" He's...he's upset?" Tanvi asked Yashasvi who nodded.

" He sounded pretty hurt."

" Of-course he would be. You've avoided his calls, his texts and neither have you written back to him. You received his letter three weeks ago." Eshanya shrugged.

Tanvi bit her lower lip guiltily.

" Why don't you talk to him? Abhay doesn't stay mad at someone for long. Tell him, apologise, make up for it and I'm sure he'll understand."

" Tum acche advices kabse dene lag gaye?"

" Jabse tum aa gayi, tumne toh meri love-life bigaad hi rakhi hai, toh kisi aur ki kyu bigaade?"

" Excuse me? Kya matlab hai tumhara?"

" Agar tum jaise fake girlfriend bhi kisiko galti se bhi mili toh love-life kharab hi honi hai. Aafat ho tum aafat!"

" Apne aap ko dekha hai? Ya aaine mein dekhke hi yeh sab bol rahe ho? Tumhare jaisa fake boyfriend bhi kitni badi musibat hai. Ek toh hamesha sada hua muh leke ghumte rehte ho. Koi bhi ladki tumhe date karna nahi chaahegi. "

And they were at it again.

Tanvi sighed, shaking her head at their daily dose of bickering as she turned away and left the café which went unnoticed by both of them.

She walked towards the building in the opposite direction, with her guards following her.

The receptionist stopped her.

" Um Miss, who do you want to meet?"

" Mr.Amit Kashyap."

" Do you have an appointment?"

" Gadhi! She's his granddaughter! Why would she need an appointment? That's why I told you not to go on leaves so often!" The woman passing by shot the receptionist a glare and a guilty expression marred on her face.

" I'm so sorry Ma'am, I didn't know! I'm genuinely sorry, I'm actually new and I didn't see you before-"

" It's okay. Can I please go now?"

" Sure Ma'am! Sorry Ma'am!"

She walked into the elevator and pressed for the fortieth floor,

As she reached and the elevator door opened, no one dared to stop her as she walked into her grandfather's cabin, only for him to be occupied with a client.

" Tanvi, come in, I was just talking about you! This is my granddaughter Tanvi! Tanvi, this is my client Mr.Rao."

Tanvi's gaze momentarily flickered towards the young man seated on the chair who flashed a wide, beautiful smile at her which she attempted to reciprocate.

" Hello! It's nice meeting you."

" It's lovely meeting you as well Miss Kashyap."

She smiled yet again before turning towards her grandfather.

" Dadu, Can you book me the earliest flight ticket to Amritsar? It's urgent and extremely important. Please. I'll talk to Dadi, I'm sure she will understand."

Amit stared at her for a while.

She'd not been herself for the last three weeks and this was nothing new to him, but there was more to it, and he was aware something was up.

" Abhay?" He guessed and she sighed.

Chuckling, he nodded.
" Go pack your bags. I'll tell my secretary."

Her relieved expression warmed his heart.

" Thank you so much Dadu. I'll see you again in a few days! Bye!"

" Bye! Sambhal ke jao!"

—♡—

Abhay's Mother had a delighted expression on her face the very minute she saw Tanvi.

" Kitne dino baad aayi! Kaisi ho? My God, look at you, you look like you've just cried." She affectionately, and worriedly put her hand under her chin as she looked at her.

" Sweetheart, is everything okay?"

Tanvi's heart squeezed at receiving the motherly affection she'd been stripped off at the age of five.

She nodded, unable to say a word, overwhelmed with emotion.

" You're sure?"

She nodded again.

Footsteps were heard coming towards the house with vague voices and Tanvi turned to look at the doorstep.

Abhishek stood there, his eyes boring into hers, frozen, too stunned to react as Amayra squealed seeing her second favourite person.

" TANII!" She squealed, unable to perfectly pronounce her name and Tanvi lifted her up.

" Oh my god look who's here. A pretty princess." She lightly tickled the girl who giggled at her.

" How's this little Princess?"

" Good!" She said showing her a thumbs-up.

" And Where's this little Princess's Mumma?"

" With Dadda!"

" Oh with Dadda? And where're both of them?"

" Home!"

" And where is this Princess coming from?"

