Chapter 1

Neeta

@U-No-Poo

ok, so clearly one shots are my new obsession :P this one is slightly angsty and not exactly romantic ( don't go with the title lol ) but basically focuses on armaan-ridhima's relationship as friends and how it transforms under unusual circumstances. also the POV keeps changing from armaan to ridhima to third person narration, so don't get confused :D Please comment !

P.S - I'm posting this again because some people are having trouble opening the page Hopefully this should work out. Will PM the mods to close the other one

Almost in Love:

He gulped down another shot of vodka. It burned his insides as he felt the strong liquor going down into his stomach. He signalled the barman to re-fill his glass, his hand trembling and vision fading in and out of haze. The barman stared at him for a couple of moments, and then, he mustered up his courage and said, "Sir, I think you've had enough. You should go back ho-"

The man cut him off impatiently and said, "Just do as I say. I'm paying y-you innit ? So cut the crap..and refill my glass" He faultered as he spoke, words blurring into each other, making it difficult for the barman to make a distinction between two different words. But he heard that he had been asked to do his job without retaliating. He nodded softly and turned around to prepare his drink.

On the other hand, the man felt his brain blacking out. He suddenly felt weak, his vision now completely askew, he percieved everything to be two in number. He felt drained and tired, and closed his eyes, hoping that his head would stop spinning like a spinning top. He slowly laid his head on the bar table and closed his eyes once again. He saw her...

Not long before he had envisaged the woman he loved in his mind, he heard a voice.

"Wake up, Armaan !" That was certainly not the voice of the girl he was dreaming about. He heard the voice again, this time, even louder and clear, "For god's sake Armaan, Wake up !"

He reluctantly opened his eyes, through his still blurry vision, he saw the outline of a girl standing next to him, trying to wake him up. Inspite of his distorted vision, he could recogise the familiar touch of the girl. It was Ridhima. His best friend. It was always the same. He would get drunk on Saturdays and she would rescue him from the miserable and embarrassing state he always landed himself in. He felt her slap him lightly on the head. He groaned as he massaged his head gently, "What was that for ?"

"For screwing up my saturday night once again" she replied through clenched teeth. It was pretty much clear that she had grown sick and tired of his habit. He felt sorry for her too, but he had never asked her to rescue him in the first place. She was free to leave him on his own. He wouldn't mind, but something always brought her to him...he always wondered what it was that made her worry about him.

"You passed out again, and here I am again, rescuing you from this shitpot...again" she finished with a sigh. Armaan was way to dizzy to even listen to her rant, leave alone comprehend it. He was weak and tired, and all he wanted was to lie down and sleep. He felt himself descend into oblivion once again. And all was black.

He woke up, rubbing the back of his head to ease the tormenting pain in his head. He resolved that he would never drink ever again in his life. He failed to consider his past record of such resolutions. It must have been his 100000000th resolution, and yet he ended up getting drunk in the same bar every saturday. He looked around. He was in his house, for sure. And he had no doubts that Ridhima had brought him here. Who else ? She is the only one who gives a damn about my existence, he thought as he got and walked towards the bathroom.

Armaan had not been so sombre 1 year back. Infact, he had been the happiest man alive. He had everything - success, wife,a kid and everything else that constituted a perfect life. Until one fatal day, all of it met an untimely end. Radhika, his wife of 2 years, had been travelling to her parent's place with their kid, Ashna. Their plane crashed on it's way to Bhopal. No one survived.

It had taken precisely 6 months for Armaan to accept this truth. But looking at his post-acceptance state, one would agree to the fact that he was way better when he was in denial. Atleast he ate. Atleast he slept. Atleast he didn't drink. Atleast he lived..even if in a false expectation. Armaan's life had become miserable. His life had shattered and no one except one was their to pick the pieces up - Ridhima. Ridhima had been his friend since they were only little children. Inspite of enrolling into different colleges after passing out, they mantained contact.

After that incident, Ridhima supported him in every way possible. She was always there when he needed a shoulder to cry on. She stayed up till late in the nights just to listen to him crib and cry, and never complained. And now that he was indulging himself into alcohol, she was visibly concerned. She kept telling him that alcohol was only a temporary escape, and he needed to overcome his grief, not run away from it. He genuinely appreciated her concern and tried to move on, but failed each time.

But Ridhima never stopped trying. Although she was sick and tired of his awful habit, she knew she would never give up on him. Because she loved him. It was a simple fact. And she realized it not long after Armaan finally accepted that his family had indeed, been torn apart. She felt her heart break each time he wept. She wished she could do something to ease his pain, infact, she was ready to take it on herself if it took away his suffering, but all of it was in vain. She tried to tell him that she loved many times, but each time she tried, it seemed as of her mouth zipped itself tightly whenever he was infront of her. She was scared of losing the friendship they shared. But it was also a burden on her heart, she knew that if she didn't tell him about her feelings anytime soon, her heart might literally explode.

After hours of introspection, she decided that she had to confront him and confess her feelings. She no longer could bear that burden on her heart. She might lose her frienship in the bargain, but she was willing to take that risk.

Armaan opened the door to his flat and entered, with two bags of grocery hooked on his fingers. He slowly walked inside and placed them in the kitchen. He turned around and saw Ridhima standing right behind him. Her sudden presence caught him off guard and a surprised expression formed on his face, "Hey Ridhima, What are you doing here ?" He asked her, moving away from her to retreive a bottle of water from the fridge. Ridhima shifted nervously in her place and said, "Armaan, I needed to talk to you..and I had spare keys to your flat, so I decided to pay you a visit.."

Armaan smiled at her, "Ok...What's wrong ?" He enquired, moving slightly closer to her. Ridhima glanced at him and saw the casual expression he was looking at her with. It only increased her nervousness, "Nothing's wrong..." She began, at a loss for the right words, "I just...I think that I...Armaan I.." She was fidgiting with her fingers, trying to think of what to say. Armaan stared at her confusedly, "Ridhima..are you ok ?" He asked her with concern in his voice.

Ridhima nodded slightly and took a deep breath,now or never, "Armaan, I'm in love with you"

She had said it. She had finally confessed her feelings to Armaan. Her heart was thumping so loudly in her chest, that she could catch it's rythm. She was taking deep, heavy breaths, trying to calm her nerves. His expression was completely blank. She could not deduce any possible feeling from his face. His lack of reaction was beginning to make her feel that she had made the wrong move, and now she was going to lose his friendship forever. A feeling of dissappointment arose within her, and instantly she felt tears sting her eyes.

After quite a few long and silent moments, Armaan's face broke into a wide smile. A genuine smile, that actually radiated happiness. Ridhima stared at him for a long moment, and then looked into his eyes, and for a fleeting moment she thought as if she saw 'love' in his eyes...for her.

Without responding, Armaan stepped forward and embraced her in a warm hug. This hug was different from the 'friendly' ones they often shared, this hug, unlike others, made her feel safe and content. She felt as if she was finally home.

And she knew, that Armaan may not have fallen completely in love with her, but he did feel a deep emotional connection with her that ran deeper than just friendship or a casual crush. He was still healing, and she didn't want to force him into anything. So she decided that she would not give up on him this time either, and she would wait for him to come to her.

The ties between had not crumbled, infact they had strengthened, as now Ridhima was in love with Armaan, and Armaan was almost in love with her.