Ishq

Chapter 8

During the party, Priyanka had to leave Ankit's side at one point. She couldn't stay beside him as planned. However, her eyes kept flickering back to where he remained, against the wall as he nodded, talking to some people who walked up to him and spoke to him.

When their eyes met, Ankit grinned at her causing her to blush. She turned her attention back to where it was, her brother's now fiancé. Ariya was super sweet from what Priyanka has seen and her mom urges her to talk to her.

Now sitting beside her, Priyanka is finally able to make conversation with Ariya. At first, they talked about normal things such as interests and their favourite food. It soon turned into love interests and Priyanka bit her lip as she looked at Ankit again in thought.

"Do you like him?" She hears Ariya's voice from beside her.

Priyanka's frozen in shock as she hears those words but then relaxes and laughs. "Who?"

"Him." It's a head nod in his direction and Priyanka realizes that she's been quite obvious with her feelings.

"Ankit? No, no." She tries to laugh it off again but somewhere along her laugh comes out faker than intended.

Ariya places her hand on Priyanka's hand and she motions her to come closer. She cups a hand around Priyanka's ear and whispers, "It is okay to like someone. He seems like a good guy."

With a reassuring squeeze on her hand, Ariya looks at her with a tilted head and a sweet smile. Priyanka feels her heart swell up as she realizes that this girl is indeed one of the sweetest people alive.

"And don't worry, I won't tell your brother." A wink and Priyanka's cheeks flush. Her eyes make their way across the room once again and she catches Ankit looking this time with one eyebrow raised in question. She shakes her head and looks away knowing that Ankit's curious about her conversation with Ariya.

Something akin to joy blooms in her chest as it sinks in that there are so many girls in the house but the one girl Ankit is looking at, is her. She could be deluding herself but she swore she saw multiple emotions flash across his face. But not even that could make her be brave enough to confess to Ankit or openly flirt with him. She was still unsure somewhere.

---

At night, Priyanka sits outside with a mug of tea. Her legs were sore and she was sitting cross legged on the bench on their front porch when Karan joined her.

He leaned forward in his seat and Priyanka soaked in the beautiful night view. "Tired?"

Priyanka blew on her drink, taking a sip from it as she replies. "Just a little. Ariya is really nice."

She hears Karan laugh and then ease back into his seat. "Yeah she's nice, one of the reasons I like her. She's mature, funny and kind."

"I know. Perfect girl for my immature brother."

Karan shoots her a glare and Priyanka giggles, delighted that she got to her brother. "What were you guys talking about? You were blushing."

Priyanka raises a brow at his tone, one that she didn't hear before from her brother. She grew nervous and as she was accessing his behaviour, she resorted to blurting out whatever thing she could think of firsthand. "Uh, we were flirting."

Karan hums and his posture relaxes. "Girls flirt?"

"You don't know? We compliment each other and decide a day that we're going to go on dates for." Priyanka began to ramble, anxiety filling her as she hopes that her brother doesn't catch on. For some reason, mentioning her crush on Ankit with her brother whom she had grown up with doesn't seem very ideal. Especially when Ankit is currently living in the same house as them. Karan was possessive of her at times but she couldn't exactly pinpoint the react he'd have if he'd find out that she harboured feelings for his best friend.

And of course she had to like her best friend's brother.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't hear Karan's response following her ramble. She hears him sigh beside her and then he looks at her with a serious look on her face. "You're young, be aware of your surroundings. Don't fall for things just because."

With that, he gets up leaving a confused Priyanka on the bench.

There was no good reason for her to not fall in love. She just didn't think Karan's reasoning was valid enough for her to follow it. Of course, she will take care of herself, hoping that she won't end up with a broken heart.