Chapter 92

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The friends....well he wasn't sure he could call them friends anymore, were lost and still reeling under shock.

No one had made a move, except Manik who dashed upstairs and shut the door behind him with a thud so loud, it literally shook Ranbir up and for a while he feared, the door might just come off the wall and break into a pile of ragged planks. The scene around him, was uncannily similar. The friendship, he had grown up hearing stories of, was lying in ruins like an open wound, bloodied and stinking.

Was this the end of FAB5, he wondered because it pretty much seemed like it. For the first and perhaps the last time ever, Ranbir wished to see Nyonika or Neel or any such scheming scum bug. He was willing to welcome any external threat if it had the potential to disrupt the deafening silence between them. Only that, there was none.

A few minutes later, Alya walked out .Whatever little he had seen of her, she had always been sprightly but today she moved in slow, unsteady steps. Dhruv, he knew would follow through, though unlike other times, Alya didn't drag him along today. Mukti was slumped on the couch, looking blankly at God knew what, tears streaming down her face.

Ranbir had to think straight and it helped because he was, as Alya had coldly remarked, an OUTSIDER. He was hurt, but not paralyzed like Cabir would have been if he were to witness this. He went out for a while and made a quick call to Nandini. Heck, it was almost 9 and he didn't want to disturb her but this was an emergency and emergency situations called for desperate measures.

The first reaction Nandini had was of utter disbelief. This hadn't happened. Ranbir must be playing a prank on her. 'Bitch'...'Whore', no no this couldn't be true. Those two girls had always watched each other's back, despite having their own personal issues, had always looked out for one another. How could it come to this. And what about Manik? She shuddered with fear imagining the emotional wreck that he must be now. She hurriedly went up to chachi.

"Chachi, Navya ki tabiyat thik nahi hai, can I please spend the night at her place?"

"Kya hua Navya ko? Wo thik to hai? ja Nandu, and kisi cheez ki zarurat ho to phone karna."

Nandini turned to leave, relieved, but she couldn't go far. She stopped and turned around.

"Kya baat hai Nandu?" Chachi noticed the hesitation in her eyes, wondering why she had suddenly stopped.

"Wo...maine jhoot kaha..." She uttered with difficulty, each word weighing heavy on her tongue. "Its not Navya.." She was looking down, unable to speak further.

"Manik??" chachi asked.

She couldn't make herself look up, and meet Chachi's eyes. She had lied innumerable times to her family earlier, and she could have as well done that today. In fact she almost had. But having cared for small kids herself, she now knew it hurt when they lied, because it made her feel unworthy of their trust. Chachi had done everything or perhaps more than what her own mother would have done for her, and if she didn't deserve Nandini's trust, no one else did.

"Manik ka bohot bara jhagra hua hai uske doston ke sath, wo akela hai. Use......meri zaroorat hai chachi.Wo ..... Main....." She felt a gentle pat on her shoulder.

"Acha laga tune bataya. Tu ja, I will manage. But apna khayal rakhna, kafi raat ho gayi hai. Agar Manik ne drop kiya to hi raat ko aana, warna subah ko lautna. Mujhe teri fikar rahegi aur pohonch ke ek phone kar dena." Relieved beyond words, She pulled chachi in a crushing hug and ran out.

**********

Ranbir was waiting for Nandini to turn up. And when she did, tensed and short of breath from the run between the main gate and the door, he sighed in relief.

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