Priya was going insane.

She was going insane and a certain brown haired beauty was to be blamed for it.

"I'm sorry? Come again, would you?"

Dhruv let out an exasperated sigh, and repeated what he had already said three times now. It was way past their closing time and he was exhausted. Still, he indulged with Priya.

"I said," He started slowly. "that Ruhi Ahuja, famous blogger, owner of Yin & Yummy and your future wife―" he really was getting good at avoiding her smacks― "sent you a bouquet, again."

Okay. Yeah, okay.

This was nothing new. (Priya just liked to pretend that it was, sue her.)

It was Saturday, marking a month since their (non-date) date at the arcade. And things between Priya and Ruhi had been amazing, so to speak.

They had been texting, calling, video-calling, and visiting each other nonstop since that magical night.

It had become a norm for Priya to spend at least a day at the restaurant kitchen to make something new for Ruhi every week since then. And to many (and Ruhi) it might not seem like a big thing but Priya and Dhruv were well aware of the importance of this (sort of) tradition for Priya.

"Are you sure, pickle?" Dhruv asked, uncertainly.

"Yeah, squirt." Priya said, confidently. "Trust your pickle on this, hm?"

"I trust you, pickle. Of course I do." Still weary, Dhruv continued at Priya's encouraging smile. "It's just the last time you stepped into the restaurant kitchen had been almost seven months ago. Before..." He trailed off but both of them knew what he was referring to.

Priya took a deep breath. She knew Dhruv hadn't meant that in a negative way. Still, reminiscing that part of her past wasn't something Priya was very fond of, but she understood where Dhruv was coming from.

"Squirt." She started with a sigh. Suddenly her therapist's words came back to her. 'Be honest if you want others to be honest with you.'

"To be honest, I'm terrified right now." When she saw that Dhruv wasn't going to go all pity mode on her, she continued. "I know that it's been a while and just the thought of going in there and making something sounds terrible to me."

She put up a hand when Dhruv tried to say something. "No, lemme do this. I need to say this."

"I feel scared to even think about going in there. But I wanna do this. I really wanna do this, you know. Even if I feel afraid right now, just imagining the smile she will have when she sees this is gonna be worth it. I know it's gonna be worth it. This is why I wanna do this and I want, no need your support in this." She finished with a sigh.

Only to have Dhruv give her a strained yet encouraging smile.

And that was that.

But the surprise bouquets? They were a new addition to whatever was going on between them.

It had started this Monday, when Priya had spent the entire day waiting for Ruhi to come by so she could make her a mean dosa. Only to have a lily of the valley bouquet delivered to her at the time Ruhi was supposed to come.

It was later that the other told her that she was in Mumbai for the rest of the week, reviewing restaurants there. And she hadn't informed Priya because it was a last-minute thing.

Priya had been very angry (and hurt). And rightfully so, on her part. She always hated when people kept her in the dark. When they didn't tell her anything because they thought that was the best for her. Like, come on, she was a grown ass adult, for fuck's sake. Let her decide what's good or not for herself, no?

And so, Priya had been angry ever since.

And the bouquets had been coming ever since too.

On Tuesday, they were pink roses.

On Wednesday, they were blue hyacinths.

On Thursday, they were white orchids.

And yesterday, they were a mix of different coloured tulips (Priya's personal favourite).

A simple research had shown that all these flowers represented being sorry (and were expensive as fuck).

And to be frank, Priya wasn't even that angry to begin with. She knew that Ruhi was telling the truth and she hadn't intentionally kept going to Mumbai a secret from Priya. It was just the amount of attention she was receiving that made her behave like more of a brat than she was.

But today was different.

Today the bouquet had been that of lilacs. And even Priya knew that lilacs didn't mean apology. They meant courting―

"And there's something else here, again." Dhruv's voice brought her out of her reverie.

Dhruv was holding a piece of paper (a note of sorts) that was kept neatly in the bouquet. This wasn't new too.

Every bouquet had come with a small note, all of them saying the same thing: I'm sorry.

Priya knew Ruhi was aware that she was acting out just for the sake of it. It was established when they had their first video-call after Ruhi's departure, where she had apologised profusely to a blushing Priya, only to smirk and ask, "So tell me, are you gonna miss me, baby?".

Priya had to cut the call or she would've burst in flames, there and then.

So yeah, Ruhi knew, but still she was going at such lengths and Priya felt cherished. And she, in turn, cherished the feeling of being cherished, for it wasn't everyday someone went out of their way to apologize to her.

Some didn't even bother to think about apologizing to her.

"What does it say? The usual?" She asked.

Dhruv opened the note, read it at an alarming speed, and just stood there for a second. Priya waited, feeling weirdly nervous for some reason. Dhruv looked at her then back at the note and something ugly flashed across his face, gone before Priya could make out what it was.

"Yeah, the usual." He said and Priya had a sudden thought that he was lying. It was absurd because why would he, but something told her he was. And Priya had learnt to listen to that something the moment everything had went downhill seven months ago.

She opened her mouth to question when suddenly the bell on the door chimed, followed by her phone ringing.

She smiled, all thoughts of her best friend's (possible) lie leaving her mind, when she saw who was calling.

"Hey―"

"Where are you?" Her favourite voice in the world interrupted her greeting. Dhruv chose that moment to walk out and ask whoever had come in to kindly fuck off.

"I'm at the restaurant. Why do you ask?"

"Well, why don't you come out and see for yourself?"

Priya could fell her heart beating fast, as though she had run a marathon. Ruhi was scheduled to come back on Sunday, meaning tomorrow. It had to be some prank, right?

Except Dhruv's shout of 'Priya! Come out, now!' that followed, denied her suspicion.

She ran towards the front as fast as she could, everything else leaving her mind when she saw the tired yet happy face of Ruhi at the front door. She ignored the sharp intake of breath Dhruv took, the way Kartik was pointedly ignoring Ruhi, the way Ruhi stiffened when Priya hugged her and the fact that someone else was accompanying the blogger duo.

She just hugged Ruhi with everything she had, startled at the fact that even though she hated any sort of physical contact with people, she had really missed the familiar warmth Ruhi had and her soothing cherry blossom smell.

Priya realised she felt at home in Ruhi's arms and she never wanted to let go.

But of course, the universe had it out for her.

Because Ruhi didn't hug her with the same enthusiasm. She just stood there stiffly, as though she were uncomfortable. Priya waited for her to melt the way she knew Ruhi would. But after five minutes of awkward silence, with Priya one-sidedly hugging Ruhi, she noticed the atmosphere was off.

She stepped back, letting her arms drop by her side, trying not to feel hurt at the unreciprocated hug and finally noticed the fifth presence in the room.

She immediately wished she didn't.

Because standing next to Ruhi, all proud and confident (and a hell lot of cocky) stood the famous food blogger, Dev Singhania.

Dev Singhania, Ruhi's very public ex-boyfriend.

And Priya felt her heart break into a million more pieces than it was capable of, when she saw the former couple holding hands.

She wondered what she did in her past life to have such a shitty life. To finally have a person she could trust, could see herself loving more than anyone in this world, only to have them ripped away so harshly from her.

"Hey, Priya. Meet my boyfriend, Dev."

I'm sorry guys! I was super busy these past few weeks! I swear I'll make it up to y'all soon!! Sorry for the chapter too 😭 Istg they'll be happy soon!!!! Just give them time and don't kill Ruhi!!!!

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love, lavanya <3