Well, almost moving towards the end of this fic. Only 4 or 5 chapters to go!

Moving on... 💃💃💃

"Words in double quotes" - Talking

'Words in single quotes' - Thoughts

(Words in braces) - Telephone conversations

Chapter 12

"Because I love you!" Caleb shouted.

There!

He finally said it out loud. He finally admitted his feelings for her.

Caleb kept looking into her eyes for her reaction. However, they didn't reveal anything to him. Neither could he tell if she was angry or happy, nor could he tell if she was shocked or she already expected it. She simply stood there like a lifeless being looking at him with a flat look.

Caleb waited with batted breaths for Ragini's reply. 'Come on! Say something, anything!'

Ragini put her hands on her hips and glared as hard as she could. "Ha-freaking-ha! Not funny Caleb. If you think your joke will improve my mood th-"

"I am not joking Ragini. I truly love you."

Ragini rolled her eyes at his words. "Yeah yeah, nice prank then."

"It isn't a prank damn it!"

"Okay fine. Fine then, I understand that this is a prank of yours which you want me to fall for. Okay fine, I lose. Now, quit it!"

Caleb would have pulled all of his hair in frustration if he could. "Why the heck won't you understand!?" he stepped forward and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Look into my eyes and tell me if I'm lying! Do I look like I'm joking to you!?"

Ragini stood frozen as he shook her. His intense gaze indeed seemed to speak volumes. Never could she have thought that Caleb felt that way about her. "Caleb, you're not doing this just to make me break the marriage for my good, are you? I understand you care for me because I'm your best fri-"

"No Ragini no! I love you. I love you like two people in love do. I love you like a lover loves their beloved. I love you like a man loves a woman!"

Ragini gasped at his words. "But...but how? When?"

"Right from college Ragini. I always liked you since then. But I was to afraid to ask you out on a date. I should have asked you out then itself! Then, this entire mess wouldn't have happened in the first place!"

"You mean you liked me from back then and I didn't know about it?"

Caeb nodded. "How could you? You were too busy partying and having fun. And if someone claimed to love you, you would laugh it off. That was why I chose to remain as a best friend."

Ragini covered her mouth with her hand in shock. She shook her head in denial. "No. No, you can't feel such feelings towards me. You shouldn't feel such feelings towards me!"

Caleb jerked her closer, making her look at his eyes. "Why? Why not?!"

"Because I never saw you in that light Caleb. I never loved you in that sense." her eyes softened as she gazed into his eyes which reflected hurt. "I'm sorry Caleb but...but that's the truth. You've been my childhood friend, my supporter, a true friend in need. We have had many adventures together, got into troubles for our pranks together. But throughout everything, I've always seen you as a best friend. Nothing more, nothing less."

Caleb let her go abruptly in anger. "I do not want to be a best friend to you. I want to be more than that! I want to be your better half. I want to be the one who you choose a life partner."

As they stood there, Ragini knew after what happened just now between them, their friendship wouldn't be the same anymore.

#With Sanskar#

"Oi! Lucky!" Sanskar shouted as he approached Swara and Laksh. "Have you seen Ragini? She came out before me, but disappeared all of a sudden."

Laksh and Swara looked at him in confusion. "But she didn't come to us." Laksh replied.

"Neither did I saw her come after us. She was with you Sanskar." Swara added.

"Argh! This girl. You both head towards the car. I'll go find her."

Laksh nodded in agreement. However, Swara narrowed her eyes at Sanskar.

"Um...Swara? Let's go."

"You go on ahead Lucky. I have something to talk about my sister to my future jiju."

"I see. Okay then. Hand me the bags. I'll carry them to the car." He took the bags from Swara and left with a wave.

Sanskar looked at her with a raised eyebrow "Well? Make it quick because I need to search for Ragini as well."

"You really are a prick. No wonder Ragini seemed miffed at you." Swara bit out. "Now tell me the truth. Do you really like my sister or not?"

