September Rain: An IPKKND FF

Chapter Five

"The balloons are lovely Shashi," Garima smiled fondly.

Shashi huffed, pretending to brush his collar, "Well thank you dear wife!"

Khushi arranged the gifts around the beautiful cake, counting the candles in her head.
All 21 of them!

"Khushi! Wonderful gift wrapping!" Her mum ran a warm hand through her tresses.
"Now go get changed into your new dress before Payal gets here from her swim!"

----

Brushing her hair, Khushi looked into the mirror unseeingly.

What did he mean by 'obvious'?

She had tortured herself the whole night. And before she could go and ask him, she had to set off for Payal Di's birthday.
Why did he sound so hurt?

She gulped down her thoughts as time came for her to head downstairs.
Glancing a last time at her powder blue dress, she slipped on her kitten heels and plastered on a smile.

----

"SURPRISE !"

Payal Di covered her mouth, her gym bag dropping on the floor.

"Thank you guys!"
Her Di rushed forward to hug their parents, as everyone sang the birthday song completely off key.

She was engulfed into a hug next, and found Di's whisper in her ear.
"Thank you kiddo! Meet me on the terrace after the party"

Khushi looked up, utterly confused. Had her sister guessed something was up?

All of Di's college friends were here, and some of her school mates. Who stood out amongst the crowd was once again the tall, bespectacled man.
What her parents didn't know, she thought with a secretive smile, was that Akash bhaiya had flown down from London just for this day.
For all her bravado, Di was quite chicken when it came to declaring her love life to her family.

----

Akash stood in a charcoal black suit, smiling with a glint in his eyes.

"Happy birthday Payal " he whispered.

"I think you have already wished me!" Payal slyly teased.

"Have I?" He winked.

She laughed, sneaking a glance at her mum and dad in a corner of the hall.

"I thought you were bringing Arnav" she asked, her tone losing all its brevity.

He shrugged, "No idea. He cancelled at the last minute."

"Something is wrong Akash"

"What? He said nothing when I called him two days ago."

"Did he mention Khushi?"

Akash frowned, as he struggled to recall.
"Don't think he did. Hah! Probably because I was blabbering half of the time "

"Akash!"

"Okay, okay! First ask Khushi, and if it is my idiot's fault , then I'll knock some sense into him okay?"

"Yes, I'll talk to her"

Payal found her wrist in his grip, as he bent his head down, his lips hovering over hers.
"Where's my birthday kiss?"

She smiled.
"It's my birthday Mr Raizada "

-----

"It's been years since we did this, no?"

Khushi sighed , as her hair was getting a whiplash before being braided.
"Yes, since you were busy with college mom took up the task of torturing my hair"

Di gasped, "You'll thank me for those healthy locks you'll have!"

"Blah, blah, blah "

Di cleared her throat and began, "Khushi..."

"Hmm?"

"How's everything at school?"

"Everything's fine. Dhruv is running for subcaptain"

"Is he now? Always been the head of the pack type of guy, that kid"

"Like your Akash?" Khushi smirked.

"No one my dear, can even be close to what Akash is", she said smugly.

"You know there is a reason they say love is blind" , Khushi giggled.

"Whatever! How's Arnav?"

She froze. Her heart felt the pierce of a thousand ice shards.
"H-he's good"

"Just good? You usually have an hour enough material to talk about him"

She bit her lip, unsure of where her sister was going with the conversation.
She turned around, staring straight into her concerned eyes.

"Di?"

"What's wrong Khushi? Why wasn't Arnav there at the party? Why have you been so lost since you came back?"

She got up and sat beside her di, the starry sky twinkling over their heads.
She looked ahead, exhaling out into the cold.
"We had a fight"

------

Khushi nervously looked at her Di, who had been quiet for a good minute now.

"So Lavanya is his girlfriend?"

"He didn't deny it" , she said dejectedly.

"He didn't accept it" , Payal Di smiled.
"And he seemed pretty jealous by you going to watch Dhruv's match"

"Jealous? No! He was upset about me not agreeing to meet him up the stairs-"

She paused, kicking herself as she looked at her sister's knowing face.

"Secret places you guys meet hah?"

"Shut up!"

She laughed, "Khushi. Talk to him babe. He is your friend! And even if Lavanya might be his girlfriend, you are still his friend. Having a crush can be such a pain, I know! But I know you can skate through anything and this is going to be another thing you skate over !"

Khushi smiled wistfully, "I just miss what Arnav and I used to be Di. How can everything change in a few days?"

"Welcome to adolescence!" She chuckled , "It sucks and rocks in equal measure!"
Khushi burst into giggles as Payal tickled her and tackled her down the bench.

The dawn skirted around the darkness, hesitating to intrude into the Gupta enclave.

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