The Distance Between Us

Track Nine - A Head Full Of Dreams

The gang spent their afternoon merrymaking and catching up. There was just so much to tell. Seven years worth of stories to be told, hugs to be exchanged and laughs to be shared. Which they did, happily. It was a little awkward at first, especially for Armaan & Riddhima and Rahul & Muskaan, but soon, things settled and they were all laughing and talking.

Sometime during their talks, Rohan had come home and made his way up to Jaanhavi's room. Armaan and Rahul just shook their heads at him.

"How long?" Rahul asked Armaan.

Armaan looked at his watch and calculated before answering, "5 hours and 13 minutes. That's got to be a new record!"

"What are we talking about?" Tamanna asked as she came into the living room after her nap. She'd been completely exhausted because of the conference and then with Jaanhavi's scare, hadn't been able to sleep properly last night, so she'd been resting.

"Rohan waited for 5 hours before he came here to check on Jaanhavi," Rahul answered Tamanna as she sat down beside Armaan and rested her head on his shoulder.

"You're kidding, right?!" She asked surprised. "5 whole hours!"

"Yep! I can't believe it either!" Armaan told her.

"Why is that so shocking?" Muskaan asked. "5 ghante hi hue hai, 5 janam nahi."

Rahul looked at Muskaan as if she'd grown a third head and started laughing loudly. "Rohan ke liye toh 5 nahi, 500 janam ho gaye honge," he replied. "Jaanhavi se ek minute door raha nahi jaata usse. Aur jab woh bimaar ho, tauba tauba. Ek second ke liye apni aankhon ke saamne se hathne nahi deta," Rahul explained to Muskaan.

"Awwwww," Nikki commented. "That's so sweet! And this man here," she said, pointing to Abhi, "He doesn't even care if I'm living or dying. Abhi, please learn something from Rohan."

This set everyone off again.

In the evening, Jaanhavi finally woke up and Rohan brought her down to spend time with the others. Introductions were made and Jaanhavi was very excited to meet everyone else and get to know them, especially after she found out that Armaan & Rahul had done their internship with them and were actually quite close to them before moving to New York.

"Nice!" She commented. "Now I'll know all of his secrets. He never tells me anything!" She'd exclaimed.

Anjali had laughed at that. "Whatever you want to know, I'm your girl! Please, don't hesitate to ask me anything. I can tell you many stories about both these boys here," she said, pointing at Rahul and Armaan.

"I'll take you up on that, Anjy Di," Jaanhavi promised. Then, after hesitating, she continued, "I hope you don't mind me calling you Di."

"Arre, of course not! You're Armaan's sister. And Armaan's one of my best friends," Anjali replied, throwing a quick smile in his direction. Armaan grinned widely on hearing that.

"Thank you!" Jaanhavi burst out before hugging Anjali tightly. "You're awesome!"

It didn't take long for Jaanhavi to gel with the gang and soon she was talking to them as if she'd known them for years and years instead of mere minutes. There was just something about the family that made you like them instantly, Riddhima thought. Maybe it was their quick wit and charm or their happy go lucky nature or their boisterous talks, whatever it was, the Malliks always made you feel like you were at home and she really liked that about them. She remembered when she'd met Armaan's parents for the first time. She'd been so nervous then but both of them had instantly made her feel comfortable with their talks and actions, just like Jaanhavi was doing now.