Chapter 24

"Where is Arnav?"

She had said these words in an almost shrilly tone, very unlike herself who could have nay possible pitch but not one that pierced right in the hearing aids giving the effect of a very discreet kind of voice. Vivek looked at her with wobbly eyes apparently not making sense of why she was so concerned about Arnav as if he had suffered from a heart attack or something.

"Why do you want to know now? You two maniacs did what you had to now leave him alone!" Karan lashed out at them in an inhumanly voice leaving the two only exchanging surprised looks with each others.

"What do you mean? What did we do?" Vivek asked confused as hell, wondering why Karan and Khushi had suddenly drowned into some hyper ventilating mood that he was currently alien with.

"What did we do? You say what did we do? Leaving a half drank glass of tequila on the table just when Arnav came to sit on it, what other purpose did you have other than harming him?" Karan sneered at the two of them, the two best friends entirely knocked out of their wits, by Karan's senseless bizzard talk, more on the attempted accusation he had just places on the which looked as unreal as ever.

"Excuse Me, Mr Einstein, what are the odds of Arnav drinking the half drank glass of tequila eh? Besides we didn't do anything of that sort, in fact only earlier Chun discovered that she had been tricked into drinking tequila by Purab in the name of apple juice" Vivek said haughtily, offended with Karan's blind accusation on the pair of friends, the blinding rage in Karan's eyes overcoming the normal working of brain cells in his head. Khushi who was too shocked to react, took her time to accustom herself to Karan's out burst but as Vivek finished speaking she quickly nodded and finally finding words to explain told Karan the hypothetical series of events which they assumed might have had happened.

Karan looked at her and then at Vivek, his eyes still mad with anger, not believing what they had just told him.

"You two did it just accept it alright! There is no need to take advantage of the fact that a pervert like Purab was present at the party, because me and Arnav were personally keeping a check that Purab wouldn't get anywhere near Khushi" Karan said in an icy tone his gaze boring into Vivek and Khushi who were now looking at each other astounded by what Karan had just revealed to the two of them.

"Keeping a check? On me? Why?" she asked flabbergasted, her eyes wide with alarm, waiting for Karan to answer who had now gained a lot of color and going all beetroot red.

"Because Di told us to! She said Aakash Bhai had told her that Purab had wrong intentions regarding you" Karan spoke out breathlessly quivering at the thought of the reaction he would get, but the two people in front of him, just meticulously froze. Khushi seemed too stunned to say anything at all, while the hardness of Vivek's usually calm exterior was a terrifying sight to meet the eyes.

"Wait a minute..I get the Purab perverted intentions and Anjali-Aakash's concern for Chun regarding it but the two of you, mind telling me how drinking tequila has anything to do with harming Arnav?" Vivek asked in a ragged tone, his mind muddled up with confusion of so many things that did not fit in together. Both Karan and Khushi who had escaped into a tranquil silence looked at a confused Vivek, there expressions turning into a cocktail, of worry, concern and anger.

"Arnav is allergic to alcohol" they both said in exact synch, causing a small look of hilarity to flash on Vivek's face, while Khushi her concern laced all over hers, the look on Karan's now appearing to be very menacing.

"So you knew that? Di must have told you right? (Khushi nods) Oh that explains, how you planned it all out so well. Will you just tell me what is your problem? First you broke his leg, injured his head, and now this, what do you want Khushi?" Karan asked in an exasperated tone his face showing a tiring kind of uneasiness on it.

"For one, I didn't do anything, so the sooner you get that straight that better it will be. Besides, times then were different and now they are different" she retorted slowly, in her defense trying her best not to lose her calm with Karan's accusing words. She didn't need to be reminded of all that had happened between her and Arnav, because the little time they had known each other, had in fact prove to be quite a long one.

"Different? What's different? It's the same him, the same you, then what changed?" Karan asked in a freezy tone, searching Khushi's face for answers. What he had seen the two of them share earlier, the way Arnav was slowly reacting to things in a changed manner, he, Karan being his beat friend had to know what was in the brain of the girl, who was responsible for it all.

She stood glued to her spot, no expression on her face nothing. She was just standing upright due to some magical force that held her there, like a well waxed mannequin, with absolutely no sign of life. Vivek looked at Karan first with a rowdy gaze and then at Khushi with a one that held nothing but suspicion and concern. He knew her, and a proven fact about her was such that when there was absolutely nothing wrong then she would spat it out on the face of the person, if she was wrongly accused she wouldn't back off, but her reaction to Karan's query was one that he did not expect, She was so quiet as if confused, as if embarrassed, as if calculating the correct probability of the worth of her next answer. This was not her, and if it was then certainly, he thought what he considered as only harmless bickering was something else, it was attraction, serious attraction.

