Chapter 42

Hey girles 💞

IMPORTANT

In this chapter i have shown the bond between sisters. And if you feel you are getting bored you are free to skip this chapter. vani aur nav ka bhi thoda scene hai at first.

But i didn’t felt like to skip the bond and the feel of sisters.
Haar baar its just main leads
Why?
Bhai bhen ka koi hissa ni hota kya?
Why they are just limit to side characters

So I felt the need, To feel.
So I don’t know if you like it or not, but i felt the need to include these scenes.

And yeah… Aglee scene se vani sur nav ki masti fir se shuru..

Achhe achee chapters..

Excited?

Till then do vote,⭐ and comments.📪

Have a good time 😌

Fuck!
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Am I going to…
No!!!
He was going to…
No!!!

How dare he?

No!!!

How can I?

No!!!

WHAT
THE
HELL
IS
WRONG
WITH
ME!!!!!!!!!!!!

UGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

How can I even face him now?
Should I just die?

Or maybe dig a hole and bury myself in it?

But… what if he pulls me out?
No. Bad idea.

How about getting kidnapped?
No. Very bad idea.

What if I hit a vase on my own head and pretend I lost my memories?
Yes. Yes! Perfect.

I turned my eyes toward the vase in the center of the table.

Before I could even move, Nav casually picked it up and set it on his side table.

I froze. My eyes widened.

Is he… hearing the voice in my head?

No. No way. I mean… is he??

Without even glancing at me, he simply started jotting down his plans on paper, scrolling through sites on his laptop.

And now… I can’t even run.
If I do, he’ll think he’s affecting me.

No. No way.
Not in any stupid, ridiculous way.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, VANI RATHORE?!!

I hadn’t even realized I was fidgeting with my pen until-

“Vani, calm down,” Nav pointed out.

I tilted my face upward and met his gaze.

“Are you embarrassed?” he asked quietly, his tone sincere.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, squeezing my eyes shut and covering my face with both palms.

I didn’t even notice when he hopped closer and sat beside me.

“Vaniiii… why are you sorry, bacha?” he asked in such a soft tone, almost as if he were coaxing a little child.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, still hiding my face. My voice carried that guilty tremble-the kind of sound a child makes when they’re crying without knowing why.

“Vaniiii…” he called my name so sweetly, it tugged at something deep inside me.

“Look at me,” he urged.

I shook my head vigorously.

“Look. At. Me. Vani…” he repeated, more firmly this time. Again, I shook my head.

“Meri kareli, you can’t keep hiding. And if anyone should hide, it’s me. I was the one who tried to kiss you, caught in the heat of the moment. It was me… not you. You did nothing wrong. Look at me, solnyshka,” he said, his voice laced with comfort.

Slowly, I lowered my hands from my face, but still couldn’t bring myself to meet his eyes.

Instead, I stared at my lap, my gaze drilling holes into my own hands.

Nav didn’t speak, he just looked at me, and I? I looked at my palms refusing to look at him.

I wanted him to say something.
No. I wanted him not to say anything.
God, I didn’t even know what I wanted.

My leg bounced restlessly under the table. My fingers tangled with each other until the pen slipped, nearly clattering onto the floor.

“Vani.” His voice was low, steady.

I swallowed hard, eyes fixed stubbornly on my notebook. If I looked at him now, I knew I’d break.

So instead, I whispered, barely audible, “Can we… not talk about it?”

Nav was quiet for a beat. Then, a soft hum. “As you wish, meri kareli.”

He didn’t argue. He didn’t tease. Just… stayed quiet, letting my words hang,

I doodled nonsense in the margin of my notebook just to look busy. Swirls, loops, messy lines. Anything but words,

Yeh khamoshi thodi ajeeb c hai,
Aur nav mujhe ese kyu dekh rahe hai?

“Those don’t look like notes,” he said suddenly, his tone maddeningly casual.

My head snapped up, eyes wide. “You’re spying?”

“I’m sitting right next to you,” he said flatly, one brow lifting as though I were the ridiculous one.

I quickly covered the page with my hand. “They’re notes.”

“They’re circles.”

“They’re… coded notes.

He let out a soft snort, shaking his head as he bent back over his work.

And just like that, the silence returned-thicker now, as if it knew a secret I didn’t want spoken aloud.

I pressed my lips together, forcing my gaze back to my notebook. But the stupid loops and swirls blurred in front of me, refusing to make sense.

Because all I could feel was him sitting there. Quiet. Close. Steady.

Like he wasn’t going anywhere.
And I feel the need to go somewhere

✧

“Vani… kuch khaogi?” he asked, and I looked at him.
[“Vani, wanna eat something?”]

