A/N:The longest chapter. Hope you make it to the end.XD
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Nia's POV

"Plain Jane, what are you doing here?"Vishakha shot me a scrutinising gaze.

"I could ask you same question. But I wouldn't,since I am not interested in knowing that."I said while glaring at Aaruj. He soon looked away as if my gaze had burned him. Now he doesn't even want to look at me and I would be totally lying if I say it didn't hurt me at all.

"Don't try to act smart. Why are you even here? Wasn't getting Aaruj suspended from college enough? Your dramatics are not gonna work with Aaruj again."She spat venomously.

I am trying hard to keep anger at bay
But it's inevitable in Vishakha's case. Take a few deep breaths Nia. Don't let anger take over your senses.

I managed to reply her in a calm tone"I don't think I owe any explanation to you. And I am seriously bored watching your face for so longer in college. So if you will excuse me. I am here to talk to Aaruj."with this I was about walk towards him. He looked uncomfortable as he noticed me nearing him.

Wow. He is uncomfortable with me but he was okay being shirtless in front of Vishakha. That hypocrite. What was
he doing with her anyway?

As I started making my way towards the sofa he stood by, I was yanked back. I shot Vishakha a warning look as she held me by wrist. I fidgetated in her grip but her fingers were wrapped around my wrist firmly.

"Hey Nice bracelet, Nia. I saw exactly the same in 'Oyster Bay'. I wonder how could you afford it."she continued her nonsensical talks" Have you heard of the story where a crow wanted to become as beautiful as the peacock.So he stuck peacock feathers in his tail, assuming he would look as beautiful as him. You know what's so funny? That crow reminds me of you darling."

Then she smirked at me. Like always, her words didn't get to me. But still I was hurt. I was hurt because Aaruj didn't look bothered about Vishakha's scornful remarks about me. Expectations are self destructive.

I had two options:

First, Running away and never look back again.

Or

Staying strong and getting done with what I had come here for,i.e. talking to Aaruj.

First option surely looked easy. But it would have cost me my self respect. I was done running away from problems. I was done being a person who could easily get hurt. I was done with people treating me falsely.

"Vishakha, leave my hand."I hissed in anger. She looked startled with my sudden change in demeanour. Soon she dropped my hand.

As she turned on her heels, I left a sigh of relief.

I , Nia Subhash can actually fight back without even letting the tears come out from my eyes. I deserve debutant of the year award in 'Not-Crying-While-being-angry-at-someone' category.

While I had indulged myself, in celebrating my win against Vishakha, she stopped in her tracks and turned around"Btw, you guys didn't qualify for the competition. Being the judge, I think your flashmob was unsyncronized, stupid and downright pathetic. Also it lacked what you call it....oh my bad. How would you even know it since you don't have it.CLASS...It lacked class". She talked in a hush tone, so that only I could hear it.

Then she disappeared from my sight,closing or should I say slamming the door behind her. I could hear the clicking of her heels on the floor and soon the sound grew faint.

My first reaction after she had gone was,"Crap she knows it. But how?" I murmured under my breath.

"Are you talking to me?"I heard Aaruj's voice bringing me back from my analysing state.

I turned around and stared at his now relaxed figure. He had sprawled his body on the sofa and was watching cricket. What bothered me most was, his eyes still being fixed at the screen.
I realised he was avoiding to meet my gaze. I made my way to the fluffy chair beside the sofa. I sat down and readied myself to start a conversation, placing the bouquet on my lap.
But nothing came out as I opened my mouth to speak. What was I even going to speak?

Aaruj didn't bother to talk either. We remained silent for a while. This silence scared me cause we always had something to talk. If not something to talk, then we would be fighting. But silence, it never was an option in our case.

"So did your cable got disconnected or something ,due to a bad signal?"he finally asked breaking the silence between us.

"Huh? What? "I shot him a confused look as I met his eyes, which were already fixed on me. And surprisingly it felt so lucky to be the object of his concern for even a smallest bit of time.

"Don't you have ESPN in your subscription. Because you are surely watching cricket rather than talking to me."he whined. And he looked cute while doing that. I swear I felt like pulling his cheeks so badly. This guy will be the death of me.

