- Aᴠᴏɪᴅ ᴛʏᴘᴏ ᴀɴᴅ ɢʀᴀᴍᴍᴀᴛɪᴄᴀʟ ᴇʀʀᴏʀs -

Kabir loves Nisha. He certainly does, because there is no other way that anyone can tolerate a best-friend as dumb as Nisha Gangwal, who wouldn't understand even if the person before her is confessing his love to her in crystal clear words. Moreover, she assumes her own theories. Amayra? When did he even take her name that she assumed that he loved her? When she called Amayra to their college, allegedly to surprise him, he was really surprised, maybe more than she had ever imagined, but he was surprised at the extent of how dumb his best-friend was, and the degree to which she skyrocketed her assumptions to. He still wondered if his words to her weren't clear enough, that they ended up being assumed something which he totally did not mean. Kabir was numb after everything but was sure of one thing that it would take him a lot of efforts to even let her know his feelings, let alone being in a relationship with her, if that is ever going to be possible. Kabir was at a point where these feelings only affected him, and he was fed up to a point that he wondered if he should even make the efforts and tell her, because firstly, she did not understand his actions even a bit, and secondly, if she didn't love him back, what was the use of him feeling this way? Also, there were chances that these feelings could even harm their friendship. But, if there was even a chance that she feels the same way, he did not want to lose her. She was too precious to him - as a best-friend, as the girl he loves, as the only girl he had ever wanted to commit himself to.

Nisha and Jay had already reached and were seated over the swing. She was laughing over something, as Jay went on speaking. Kabir's eyes turned to her, away from the parking space. Jay's presence around her irked him, perhaps because he did not know him enough to let his guards down. He couldn't let someone else steal away his best-friend from under his nose. His face pinched at the scene before him. His lips parted a bit in disappointment as he saw Jay tug her hair strands behind her ear. His controls went amiss for a moment, and he accelerated just a bit too much, ramming straight into the divider fencing between both the houses, causing a huge crack in the wooden structure. The car screeched loudly, with the back-tyres skidding a bit, at the sudden pulling of the breaks and sharp-turn of the steering.

"Fuckk!"

Kabir growled, rising above his seat and looking at the damage done, through the windscreen. Ramesh slapped his forehead as Kabir opened the door and jumped out of his seat, and walked towards the fence, to determine the degree of the damage done. Nisha and Jay came running towards them, while Abir and Nani, followed by Vasu and Arjun a moment later, walked out of the Rathore house.

"Jojo, idiot, can't you drive a little carefully?"

Nisha snapped at Kabir, moving across the fence towards him.

"Not a big issue, Cheekoo. We'll get it fixed."

Ramesh said, while Arjun frowned seeing the damage.

"How many times do I have to tell you to focus on the road, while driving, Kabir?"

Arjun scolded Kabir, while Ramesh gestured him to calm down. Kabir apologised to him and Ramesh, and sat in the car, reversing it a bit, parking it in its place, properly, while the rest of them met Ramesh. Arjun hugged Ramesh, and then Ramesh went on to take Nani's blessings. The woman was absolutely happy seeing Ramesh. She definitely had some deep-rooted issues with Arjun, but Ramesh was just like her son.

"Kaisa hai, Ramesh puttar?"

Nani asked Ramesh, and he smiled, shaking his head.

"Sab kuch achha hai, aunty Ji. Nishu bhi badi hogayi hai. Aap mile usse?"

Ramesh asked her and called Nisha towards him. Nisha smiled as she walked towards them, and he wrapped his hand across her shoulders from behind.

"Bilkul apne maa jaise dikhti hai - nahi?"

Ramesh asked, and Nisha smiled a bit, as Nani caressed her cheek, nodding.

"Cheekoo puttar kelie ek se ek sone munde vekhe hai maine. Ghar chal. Mennu tuhade naalo ek bohot hi important gal karni hai. Cheekoo puttar nu mere te saunp de. Ek perfect munda choose kara hai maine isde naal."

Nisha's father laughed wholeheartedly as Nani spoke.

"Ji, bilkul, Aunty Ji. Iski shaadi aapke bharose hai. Meri to baat maanti nahi hai. Aap aur iski nani mil ke iski shaadi karwa hi do."