I glanced at the wall clock.
It was already 6 p.m.

“Nahi… it’s too late. I should probably go,” I said, starting to pick up my things.

“Aree wait. I’m ordering takeout. What will you eat?” he said, already picking up his phone.

I was about to refuse when he cut in, “I’m not taking no.”

A smile tugged at my lips at his tactics.
Stubborn.

“What are you having?” I asked.

“What do you want me to have?” he shot back.

I raised an eyebrow, inspecting his face carefully, trying to see if he was messing with me again.

“Anything is fine, Nav. And… can you please order butterscotch ice cream? Ayanshi loves it.”

“What about you, Vani? What do you love?” he asked, his eyes fixed on me.

Kitne sawaal puchta hai yeh.
[He asks so many questions.]

“I can eat anything,” I said.

“Eating and liking are different, Vani. Which ice cream flavour do you like?”

I shrugged casually.
“Maybe butterscotch.”

“Maybe?” His gaze didn’t move from my face.

I shrugged again.
“Maybe. Butterscotch is tasty. I like it.”

He smiled but didn’t press the conversation further.

“It’ll come in twenty minutes,” he said, and I nodded.

“Good night, Nav,” I said softly.

Itni kaab badal gayi hamari bhasha inke liye?
[Since when did our language soften like this for him?]

“Good night, solnyshka,” he said with a gentle smile.

I waved him goodbye and headed out.

✧

I pushed open the apartment door, balancing my laptop bag on my shoulder. After hours of working with Nav, my head still buzzed with numbers and emails, but the moment I stepped inside, all that noise dulled into silence.

A strange silence.

Usually, Ayanshi’s presence filled this place. She was never one to sit still-if she wasn’t humming in the kitchen or sketching something random, she’d be on call with someone, her laughter bouncing off the walls, or she make some weird biology drawings. But today, nothing. Not even the faint rustle of movement.

I walked into the living room, and that’s when I saw her.

She was curled up on the couch, a blanket pulled tightly around her body, as though the fabric was the only thing holding her together. Her hair fell messily across her face, strands sticking in ways she’d never let them if she had the energy to care. The second her eyes landed on me, her lips stretched into a smile-a little too quick, a little too sharp, as if she had rehearsed it.

“You’re back,” she said. Her tone was light, but not her eyes. Her eyes… God, they looked exhausted, red at the corners like she hadn’t slept or maybe had cried herself out.

I froze for a second, my chest tightening.

Something was off. Very off.

Dropping my bag to the table, I walked straight to her and sat down beside her on the couch. “Yeah,” I murmured, my gaze fixed on her face. “Nav and I just finished the reports.”

She nodded, too quickly again, like she was trying to act normal. “That’s good.”

I didn’t buy it. Not for a second.

Before she could retreat into silence, I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around her. At first, her body went rigid, like my touch had startled her. But slowly, I felt the tension ease, her breath shuddering against my shoulder.

“Ayanshi,” I whispered, my throat stinging, “what’s wrong? Please… just tell me.”

For a moment, I thought she would break-her hands trembled slightly against the blanket, her lips parting as if the words were right there, stuck in her throat. But then, she shook her head, pulling away just enough to hide her face from me.

“It’s nothing, di, I’m fine. Just… tired.”

Tired.

The word stabbed deeper than it should have, because I knew her. She wasn’t tired.

I reached out, gently tucking the stray strands of hair behind her ear, searching her face for answers she wouldn’t give me. Her eyes darted away, refusing to meet mine, and that told me more than her words ever could.

“Don’t do this,” I murmured, trying to keep my voice steady. “Don’t shut me out. Please.”

But she gave me that same, brittle smile. “Really, di. It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

And that was it. She brushed me off, slipping out of my arms, pretending to straighten the blanket as if fussing over the fabric could erase what I had seen in her eyes.

But it couldn’t.

Because I had seen it. The pain. The weight of something she was carrying all alone.

Par kya?

I sat there, staring at her as she pulled the blanket tighter around herself,

My mind raced. I wanted to shake her, to force the truth out of her, but I knew Ayanshi. The more you pressed, the deeper she buried things.

So I swallowed the panic rising in me and forced my voice to stay calm. “Okay,” I said softly, even though my heart screamed otherwise. “If you don’t want to tell me right now… fine. But don’t think for a second I believe you’re fine.”

She didn’t respond. She just stared at the wall, her face unreadable.

I got up and quietly walked into the kitchen, pretending to busy myself. If she wouldn’t talk, then I’d have to watch her in other ways. The untouched cup of coffee on the counter, cold and forgotten. The way her phone was tossed carelessly on the table, screen cracked from a fall.