"I'll explain that t you later. But for now it's all about Arnav, he need us right now" she finally said in a quiet voice, not having much to put light on Karan's question.

And she never backed away when asked wrongly, Vivek thought to him self .

"Not us. It's me. The two of you stay here" Karan said in a chilly tone, as if threatening the two of them to stay behind.

"Who are you to stop us? I am coming." Khushi said violently, now tried of Karan's feisty attitude, which on the verge of bringing the worst out of her, Vivek being the silent spectator for the first time ever running out of words to say.

"His best friend! Who are you?" Karan castigated at her, in between all the worry and tension finding something of subsistence that he had been waiting to find out for days.

"I am '" She started off fiercely but lost the trail of words in between her thoughts losing direction, making her more tensed than she had felt in a while. The sudden stammering, the sudden tongue tied situation was messing up her thought, and then as she pondered over it, she thought, Karan was right, who was she?

Karan even in such a situation of negativity could see that ray of positivity, that stammering, her slightly staggering due to the thought of what she would have said. It was the only thing he wanted to see, that lost expression on her face, the same he had seen on Arnav quite a number of times now, which made one thing very evident to him now, the fire was equal from both sides.

"Okay C'mon" Karan said suddenly, snapping the other two out of their reverie, as Khushi dumbfounded by Karan's sudden attitude followed, Vivek holding her hand in fear that she might lose stability at any given moment.

"Chun are you alright?" Vivek asked her tentatively and she locked her eyes with him for a split seconds then looked away at the people on the stage still dancing away mad. She thought to herself, with increased certainty, the irony of two worlds existing in a single room was for the first time for her coming true right before her very eyes. Out there, everybody was having the time of their life, while she here was staggering and whimpering in between concealed thoughts and hidden affections.

"Hmm" she replied, due to the lack of words. They entered inside Arnav's black and blue room, fond memories flooding her brain, which in a single split moment were washed away with what she saw in front of her. Vivek closed the door behind them, as Karan walked over to Arnav's bed sitting by his side, where a green at flesh, insane at insides, Arnav was lying.

Her eyes were on the verge of letting out big fat tears seeing him on his bed impatiently shifting here and there, seething with the internal pain he was going through. His eyes were bloody red, forehead wrinkled, face extremely devoid of any sort of color, the nauseous look n his face marring his handsome boyish features. She could see how hard he was trying to get control over himself, get control over the situation, like he did almost every single time, the one in control, the one always in control, how typical, she thought, he was after all Arnav Singh Raizada.

She freed her hand from Vivek's grip and rushed over to where Arnav was seething in pain, pretty much surprised to see her and Vivek walking in, instead of Aakash who he had originally called to be brought in by Karan. He darted a quick look at Karan, who didn't have much to offer, as the next moment, he felt his hands wrapped into her cold ones, with her crouched at the side of the bed, on brink of letting out tears, which he however noticed she was swallowing down her throat.

"Are you .. do you want anything Arnav? Can I do anything for you?" she said in a choky voice the effect coming due to the tears that she was thrusting down her throat so that they wouldn't come out from her eyes.

"Rai..zada .. Gu..pta .. It is Rai..*cough* zada for you" he said in pain, her eyes going moist with vigilance to even the way she was addressing him. However, spot on in all matters even in such circumstances he was absolutely unique and that is what amazed her. While her expressions had considerably softened a lot, Karan's face registered that understanding of growing fondness that had grown with his surname, only because she called him with that.

"Bags and Peanuts" Vivek muttered under his breathe, inwardly chuckling at Arnav's out of the blue thought processes. Imagine, he himself was wilting in pain, and all he was concerned for was what Chun addressed him with? Weird.

"Okay, Okay, Raizada, Arnav whatever, can I do something for you?" she asked anxiously to which he replied in ragged breathes to call his brother.

"Karan I told you to bring Bhai, who said to bring Gupta here? You said she was drunk too, what is her purpose here?" Arnav said uneasily, his neck craned towards the other side where Karan was sitting next to him, his gaze boring into Karan's face which had turned stoned now. Breathing heavily, he turned to look at Khushi whose grip on his hand had loosened, and she was slowly drawing away her hands from him, while on standing on the door leaning against the wall, Vivek appeared to be no less expressionless than the other two.

"What? What is *cough* going on? (looking at Khushi) Gupta, you tell me, what *cough* happened? How did you get dr *sneeze* drunk? You don't drink" he finally stringed in words together to make a sentence, in a weak voice now, searching her face for answers, but she only kept looking away from him, making him all the more curious. She didn't want to tell him the entire story just now, when he was in a much worst condition than she had expected him to be in, and at a time like this, fury was the last thing to be ignited within him.

