K guyss, here's the next part 😳
Blahh my story's so cheesy 😆
Part 4
Mrs. Garewal glanced at her son for the nth time. As expected, he was still staring at the food on his plate, picking at it once in a while but never actually consuming it. She sighed, she had been noticing this behaviour of his for almost two weeks.
"Rahul?" she gently chided.
"Huh? Oh.." he replied, picking up his fork again.
"Puttar, kya hua?" she asked concernedly.
Rahul shook his head and smiled at her, trying to act as if everything was ok. Well, everything is pretty much ok, he told himself. You're making a big deal about nothing. Stop being such an emotional fool.
He excused himself, telling his mother that he was just exhausted from his soccer practise earlier that day and headed to his room. Flopping down on his bed, he couldn't help but glance at the window facing his, a few metres away. Muskaan's window. Oh how he wished he could go back to the good old days, when they were 18, and all they did was insult each other. He had noticed a change in himself over the past year or so. The once sarcastic and loud Rahul was now a lot more timid than before, a bit more caring than before, a lot more complex than before. And he hated it. Hated the way he had changed, hated the fact that although he could still come up with sarcastic comments, he'd never have his heart in it while saying it, hated the fact that he was slowly becoming an emotional guy, considering he'd grown up thinking guys like that were nothing but girly.
But the one thing he hated the most was the fact that as much as he tried to pretend everything was ok, it wasn't. It hurt. The fact that losing one person over one fight and not being able to get her back, hurt. The fact that she shouldn't mean much to him, but did, hurt. He had been thinking about their fight constantly and to this day, couldn't figure out why he was caring so much. Why didn't he just move on with life? Why was he constantly thinking about that night? Why was he hoping that one day, things would go back to being the same? Why?
"It's because as much as you hate to admit it, you miss her. You miss fighting with her, because she was worthy of your challenge." A little voice in his head sneered.
Rahul covered his eyes with his palm. He had to get away from all of this. He needed to start focussing on his studies, his second semester was just around the corner and the last thing he needed was to be distracted with thoughts of Muskaan. He didn't even like her. He'd have understood if he was head over heels in love with her, like all those stupid filmy heroes, he scorned. But he wasn't, He really wasn't. He just couldn't come to terms with the fact that she wasn't constantly screaming at him anymore, let alone speaking to him. It had been over a month since their fight that night. "More like me screaming at her for no reason and her taking it in." he muttered. He'd gone over to her house the next morning and apologized, but felt that the door slamming on his face meant she hadn't forgiven him. He'd scream through her closed door the following day. He even tried annoying her, just to get her to talk to him again. But she replied to none of the rocks he through at her window, none of his paper planes that he threw into her backyard, none of his sticky notes he pasted on her door. Pretty soon, he had given up. She had not said a word to him since that night and he was getting restless by the day. Could he come to terms with the fact that maybe, just maybe she really wouldn't talk to him anymore? It seemed he would have to.
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*2 years later – last leap haha, Rahul is 24, Muskaan is 23*
Muskaan smiled serenly, listening to Gulbanu auntie and Mumtaz auntie telling her about their grandchildren. She always enjoyed listening to their amusing tales, grandparents were so underrated. They had proven to be just as good company as any of her friends were. She quickly looked around, searching for her mother. She could see everyone from her old neighbourhood here, Roshan aunty, Sadru uncle, she had even spotted Rahul's parents. Rahul, she flinched, she hadn't seen him for weeks. Not that it mattered, they hadn't spoken for years. She shook her head, she was here for her friend's sangeet and she was going to have fun, not think about her problems. She turned back to the two women who were still deep in conversation. She missed seeing them daily, missed the familiarity of the neighbourhood she used to live in, the people who she grew up with. Thankfully, her family had decided to move back into their old house, they would be moving in a month or so. The city life just wasn't for them. She tuned back into the conversation taking place in front of her.
