I'll Love You Longer Than Forever

Chapter Twenty Three

"Muski..." Armaan whispered, unable to determine what to do next.

Muskaan turned at the sound of his voice. She looked as if she couldn't believe that it was in fact, Armaan standing in front of her. Anjy had told her about his return, but she still couldn't believe it.

"Hi," he whispered finally, after many moments of silence.

Muskaan's only answer was a curt nod.

"Kaisi hai?" He asked her softly.

"Theek hu," she replied in a monotonous voice. Armaan nodded.

He scratched the back of his neck, unsure of how to proceed. He could very well tell that Muskaan didn't like him at the moment.

God, this was awkward. And it had never been awkward between them. Since the moment they had met, all those years ago when Muskaan had imposed herself on him in search of a ride, Armaan & Muskaan had been the greatest of friends. It hadn't been this way even when she was forcing him to fit her good - for - nothing scooty into his car. And he hadn't even known her then.

But now, standing in front of her, Armaan didn't know what to do or to say. Should he aplogise? Could he give her a hug? He didn't really understand what might be the best course of action.

After a few moments of internal debate, Muskaan seemed to understand what the best thing to do was. Which, apparently was to slap Armaan hard across his face.

Armaan looked at her in shock for a moment, not fully able to comprehend that she had actually slapped him. His hand immediately went to his cheek. He rubbed the skin there, wincing slightly. That was one hard slap, and it hurt.

Before he could say anything - he really wanted to ask Muskaan if she'd finally lost her marbles - she pulled him into a tight hug. Relieved that she wouldn't hit him anymore, most likely, Armaan put his arms around her as he returned the hug.

"Kahaan tha tu? Kaisa hai? Sab theek haina?" Muskaan fired questions one after the other.

"Thand rakh, thodi," Armaan replied, laughing. "Main Canada mein tha. Bilkul theek hu. Sab theek hai. Main kahin nahi jaa raha," he replied in answer to her questions.

"Waise, agar tujhe pehle nahi samajh aaya ho toh, woh thappad Ridzy ke liye tha," she said, knowing that he wanted to know why she did that.

Armaan smiled on hearing that, and nodded.

"Kya hua tha, Armaan?" she asked him after some time. The two of them were sitting in the locker room still, reminiscing about old times.

Armaan sighed and launched into a full explanation about everything - how he'd been diagnosed with nervous damage, and the doctors said he would more likely than not lose his mind. He told her about how hard it had been for him to come to that decision, leaving Riddhima, but how he did it anyway, because that was the right thing to do for Riddhima. He told her about his time in Canada and coming back because no medication seemed to work. He told her about the night he found Riddhima in his cottage and the note, how he left the very next day, back to Canada with a new determination to get better for Riddhima. And he told her about how Riddhima accepted him back with open arms when he returned.

Muskaan listened to the whole story intently, never interrupting him. She hadn't known about Armaan's mental condition before today and her heart ached for her friend. All those months of separation and agony, for the both of them, only because they were brave enough to stand up for what they felt was right. No one deserved to go through that pain, least of all Armaan and Riddhima. Hadn't they already seen too much heartache? Hadn't they faced all problems, overcome all odds to stay together? Their friends, Dr. Shashank, the amnesia - they overcame everything to stay together. And just when things were about get better for them, this had happened. Weren't they allowed an ounce of peace?