Ruhaan rubbed his forehead as he finally finished packing his stuff. He was happy to finally go back to Mumbai. The past two days had been stressful enough and on top of that, he missed his lovely girlfriend dearly. It almost felt like an eternity since he had last seen her.

Unlike him, Adi stood over his luggage with a lot on his mind. He felt..... angry at himself for being such a dick to Mitali. She was right. He was being paranoid for no reason. Why would Mitali fall for that Rishabh guy? She knew he loved her. Right? Had he ever told her that he did? He breathed a frustrated sigh and asked out loud to no one in particular,

Adi: She wouldn't leave me , would she?

Ruhaan cocked his head at his best friend, who looked too deep in thought.

Ruhaan: What?

Adi sat down on the edge of the bed and said,

Adi: Mitali.....Ru.....she wouldn't leave me for him , right?

Ruhaan furrowed his brows and asked,

Ruhaan:Adi....what are you talking about? Who would Mitali leave you you for?

Adi snapped out of his trance and looked at his best friend and said,

Adi: Oh my God! I fucked up....I so fucked up Ru!

Ruhaan: Adi.... what?

Adi stood up in a flash and started nervously pacing around the room. Ruhaan looked at him questioningly.

Adi: Oh My God, Ru! I fucked up so bad! I mean.... I practically shoved her towards him! Oh God!

Ruhaan: Hey!

Adi stopped pacing and looked up at Ruhaan.

Ruhaan: What are you talking about, Adi? What did you do?

Adi then proceeded to explain the whole ordeal to him. Once he was done, Ruhaan rubbed his temples and said,

Ruhaan: You really are stupid, Adi.

Adi:(sarcastically) Geez thanks for making me feel better!

Ruhaan: Don't throw that tone on me , Adi and listen to what I am about to say next.

Adi looked at Ruhaan to check for any signs of humour but seeing his straight face, he understood that he was serious. And thus , he sat down quietly like an obedient child.

Ruhaan: Do you realise what you've done? Adi, accusing Mitali of cheating on you....how could you? That girl tried so hard not to say a word about your closeness with Jai's cousin.

Adi: But I told you, Ru. That was just to make her jealous.

Ruhaan: I understand your intention Adi. But you should know when to stop. That's how insecurities develop in a relationship. These movies show that making your partner jealous is a way to make her fall more in love with you. But they don't show that this exact same thing could also backfire.

Adi gulped realising the reality of it all.

Ruhaan: God , Adi! You guys should have talked about this when she was here. But no, you both held on to your ego and didn't think twice of how this little misunderstanding could practically destroy your relationship. And you know what, I don't even blame her. You started this , Adi. Even if as a game. You should have made her understand what actually was going on rather than just walking away when she said she wanted to take a break.

Adi looked down at his feet with guilt evident on his face. He knew that every word that Ruhaan was saying was true and he couldn't in any way defend himself from these accusations.

Ruhaan: Trust is the most important thing in a relationship. If you don't trust your partner, then there's no point of being together. You should have trusted her, Adi.

Adi looked back at him.

Adi: What should I do now?

Ruhaan: Wait ,Adi. You have no other choice. She's already burdened with her Dadi's problem. Chances are that if you call of text her now , it might tangle things more. So...for now, just try to remain positive and pray that her dadi recovers soon so that she can come back soon.

Adi nodded slightly.

Ruhaan: And for god's sake, don't picturise any imaginary situations between Mitali and that guy and then get yourself all worked up for nothing, okay?

Adi nodded again.

Ruhaan: Good, now let's wrap up with the packing. It's an early morning flight tomorrow, so get some sleep.

Without a word, Adi started packing his left over stuff. Ruhaan eyed him and shaking his head, he asked,

Ruhaan: You really love her , don't you?

Adi looked up at him in surprise. Letting out a deep breath, he said,

Adi: I do. I really do. I just hope she does too?

Ruhaan: She does. Sometimes love doesn't need words to justify itself. I love you's are not always the rule. Some I love you's are better left unsaid.

Adi nodded.

              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Next Day~

As they passed the beaches of Goa on their way to the airport, Shanu peered out of the window. She felt her eyes burning with tears but she couldn't bring herself up to crying infront of Jai Kavya and Ananya who were present in the car.

