Somewhere Only We Go

Chapter 26 (Part 2)

Kabir

Whatever little time I had spent with Avi's family I still don't know what to think about them. I have not met his extended family, I know there are more people, and he had more cousins at that beach party the night before my b'day, but I have rarely seen them around the house. But Rishabh, Disha, and their parents are all decent people. They talked to me and showed more interest in getting to know me than Avi's parents did but every time I try to warm up to the idea that they are good people, I think about the time they didn't stand up. The time it would have mattered. Avi needed to be protected back when he was 17 when he just lost his brother. No one helped him. I know no one but his parents are the one truly responsible for how they acted but for a family that has so much money and power, they could have stepped in.

They are not bad people but I don't know how to truly be okay with someone who hurt Avi even unintentionally. I'll do it for Avi's sake if he asks me. Avi and Rishabh were standing at the bar counter where they went to order beer for the four of us. I was going to miss the beaches when we went back the day after tomorrow. They have these makeshift counters here on the beach where you can order cheap beer, fries, and other snacks, sit down in the sand, and just have a chill time. Disha was sitting with me.

"So tell me how did you guys meet? I bet it was something like movies, adorable." Disha asked.

I wanted to laugh. I was drunk when Avi approached me and his exact words were 'No names needed.' "It's actually pretty boring, we met at a bar."

"Huh...that is something believable."

"What do you mean?"

"Bhaiya is like that I guess, if someone asked me to write a future for him where he met someone and fell in love, I guess I'd start it with something physical too."

Physical? Shit, she figured that out with one sentence. "No that's not...I meant..."

Disha rolled her eyes. "Save it, I might be younger than my brothers but I am not a kid."

Yeah, but you are his sister. But there was no point in denying it now, she could practically hear the embarrassing tone. I had to change the topic,

"What do you mean by it's believable."

Disha sighed then quickly sneaked a glance towards his brothers who were still standing at the bar engrossed in a conversation.

"By now, you must know how tough his life was. It's not surprising that you guys met at a bar because I think Bhaiya wouldn't open himself to the idea of dating the old-school way. The idea that he would take a man out for a date, get to know him, kiss him goodnight, and then do it all over again for 2-3 times before taking it a step further, yeah that's not how I pictured him falling in love, ever. What I am trying to say is that his getting drawn towards someone physically first makes sense. Now I am going to stop talking about it because he is my brother and it's super gross to talk about you guys hooking up."

I laughed. "Yeah, sure."

"So tell me about yourself, you are doing your masters, right?"

"Yup. Fashion designing. It's my final year. And then hopefully New York if I get my dream internship. Um, don't mention it to Bhaiya. I wasn't planning on telling you about it."

"Why?"

"Because he knows some of the important people in the company I am going to apply for. And he will try helping me get it and uh I don't want that. I want to give it a fair shot. If I don't get it then I'll think about something else."

"Hmm makes sense although you didn't tell me the company's name so you are safe, I guess."

"Do you really think that is going to stop Bhaiya?"

I opened my mouth to say yes how can he help when he doesn't know what to help with but then I realized she was right. Avi would do anything to help the people he cares about and from the way Disha hugged him and cried yesterday while he comforted her, it's safe he cared about her. So even if Disha won't tell us he would figure it out.

"Okay, I won't tell him."

"Thank you."

Before we could continue our conversation, Avi and Rishabh returned with four pints of beer. We sat there and talked about random things, considering this was the last night for all four of us together in Goa. Rishabh would leave tomorrow night after the party and while Disha won't be leaving until Monday evening, we would. We have our flight around 9 in the morning. When Avi started drooping a little on me we decided to call it a night but I was a little sad about it. On the way home I kept picturing how I could see this becoming a thing. Maybe something we did annually but next time without the family drama. I also realized that Disha was the only one in the family I wasn't angry with at all. She was a kid, she could have done nothing to change Avi's face.

Overall it was a good day and I was happy and probably high on the feeling of love and contentment and that's why when I saw the message waiting for me on my phone I was not ready for what was to come. All I remember is hearing a crack where my phone slipped out of my hand and my knees giving in but strong hands grabbed me before my knees touched the floor.   

[This is the mid plot twist even I didn't saw coming, but when I was writing, it made sense. Please don't hate me after the next chapter.  I also saw few new people reading this story and while I can't reply to all the comments, I love reading them, it truly makes my day and keeps me motivated to write. I already have another story in my mind that I am planning to start working on, it may or may not have a royal prince and his bodyguard but I want to finish this first and continue the other story that I started, the first few chapters are already out, if you want to check it. Thank you so much for all the likes and comments. You guys are the best <3]