He chuckled as a response, "arrange marriage?" He stared at me for a minute longer before shaking his head in disbelief. "Why such a sudden question?"

"Just curious about your thought on arrange marriage?"

"I am not against it! It might be good for some..." he shrugged his shoulder. "But..." he paused for a second, "I prefer love marriage." He had a broad smile playing on his lips.

"Oh..." I mumbled glancing out of the window. What did that mean? His family was planning his arrange marriage but what if he had feelings for Aahna and it wasn't arrange?

Silence prevailed around us until his cell rang and it was my dad. He handed me the cell; I picked it up.

"Dad, that was rude!" I commented as Faizal walked to talk to the newly-wedded couple giving me space to have a conversation with dad.

"What was rude?" Dad acted clueless.

"You asking him to sent pictures of whether I was fine," I was really furious about it. "You shouldn't have acted as if you don't trust him."

"I wasn't acting of not trusting him," dad clarified. "I don't trust him! I don't know his name; I had never seen him. How can I trust him with my daughter?"

"If he was harmful, I wasn't talking to you from his cell." I pointed out, "he isn't going to harm me."

"Tell me the truth, Nivi..." Dad paused for a second, "who he is?" His voice was filled with suspiciousness.

"I told you that he is..."

"You're not defending your friend's brother but..." he kept it incomplete. "I know you, Nivi. You don't trust people or easily get friendly. If you trust him, you know him from past few days. Was he the reason behind you desperately wanting to attend the wedding?"

"Dad..." I wasn't able to form words. He had the superpower to read me. I was never good in lying to him, he always used to catch my lies.

"You're aware that it is impossible," his voice turned stern. "Don't get involve in things that would cause trouble in future." He warned, "I trust you; Nivi and I hope you won't break your father's trust."

"He is a friend, dad." I sighed; my heart was beating loudly in anxiousness.

"It better remain the same," the sternness was making me shiver. My heart ached seeing the dislikes in his voice at the thought of Faizal being something more than a friend to me. Why such coldness? He was as human as me! I wanted to argue but I knew it won't change his views on things.

No more words were exchanged among us as I hang the call. The cell rang again and I glanced at the screen. "Gudiya" popped on it and my heart did skip a beat. The heart beside it made me imagine things which wasn't healthy for my fragile heart. I received the call.

"Hello!" A male voice spoked from the other-line. I was uncertain whether to respond or not. Who was the person and how he had my cell? "Hi, this is Zain speaking..." he was whispering as if scared of someone listening to his conversation. "You don't know me but I do know you. The person who calls you Mr. Idiot is my friend as well, I wouldn't have been interrupting in your matter but according to her best friend, you're not a reliable guy... and it would be better if you maintain distance from her." He sighed, pausing for a minute. "But according to me, Nivi has serious feeling involved towards you if same is reciprocated from your side, I have nothing to add-on but if you're planning to break her heart it won't end up good for you."

"Take this as a warning and walk out from her life before doing any damage because I won't spare you if you end up hurting her." With that he ended the call. I wasn't able to believe it. Why would he do such a thing for a girl, he met just few days back?

"Whom were you talking to?" Faizal inquired, staring at my dazed face. "Who called you?" He stared at the screen of the phone, "from your cell?"

"Zain..." I shook my head recollecting the conversation. "I never thought I would ever meet a male version of Siddhi." I giggled at the thought of it. "He was so concerned about me," I wasn't able to suppress those giggles, "he called you... Mr. Idiot, and warned you not to break my heart or he won't spare you. That's so cute!"

"What's cute in that!" Faizal grumbled grabbing the cell from me.

I stared at him in disbelief, "he was getting concerned about me. That's cute! Because you won't have ever done something like that!"

"Why should I?" He was groaning in anger. "You're mature enough to distinguish between wrong and right," he argued. "If still you make mistakes, it's your fault."

"Would you react in same manner if it was about Zoya?" I was hurt with his choice of words. The way he showed, he didn't give a damn about me.

"But you're not Zoya," he reasoned out.

"Hence, not so important..." I mumbled, staring out of the window. Indicating to him that the conversation was over for me, he didn't even tired to continue the conversation or ask me if I was fine?

°°°

We stopped for the lunch, sharing the table with the couple. Swara insisted on changing the seats, she wanted to have some girl-conversation so I agreed as I wasn't planning to seat next to Faizal.

Swara was an interesting person to travel with, she could talk on every topic. She rarely shut her mouth and I was expert in listening so we didn't had problem in getting along with each other but that wasn't the case with Faizal and Suraj. For some unknown reason Faizal had hard time getting comfortable with Suraj though he won't ever admit it directly to him. I had saw a hint of disapproval when I agreed to Swara's change in seat.

Suraj was a very practical guy, a workaholic. He had spent his entire life, working and growing his father's business. His conversation revolved around business and money, he was very judgmental in nature and had a very open outlook on life. He didn't had limits upon things he joked about, I had seen Faizal face turning red in anger yet he was attempting to handle his rage.

As much as I wanted to be away from Faizal and not talk with him yet when the bus stopped for few minutes and most of them had walked down to have snacks and tea, I got back to my original seat.

