Aarohi's POV:

Two days earlier

"You slept with him? You slept with him?!!" Karthik rages. "Oh this is fucking fantastic!"

I glare at him. "I did not sleep with him. We just happened to sleep next to each other on the same bed. That's it."

Karthik narrows his eyes. "Are you sure? You woke up in your underwear, afterall."

I snap. "If we would have done it, we wouldn't have been wearing clothes at all! And even if I did sleep with him, why do you care?"

Karthik's eyes darken. "Isn't it obvious?"

I look at him, confused. "Isn't what obvious?"

Karthik laughs humourlessly. "You're fucking obtuse for a nerd."

My eyes flash in anger. "Don't call me that."

"Don't call you what? Obtuse or nerd?"

"Nerd. You know I hate it."

Karthik laughs. "You're weird. So it's okay to be called stupid, but not a nerd. Why do you hate it anyway?"

"I'm not a nerd!" I fume. I normally don't have an issue when my bullies call me a nerd, but I seem to have one when Karthik does. I guess it's because I relate that particular word to my apparent bullies.

"But it sort of suits you", Karthik squares his shoulders. "With the glasses and everything, you make one adorable nerd."

"Shut up", I snap, trying extremely hard not to blush.

Asshole. Why is he making me blush, anyway? Why is he saying all those things? What is the matter with him?

I peer at him and his expression becomes guarded.

"What?" He barks.

"Just wondering", I say.

"Wondering what?"

"Wondering why you are being so nice to me", I shrug. "It's not like you care."

"I never stopped caring", Karthik's eyes bore into mine. "And I'm a nice guy. Well, selectively. I gotta keep up my bad boy reputation."

I snort. "Bad boy, my ass."

"You can't deny I'm unbelievably sexy", he grins widely at me and I roll my eyes.

"That's debatable."

His eyebrows shoot up and then a smirk settles on his face.

Uh-oh. I know that expression. He's going to do something extremely stupid.

And he does. Something extremely stupid, and though I would never admit it to his face, kinda sexy too.

He removes his shirt and balls it up. My eyes pop out at his toned body and I all but shriek, "Karthik! What the hell are you doing?" I immediately shut my eyes.

"What?" He asks, innocently. "I was feeling very hot. So I simply removed my shirt."

"It's not that hot! Put it back on!"

"No can do, mi amor. Besides, this shouldn't bother you. You don't think I'm sexy anyway."

I grit my teeth. This guy definitely knows how to make me take back my words.

"Just put the Goddamn shirt on", I say, biting my words.

"First, admit that I am sexy."

I groan. I know he won't give up till I admit it. "Fine! You are sexy! Happy?"

"Sorta. Now admit that you'd rather sleep with me than with any other tool."

"WHAT?!"

Karthik starts laughing loudly at my reaction. I try to restrain myself from channeling my inner Hulk and hitting him on the head with a chair.

After a while, he stops and says, "You can open your eyes. My shirt is back on."

I slowly open my eyes and see him sitting at leisure, his arms stretched behind his head, his biceps bulging and a lazy wide grin on his face. And still no shirt. His washboard abs are on full display and I find my heart almost lurching sideways at the sight.

Oh good God, he's pretty damn good.

I can't believe how grown up he looks. I take my time to study his face, his carved jaw, his soulful eyes, his smooth black hair, and his pink lips.

He has changed. The Karthik I knew in school was a dork. Well, a good-looking, protective, scary dork.

This guy in front of me is- there's no other way to put it- hot.

I can't believe I didn't notice it before.

The thought makes me go deep red.

"Here", Karthik says, picking up a tissue paper and offering it to me. "You've got some drool on your face."

That shakes me from my stupor. I close my eyes again and hiss, "You lied!"

He laughs. "Well, so did you. I could see how much you were enjoying the view."

"I was not!"

"Was too!"

"Just put your shirt back on."

"Just admit that you like me."

I grit my teeth. "You are such a narcissistic pig."

"And you are so fucking gorgeous."

My heart launches like a missile. What the hell is he doing to me? Thousands of butterflies erupt inside my stomach and my palms become sweaty. Trying to gather my thoughts and dignity, and trying not to blush anymore, I shoot back. "I fucking hate you."

"Too bad. I love you."

And now my heart comes to a standstill. I open my eyes, not willing to believe his words, but for some strange reason, hoping that they're true.

What the fuck is the matter with me? I have never felt like this with Karthik before.

Or have I?

Sure enough, he is sitting there, looking at me intently, with his shirt back on.

Oh I'm so screwed. The butterflies in my stomach flutter and multiply without restraint now and my heart palpitates rapidly.

And then, without a warning, he bursts out laughing so hard, that everybody in the vicinity stares at us.

I glare at him, hoping to drill holes inside his thick head.

"Oh G-god!" He laughs. "Y-your expression was f-fucking priceless!"

"You are so dead, pighead." Internally, I am already carefully planning his murder.

"You wanted me to say those words to you, didn't you?" He is still laughing.

