Mirha's room...

All of the 'crazy gene' clan was gathered in Mirha's room for their ludo match and some chit chat.The 4 finalist of the game were Rayyan, Ayaan, Zain and Naina and Mirha as usual was kicked out after losing the very first match.So she was just watching them play.

"Kill her pawn, Zain! Kill her." Rayyan said excitedly as Naina's pawn was at mercy of Zain.She looked at him with pleading eyes and he played the other pawn.

"This is cheating!" Ayaan screamed.

Mirha giggled looking at the new lovebirds while Rayyan spoke up "agr Mirha aur Arham bhai yahan hoty tb tou ye cheating krny ka haq bhi bnta tha,tum log kyun cheat kr rhy ho?" (It would have been perfectly alright if Mirha and Arham bhai were in your place,but why are you cheating,it doesnt make sense?)

"Tum logon ko lgta hai k wo kharus insan cheat kry ga wo bhi mere liye?" (You guys think that kharus will cheat and that too because of me?) Mirha mocked with a laugh and Naina replied "you don't know him yet."

"I know why you guys cheated!" Ayaan exclaimed.

"Why?" Mirha,Zain and Naina asked in unison.

"Kyun k Naina jasus k pas Zain ka koi secret hai,ye blackmail kr rhi hai." (Because Naina knows his secret and is blackmailing him.) Ayaan explained and three of them took a sigh of relief at his foolishness.

"Jo bhi hai,tum log khelo." (Continue the game.) Zain tried to divert them.

*Phone rings*

"Rider ki call hai,mai icecream ly k aai...tum log khelo." (Its rider's call,I'll go pick up the icecream,you guys carry on.) Saying so Mirha excitedly went towards the gate.

"Ye time hai icecream khany ka?" (Is this the time to eat icecream?) Arham was standing there with the 3 icecream tubs in his hands.

"Aap ny iski payment kr di?" (You paid the amount?) Mirha grinned ignoring his question as all her focus was on the free icecream which she will be devouring in next few moments.

"Tumhe payment ki pari hai? Temperature dekha hai 1°C." (Payment? have you seen the temperature,its 1°C.) He said in a strict tone.

"Haan tou december mein 40°C tou kisi ka nhi hota...aap k ilawa." (So what,no one has 40°C in december...except you.) She giggled at her own joke.

"Kya kaha?" (What did you just say?) Arham narrowed his eyes at her.

"Kuch nhi,bs yehi k icecream khaya karein, december mein high temperature abnormality ki ilamat hai." (Nothing...you should eat icecream, high temperature in december is a sign of abnormality.) She said cockily and grabbed the icecream from his hands.

"Sudhr jao Mirha!" (Mend your ways Mirha!) He warned her.He wanted to keep up with his aura and plain facial expressions but Mirha wasn't letting him succeed.

"Arey chorein ghussa,aa jayein icecream khaty hain...aur ap ko aik baat btaon humary ghr mein full on romantic drama chl rha hai...Zain ny Naina ki token/goti nhi maari ludo mein!" (leave it all,come lets have icecream...and you know a romantic drama is happening in our house...Zain didn't kill Naina's token/pawn in ludo...) can you believe it...its shocking,right? Lekin yehi pyar hai (but this is love) thora cliche hai pr Zain tou hero nikla mtlb kamal hai bahe (sounds a bit cliche but Zain is the real hero...outstanding!")
She was dragging Arham by holding his arm to the room,all the while narrating him the whole ludo story.

"Ji mohtarma us ny token nhi maari aur aap flat hain unki lovestory py aur mai ny propose kiya tb koi feel nhi aai aap ko." (Yeah,you are flat on their lovestory only because of this but no you didn't get any feel when I proposed to you.) Arham muttered under his breath which wasn't audible to Mirha.

"Kuch kaha aap ny?" (Did you say something?) She asked.

"Meri itni majjal?" (How dare I?) He raised his hands in surrender and Mirha shrugged her shoulders not paying attention to his whispers."Itnay masoom ap hain nhi wese." (You are not as innocent as you show.)

Arham chuckled "mai change kr k ata hun." (I'll go change.)

"Nhi nhi,ap rest karein...hum kha lein gy icecream." (No need,take rest...we'll finish icecream.) Mirha smiled.

"Acha mtlb k bill bhi mai dun aur mujhe khanay ko bhi kuch na mily." (Oh so It means that I won't get a bite of it even when i have paid the bill) He crossed his arms.

"Haan na!" (Yes!) Mirha nodded.

"Aur aisa kyun?" (Why so?)