They walked in, involved in a serious argument. "Why are you taking it so serious?" Suraj was laughing, shaking his head in disbelief at Faizal.

"I don't appreciate such jokes." He was attempting hard to calm his anger down.

"Those jokes are common! Don't you have such among your group? They might have often joked about..." he was interrupted by Faizal's warning.

"Don't you dare mention her in such disgusting topic." He growled as he glanced at me on the seat. He sighed, grabbing the seat next to mine. Suraj stared at Faizal for a minute before shaking his head and grabbing his original seat.

"What's wrong?" I attempted to inquire but I met with silence. Fifteen minutes passed but his expression hadn't changed, anger was radiating from him.

Faizal wasn't a guy who took jokes seriously. He was very fun-loving; among us I was very discipline about such stuff but I was taken aback with his such a loud reaction. It meant; it was something serious!

"You know right, you can always share things with me." I was pleading him with my orbs as much as I wanted to provide him with space yet I couldn't bear his silence.

"Faizal..." I whined seeing him ignoring me.

"Some things are better left unsaid," he mumbled.

"But it's harming your peace," I attempted to argue.

"Better than harming yours." Our orbs met, those eyes conveyed lot which his tongue was sealing from me. Whatever the matter was, I was involved in it. I sighed at the thought of it.

"We aren't allowing a random stranger to upset our mood." I mumbled, pressing a smile at him. I no-longer wanted to know the matter, I wanted to lift his mood from the topic. "I never knew you would ever fight for me," I offered him an impressed smile, "Not bad, Mr. Idiot."

He shook his head at me as he attempted to suppress his smile. "Fight for you?" He mocked, "you got to be kidding me..." he mumbled, shaking his head in disbelief.

"So, he wasn't commenting about me?" I inquired, raising my brows in a curious manner. "Then who was it about?"

"Someone whom I am going to marry..." he had a teasing smile playing on his lips but upon mention of the person, my smile disappeared. He was talking about Aahna, why do I even allow my heart to hold expectation?

"You were fighting with him because you couldn't bear the thought of..." I sighed, he cared about her. And maybe... slight maybe he loved her as well.

Silence prevailed around us; I opted glancing out of the window. It was getting difficult to imagine him with her. I had never imagined him as mine. From the minutes, I got aware of my feelings, I knew it was impossible. He won't ever share the feeling; he won't ever reciprocate. And I was aware that a moment would come when I will have to witness him falling for someone, I sighed.

It was so difficult to hold my emotions in check. I couldn't allow my heart to cry for such a messed-up life. Why was it so difficult to move-on from him?

"Do you want to listen to some music or are you fine staring out of the window?" He inquired; I was never expert in hiding my emotions.

"I am fine..." I mumbled without glancing in his direction.

"I don't think so..." he commented but I ignored, a minute later an earphone was plugged into my ear.

"I don't..." I was on the verge of shoving it away. I needed a minute to breathe, I wasn't able to bear the thought of him liking someone.

"What's wrong?" He stared at me with his concerned orbs. "Are you offended that the fight wasn't for you?" That teasing smile was back on his face.

"Why would I?" I groaned, concentrating on the view outside. "Just got reminded of the conversation, I had with dad. And it will be better if you also don't listen to music. Dad might call and if your phone battery dies before it than he will turn more anxious."

"I had charged it during the lunch," he informed. "Would you want to stay behind?" That grabbed my attention, I glanced at him. "We can stay in a hotel if you want? You might be exhusated?"

"How about we stay behind and catch the bus?" I mumbled at the prospect, "I would get my cell back as well as Siddhi."

"If you want, we can..." he sounded uninterested.

"What you mean by if I want, we can..." I imitated his tone, "your parents won't  appreciate you travelling alone with me instead of being with your family. They would be missing you especially Zoya."

"I know my family more than you, so it will be better if you talk about yourself and what you want..." he groaned.

"Can you stop being rude for once?" I groaned in anger.

"And can you stop displaying that you despise the thought of travelling with me."

"What?" My orbs enlarged in horror. I wasn't able to register those words. He looked away, avoiding eye-contact. This were those times when he would hang the call, or stop texting providing me with an excuse that he was busy but unfortunately, he couldn't avoid the conversation at the moment with any such excuses.

"Why would I ever despise travelling with you?"

"Nivi, it will be better if we don't continue it." He grumbled as he plugged earphone. I jerked it from his ears, glaring at him.

"What did I ever do to make you think, I despise travelling with you?"

"Nivi, I said it will be better if we stop." He warned, I kept glaring at his direction but he ignored. I sighed as he had mastered the skill of ignoring my existence.

"I had said it enough of time that I like your presence," I grumbled much to myself. "I just didn't want to be a reason of you not being part of the memories they are creating," I sighed. I shook my head as I leaned my head on his shoulder. He was in a very upsetting mood and I could feel it.

Suddenly, I felt an earphone plugged in one of my ears, as a slow music played in the background. The 'Shayad' playing made my mind to frame fake scenarios, could it be that Faizal was trying to indicate something. I shook my head at the thought of it, I couldn't be delusional! That would only result into destruction.