The Distance Between Us

Track Forty Six - He Didn't Have To Be

The next morning was a busy one. Myra was coming home and there was lots to do. Armaan and Rahul were up at dawn, making sure that everything was perfect for the arrival of their niece. But, the events of the previous day were still eating at Armaan, and Rahul noticed. The two hadn't had a chance to talk since yesterday because they were busy with the baby shower and then when Armaan had made himself scarce from the celebration, it had fallen upon Rahul to entertain their guests. After everyone had left, a tired Rahul had made his way to bed without talking to Armaan. Now, he felt that he shouldn't have done that.

"Armaan, is everything okay?" He asked.

"No," Armaan replied. There were never any secrets from Rahul. Ever.

"What happened?" Rahul questioned further.

"Tamanna thinks we don't love her, Rahul. And Riddhima just dismissed our entire relationship without giving it a second thought. So, yeah. I'd say things are just peachy," Armaan replied sarcastically.

"What?" Rahul was confused. "Tell me everything. What happened?"

"You know how I want to give Bua Maa's book to Myra, right?" Armaan asked. Rahul nodded. Armaan had been so very excited about that. He hadn't stopped talking about it in the past few days, and while Rahul loved his enthusiasm, he was just about ready to ask Armaan to shut up for one second.

"What about it?" Rahul probed.

"I told Tamanna about it last night. And she said Myra shouldn't get the book because Tamanna is not my real sister," Armaan told Rahul.

"She actually said those words to you?" Rahul asked. "Not your real sister?"

Armaan nodded. He was crying again, and he couldn't do anything to stop it. His nightmares last night had been full of Tamanna repeating those words and leaving him behind. He'd basically cried through the night.

"Baby," Rahul sighed, pulling him into a tight hug. "I'm sorry. It'll be okay, alright? I'm sure Tamanna didn't mean it that way."

Armaan just hugged Rahul tightly not saying anything. Rahul wanted to ask him more about what had happened, especially with Riddhima but let it go because he could see that Armaan was already worked up over his talk with Tamanna. He didn't want to trouble him further by having him talk about how Riddhima had hurt him as well.

Tamanna hadn't been able to sleep the entire night. Her callous words, which had hurt Armaan, kept echoing in her mind. It did not help that she'd had a late night visit from Riddhima who had told her that she was an idiot for making Armaan feel the way she did by saying what she had.

"Tamanna, what happened between you and Armaan?" Riddhima had asked her last night. Feeling guilty and confused about everything, Tamanna had told Riddhima the entire thing without skipping out on even a single detail.

"But... that's not what I meant," she had hastily added. "Maani just misconstrued the whole thing. I have never felt as if I'm any different from Jaanhavi for him. Not even for a single moment. But... that book is something that he's cherished since childhood. Shalini Bua gave it to him. And I don't think that I deserve that book to belong with Myra. Maani has already done so much for, and taking this from him... especially now that Jaanhavi is getting married and will have her own kids someday, perhaps very soon... it just feels wrong. All I've done is take from him, from Rahul, from Jaanhavi. And I don't want to do that anymore, Riddhima Di. They've given me love, they've given me confidence, they've given me a family. It's more than anything I could have ever dreamt of. I don't want anything else.

That book belonged to Jaanhavi's mom, and her kids deserve it way more than mine ever could. I know I have taken a lot from her since I came here. She had to share everything with me. She had to share Maani with me. I can't ask for more sacrifices from her. Never. It just doesn't feel right."