Jab We Met

2. Nazrein Milaana

Hello there! So in case you haven't noticed, there's a pattern in the names of my story chapters! They're all going to be names of songs that inspired me to write that particular chapter. Interesting?
I'm also planning on having a whole playlist based on this story, let's see how that goes.
Without much further ado, let's get right to IT!

Song of the chapter: Bekhayali, Kabir Singh
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The flight to London was as comfortable as it could be, yet sleep was far, far away from the reach of six passengers.

For Dhruv, it was the constant and paralyzing fear of leaving his comfort zone, his shell that he was habituated to. What if he gets his attacks in front of someone? What if his buddy isn't there to calm him down? What if Alya decides it's all too much for her to deal with? Insecurities buried deep within had been unearthed.

Alya had other worries. Back at Space, she was the diva, the fashionista, the girl every girl wanted to be, and every guy wanted to be with. But at St. T's, she was in uncharted territory, would she be able to mark her presence? She'd lived far too long in the shadow of being just Harshad's sister or Manik's girlfriend, and had finally found herself. What if she loses that?

Mukti was afraid to be alone. This was part of the reason why she became so close to Navya, because she could understand. After Harshad had left her broken, she had built herself back from scratch, and built herself so that nobody could seep through the walls. Was it time to let someone in? Dhruv and Alya had each other, and somehow, Mukti saw Cabir and Navya as one entity, she couldn't pinpoint why. Manik was a whole other conversation, one she didn't want to have. She couldn't help but feel as if she was missing a big part of her life, and herself.

Navya was excited. For the first time in her life, Navya was doing something for herself. Not for her parents, not for love, not out of formality, just sheer want.
She had always wanted to prove her worth to her parents, and she thought she'd done it when she got a scholarship to the prestigious Space Academy. It was when she found out she was about to have a baby, and then losing it, that she realized that her parents never cared about her worth. They cared about her.

Cabir couldn't not think about Manik, his best buddy. No matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise, Manik had changed in the past 5 years. He wasn't that rude, snobbish, but carefree and confident boy anymore. Under his arrogant smirk, Manik hid a wall of abandonment and despair, which Cabir could clearly see. He needed the old Manik Malhotra back, who had seemingly left along with the exit of Nandini.

Manik just couldn't tell what it was. But he somehow felt different. He felt like something big was waiting for him, something that gave him butterflies in his stomach. It had been a while since he felt like this, and this thought had him alarmed. Could London be the place where he'd find himself again? His happiness? Is this the fresh start he was looking for?

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Southall, London

The ride from the airport to Southall was calm. Nobody felt like saying anything, which was a first in the Fab5 gang.

"Guys! I think that's it! St. T's!"

Alya chirped excitedly as large sand-colored buildings came into view, guarded by a huge, intricately patterned gate.

All the stories they'd heard suddenly sounded true. As their car passed the gates, it was like they entered into a whole new world, one where they could breathe more easily and where there was music in the air.