Ramesh said, making everyone else laugh, and Nisha whine. Kabir leaned his back against the car and looked on vexedly at the ongoing drama, and after this, one thing that he knew for sure was that he was not letting his Nani introduce any new character into his love story. Everything seemed difficult to him, and the one being the most difficult to him was his stupid best-friend. He stared at her stupidly blush as everyone talked of her wedding. 'What is wrong with her?' He thought, but, again, it sent jitters through his spine as he thought about her wedding. He couldn't tolerate the fact that if he didn't do anything now, his crazy family will make sure that she gets married into a filthy rich family as soon as she finishes her graduation, and after marriage, all she'll be left with is the pretension of being a good wife, a good daughter-in-law, and making babies. And maybe, even Nisha would agree to do this, as according to him, his best-friend has lost her mental balance after her dance partner ditched her; he never saw her talk about dance after that. As desperately as he wanted her to be happy, like the rest of his family members wanted, he also wanted her to stay away from a pretentious life - where, though she may be happy with whosoever the unlucky guy is, her dreams will only become a thing of her past. He wanted her to fulfil her dreams, but not because someone else chose it for her, or someone else allowed her to do so. If dance was so important to her, he wanted her to choose dance for herself, over everything else. And about his love, he only wanted it to be in the background like a supporting artist, not much. He wanted it to be her life, her choice and her dreams, and he wanted to be there, supporting her throughout. He wanted to be there for her, in her fall, in her rise, in her stability, and in her nihility.

"Nisha is a kid, Nani."

He repeated, what he says every time the topic ever rises, and as usual, Nisha was annoyed.

"Kaun karega is cartoon se shaadi, uncle?"

Ramesh laughed at Kabir's words, while Nisha stormed towards him warningly. Kabir narrowed his eyes and peeked down at her face, in annoyance. He was 5'11 and she was 5'4, so he was quite tall for her to be face to face with him, and in an attempt to match his height, she elevated herself on her toes and placed her hands on the either sides of her waist and glared into his eyes warningly. Her efforts were comical for the rest of them.

"Phir tussi hi usde naal vyaah kyun nahi karde, puttar ji?"

Nani taunted him, while that taunt affected him in a way other than it was intended to. He froze for a moment, and he looked back at Nisha, who looked curious for some reason. He had never felt so embarrassed, so awkward. It was only before her for the first time ever, that he felt that he was vulnerable too. He hesitated to say anything.

"Kar leta, Nani."

Kabir started off seriously, grabbing Nisha's and everyone's attention.

"Par bandar aur insaan ki shaadi legal nahi hogi."

He scoffed, and Nisha, as she took a moment to realise, narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

"Haan, aur wo bandar tu hai na?"

She mocked him.

"Hatt!"

He said and started walking away from there, giving no opportunity to Nisha to say anything else. More than anything, he was embarrassed. The sudden suggestion from Nani had put him at risk of being exposed in front of everyone. He had managed to distract everyone from the actual question.

"Tu hatt!"

Nisha said, a bit late, as he had almost reached the door of the house. The rest of them laughed, while Abir went behind his brother into the house. Vasu stopped Nisha as she along with Ramesh and Jay, started walking towards the Gangwal house.

"Where are you going? And is this your friend?"

Vasundhara asked, and Nisha nodded.

"He's my friend from college in Mumbai, aunty. Jay Shekhawat."

Nisha introduced him to Vasundhara.

"Why don't you all join us for lunch?"

Vasu asked, but Jay hesitated a bit.

"Aaja puttar! Nani de haathon de khaane nu mana nahi karde. Aur ye to Cheekoo puttar da apna ghar hai. Usde ghar vich to khaana kha hi sakte ho?"

Nani said, and Jay smiled, nodding his head, obliging to her. They walked in, and Nisha lead him in behind them. After freshening up a bit, they sat at the dining table, when Kabir descended the stairs, peering vexedly at the two friends who sat beside each other; his gaze was fixed at them. He passed a glare at Nisha, and sat opposite to her, as usual. Kabir looked away, as Jay tried to pass a slight smile towards him. Not that he hated him, but he was forced to not like him. But he was sure that if he saw Jay and Nisha get close any further, it wouldn't take him time to take his sword out of its sheath. Kabir was at a point in his life where he didn't know if Nisha and he were ever going to be together, but he for sure could not see her with someone else.