"Don't give me that.. *cough* alien look! *cough* Who did all of this?" he asked in a coughy yet thunderous voice causing the two boys and Khushi to look him straight in the eye. Trust him to be authoritative even when sick, was the only thought going in each mind other than Arnav's. With much difficulty, Khushi, Vivek and Karan told the entire story to Arnav filling in bits that the other person did not know, in between sharing glances at each other at unknown bits, but what did not have an ending could only have one, with Arnav's one confirmation.

"Did you drink the remaining apple juice, I mean tequila Arnav?" Karan asked a disheveled Arnav who was rattling in an uncontrollable fit of fury, his eyes more dark than burnt chips of metal.

"Yeah (grunting) That asshole, *sneeze* how could (looking at Khushi) and you Gupta, are you insane? Hasn't you mother taught *cough* you never to take offerings from *choking* strangers?" he shouted at her breathlessly as if exercising legal rights on her.

"You know what Chun? He is right, I told you before also to stay away from Purab, why don't you get it." Vivek walked over to where she was sitting towering over her crouched, he said these words seriously, however less ruthlessly than Arnav both sharing the same concern for her.

"Hello guys! Why are you on me right now? (Glaring at Arnav) and you Raizada, don't you talk about teaching, who ever heard of people drinking half drank glasses of apple juice? Couldn't you get a full one for yourself?" Khushi spoke out, with half shut eyes, adrenaline rushing into her very being.

"Shut up guys! Just Shut up! I'll go call Bhai, and he'd fix up some meds, till then Arnav don't worry, keep put.." Karan said in a tired voice, irritated at his best friend's ability to quarrel even in the worst of times.

"Karan! Cut down the crap! *cough* For God sake I wasn't born yesterday" Arnav cut in between Karan's sentence as Karan shaking his head in a non chalant way got up from the bed almost walking out of the room when Khushi held his hand back and got up from where she was bent, having Vivek move steps back to have her stand without her bumping into him.

"No wait, you stay here with Raizada, I'll go call Bhai"

"You are not *cough* going anywhere, Who knows another *sneeze* slimy fellow will bump in you (rubbing his red nose) offer you something, and you'll get into *cough* trouble again" Arnav told her haughtily holding her back firmly with his hand, what looked like an absolutely comical picture with her one hand holding on to Karan and while the other captivated in Arnav's strong grip, like a rope in the tug of war game.

"Okay fine. Go. But if you find Payal Jiji with Bhai, tell her that when Aman Uncle comes she should go and not wait for me" she told Karan who nodded his head hurriedly and disappeared out of the room leaving Khushi, Vivek and Arnav alone in the room, the three only looking at each others faces blankly.

**************************************

Outside Karan pushed his way through the crowd, his eyes searching for Aakash but amongst the many people it was so difficult to look for him, with teens of varied heights still dancing mad on the stage. Giving up he decided to look after Payal instead, predicting Aakash to be with her and soon enough he spotted the bright yellow frill in Payal's dress and went over to her, sighing in relief to see Aakash sharing the same floor spot with her. Dragging the two of them to a corner with much difficulty he brought them to a fair distance away from the noise of the blaring music in their surrounding.

"Karan what is it? Why did you pull us out? Sick of Chotte eh? *pause* Talking of Chotte where is he,,and Khushi? I cant see any of them here" Aakash asked obviously having missed out the tensed look on Karan's face, due to the misty eyed way he was continuously staring at Payal with.

"Arnav is sick" Karan said not at all enjoying the breaking out of this news to Aakash, even more depressed with spoiling Aakash's juvenile mood.

"Tell me something new chap! (slapping Karan friendly on his back) I already know that!" Aakash chuckled, but now feeling a bit bemused at Karan's roundabout words.

"Bhai! I am not joking. He is really sick. He drank tequila" Karan said vexed, and these words were what had the color for Aakash's face drained out, losing all its comedy element, his features going all tensed, with Payal looking at him in a sheepish way.

"Tequila? Where did tequila come from here? There were no alcohol thing in the party!" Aakash asked in an amazed manner.

"I'll tell that to you later" Karan said with a hint of understanding in his voice, which Aakash had promptly caught knowing why Karan was hesitant of revealing too much, since Payal was standing with them and it was not the best thing to have a guest intervene in something personal.

"What happened Aakash? Some trouble?" Payal asked him bothered who nodded but kept his hand on her shoulder.