"What the heck!? It's like the entire film ended and now you're asking me who the hero is." Sanskar replied sarcastically. "Of course I love her!"

"And does she love you?"

Sanskar hesitated but nodded. "Yes, she does. Now if you'll excuse me." He tried to leave, but Swara blocked his way.

"There is something not right here. Tell me the truth." Swara said with a glare. "Are you two really in love or did she just say she loves you for my sake. Answer me!"

"Why don't you go and ask your sister itself?"

"I can't, okay? She...she won't tell me. That's why I want to know the truth from you. Please, I don't want her to do this because of me!"

Sanskar felt guilty seeing her tearful eyes. 'These Gadodias and their puppy dog looks. No wonder both us Maheshwari brothers were easily defeated even before the battle had begun. They have such weapons of mass destruction...' he shook his head of his wondering thoughts. "Alright. I'll tell you everything. But promise me you won't interrupt me in the middle."

Swara nodded vigorously. "I won't!"

Sanskar sighed in misery. "You see, Ragini and I didn't start on good terms. I actually never intended to marry her. But once I got to see her independent nature, her dominant attitude, her refusal to go by the traditional ways...it just drew me in. The thrill and energy of life that she expressed was irresistible. It made me go crazy over her! Moreover, the more she refused, the more of a challenge she became to me. And I never back down from a challenge."

Swara could feel her anger rising. "You mean she's just a play thing to you!? Ho-"

"I'm not continuing if you keep interrupting!"

Swara glared but nodded for him to continue.

"Like I said, her feisty attitude drew me in because I didn't want a girl who always played by the rules. Despite it, there was an innocence in her eyes which attracted me. But your sister isn't easy. She has a big pride that makes it hard for anyone to tolerate her. At the fair though, I had a great time with her. I enjoyed her company, even if that stupid excuse for a vegetable that follows her around was there. And at the roller-coaster, I saw a different side to her. A side which only wants to help others no matter what! The side which made me like her as a person. A side which made me fall for her."

Swara nodded in understanding. "And what about Ragini? Does she like you too?"

Sanskar shook his head. "I don't know. All I know is that I have never felt such a feeling of longing for anyone other than her. This longing becomes intense when she isn't near. And that is why I want to make her mine. I know I like and maybe even love her! And I know I can give her the happiness that she deserves. That is why I want to marry her. Because it's the only way I can keep her close to me. I can't bear the pain of this longing." saying so, he left to find Ragini without waiting for Swara's reply.

#With Ragini and Caleb#

Ragini could see the desperate need in his eyes for her to accept him. But how could she? It would be injustice. Not only to her, but to him as well. Because she knew she didn't love him in that sense and neither will she be able to give him that love. She has already friend zoned him long back! "I can't accept this relation Caleb. I'm sorry, but I just can't."

Caleb balled his hands into fists in anger. "Well, sorry doesn't pay the bills, does it?!" he placed a hand over his eyes.

Ragini didn't know if it was to calm his anger or to hide his tears. Never did she intend for things to turn out in this way.

"Caleb try to understand. I can give my life for you, I can do anything to help you. But all because you are a friend who is so close to me and has been beside me since childhood. But I can never love you as a lover because I...because I just can't make myself feel those feelings for you."

Ragini moved near him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let's...let's just forget about this, can't we? Why don't we just try to be best friends again, eh?" before she could make sense of anything, she felt him push her onto the wall and hold her wrists beside her head.

"It's so easy for you to say this, isn't it? To just...just forget everything like...like my feelings mean nothing? Like my love means nothing!?"

Ragini, for the first time, felt afraid of her best friend. His red eyes showed true rage and anger at her. "C-Caleb...Caleb c-calm down. I ca-ah!" she exclaimed in pain as she felt his grip tighten around her wrists.

"You heartless bi-!"

"Mind your language!" despite her fear, she refused to hear him insult or humiliate her. "Just because y-you've got the u-upper hand doesn't mean th-that I won't f-fight back!" Ragini struggled to break free of his grip, but without avail.