I sat down again, this time not asking questions, not demanding answers. Instead, I just took her hand, holding it in mine. She flinched at the touch but didn’t pull away. That was enough.

If she wouldn’t speak, then I would simply stay. If she wanted to brush it off, I’d still be here when her walls finally cracked.

Because that’s what sisters do.

” you won’t ask me anything?” She asked me her eyes glinsting

” do you want to say something?” I asked and she shook her head slowly, once

” then I won’t ask anything. You have me. every turn, every place, every thought, every single time. You know what. You can lie in my lap, if you don’t want to tell me its fine. If you wanna tear apart, I’ll hold you and not even ask anything. I know my ayanshi is strong. “

She lied in my lap

” mujhe nahi pta, why i am feeling this!” she said and i started caressing her hair. As i said, i didn’t ask her anything.

At last she fell asleep, she thought i didn’t notice when her tears were flowing, or when she buried her head in my stomach, not letting me see her tears. And i let her feel that.

She didn’t have dinner, so I made her drink milk.

I put icecream and half meal in the fridge, and ate a lit myself.

Ab nav ne itne payar se mangvaya tha
To mai ese thodi na chord deti?

✧

The next morning, the apartment was still silent when I returned from my run. My shoes tapped lightly against the wooden floor as I entered, expecting to see the same stillness from last night.

But instead, I stopped dead in my tracks.

Two suitcases sat by the door, neatly zipped, as if waiting for someone to take them away. For a second, I just stared, my heartbeat picking up. Confusion layered in my chest.

Before I could process, Ayanshi stepped out of her room. Her hair was tied loosely, her clothes simple, travel-ready. She froze when she saw me standing there, caught in the middle of a silence neither of us wanted to break.

“Ayanshi?” I asked, my voice uneven. “What’s going on? Why are your bags packed?”

She inhaled, the faintest hesitation crossing her face before she straightened. “Di,” she said softly, “I’m going back. My new semester is about to start, and I have work to finish before that.”

Her words fell too quickly, like she had practiced them a dozen times in her head. I just stood there, not knowing whether to argue or accept it.

She continued before I could speak. “There are so many options, so many paths… I’ll discuss them with Papa before I choose my university. But for now-I need to go home.”

I blinked at her, my throat tightening. It felt too sudden, too fast. I wanted to beg her to stay, to not leave me like this, not when I could still see the shadows in her eyes from last night. But then, she smiled faintly-tired, but steadier than before.

And I knew I couldn’t hold her back.

So instead, I crossed the room and wrapped my arms around her tightly. She clung to me this time, no hesitation, her head pressing against my shoulder.

“I’m going to miss you,” I whispered, my chest heavy.

“I’ll miss you more,” she murmured, her voice trembling just enough to betray the strength she was trying to keep. “But I’ll be fine, Di. Promise.”

We stood like that for a while, two sisters holding on, as if memorizing each other’s warmth before the distance crept in again.

Breakfast was quiet, both of us pretending to be casual, stealing glances and smiling at nothing. Every bite I took felt heavier, like I was swallowing pieces of my own loneliness.

And then, it was time.

I drove her to the airport, the city blurring past the window while she leaned against the seat, scrolling on her phone like it was just another day. But I noticed her reflection in the glass-her eyes weren’t on the screen, they were far away, lost.

At the terminal, she hugged me one last time, longer than before, and then pulled away with a small wave.

“Take care of yourself, Di,” she said, forcing a smile.

“You too,” I managed to reply, my chest aching as I watched her disappear into the crowd.

And just like that, I was alone again.

✧

When I returned from the airport, the apartment felt hollow. The silence felt heavier, and for the first time in a long while, it wasn’t comforting, it was suffocating.

I dropped my keys on the counter and noticed something sitting near the dinning table. A mug. Ayanshi’s favorite one, the white ceramic one. She never even let anyone touch it

Bhul gai kya?

My brows furrowed as I stepped closer. I picked the cup and Inside it, folded neatly, was a small piece of paper.

I pulled it out with trembling fingers.

Di,
Don’t forget to drink your chai properly, and not just coffee, caffeine is bad FYI. You always say you don’t need anyone, but you do. You need me, and I’ll come back soon. Till then… don’t skip meals, okay?
I love you.
– Your little troublemaker

My throat burned, my vision blurring. I pressed the note against my chest, clutching it like it was the only piece of her I had left.

The apartment was empty, yes. But in that moment, it felt like she had left a part of herself behind to keep me company.

” darmebaaz. Mujhe bhi emotional kr gai.” i whispered it to myself

After some time, I was back in my office, buried in work, yet one thought kept lingering in my mind-

Will he tease me about yesterday?