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Rahul's eyes bore into the back of the girl hardly 10 metres away from him. He hadn't seen her for weeks, hadn't talked to her for years. And that was going to stop today, he decided. Two years of constant regrets, he definitely could not take it anymore. He had grown in the last two years, emotionally and mentally more than physically. Yes, his 6 feet, 2 inches stature and chocolate brown eyes had girls flocking around him, but he had also grown emotionally. He had learned to understand people better, interpret their actions, value their opinions. He'd also learnt to say sorry. Something he hardly was capable of doing a few years ago. And it was time he used that to start repairing one relationship he knew he held near and dear to him. It was time he apologized to Muskaan and actually mean it. All those times before, he had said it just to get her to talk to him again. But now he meant it.
He felt his feet take slow, heavy steps towards Muskaan, and ran through his head what he would say. He slowly extended his hand and tapped her on the shoulder. Muskaan turned around and he watched her eyes widen.
"Rahul, arree wah, aaj tum bilkul Shahrukh ke tarah lag rahe ho." Gulbanu aunty complimented as she pulled him in for a hug.
"Arre nahi, SRK ko chor, he's looking like a young handsome man, just like Shahid." Mumtaz aunty exclaimed.
Rahul laughed, "And you two ladies are looking like Ms. World and Ms. Universe, forget about Aishwariya and Priyanka!"
"Tu chup kar!" Gulbanu aunty laughed.
Rahul turned to Muskaan who remained quiet the entire time, staring at her sandals. He cleared his throat. "Hi Muskaan."
Muskaan smiled at him wordlessly, swearing under her breath. She knew that she'd have to talk to him soon enough, or else everyone would figure out that something was wrong between the two.
"Arre, you two haven't met for so long, tum dono baat kar, hum dono chalte hai." Mumtaz aunty kissed both Rahul and Muskaan on the cheek and both she and Gulbanu left.
Muskaan stood up, she had to get away now. She felt Rahul grab her wrist lightly and closed her eyes. She had to go, she didn't want to confront him, not yet.
"Muskaan, I need to talk to you." Rahul said quietly.
Muskaan didn't say a word, trying to free her hand from his grip. Rahul's hand wouldn't budge and she finally gave up. She turned to look at him.
"Please Muskaan, I really need to talk to you." Rahul pleaded, anxiety clearly visible in his eyes.
Muskaan looked down, "ok, talk."
Rahul shook his head, "Not here." And with that he pulled her hand forward, leading her to the terrace. He let go of her wrist as she sat down on the swing (there just HAS to be a swing on the terrace, every Indian movie has it 😆). He paced for a few seconds, wondering how to start.
"Muskaan…I don't….Muskaan….main…" Rahul began, still pacing, not being able to start. How would he apologize to her and have her believe him this time. He'd apologized many times before but this one had to be different. This one had to make a difference. This time, he wasn't going to use just his head, but his heart as well.
He walked up to her and knelt on both his knees in front of the swing, looking down at the ground. He slowly took one of her hands in his, surprised that she let him and took a breath, feeling the hundreds of emotions he'd kept bottled up for the past few years catch up with him. He continued to stare down as to avoid her gaze and began.
"Muskaan…I know that we've been fighting for so long. I know it might not matter to you. I know you probably think I'm wasting your time, but I need to get this out. That night, I shouldn't have said any of those things. I don't know what came over me, I just started screaming random things, none of which I meant. I was young, stupid and insensitive back then. I was frustrated that it was so early in the morning. I was mad about a few other things but I made you the target, I took out all my anger on you and that wasn't right. I had no idea things would turn out this way. I'm sorry for whatever I said that day. I had no idea that one night would change so much. And as much as I hate to admit it, it hurt Muskaan. It hurt when you didn't talk to me. Because as much as we hate to admit it, we were friends, if you could call our relationship that. And I lost a really good friend that day. I want that friend back Muskaan. I need that friend back. I need you back."
Muskaan could not believe her ears. Her eyes remained wide open as she watched as Rahul slowly lifted his head to look at her, tears brimming in his chocolate brown eyes.
Edited by shockalot - 15 years ago
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