"Oh, nope. I am here to talk to you and also to enquire about your health. I heard you injured your leg while practising. How are you now?"I asked fidgetating with laces tied around the bouquet.

Just when he started answering my question, my eyes flew to the TV screen again, as I heard a commentrator announcing a name."Michelle Johnson".

I gazed at the handsome player who had appeared on screen. I sighed looking at him. If Rishabh was my real life crush, Rajiv Khadelwal was my reel life crush, then Michelle Johnson was my sports quota crush. Did that even make sense? It did to me.

"Wow! I can literally count your teeth from here. Oh!and is there a cavity I see. "Aaruj commented sarcastically.

I closed my mouth hastily in embarrassment and gave him one of my deadliest scornful looks.

He returned the same look to me."If you wanted to ogle at Michelle Johnson you could have stayed home, rather than bothering yourself to travel this far,just to check on my health. "

"Are you crazy? "I asked then raised my hand in objection"Dont even answer that Aaruj. It's a rhetorical question."

"And yes I was ogling at him. And you shouldn't be the one to judge because you were doing, god knows what. ..."I stopped myself from talking as I couldn't even think of what Vishakha and Aaruj could be doing together.

"I was doing what?"he asked scrunching his eyebrows in confusion.

"I don't want to talk about it,Aaruj."I said looking away from him as the memories flew back to my mind making me angrier.

"No. Let's talk about it. I should know what is your verdict about my behaviour this time."he said raising his voice.

"Well. If you so want to know then here is the truth. I think you are confusing, stupid and stubborn guy. You never want to listen to anyone. You always do things without thinking. And it lands you in trouble. And your mood keeps changing like some chameleon changing colour that I sometimes feel like pulling my hair."

He looked taken aback by my words.

"So I am a disappoint to you?"he asked looking hurt.

"Not like that okay."I immediately corrected myself but it was too late. He was hurt and I was the reason behind it.

He looked away and stared at the tv screen for a while."I sometimes feel like I will never be good enough for you. No matter how hard I try to make things good I end up letting you down."

Not good enough for me? Is he kidding me? I should be the one asking him that.

"I think you should leave now. There is nothing else to talk about. Thanks for your concern about my health."he said in a formal manner. Then he got up and was about to go to his room. But I grabbed his arm, making him turn around. Now I was looking into his eyes.

"That's what I am talking about. You always decide what's good for everyone. You think you know everything but Aaruj Singh Rathore you are wrong. You didn't need to beat Kairav. He was my problem. You wouldn't have got suspended if you had not gotten yourself involved in this. Was it so hard to understand?"I said in huff manner.

My words seemed to have infuriated him. He grabbed me by elbows pulling me closer to him. As I collided onto his chest, his gaze kept burning holes on my face."What did you say?"

"I said you don't need to bother about my problems. They are mine. Not yours."I retorted in anger as I stared straight into his angry eyes.

"Nia Subhash, call me stupid, jerk, idiot, bully or any other thousand bad names. I wouldn't mind it. But don't ever say your problems aren't mine. Because they are."As he finished the sentence I saw a flicker of vulnerability crossing his features.

My heart thumped against my chest, not only because of our proximity but because of what he had said.

He said my problems were his. And he was angry because I told him to not get involved in any of them.

And here I was assuming, he was furious because I called him all those names.

Will there be any time when this guy wouldn't make me feel insane and lovely at the same time. It becomes so difficult to stay angry at him when he does that. It feels like my mind and heart are playing tug-of-war with my thinking.

But soon I stiffened in his hold as Vishakha's thought crossed my mind. I jerked away from him. He looked confused.

"Aaruj, don't talk to me like that."I blinked back the tears.

"I will. Because I care for you."he said cupping my face in his hands. That touch was mesmerising enough to melt the facade of anger I had pulled around my face currently.

As I met his beautiful eyes, They looked genuine. But then appearances could be deceiving.

"Don't say you care when you don't. Because it would hurt so much when you would stop this pretence of yours. Don't lead me to the path that will make me gullible. I wouldn't find my way back ever if I get lost."I said, not caring anymore if the tears were now rolling down my cheeks.