Sahil had refused to even travel in the same vehicle as his family and her. Adi,Daksh  and Ruhaan had quickly volunteered to go with him.

Shanu could barely eat yesterday and today she almost felt nauseous while getting her things in the car. She knew she was sick but tried hard not to bother anyone. Everyone was already dealing with a lot.

She just couldn't bear the thought of Sahil hating her. She knew he had his reasons, but could this reasons turn out to be the end of  their relationship? Was she going to lose Sahil forever?

She shivered at the thought. Ananya looked at her with concern and asked,

Anu: Shanu,....is everything okay?

Shanu nodded but didn't look at her. She knew if she did, she'll almost immediately succumb to tears.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the buzz from her phone. It was Mitali.

Mitali: Shanu... thank God! Finally! I've been trying to get to you since morning but the signal here really bad. Anyways, how are you? Is everything okay? Is Sahil okay?

Shanu inhaled deeply and replied,

Shanu: Everything's fine. We are heading to the airport.

Mitali: You are going back today?

Shanu: Yeah.

Mitali: Okay uh...safe journey. Call me when you get there, okay?

Shanu looked at Ananya and said,

Shanu: Will do.

Mitali: Okay.

Shanu sighed softly before realising that she hadn't yet asked about Mitali's dadi.

Shanu: Mitali , how's your dadi?

Mitali: She's fine. Actually it was a false alarm. She didn't have a stroke. Only my neighbour assumed she had. She actually hit her head and had a concussion or something. Don't worry about us. I'll try to get back as soon as I can.

Shanu: Okay.

Mitali: And Shanu.... please take care of yourself. Please.

Shanu shut her eyes forcefully to avoid the waterworks and breathed heavily.

Shanu: I will.  Love you.

Mitali: Love you too. Take care, bye.

Shanu: Bye.

She disconnected the call and rested her head on Ananya's shoulder. Ananya intertwined their hands and sighed.

On the other hand,

As Mitali disconnected the call, she sighed. She felt awful leaving Shanu alone, especially when she needed her the most. She made up her mind to get back to Mumbai as soon as she could.

A slight knock was heard at the door. Mitali turned around and found Rishi and Payal standing at  the door.

Mitali: What are you guys up to today?

A voice was heard from upstairs saying,

Voice: That's not how you welcome guests, Mitu.

Mitali rolled her eyes as her Dadi made her way down to the dining hall. She smiled and welcomed the duo at the door in. As Rishi sat down in front of Mitali at the dining table, he said,

Rishi: Thanks dadi, varna kisi kisi ko to koi manners naam ki cheez hi samajh nahi aati.

Mitali: Oh hello? Zyada Shana mat ban! Thoda kya videsh dekh liya, khud ko bara smart samajh ne laga hai!

Rishi: Now I am smart and there's no denying it.

Mitali made a face.

Dadi: How much do you guys fight? It's been 8 years and you are still acting like kids.

Mitali: Tell him that!

Rishi: No, she's actually telling you. Everyone knows that I am dadi's favourite.

Mitali: That's it! You're going to die!

Saying that, she got up and started chasing him all around the room.

Rishi: Dadi loves me more! Dadi loves me more!

Mitali: Rishi ke bacche!

Dadi and Payal grinned at the sight and did not even try to stop them even once. They were happy. So far everything was working out just according to their plan.

As Mitali finally caught up to him, Rishi grinned and teased her making faces. She aimed for a punch on his face when a voice made it's way to their ears,

' What the heck is going on?'

               ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys! Here's a boring update! I'm just trying to develop the scene between Rishi and Mitali so it's gonna take some time before Mitya makes a return. So please be patient reader🙏

Anyways, I'll be lying if I said that I wasn't disappointed with the votes the last chapter got. It really got me thinking and I understood that maybe you guys are not liking this new entry thing or maybe my writing style is getting a bit boring. Whatever it is, I want you guys feel free to tell me about any suggestions or complaints that you have. I'll try my best to make changes.

Anyways, if you guys liked the chapter please drop a VOTE and comment down below what you would like me to add in the next chapter. Next chapter is going to be entirely on sidneet so stay tuned!!!

Love you loads,
    Bosedisha

P.S: Do you guys listen to 'The Local Train' or maybe even Prateek Kuhad? I need this for an upcoming Chapter so please drop your comments!