"You are nothing but a selfish brat Ragini. Nothing but a stupid excuse for a girl!"

"Shut up! Like you know what I am all about!"

Caleb gave a dark chuckle and looked directly into her eyes. "Yes. In fact, I do. Like you said, you and I have been friends from childhood. I know you better than anyone else! I know how immature you are, how ignorant you are, how arrogant you are, how much of an airhead you are!"

Ragini grit her teeth in anger. "You're just being spiteful because I don't like you back. Who would?! You're nothing but a side kick who follows me around! You're the one who doesn't get the spotlight like me!"

Caleb smirked. "True. I don't get the spotlight. I'm also not cool like you are. But that's only half of the picture." Caleb admitted. "Do you know what all of your so called friends say about you? They all love to hang around you to party and have fun. But apart from that, none of them would agree to invite you over to have a hearty talk. You know why? Because you're intolerable. Your prissiness irritates everyone! And the boys? They would love to date you. But none of them would actually want to marry someone so arrogant, prideful, insolent like you. You're just not a marriage material Ragini."

Ragini could feel tears cloud her vision on his words. Both hurt and anger was filling up her heart and mind. "Shut it!"

"You aren't any better than me. Only I can love you despite all the faults in you. Despite all that, I still want you. I like you Ragini." he brought one hand and caressed her cheek. "You're beautiful. You're all a man could want in a woman. You're tall, slender an-" he was interrupted by a stinging sensation on his cheek. It took him a moment to realize that it was Ragini who slapped him.

She took his shock as an opportunity to escape his grasp and pushed him away. "You bastard. You love me? What a joke! You don't love me. You just want me for my body! It's not Sanskar, it's you that are lusting after me! How co- how da-" Ragini wanted to give him a few choice of words. But her violent sobs were interrupting her words. At last she just gave up and stormed away.

Caleb touched his cheek where she slapped him. "The nerve of that girl!" he was about to go after her, when someone shouted his name from the other side.

Caleb turned to see a few guys coming near him. 'Shit! These are the ones whom I'm indebted to. It's already past the date and I got no money now! If they catch me...' in fear, he ran the other way, with the men following.

#With Sanskar#

'Where is this notorious girl!? Where could she have gone? Ju-' suddenly, he saw her walking the other way. 'Gotcha!' at once he ran towards her and grabbed her arm, turning her towards him. "I have bee-" however, his words disappeared in his mouth seeing her disheveled state.

Tears flowed freely without a stop down her cheeks and her lip was bleeding, no doubt from her biting it to control her sobs. "Le-let go! Let go!" she struggled to loosen his grip on her. However, he only tightened it.

"Who did this and who must I kill?"

Ragini paused in shock at his words. She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked down in sorrow. "No one. It's just the honest truth that's hurting me. Am I...am I so bad Sanskar?"

Sanskar blinked in bewilderment at her question. "Eh?"

She let out a sob and jerked her hand from his grip. "Forget about it. Of course you'll say yes. I'm your enemy, aren't I!?" she sniffed loudly, making the passerbys look at them.

"No you aren't. Just tell me what the matter is. No crying, okay?" Sanskar pacified.

"I'll c-cry if I w-want to!" Ragini shouted in between her sobs. The people started glaring at Sanskar.

'Shit shit shit! They think I'm making her cry.' Sanskar let out a nervous laugh. "S-she just saw a...a sad movie. That's all! Haha...she can be too sentimental." without giving her time to think, he put one hand below her knees and the other behind her head, picking her up bridal style. "We're leaving!" saying so, he ran away to the closest secluded place he could find.

Which happened to be the the nearest photo booth.

Once both were alone inside, he put her on the seat and sat down beside her.

"Okay, now spit!"

Ragini sniffed and looked at him quizzically. "W-what?"

"I mean spit it out whatever is bothering you. I'm sick of hearing your unattractive wailing and whining." Sanskar teased. However, seeing her hurt look, he realized she didn't see it as a joke. "Okay, I'm sorry. Just tell me what's wrong, alright?"