"Abhi bhi 1°C temperature hai,beemar ho jayein gy ap." (Its still 1°C,you will get cold.) She teased him.

"Sudhar jao Mirha!" He chuckled.

"Ahaan!" She shook her head with a naughty smile etched over her face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She entered the room with icecream in her hands "kon jeeta?" (Who won?)

"Ayaan." Naina told with defeated expression.

"Runner up?" Asked Mirha.

"Naina cheater." Rayyan and Ayaan laughed.

"Tum chup karo Rayyan,tum har gaye ho." (You shouldn't laugh,you lost Rayyan. )

"Tum konsa jeeti ho?" (As if you won!)

"Oho,leave everything else aside...let's dig in! After all its our Boss's treat!" Zain grabbed one of the box excitedly.

"Naina come,let's share it!" Zain sat beside her and there she blushed "why are you doing this?" Naina whispered "don't you like it? Zain teased.

In the mean time Rayyan and Ayaan grabbed the other box while the last box was spared for Mirha who was enjoying it all by herself waving her head with every bite she had. She had headphones over her ear and was listening to party songs to elevate her level of joy.

And they heard a knock on the door which was already wide open. "Kya ho rha hai?" (Wassup?) Arham was standing at the door in his causal Trouser and tee shirt.

"Arham bhai!" All of them hid their icecream in fear of the hitler standing infront of them except Mirha who was busy with her icecream like their is no tomorrow unknown to her surroundings.She was enjoying herself to the fullest.

"Mirha!" Zain nudged her shoulder to pull her out of her la la land but to no avail.

Rayyan pulled Ayaan and Naina pulled Zain out of the room leaving their boss all alone at the mercy of hitler.Arham chuckled entering the room,he went near her,removing her headphones,he whispered "Earth to ma'am!"

"Oh God,Darra diya ap ny!" (You sacred me!) She finally opened her eyes and stood up facing him.

"Baqi sb kahan hain?" (Where are others?) She furrowed her brows together.

"Baqi sb jahan bhi hain,meri icecream kahan hai?" (Where is my icecream?) He asked.

"Pighal gai." (It melted.) Mirha tried to hide the icecream behind her as she never wanted to share.He raised his eyebrow at her white lie.

"Aap sach mein khaein gy icecream?" (You really want to have it?) She asked with a pout.

"Ab meri dulhan ny offer ki thi tou mai kesy na khaon." (My bride offered me so how can i refuse?) He gave her a smug smile.

"Thori si reh gai hai." (Just a little left.) She forwaded the box towards him.

"Haan tou bht hai." (Its more than enough for me.) He held the box and sat on the bed devouring the left over icecream.

"Hitler!" She huffed standing beside him.

After having the icecream he stood up "I must say vanilla is a good flavour!"

"It was butter scotch." She rolled her eyes at him.

"But it tasted like strawberry." He laughed seeing the angry expression over her face.

"Thank you Mirha,I loved caramel cr..." He said going out of her room

"Its butter scotch!" She yelled in hopelessness.

"Hold your horses girl,I'll buy it for you tomorrow" he assured her but the charm of teasing her was endless so when he saw a satisfactory expression on her face he spoke again,"its pistachio right?"

"BUTTER SCOTCH!" She whined and he laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zain's room

Zain was sleeping peacefully when he heard slight knock on his door.

"Is time kon hai yar!" (Who is here now!) He groaned in frustration and got up from the bed leaving his cozy blanket.

He opened the door to see Naina who was all packed up in her warm clothes yet she was shivering.

"Tumhe kya hwa?" (What happened to you?) He asked worriedly.

"Bht thnd lg rhi hai aur (I am too cold and...) *sneeze*...

"Pagal,andr aao!" (Get in.)

She was now sitting on his bed still shivering "idhr dikhao bukhar tou nhi hai."(let me check whether you have fever or not.)

"Mai Arham bhai k room mein bhi gai thi pr unho ny drwaza nhi khola." (I went to Arham bhai's room but he didnt open the door.)

"You are practically burning with fever...abhi tou theek thi tum jb hum icecream kha rhy thy,sardi kesy lg gai itni?(How did you catch cold,you were just fine when we had icecream.)

"I took bathe." She said with her teeth rattling.

"Bht achy!" (Very good.) He took her hands in his and started blowing to warm them up.

"Ab taaney hi marein gy ya koi medicine dy dein?" (Give me some medicine or are you planning to just taunt.)

"Aao tumhary room mein chlein." (Come,lets go to your room.) Saying so he went to pick the medicine and together they went to her room.