"I'll handle it (taking Karan's hand) Karan's lets go"

"No wait, Payal Khushi has sent this message for you" Karan said and hurriedly gave in Khushi's message to Payal who flustered nodded while Aakash dragged Karan towards Arnav's room, urging him to tell the whole story, or whatever had happened, that had led to Arnav consuming alcohol. By the time they had entered Arnav's room and closed the door behind him, all of Aakash's muscles tightened him closely quivering in fury.

"I am going to f**king rip apart that perverted douche bag!", Aakash said in a dangerously erry tone, shaking with anger so badly that the other four teenagers in the room knew he was at his worst right now.

"Bhai the party is almost over, and most probably Purab is gone too. You just go out for the time being bid everyone goodbye, and when everyone's gone we'll tell Anji Di about it" Khushi said sensibly keeping a firm hand on Aakash's shoulder from doing anything venomous that might result in problems for them later, not that they had enough of them already. The calm demeanor she was demonstrating right now, made Vivek look at her in awe, when only earlier he knew how frantic she was, and there was no doubt that even now she was frantic, maybe more.

"Yeah Bhai, she is right, just give Arnav the meds or tell us the names we will sort it out, you go out and handle the guests, they are about to leave, it would be odd if you wouldn't be out" Karan tried to convince Aakash who was unwilling to go out of at all. But anyways, he did go to the drawer where the first aid box was kept, took out the required medicine, that their mother had told him and Anjali to give to Arnav when he was suffering from an attack of being subjected to any item containing alcohol. The water was thankfully in Arnav's room only and so Khushi poured out the water for him giving it to him, him making faces while eating it the tablets because in all the perfection that he was, Arnav Sigh Raizada couldn't swallow food, only chew them, hence inhaling the bitter taste of medicine.

Aakash stood their with them not going out, when outside the blare of music could be heard dieing down and the tipper tapper of many people walking out of the front door.

"Bhai please go outside, just bid the guests off and then we'll tell Anjali Di about all this" Khushi said desperately trying her best to shove Aakash out, who after a lot of pushes finally moved out, giving a look at Arnav who looked more greener with every passing second. Outside the crowd had started to disperse, and the moment he had stepped out of the room, a lot of friends came in to bid him off, forcing a forced smile on his face. But his eyes were wandering here and there looking for Anjali when a familiar voice drove his entire attention towards her.

"I am going. Papa's here. Will you just tell Khushi to call me up when she reaches home?" Payal asked him earnestly too which he nodded his face very tensed, and now it was Payal's turn to pacify him with which she did not make much time. Moving in closer to him, she circulated her eye balls all around the room, to see if anyone was looking at them, and finding the coast clear, she leaned forward towards his left cheek and planted a small kiss on his cheek, leaving him all flustered, herself blushing a deep red.

"Don't worry, Arnav's going to be fine, give him my regards" she said holding his hands into hers as a small smile spread on Aakash's face, smiling cutely at her. Giving a last look she walked away not before giving him a fleeting glance shyly.

"Give me a call if you can" she called out to him before absolutely disappearing out of the door and into the car in which her dad was waiting for her. Aakash was standing their going all red looking down, when the giggle and tapping on his shoulder brought him back to reality.

"Ahem'Ahem'I saw that right? So its working, she likes you doesn't she?" Anjali teased her brother, joyfully her one hand enclosed in the arms of Shyam who was standing by her side enjoying the cute way she was irking the hell out of brother.

"Shut up Anji! Does your brainless brain only process such nonsense?" he denounced his entire form back to restoring that hardness it had sunk into. Anjali staggered a bit hearing the fury filled response from her brother, her entire face clouding with disgusting expression. She gave a brief look at Shyam who was looking away obviously she sent offended by Aakash's hoarse response.

"Oh erm Shyam..let me drop you to the door.. probably Aakash here is not feeling well" she said trying to hide the awkwardness of the situation throwing a deadly glare at Aakash and moving away from him now to bid Shyam good bye in the best way she could to make up for Aakash's hoarseness. Only a few guests were left and slowly they all dispersed bidding goodbye to the birthday siblings, Anjali finally walking with a grave expression towards Aakash who was more worried than anything else.

"What was all that? Do you actually have any sense or did that one kiss from Payal take away all that? Just think what Shyam could be thinking about us, how he.." Anjali rambled, the temper in Aakash only rising more and more.

"Shyam! Shyam! Shyam! Can you think anything other than him? Do you even have any idea, what has been going on here other than the party and your Shyam whatever" Aakash screamed at her angrily, taking Anjali with surprise who was looking at her with wide eyes.

"What? What the hell are you even talking about? Why are you so fumed up? *pause* Where is Chotte, (thinking hard) and Khushi, Vivek, Karan I didn't see either of them leaving" Anjali fired back at him, who was now trying his best to keep his anger in check.