" School! With Mamu!" She pointed towards Abhishek who still stood by the doorstep, staring at her, with his cricket kit and Amayra's school bag.

Clearing his throat, he regained his composure, walked into the living room, put down Amayra's bag on the couch and turned towards his Mother.

" Don't wait for me for lunch. I'm not hungry." He told her and strode upstairs without sparing Tanvi another glance.

She sighed.

" Jao mana lo."

" Nahi maanega." She murmured dejectedly.

" Maanega. Aise kaise nahi maanega. Bilkul maanega. Maanne se inkaar kiya toh mujhe bula lena. Jao jao."

She nodded, put Amayra down and walked upstairs.

The door to his room was open.

Almost as if he expected her to come.

" H-Hi." She stammered nervously.

" Hi." Came his cold response.

" How..how was practice?"

" Good." He said, not meeting her eyes.

" That's good..."

" Yeah, can you please leave? I want to rest."

" I..I wanted to talk to you—"

" No thank you. I'm in no mood for explainations."

" Abhay—"

" My head hurts."

" Please." She said, her voice a mere whisper, a desperate plea.

He sighed.
" What do you want to explain? That Abhay, I was busy, I forgot you existed and had no time to call back or text and when you stopped acting like a desperate idiot and did not bother me for a week I recalled your existance?"

She flinched at his harsh words, and guilt gnawed him.

" See? I even hurt you now. This conversation with me is pointless. You...you should go. I'm sorry." He turned away from her, his hands in his hair as he sighed, inwardly cursing himself.

I'm the worst guy friend ever.

" It was my parents' death anniversary three weeks ago." She began with a quiet murmur.

" Their accident happened in my presence and I fainted. I didn't know what happened after that but when I woke up and managed to get away from the room, they were outside, sleeping peacefully, in each other's company, only to never wake up again."

He slowly turned towards her as he pulled out a chair for her, quietly asking her to sit through his actions.

" True to their promises and love for each other, they had each other even after death. Death could not do them apart. But I had no one. I'd lost my parents." She smiled ruefully.

" I'd usually go into my own shell during this period of time. Luckily, for the past three years, I managed to avoid telling you this because you were always occupied with cricket. But this time, I knew I had to tell you. Everyone tries really hard to get me to talk, to get me to socialise, but I don't. I never felt guilty about not having responded to anyone apart from Esha, until you came as well. Guilt gnawed at me for the past three weeks, I tried, I tried hard responding, but each time I'd have my own insecurities knock my door and lead me to overthink. I'd warned you before you offered to befriend me. I'm not nice, I'm not considerate, and I'm most certainly not someone you would want to be seen with."

" Tanvi, I did not hold your hand to let it go midway and let you walk the rest of your journey alone. I held it to be there with you and for you till the very end. I remember the warnings quite well. And I disagree with everything that you said. You're a lovely person, you're extremely considerate, and I would do anything to be seen with you because you're definitely that someone I would want to be seen with. You do not ruin my reputation but enhance it further. The next time you're low, I would rather have you talk, and vent out all that you feel than avoid me. What hurts more than your ignorance is you not trusting me enough to talk to me about what you feel. So the next time, talk, please talk."

" I...I'll try. I cannot promise but I can try."

Wrapping his own big palm around her small soft one, he stared at her.

" And stop talking so low about my best-friend. She's the loveliest person I've ever met. You do not have the rights to talk so low about her. I shan't tolerate nuisance about her."

She smiled ruefully.
" Your best-friend is broken and ugly from within. It's baffling that you find her lovely."

" It pains me to see her think so low of herself. Because I don't think she is broken. To me, she is like Kintsugi, and if she claims to be broken, I would like to be the gold that fixes it and keeps it intact. But only if she's willing to let me."

Tanvi sighed.
" You're stupid."

" Probably? But when you're doing something right for the right person, it's not stupid."

" Abhay....."

" Yes Tanvi?"

" Don't do this." She said and he frowned.

" Stop trying to prevent me from being there for my best-friend. Because not even she herself can stop me from doing so."

" Stubborn idiot."

" This stubborn idiot is your best-friend. So Miss Kashyap, can this stubborn idiot expect a letter soon?" He asked and she chuckled, nodding.

" Yes he can. And he won't be let down this time. That's a promise."