"What do you do, Jay beta? Tum bhi law hi kar rahe ho?"

Vasu questioned him, trying to make him feel comfortable.

"Actually, I left law in the first year itself to pursue a culinary arts course, aunty. I was in Rome for the same reason until recently, then I went to Australia for some project, and then, was returning to India, finally, ki Ramesh uncle flight par mil gaye. I mean, such a coincidence."

Vasu smiled and nodded, as Jay explained with utmost enthralment in his tone. He had always been a people-person; being amidst people fascinated him.

"You're going to stay in India, or you'll be going back?"

Vasu asked, and Jay chewed his food quickly, wanting to answer her.

"I'll be in India; not in Delhi, but Mumbai."

Jay spoke and Kabir breathed in relief, and mumbled, "Thank god", under his breath, drawing Abir and Nisha's curious gaze to himself for a moment, as they were sitting the closest to him.

"I'll be opening a restaurant with another friend of mine, there. I really want all of you to visit my restaurant when you come to Mumbai. I'll always be happy to serve you all."

Jay said with a broad smile.

"I'm not going to pay when I come to your restaurant, then."

Nisha added, chuckling, and Jay shook his head, smiling at her words.

"The restaurant and Jay Shekhawat are always at your service, Madame."

Jay dramatically spoke, bowing his head before her, making Nisha laugh.

"When'll you be leaving, Jay?"

Kabir intervened with his question, making all the eyes in the room turn towards him. Nisha was miffed; Ramesh was confused; his parents and Nani were shocked; And his brother could not understand why Kabir would say that all of a sudden. Jay was at loss of words suddenly; he felt embarrassed. Kabir looked at those dagger-like eyes pointed towards him and was quick to understand what must've gone wrong.

"No, I did not mean that. I was asking about you going to Mumbai."

Everyone relaxed a bit as Kabir spoke the words, while Nisha, who knew her best-friend inside-out, could not understand whether it was just the ambiguity of the words, or was he so smart as to play with words and meant exactly what they've understood. She peered at his face with narrowed eyes, trying to analyse from his facial expressions what was actually going on in his mind, but had to look away immediately, as she was caught by Kabir while doing so.

"I'm here to invite some people over for the inauguration of the restaurant. Also, I am here to see my uncle, my father's brother. I'll be staying with him. So, I'll probably be here for a week or something."

Jay spoke and Kabir nodded.

"We can keep meeting, then."

Nisha said and Jay nodded.

"Why don't you come over on the sixth of December, day after tomorrow?"

Vasu asked, and Kabir was miffed, immediately realising what she meant.

"Is there something on the sixth?"

Jay asked, looking at Vasu, and then at Nisha.

"It's Jojo's birthday. We'll be celebrating."

Vasu said, but Kabir had no other choice than to oblige.

"Sure, I'll be here. But you both even share the same birthday month. Yours is on the fifteenth, right, if I am not wrong?"

Jay asked Nisha, but before she could reply him, Kabir did.

"Hers is on the Sixteenth of December. Our birthdays are just ten days apart."

Kabir replied and Nisha nodded, looking at Jay.

"That's cool. I won't be here for Nisha's birthday, though."

Jay said, with a slight disappointment.

"It's okay. We'll celebrate when I come to Mumbai."

Nisha said.

"And for that, you'll have to come to Mumbai soon. You all, in fact."

Jay added, and Ramesh nodded.

"Sure. You are going to make me those brownies, when I come to Mumbai. You taught me, but I could never perfect them. In fact, Abir and I made them recently, and though they were good, but they weren't as tasty as the ones you make. You are also going to teach me, again. Get that."

Nisha told him, while he chuckled, listening to her.

"Tu bole toh abhi sikha dun?"

He asked Nisha.

"Haan toh lunch ke baad ghar chalo. Kitchen tumhaara hi hai. Even my daughter will be able to learn something from you. All she can do is making noodles, garlic bread and rest of it is either half-cooked, burnt or unidentifiable."

Ramesh told Jay, to which all of them laughed, and Nisha whined.

"Arre, why to go there? You can use the kitchen here. This is Nisha's house too. I am sure Kabir and Abir would love to help you too."

Vasu told Jay, and Nisha clapped her hands excitedly, looking at Kabir and Abir, while Kabir hissed in irritation, while Abir rolled his eyes.