Ragini contemplated whether to tell him or not. She still didn't trust him fully. Not to mention Caleb's earlier opinion of him was still in her mind. 'But if I don't talk to someone, I burst!' making up her mind, she composed herself. "Caleb..."

"What did he do?!"

"Well first he said he loves me..."

"I knew I should have beaten him up long back!"

"Calm down, I refused." Ragini consoled. "It's not...it's not what he did that's bothering me. It's what he said about me."

"Did he insult you or something?"

Ragini shook her head. "It's not so much as what he accused me of, but rather the fact that he wasn't wrong about me." when Sanskar looked at her in confusion, Ragini started explaining everything to him.

After sometime...

"So...you see why I was upset?" Ragini concluded while looking down at her dress. She picked on a loose thread, refusing to look up at him in embarrassment. After all, she didn't usually expose herself to people just like that.

Sanskar didn't say anything. After a moment, he let out a sigh. "Well, do you really want me to say what I think?"

Ragini nodded. "Go on. No need of shying from my own faults."

"Well...Caleb isn't wrong about you when it comes to your pride. You tend to over do it. No matter what the situation is, you always tend to blame others for it without trying to see if maybe...maybe it's you who's wrong. And when your fault is obvious, you discard it as if it isn't a big deal, without giving a damn about what impact it might have on another person. You value your own feelings over theirs. Not to mention you seem to think that you're way above everyone else. I don't know about your friend circle. But you seem like someone who keep friends only so that they look at you in awe and give you their undivided attention. The best phrase that would suit you would be someone riding on a high horse and not knowing the beauty of the flowers down on the ground."

Ragini flinched at his words, but nodded. After all, now that she thought about it with a rational mind, he wasn't wrong.

Even now, she wanted to blame Sanskar and Caleb for accusing her just because they were jealous. But Ragini was done.

She was done making excuses for her ignorance and immaturity. She was finally accepting her flaws.

Ragini felt him take her hands in his. "But there's also something that Caleb missed about you Ragini."

She looked up into his eyes in question. "What...what do you mean?"

"I mean, yeah he is right you're egoistic, boastful, arrogant, and downright immature. But he doesn't know how to value your goodness either. Despite your faults, you are someone who would sacrifice anything for their family, like what you are doing for Swara. By marrying me against your wishes, which although I know will be a right decision, you're agreeing to be my wife for life. Why? Just so that Swara gets her Laksh. And when we were on that rollercoaster, you could have laughed off at my miserable state or clicked pictures to humiliate me. But instead, you decided to help me. You don't even like me! Yet you kissed me just to save me. And even now, I bet you would do anything to save Caleb even after everything. Yes or no?"

Ragini nodded. "Whatever it may be, Caleb was once my best friend. He still matters."

Sanskar chuckled. "See? You're not an evil person Ragini. You're just misguided. Your family has pampered you so much that you never learnt to value other people's existence." Sanskar patted her hand. "Be kind to yourself Ragini. Stop blaming yourself. Everyone has their faults. Look at me! I myself am a possessive, arrogant, over-competitive jerk, aren't I?"

"But what if I remain this way?"

"You won't. Not when you want to change. The very fact that you accepted your faults is a sign that you want to change for the better. You're starting to realize your faults."

Ragini let out a small smile. "Never in my life did I think I would take advice from you." she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked at him with a slight blush. "Thanks."

Sanskar smirked. "And I never thought I would hear a heartfelt thank you from you. Well, guess we learn a new thing everyday!" he reached over and put a coin in the slot. "Now smile for the camera!"

Ragini giggled, but did as he said, all the while thinking about him. As the machine clicked their pictures, Sanskar was the only thing in her mind.

Whatever opinion she had of him had been replaced by the new found respect and affection she felt for him. Although she admired his outward looks, now she could see that he was beautiful from within as well. He managed to make a place for himself in her heart with his words. 'Sanskar Maheshwari, you really are something.'

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To be continued...

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~ 🌹 Mona 🌹