.

"Have you eaten anything?"

Pooja's eyes filled with sadness as she shook her head to indicate 'no'.

"Let's eat together," Aarya suggested, and started feeding Pooja and herself.

Aarya was at a loss for words to express how sorry she was about everything that was happening and couldn't console Pooja as Bhola had gone too far; The only words she could utter were "Everything will be alright sooner than you think"

She hoped she was right. If Bhola refuse to stop his sinister game, she'll submit herself to him to protect her loved ones.

She glanced at Aarav, who had been standing by the door; He beamed a confident smile and raised his thumb up to express his pride in her.

She responded to his smile with a half-smile filled with gratitude for what he's doing for her.

What are your thoughts on the friendship between Aarav and Aarya?