"I have work."

Kabir said, and got up from his seat, picking up his plate and walking towards the kitchen. Nisha pouted and angrily gaped at him as he placed his plate in the kitchen sink and walked out and went right towards his room with a totally disinterested face. Vasu frowned at her son's behaviour and at the nick of the moment, caught Abir by his elbow, as he tried to escape behind his brother.

"Abir is going to help you."

She told Jay and Nisha.

"Give the list of the ingredients to Sonu. He will get them from the market while you are having your lunch."

Vasu told him, while still holding Abir so he couldn't escape from there. Seeing his mother being adamant, Abir exasperatedly sat back on his seat, ready to help them, while Jay quickly wrote the ingredients that he needed and handed the list over to Sonu.

Kabir was sitting in his room, alone, scrolling on his Instagram feed, and sulking on the inside. It has been an hour since he came back to his room, and now, he could even smell the aroma in the air of the Nutella brownie that had been baking in his kitchen. How could he not know if there was ever a guy, she was so close to, in his best-friend's life. She never told him, and if she never did, there were chances that they weren't that close, but they did look like they were close, and it did not at all look like they were something even less than best-friends. Of course, no one could be as best a friend as Kabir was to her, but Jay looked close to her too, and somewhat 'too interested' in her, as well. After what he had seen today, he was sure that Nisha and Jay had spent some sweet past together; they shared some good memories. He was also sure after everything, that his day, certainly, wasn't good, because of firstly, the joke that Nisha made of him, and secondly, the joke that everyone else, right from his family, to Ramesh, to Jay, are making out of him.

"Jojo puttar!"

He heard Nani call him from downstairs, and he walked out of his room, and placing his hands on the railing, he peeped down.

"Jojo, bro, come down. Don't you want to taste the brownies?"

Jay asked, walking out of the kitchen behind Nani, with a tray of the remaining brownies in his hand after the rest were served, while Nisha walked out after him, restlessly, to just grab another piece of it. Jay laughed, pulling the tray away from her and misusing his height to keep it out of her reach, while she cried.

"Jay, donkey, give it to me. I did all the work."

Nisha warned him, as Jay continued laughing. Nisha tried her best at grabbing the tray; holding him, touching him a few times, as Kabir continued to observe them from upstairs. Kabir was fuming, as he looked at them. He was frustrated. He walked down the stairs, immediately, and passed by them, talking away tray of brownies from Jay's hands; Kabir was tall too. Jay and Nisha looked on as he strolled into the living room, silently, eating the warm brownies out of the tray.

"Your best-friend is damn shady. I am telling you, something's wrong with him."

Jay whispered to Nisha, and she walked after Kabir, dismissing his assumptions.

"Jojo, give me the brownies."

Nisha demanded as she walked into the living room, where Kabir was alone, as the rest of them were either in the kitchen or the dining room. Kabir sat down on the sofa and ignored her as if he hadn't seen her and continued having the brownie. She frowned and sat down beside him, reaching her hand to the tray to grab a piece, but he pulled it away from her.

"Jojo, what are you doing?"

She cried, but he was silent.

"Why did you not tell me about Jay?"

He asked, suddenly, and she was still for a moment.

"What did I not tell you about Jay?"

She asked, confusedly looking at him.

"That he was such a close friend of yours."

He said, and she looked at him in bafflement.

"What is there to tell you in this?"

She asked him, unaware of the chaos that was going on in his head.

"What is there to not tell me in this?"

He asked, irked.

"Jojo, why are you overreacting? It's just that we never talked about him. And moreover, he's my friend from Mumbai. So, what is there to tell you in this?"

She spoke.

"Yeah, right."

He said, as he was miffed with her answer.

"Jojo, what is wrong with you?"

She asked, annoyed, and smacked him on his arm out of irritation.

"Nothing. You can have your brownies made by your best-friend."

He said exasperatedly, slamming the tray in her hands. She looked at him, astound, as he got up from the sofa and started walking towards Jay, who was headed towards them from the kitchen. Kabir stopped as he saw Jay and looked at him with narrowed eyes. Jay looked back at him and smiled curiously.

"We need to talk, Jay."

Kabir said, sternly, confusing Jay for a moment.

"Ah,