"Why don't you belive me when I say I care for you?"he dropped his hands to his sides and I felt an overgrowing urge of being close to him again, not in any creepiest way. but just so I could capture every tiny emotion playing on his face while he talked.

But then I shrugged off the thought and came up with a rude reply instead."Because when I walked into your apartment. I found you shirtless while that Vishakha was still here. And then you didn't even bother to acknowledge my presence. And to top it all you kept quite while she was talking nonsense about me. And I hate myself so much that her insult didn't get to me at all. It was your careless attitude towards me while she did that."

He shot me an amusing infectious smile in response. And I tried hard to not break into a grin.

I mean,girl ,you have already embarrassed yourself with your recent confession. Now don't let your leftover self respect succumb to his charming smile. Keep up the angry face.

"You are jealous."he stepped closer to me, watching my face with beatific expressions.

"Jealous. Hell no. I don't care about what happened between you two."I lied crossing my arms as I looked away.

"But what if I say, you need not be jealous of anything that happened between us. Cause nothing happened."he assured taking my hand in his.

"Belive me. I could care less if you were performing on the song'Oh oh Jane Jana' for that Vishakha or doing any other stuff."I said while scrunching my nose in disgust.

He broke into a fits of laughter after hearing my comment.

Then suddenly seriousness took over his expressions."Nia, for the last time I am saying this. Vishakha never mattered to me. And she won't make any difference to me in the future as well. I wasn't even expecting her, until I saw her at the door of my apartment. She came uninvited like usual. Then she troubled Vimala Aunty in making a stupid sugarfree latte while she was leaving for the day. But Vimala aunty being so kind agreed to make her one. While Vishakha was drinking her latte, the cup slipped from her hand, spilling the coffee everywhere expect on her. Even my shirt got dirty. So I went inside to change, just when I heard a doorbell ring. And you know the rest of the story."

"Is that really what happened?"I asked.

He bobbed his head, up and down.

"Nia,I am sorry that I didn't stood by you when Vishakha was insulting you. I so wanted to but then I stopped myself. I was fearing if I would say or do anything bad to her, you will be disappointed in me again. Sounds selfish but I didn't want to face it anyhow."he looked guiltily at the floor as he revealed it.

I slid my hands under his chin, to make him look at me.

"I am sorry too. I always jump to conclusions. I judge you all the time. I lash at you almost every now and then. But I promise I will trust you from now on."I shot him a sheepish look while he chuckled at me.

"Nia, so now that you are not mad at me anymore. Can I have the flowers you got for me?"he said while grinning from ear to ear.

I was about to hand him the bouquet, I had placed on the coffee table. But an evil thought crossed my mind."These are not for you. What made you think like that?"

His smile had now dropped and he looked serious. "And who they are for? May I know." I saw curiosity peeking out from his eyes.

"They are for someone, about whom I care a lot."I said looking affectionately at the flowers as I picked them up from the table.

"Do I know him?"he asked trying to dig out more information. But I wasn't going to give him any, that easily.

"No. He is someone who is very very special to me."I said plopping on the couch.

"Do I know him?"he questioned.

"Yes, you do."I replied.

"What's his name?"he now looked a bit frustrated to me.

"He has a nice name but I prefer calling him pinky."I smirked as I looked at the scowl on his face. Was he jealous?

"I am gonna find out that pinky and wait....You nicknamed me pinky."he said as the realisation dawned on him.

In the next instant, bouquet was snatched from my hand by him. He looked at the flowers while his smile kept growing wider and wider.

"I hope you liked them. I couldn't by you anything fancy on such short notice."I said examining his face.

"I love it. Thank you."he replied in excited manner. He inhaled the scent of flowers, bringing it closer to his nose.

"I am so sorry I didn't even ask if you would like to have anything. What would you have?"he asked suddenly.

You. I would love to have you by my side for the rest of my life. Cliché isn't it?

"No thanks. I should leave now. I am late."I told him. He shot me a sad look in response.

"I thought I would eat choco-chip-oreo ice-cream tub with you."He said shooting me an innocent look.

