SaiRat "Always Been You"

Chapter Two - Building Courage

Parking his police Jeep in front of Chavan Niwas, Virat let out a big sigh as he looked at the mansion he called home. There was a dark cloud looming over the building which described the way he was feeling at present, those carefree moments he had felt with Sai and the Joshi's have long left him and have been replaced with feelings of gloom and uncertainty of what was awaiting him behind those doors.

A person should never feel anything but peace when reuniting with their loved ones after so many months away, however Virat only felt dread. The conversation he had with Pakhi a few months back kept reverberating in his head and the more he replayed it the more he wanted to turn his car around and go back to Kamal Sirs home.

'Mein sab ko cheek cheek kar batana chahti hoon, ki mein tumse pyaar karti hoon, that I love Virat'

"He knows Virat, he overheard our conversation"

"Damn it!" Slamming his fist against the steering wheel, Virat cursed himself for not telling Samrat the truth himself. Maybe if he had then things wouldn't be so awkward between the trio, maybe his relationship with his Jeeva wouldn't have suffered, and maybe Pakhi would have been happy at her own home and not be stuck in a loveless marriage. He screwed up and he didn't know how to fix it, or even if he could fix it. He recalled the conversation he had with Sai not too long ago about the situation he had found himself in and he remembered what she told him, he wished he had listened to her at that point because at least now he wouldn't be so afraid to step into his own home.

*Flash Back*

"Aap itni raat ko, yahan kyun bette hain, aur voh bhi iss tand mein?" Sai asked, coming out into the veranda with one hand gripping a hot cup of cocoa and the other holding a cozy blanket.

Virat quickly glanced towards her with a smile and then fixed his gaze back on his phone that he was holding, scrolling back and forth on the contacts, lingering on a certain name "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I would come here to get some fresh air"

Nodding her head in understanding, Sai wordlessly handed him the hot beverage and sat herself down beside him, throwing a bit of the warm blanket on his lap and wrapping the rest around her.

"You know, you should just call him" She indicated towards his phone, where he kept hovering around Samrat's name. "Tell him all you want to tell him, unburden yourself from whatever seems to be haunting you" She suggested.

Virat grimaced, "it's not as easy as you seem to think Sai, there are things that have happened that have changed our dynamics for the worse and I can't do anything to fix it, not when I'm the one who made the mistake in the first place."

"Well start off by apologising" She replied shrugging her shoulders, like it was the most simple thing in the world, "Then explain why you did what you did. If you didn't have any ill intentions, which I believe you would never have, then I am positive that he will forgive you"

"I wish it was as simple as that Sai, ki ek apology se sab kuch teekh hojaye" He sighed, taking a sip of his drink and placing his phone in his pocket. "I have betrayed his trust, aur uss dhoke ke liye koi maafi nahin hain"

"Don't you think you are being a bit too dramatic' She asked rolling her eyes, "Aisa bhi kya karliya aapne, jiski koi maafi na ho? It's not as if you've had an affair with his wife" She joked laughing, widening her eyes a second later noticing his guilty expression "Sir!'

"It's not what you think" He hurriedly told her, "It wasn't an affair"

"But you had a thing with his wife" She clarified, unsure whether the fact that it wasn't an affair made it any better.

"I'm not sure I can call it a thing either"

Frowning, now absolutely confused Sai told him as much, "Okay, you are not making any sense"