Arjun and Rahul stay in a rented 2bhk now, 5km from the college.

In the living room..

Rahul, walking to and fro from one corner to the other, punching his other palm

Arjun, irritated, 'Could you please stop overreacting?'

Rahul: 'I'm overreacting? Really? Explain me why you're meeting Shreya again'

Arjun: 'Come on, I told you she was crying on the call. May be she needs someone to talk to man, I couldn't refuse when she asked if I can meet her'

Rahul, in a very sarcastic tone, 'Yeah right, why would you reject? She's your damsel in distress and you're the Knight! Without you, she can't hope for a salvation'

Arjun: 'Its not like that man'

Rahul: 'The worst thing is she didn't even tell you if she broke up with Ashish'

Arjun: 'She definitely had a fight with him, I could gather that much'

Rahul: 'It only means that she's emotionally using you right now, nothing more than that'

Arjun: 'I know you don't like Shreya, but this is too much man. She used to be our friend, before she and I started being a thing'

Rahul, sighing, : 'Okay, I can clearly see that you're not in a position to listen. Atleast take this ons advice, don't let your emotions take over you at anypoint'.

Arjun: 'Of course, I won't'

Rahul: 'Btw, I totally forgot to ask, you said you were going to confess things to Tanya, did you do that? '

Arjun, wearing a smile of self pity, 'It doesn't matter, she doesn't want anything serious' *gets up and leaves the room*

At Shreya's Apartment, Shreya lives in a shared 3 bhk flat which she had taken just that year..

*Rings the door bell* *Rings the door bell*

As Arjun takes his mobile out to call up Shreya, he hears someone behind the door trying to open it. The door opens, and he sees Shreya, almost after an year, wearing a white top and blue jeans shorts, to him she looked as beautiful as she was on their first date. He also notices that her eyes looked puffy, and realises she must have been crying a lot lately.

Arjun, to himself in his head, 'I wonder if she cried so much when we broke up'

Shreya: 'Come in Arjun, I'm sorry to bother you'

Arjun replies in a serious tone, 'Well, you should be. I agreed to this only because you said you needed at least 10 min'

Speaking of which, can't we finish it while I'm standing here? '

Shreya, teary eyed, 'We can, but i have nosey neighbours. Please understand'

Arjun putting hands in his jeans pockets, enters the flat saying, 'Fine, it's only 10 min anyways'

As he enters the living room, he sees two women watching TV. He chooses to ignore them as he enters the room that Shreya directs him to. The room looked as if some burgler broke into it and ransacked the whole place.

Shreya, after locking the door from the inside, collapses on the floor leaning her back to the door, and starts crying. As Arjun looks at her, he realises he can't be rude to her anymore.

Arjun, quickly reaches to her, sits on his knees, and says in a concerned tone, 'Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't intend to be mean. Tell me what happened? Whatever it is, you don't deserve to go through this pain'

Shreya continues crying and doesn't reply..

Arjun, gets really concerned at this point looking at the intensity with which she was crying. He already regrets his decision, and tells himself that he should have listened to Rahul.

Shreya: 'I'm really sorry Arjun, I never deserved you, and I'm realising that now'

Arjun: 'It's okay Shreya, you don't have to think about it. It's over now, I don't have any hard feelings against you'

Shreya: 'No, you don't understand. Everything that I did to you is coming back to haunt me'

Arjun: 'I don't understand'

Shreya, crying as she speaks, 'I cheated on you Arjun'

Hearing this, Arjun felt a dagger struck straight into his heart. He wanted to laugh out loud at his naivety as he never believed any of his friends. Clamping down his pain, he wears a poker face as he didn't want to show his vulnerability

Arjun, in a very calm tone, 'I know Shreya, that's okay, we all screw up at some point'

Shreya, surprised, says, ' How are you not angry with me? '

Arjun: 'haha..it's over now, I won't achieve anything by being angry at you'.

Shreya, starts to wipe her tears off, 'Yeah, you don't have to do anything. Karma is taking care of me'

Arjun: 'So Ashish is..'

Shreya, interrupts him and says, 'Yes, I caught him myself two days ago'

Arjun: 'Did you talk... '

Shreya, interrupts again, ' No, I don't want to see his face anymore'

Arjun: 'Fair enough, let's not mention or talk about him then'

Arjun gets up, looks around the room, and extends his arm to Shreya saying, 'I know I said, I don't intend to be mean, but just because your life is a mess right now, doesn't mean your room also should be one! '

Shreya, chuckles a little, fully wipes off her tears and catches hold of Arjun's arm and gets up

As he saw a smiling Shreya, all the pain he felt minutes ago vanished like it never existed. They both start tidying the room.

Arjun and Shreya sitting on the either side of the bed, sipping tea..

Arjun: 'Not bad, you make a nice tea'

Shreya: 'I had to learn given that I'm living on my own now'

'Can I ask you something? I need an honest answer'

Arjun: 'Yeah, go ahead'

Shreya: 'Why did you agree to come here Arjun? You had every reason to say no to me'

Arjun: 'Yeah, I wanted to say no, I really did. But... '

Shreya: 'But? '

Arjun: 'Do you remember that day at the waterfall? '

Shreya: 'Yeah, I do'

Arjun: 'I made a promise to you that I wouldn't leave you until you leave me, I just got reminded of that, and I couldn't say No'

Shreya, looks at Arjun with tear filled eyes, says, 'This is exactly why I don't deserve you Arjun, to be honest I don't particularly remember what we spoke that day, I just remember the waterfalls and the kiss'

Arjun: 'I can understand, you were also distracted because you were worrying about reaching home on time'

Shreya: 'Yeah, I had to hire a cab to avoid anyone seeing you at my hostel'

Arjun: 'KA01 AF 7190'

Shreya, puzzled, looks at Arjun

Arjun, responds to the look, 'That's the Cab you took, I was so worried about whether you'll reach safely or not'

Arjun, turning completely towards Shreya, looks into her eye and says, 'It might not have been a special day to you Shreya, but it is a very special day to me. I do, and will always remember every single detail of that day till my last breath'

Shreya, as her eyes turn more watery, leans on to Arjun and starts kissing him. Arjun initially resists as he recalls Tanya, the single thought that struck his head was Tanya slamming a door at him. Now, he responds, and kisses Shreya back properly.

To be continued...

© Curiousme