The nerve of that mean jackass. Let me tell you, it's not funny to tell somebody you love them, unless you don't mean it. As someone who has never had somebody telling them they love them, I can tell you that hearing it as a joke for the first time, really hurts. Even Mayur and I hadn't reached the "I love you" phase.

"You are highly delusional and bipolar. I do not wish anything of that sort", I tell him in a cold voice and he finally stops laughing.

He gazes deep into my eyes, as if searching for something. He then sighs, "Only if you knew, Lizzie... Only if you knew."

"Only if I knew what?" I snap, my patience running out.

He shakes his head. "Nothing. Just continue with your story."

"Well then stop being so cryptic!" I say, frustrated. "God, you're infuriating!"

He gives me a genuine smile. "Oh I know. I was always infuriating. Even back in school."

I sigh and smile slowly, as I remember the innumerable times I had told him how infuriating he was being.

Like when he beat up Gaurav and his cronies.

Like when he would purposely ask the teachers stupid questions on the rare occasions that I did not do homework, just to be thrown out of class and made to stand next to me.

Like when he painted the school bitch's bench, the same colour, and she sat on it unknowingly- all because she had torn my project into pieces.

Like when he would practically force every new bench partner of mine to change places with him just so he could sit next to me.

Like when he would get two cakes to school on his birthday- one for the class to devour, and one to be secretly eaten by both of us after school.

Like when sometimes he would puncture his cycle tyre on purpose, just to be able to walk home with me. I always knew.

He was adorably infuriating then, and he is adorably infuriating now.

God, I've missed him.

There! I admit it!

I've missed him terribly.

My best friend. My Karthik.

But it's not easy to forget everything.

Both of us are looking at each other and the air around us is getting thicker as Karthik is not ready to drop his gaze.

I finally clear my throat. "Er, so... Should I go on?"

He nods his head. "Sure."

I continue my story. "Nothing much really happened the next day- in the morning I mean. I woke up next to Kyle and immediately shoved him off my bed. He assured me that he didn't sleep with me, and that he had just carried me back to my hotel room and was exhausted, so had slept next to me. He said he never wore a shirt while sleeping. Then both of us freshened up and got decent. And on our way out to have breakfast, we bumped into Mayur."

"Aarohi?" I turn around to see Mayur standing outside our room and glaring at Kyle. "What were you doing in our room with that prick?"

"Banging", I deadpan and then grab Kyle's hand and walk around Mayur.

Mayur grabs my arm, and jerks me back. I turn around and he almost spits on my face. "You had sex with him?"

I remove my hand from his grasp. "You had sex with Tisca?"

He doesn't say anything and I gasp loudly. "Oh my God! You slept with her, didn't you?! You fucking cheat!" I let go of Kyle's hand and push Mayur and he stumbles onto the door of our room.

Mayur looks down and starts apologising profusely. "I didn't want to! I'm so so very sorry babe! Tisca was all over me yesterday, and I was trying to calm her down, and one thing led to another, and we-"

I slap him hard across the face. He stills for a minute and then sighs and says, "I deserved it. I'm so so very sorry. But the minute I woke up, I realised that I never even liked Tisca! I like you! I might be even falling for you. I only want you. I cleared everything with Tisca in the morning, and told her that I want to be with you, and that me and her would never work out. And she got angry and left for Mumbai with Saurabh just now."

I stand there, paralysed at what he had just said. I am disgusted that he cheated on me. Grossed out, even. But for some reason, his words melt me.

"Can I just say-" Karthik interrupts.

"You don't have to tell me I'm stupid", I snap at him. "I've done some pretty stupid stuff throughout this whole mini vacation and lets just assume from now on that I was being stupid the entire time."

Karthik looks at me, his eyes dancing in amusement. "Alright. As long as we have established that."

"Just shut the fuck up."

He looks like he is suppressing his laughter. "Yes ma'am."

"I'm so, so sorry, Aarohi. So very sorry. Please give me another chance. Please? I know we can make this work. Yesterday, when I saw you in that dress, I realised how wrong I was about you. I realised that you didn't need to wear that dress for me to realise how beautiful you are. You opened my eyes, Aarohi. I want to be with you. I want to make this work. I have to make this work. For our sake. I'm so sorry. Please give me another chance. I swear I won't disappoint you. I promise you won't regret it."

I look at him and bite my lip, thoughtfully. "Give me some time. This is a lot to process."

"You can have as much time as you want, Aarohi", Mayur says immediately. "Just, please don't give up on us."

I simply nod and turn to leave when Mayur clears his throat from behind.

"Er- so did you two-?" He gestures towards me and Kyle and Kyle gives me a "the-fuck-is-wrong-with-your-boyfriend" look.

"I'm not the swindler here, Mayur", I glare at him, my voice icy cold.

He looks down, turning a little red. "Sorry."

I simply roll my eyes and turn around to leave.

"Call me!" He hollers from behind, and frustrated at myself for caring, I give him the finger.

I can't believe that son of a bitch cheated on me. And he really thinks that I'm going to forgive him and get back together with him? How naïve am I?