I follow three things very religiously.

1. Don't sacrifice your sleep.

2. Don't answer violence with violence.

And

3. Don't ever say no to ice-cream when someone offers it to you. It's very rude thing to do.Paap lagta hain yaar.

"Okay. I will stay to eat the ice-cream and then I leave."I stated in decisive manner.

He shook his head vigorously in agreement and hastily made his way to refrigerator in his open kitchen.

I gazed at the clock which showed the time as seven past forty five. Veena aunty already knew I was busy with the fest preparations so she wouldn't be worrying about me. Still I called her to inform that I was at my friend's place and it would take me some more time to return home.

As I ended up the call, Aaruj came out from the kitchen area, holding the big tub in his hand. He sat on the sofa beside me. He opened the ice cream tub, offering me a spoon. Soon we started devouring the dessert. I was eating mostly while he kept taking very small amount of ice-cream on his spoon and rarely touched it to his lips. I could tell he wasn't big fan of ice-creams from the way he was eating it.

"Don't laugh at me."I warned him angrily as I caught him staring at me with a wide smile.

"You are literally wolfing down that ice-cream. I can't help but laugh."he said through faint chuckles.

"Don't laugh or the goddess of ice-creams would be so infuriated by you."I warned him faking seriousness.

"Oh really. I didn't know there was one in the first place. And how do it is a goddess and not god." He asked curiously.

"Cause I am a girl and I worship ice-cream and there must be plenty of other girls too. So there has to be an ice-cream goddess and not god because most of the boys don't like ice-cream."I enlightened Aaruj.

"You and your imagination, Miss Tantrum."he taunted me mischievously, earning himself a glare.

"So tell me do you like ice-cream?"I questioned trying to prove my point.

"No."he admitted.

"Then why do you have it in your refrigerator?"I asked him out of curiosity.

"It is Warren's."he answered nonchalantly.

I almost choked on the ice-cream I was eating. I looked at the tub which was now almost empty. I felt guilty. Soon I snapped at Aaruj"Why didn't you tell mai fisssdst?"

"What did you say?"he shot me a confused look.

"Ma tongue has frazzzen due to ice-cdeam."I tried talking normal but I hardly could. I shouldn't have ate it so chilled.

He laughed at my situation while I blabbered about how aweful I felt after almost finishing poor warren's ice-cream.

"We had gone to groccery shopping the other day, whole gang. As Vimala aunty wasn't well and couldn't go herself to buy groceries. So we bought all the household items for me. Warren bought this Ice-cream tub. He forgot to take it home. So it has been in the refrigerator for a week now."he talked in a very casual way.

This made me angry. I kept staring at him till he got tired of my gaze."For god's sake Nia. We are talking about Warren here. He must have forgotten about the ice-cream by now. What's the big deal?"

I looked away while crossing my arms.  Soon he gave up"Fine, I will buy him another ice-cream tub."

"Good boy."I commented and placed spoonful of the remaining ice-cream on his nose. It dripped down from his nose to his chin. He glared at me, while wiping the ice-cream with his t-shirt sleeve.

I sprang to my feet and ran away from him as far as possible. He was now chasing me around. My stomach started hurting so much due to the running and laughing. However I didn't stop. I kept running around the sofa. But soon I was trapped in the corner of room as I couldn't match his stamina. He was a sportsman after all.

He neared me in two big strides. I kept looking for my enroute to escape while he closed the distance between us. He was about to grab me by arms. But I bent down and escaped away.

He groaned in disappointment. I stuck out my tongue at him, as I stood on the vacant place between sofa and nearby wall.

He again started chasing me and we kept circling the sofa, round and round.

Suddenly Aaruj yelped in pain"Aah! Damn sofa."

His voice made me stop in my tracks. I saw him clutching his right leg with his hand. He looked in utter pain as he kept wincing every now and then.

I ran upto him and placed my hand on his shoulder."Did you hurt the same leg again?"

He looked up at me. He had a devilish grin plastered on his face.

"This was a trick. You cheater."I accused him.

"Wow.You are so clever but now it's too