Your Eyes Said it All

Chapter 20

They walk in silence.

Not wanting to find words or start a conversation.

Eventually Aarya finds them outside a cafe - the one she goes to hide from everyone.

"Want to go inside?" Aarya asks him, "They have really good coffee."

Darshan chuckles, "Aaru, for you every cup of coffee is the best."

"Oh shut up." Aarya says before running towards the cafe. Darshan follows her inside.

"You know this place is so nice." Aarya says and walks to her usual table, "When I was new here, I used to come here everyday. Before Achita and Karan you know."

Darshan hums in reply as his eyes go around the room, taking in the sweet smell of bread and coffee. The flowers, the slight sound of the AC, the couches, the small tables between them. It was aesthetic.

"You like it?" Aarya asks and they both take the seat in front of them.

"It's beautiful." He says with a smile.

"You know when I joined here, I knew no one here so this place was my escape." Aarya says, "In fact I met Karan here!"

Darshan's smile drops just a little. "Karan. Hm."

"What?" Aarya asks with eyebrows dream together.

"Nothing." He mutters, "You know it's weird to see you so close to these people who I don't even know. I was I guess, so used to having you around with our friends and people I too knew, so uhm, I don't know." He shrugs.

Aarya laughs a little. She shouldn't laugh, she knows. But isn't it ironic how she made them friends just so she could maybe forget about everyone else from her past and they're having this talk now. "I guess I understand. You know I was so used to seeing you around in school with the people I knew, it feels so I don't know, it feels so good and weird to see you like this, with knew people and how I don't know anything about your new life, so uhm." Aarya ends her sentence with a laugh to hide the fact she could actually cry if she keeps on thinking about this.

Darshan gives her a sad smile. "I guess we have a month to get to know each other once again."

"Yeah."

Darshan chuckles. Trying to lighten the mood he says, "So are you going to order something or we'll just sit here and talk until we cry?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah!" Aarya orders for both of them. Two cold coffees and sandwiches. Classic.

"So tell me." Darshan says suddenly.

"What?"

"Tell me anything?! How's uncle and aunty and your brother? All good. I haven't seen them in so long."

Aarya's stomach twists, heart dropping. She feels goosebumps rise on her skin and her hands visibly shaking. She had never told anyone directly. Once when she was crying just because she was missing her dad so much, that got Achita worried and then Aarya had to tell her. Karan though got know from Achita and since then they never talked about families. Darshan on the other hand, still didn't know. Cause Aarya decided to walk out and not tell him.

Two years and he still didn't know.

The same night she saw her best friend and her dad getting snatched away from her.

She couldn't find her voice. Darshan looked at her with a confused face as she took so long to reply. "Uh, yeah, Mumma is fine. In Bangalore and Abhishek is also with her. They are fine. I'll be going to meet them after the exams."

Darshan smiles warmly, "You know Ma misses you so damn much. Whenever we sit and talk about my school days, Ma always talks and talks about you."

Aarya feels a homely warm feeling in her heart. Rajal ma was - is - like a second mum to her, she was just so sweet. "Tell her I miss her too."