After tucking her in the bed he went to make tea for her.

"Aadhi raat ko nahany ki kya zarurat thi?" (Why did she even have to take a bath this late at night?) He mumbled straining the tea.

When he entered the room he saw that she had slept already.He checked her temperature which was still high. So he tried to wake her up. "Naina,Naina! Utho,medicine ly k so jana(get up and take your medicine)"

She got up lazily,he helped her to take her medicine and gave her the tea. "Ab isy piyo aur so jao." (Now finish it and go back to sleep.)

"Aap ja rhy hain?" (You are going back?) She asked sadly.

"Haan agr kuch zarurat ho tou call kr lena."(call me if you need to.) He said patting her cheek.

"Chai tou pi lon,utni dair ruk jayen." (Wait till i finish this.) She requested.

"Naina!" He sighed.

"Ye achi hai." (This is good.) She said sipping her tea.

"Ab aadhi raat ko bnda uth k tumhary liye chai bnae tou achi kesy na ho?" (I prepared it this late at night,how couldn't it be good?)

"Thank you."she grinned as he dragged the chair sitting across her.

"Isy khtm karo yar,mujhe neend aa rhi hai."(finish it up quickly,I am all sleepy.) He yawned adjusting himself on the chair.

After finishing the tea she covered herself with the blanket as Zain already slept on the chair."he'll go back when he wakes up."

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Morning...

"Mirha!" Ayaan was knocking at her room's door.

"Aa rhi hun!" (Coming!) Mirha opened the door lazily.She was still half asleep.

"Mirha mujhe tum sy bht important baat krni hai." (I want to tell you something important.) He was anxious.

"Tum itni jldi kesy uth gaye,abhi 6 bjy hain aur itni konsi important baat hai?" (How are you up so early? Its only six in the morning and what's so important?) She yawned.

"Jldi nhi utha,Mai bs sony lga tha 4 bjy,mai pani leny gya aur jb wapis aya tou..." (I was about to sleep but i went to get some water,when I came back then...)

"Tou kya Ayaan? Koi bhoot tou nhi dekh liya?" (So what Ayaan? Did you see any ghost?) Mirha asked sarcastically.

"Zain Naina k room sy bahir aa rha tha." (Zain was coming out of Naina's room.)  Ayaan told.

"Kyaa?" (What?) Raat k 4 bjy? (Four at  night?) Mirha was shocked.

"I don't know what I am feeling right now,why was he there Mirha?" Ayaan was frustrated.

"Calm down,relax...aisa kuch fazul nhi socho (don't assume anything stupid.) There must be a reason why he was there." Mirha tried to calm him down.

"I can't understand!" Ayaan replied holding his head.

"Relax...let me handle this please." Mirha was continuously trying to cool down his temper.

And he nodded. "I havent told it to anyone but Mirha please clean this mess."

Meanwhile Mirha herself was tensed.She texted Arham "I need to talk to you and its important."

A:'What happened?'

M:'Are you free?'

A:'Yes'

And she dialed his number.He picked up 'tum theek ho?'(Are you alright?). 'Ayaan saw Zain coming out of Naina's room at 4 in the morning and he is freaking out!"

"koi kaam ho ga usy wrna kyun jata wo wahan,aisy fazul mein pareshan nhi ho." (There must be a reason,stop worrying.)

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Arham's cabin...

Arham was roaming around in his cabin with a worried face while Mirha was sitting on the couch in restlessness.

"Sir,Zain is here." The boy told and Zain entered his cabin closing the door behind.

"G Arham bhai?" He asked hesitantly.

"Naina k kamry mein kya kr rhy thy tum?" ( what were you doing in Naina's room?) Arham asked in a strict tone and all the colors left Zain's face.

"Bh...bhai,actua..."Zain was afraid.

"Sun rha hun mai." (I am all ears) Arham replied looking directly into his eyes.

"She had fever,I just gave her medicine." Zain replied,he was tensed.

"You should have told Mirha or anyone else." Arham objected.

"Bhai...she was shivering with fever,I did nothing wrong."

"Ye baat Ami aur Abbu ko kon smjhaye ga?"He questioned raising his eyebrow.
(Who is going to explain this to elders?)

"Ye Ayaan ko kya zarurat thi rai ka pahar bnanay ki,kya mila hai usy ghr walon ko bta k!" (What was Ayaan's need to make moutain out of a molehill,what did he get out of this?) Mirha was agitated.

