The Distance Between Us

Track Seventy One - Ghar

A/N : Y'all, I'm so sorrryyyyyy! I'm a day late. I had planned to update on 5 December cause that's when I uploaded the first chapter of the fic, but my cousin got married yesterday and I was busy with that the entire day, so this completely slipped my mind. But, we get an early start to the weekend with this, so something good? Anyway, hope y'all like these next few chapters!!!

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Track Seventy One - Ghar

“Guys, did the Lonavala plan not work?” Nikki cribbed as the gang, sans Armaan & Riddhima, assembled in the cafeteria before work. “I'm not seeing any progress.”

“Nikki, it worked!” Abhi soothed. “They were having so much fun together. Didn't you see? They were attached to the hip the entire time.”

“But I don't think they've confessed yet,” Anjali complained.

“You mean Armaan hasn't,” Atul corrected her. “Ridzy already told Armaan she loves him even before we left New York.”

“Yes, whatever. That!” Anjali exclaimed. “How much longer are we supposed to wait?”

“Anjali, this is a relationship, not instant noodles. These things take time. We will have to be patient and let them figure things out at their own speed,” Abhi explained gently. “Getting worked up will achieve nothing. And, you should be focusing on the baby right now. All this stress isn't good for you.”

“How do I not stress about this?” Anjali questioned. “It's my baby sister's entire life we're talking about here!”

“Your ‘baby' sister is 33 years old, Anjali. I think she can look after herself,” Abhi answered. “And you know she'd never want you to overlook your own health at her expense.”

Rahul & Muskaan were happy to blend in the background, stepping back from the chaos. They were the only ones who knew about the date. Riddhima hadn't been able to hide from Muskaan and Muskaan hadn't been able to hide it from Rahul. Rahul was contemplating about coming clean, but Muskaan subtly shook her head. Yes, Anjali was coming from a place of concern, but if Riddhima or Armaan wanted others to know, they'd have said something themselves. If they wanted to take time and keep it between themselves, they were within their rights to.

Muskaan understood their hesitance to be open about their relationship well. After all, in the past, it was only after everyone found out about them that so many misunderstandings had cropped up between the couple. They had not been able to live up to others' expectations and things had gone incredibly wrong. They didn't want to make the same mistakes they'd made last time. She appreciated that.

Who could blame them anyway? Their little group of friends was easily excitable and extremely rowdy. They wouldn't take a moment to jump to conclusions and push Armaan & Riddhima into things they weren't ready for. Muskaan absolutely didn't want that to happen. This time, she needed things to work out between them. For good. They'd both endured heartache to last ten lifetimes, not just one. They deserved some happiness now. 

“Okay, guys! Iss topic pe baad mein discussion karte hain. Duty ka time ho raha hai,” Atul announced, breaking their chatter. Everyone reluctantly left for work, already making plans for how to bring Armaan & Riddhima closer. 

On the other hand, their pet projects were busy in their own world, remembering moments from their date, feeling giddy about their relationship. That morning, Riddhima walked into the hospital with a certain skip in her step that left everyone stunned. She even smiled at the interns when she was assigning them duties for the day, which left all of them completely flabbergasted. When she went on her own rounds, she was full of laughs for her patients and staff alike.