"Bhai hai wo uska,uski behn k kmry sy koi subha k 4 bjy nikly ga tou kya smjhy ga wo?" (He is her brother,what could he possibly think to see a man coming out of his sister's room at four in the morning?) Arham was frustrated as hell.

"Naina kahan hai?" (Where is Naina?) Mirha asked.

"Ghr." (She's home) Zain replied.

"Ab kya karein Arham bhai?" (What should we do Arham bhai?) Mirha asked.

"Tum tou chup karo yar!" (You just keep quiet man!) She was again calling him bhai unintentionally but it irked him so he spoke a bit harshly and Mirha turned quiet.

Arham sighed "don't worry Zain,mai kr lon ga handle,tum jao,bs abhi Naina sy contact nhi krna." (I'll handle,just avoid contacting Naina for now.)

"Mujhe uski fikr ho rhi hai." (I am worried for her.) Zain replied.

"Relax Zain...everything will be alright.Let's go home."Arham assured him.Zain and Arham were heading out of the cabin but Mirha stood there.

"Mir.."

"I am busy." Cutting him in between she immediately left the cabin.

Arham sighed "bhai,Mirha?" asked Zain.

"She is angry,I'll apologize later...let her calm down first." Arham patted his shoulder as they headed towards the car.

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Night...
Chaudhry house...

After a long hectic day,Mirha was back home.Zain told her that Arham handled the situation really well and all the things got settled pretty easily.She was happy about that but she didn't like Arham's behaviour towards when he asked her to keep quiet.She was humiliated.

She was just roaming around in the lobby when she heard Ayaan's voice "tumhe zra si bhi sharam nhi aati Naina,hume pta hai k Zain aur tumharay drmiyan kya chl rha hai!" (Arent you ashamed Naina,we know whats cooking between you two!)

"Arham bhai bhi tou Mirha Api ko psnd krty hain,un k liye alag rules aur mere liye alag?" (Why do you have different rules for Arham bhai as he likes Mirha Api?) Naina said meekly.

"Unki baat aur hai Naina,He's a mature man!"

"Tou Mirha Api?" (What about Mirha Api?)

For God's sake Naina,tum behn ho humari!" (You are our sister!) It was Rayyan's voice which broke Mirha's heart.She silently went back to her room.

She was badly hurt,earlier because of Arham and now because of the fact that no one considers her their sister,she was the only child of her parents but she loved them all as her siblings,she never felt this way and it broke her.She was in her bed all quiet as she didn't know what she should do.

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Next day...

Everyone was gathered at the dining table except Mirha,it was sunday and instead of joining the family for breakfast she preferred to be in her bed.

"Mirha kahan hai?" (Where is Mirha?) Asked her Taya Abba and Arham stopped eating.

"Mai bula k aati hun!" (I go call her.) Naina spoke.

"She is sleeping,I'll send her breakfast later." Mirha's mother told.

And in the meantime they saw Mirha descending stairs in all her glory,she was wearing a pink cardigan with black jeans and her ankle length boots.Her hair were tied in a ponytail and she was wearing a neutral pink lipstick and her emerald eyes had strokes of khol in them,she was carrying her bag and car key.

"Hi everyone,sorry I can't join you today,I am running late!" She looked at her wrist watch.

"Where are you going bacha?" Asked her mother.

"Amma,I just need some fresh air." She kissed her cheek and hugged her father before leaving the house.

"What happened to her?" Rayyan asked.
"She probably has a kitty party?" It was Naina.
"No she has a date with her collegues!" Ayaan laughed.

Zain remained quiet as he sensed Arham's uneasiness.

And Arham got a text 'I need to talk to you,I am in the park around the house and its important.'

'Okay,stay there,I'll be there in a few.'He replied back immediately.

--------------------‐-------------------------------------------------

Mirha was sitting on the bench with a cup of tea in her hand in some deep thoughts when she heard somebody call her name.

"Mirha!" She turned to see it was Arham standing right next to her.

"Hi." She sighed and forced a smile on her face.

"I am sorry Mirha,I shouldn't have..."

"I can't marry you...I like someone else." She said closing her eyes.

"You..what are you talking?"

"I am serious...I hope you understand,
thanks for your help by the way, i don't want to live in the same house after my marriage."

"Listen Mirha,this is no joke...you can't just say no."

"Well I told you the reason,its upto you...if you dont want to back out,I'll do so...all blames on me.I thought its better to tell you first before telling everyone else."

"Its not because of yesterday's shouting?"

"Yup,thats not the reason...she nodded her head."

"Umh..okay,who do you like?"

"Zaviyar!"