Extremely naïve, I realise, since after a few hours, I end up calling him and telling him that I am willing to give us one last chance. Kyle and I had our breakfast in silence and then he said he had a wonderful time with me, but he had to leave. He was in the country for a year, exploring various cities for his novel. He asked me to remain in touch with him and we parted, good friends.

"Oh thank God", Karthik interjects. "I didn't like Kyle much."

"You don't like any guy much", I retort.

"Not true. I like Mehul and Kaushik."

"They're your friends! You don't like any of my guy friends!"

"You don't have any guy friends", he points out.

"Well," I say indignantly, realising that he's actually right, but not wanting to give up. "Kyle is my guy friend!"

"That's just one friend", Karthik rolls his eyes.

I then suddenly recall. "What about back in school, when Viraj wanted to be my friend and you shooed him off?"

"He just wanted to get into your pants", Karthik says nastily. "And Reehaan uncle was pretty glad when he found out that I had threatened that little shit."

My ears grow hot at the memory. Viraj and I had just become friends during tenth grade and we started texting each other everyday. At first, it was normal, and then it started getting a little perverse. I had ignored them initially. Then when one fine day, he had been particularly lascivious and had actually asked me to send him a nude photo of me, I had had enough and showed the messages to Karthik. Karthik had gone into a fit of rage and had yelled at me for being so insanely dumb and keeping this from him. He had then proceeded to grab Viraj by the collar the next day and had threatened to have him thrown out of school if he so much even dared to glance at me. And it didn't help that dad had read my messages the same day and had cornered me when Karthik and I came home in the afternoon. Then Karthik had told him what had happened in school and dad was very pleased and proud of Karthik. Karthik was like a buffer. My parents loved him. They still do.

In fact, the only guy dad likes and trusts, is Karthik. In some ways, Karthik reminds me of dad. The only guy Karthik likes and trusts when it comes to me, is himself.

The arrogant jerk.

"Anyway", I wave my hand in dismissal. "That doesn't matter. Kyle is my friend and you don't have to like him. I don't care."

"But I do", Karthik persists.

I roll my eyes. "Stop being such a baby, Karthik. Do you want me to tell you the remaining story or not?"

"Yeah, yeah, go on."

"So I called up Mayur in the afternoon and told him that we should talk", I say. "So we spoke throughout the afternoon and evening and even through dinner. He was a perfect gentleman and I loved that part of him. I loved the conversations we had. I actually had a good time. We just talked- about various things. Well, he did most of the talking, and he seemed pretty excited to tell me things about his life so I listened. It was fun, until...."

"So I was thinking", Mayur says, after paying for the dinner, as we get up from the table.

"Yeah?" I say.

"Do you want to go for a swim with me?" He asks, slightly hesitant.

My eyes widen. "Now? It's almost eleven!"

He smiles. "Yeah, now. It'll be fun. Nobody's going to be there on the beach, and we'll be careful. We won't go deep into the water. I just want to lay there on the beach and continue talking with you. I'm having fun. I don't want to stop doing that."

Now how could I say no to that? So I nod my head meekly.

"Excellent!" He grins widely. "Why don't you head down to the beach and I'll be right back?" He bends down to kiss my cheek and I blush and nod my head.

I turn around to leave but he grabs my hand. "Aarohi?" He says.

"Yeah?" I ask, a little perplexed.

"Thank you", he smiles. "Thank you for giving us another chance. For letting me prove myself."

I smile in return. "You're welcome, Mayur."

"See you soon?"

"See you."

I walk down and wait for him, removing my flip flops. I dip my feet into the sea and look around calmly, taking in the cool breeze. It is actually pretty serene. I put my hands in the pockets of my capris and I find something hard in one of the pockets. I remove it and realise that it's the little chocolate that Kyle gave. Suddenly in mood for some chocolate myself, I put it inside my mouth as Mayur finally comes with two towels in his hand.

"Let me guess", Karthik says, a little sharply, his face slightly twisted.

"Yup", I nod my head. "It was marijuana."

By the time Mayur and I are in the water, me in my underwear and he in his, with our clothes on and sandals lying nearby, the marijuana had started to take a little effect.

Mayur is saying something and I am trying to make sense of his words, still aware of everything, but just processing stuff slowly. And then he leans forward and kisses me.

Karthik's eyes tighten so I don't elaborate the kiss.

I don't tell him how I responded, kissing him back, with my arms around Mayur's neck, as Mayur pulled me closer, his hands wandering and caressing my back, and without me realising it, he had taken off both my bra and underpants. And that's when my senses slowly kicked in, and I tried to make sense of myself. I stopped Mayur when his hands and lips went to places I wasn't ready, and he got annoyed, and left.

I don't tell Karthik any of this because, 1- it is highly embarrassing and uncomfortable and, 2- I didn't want to tell him that I was in the water, naked, as Mayur had actually, knowingly or unknowingly taken off with my underwear and I could hardly figure out what was happening until the effects of the drug started to wear off.

I didn't want to tell Karthik that I had panicked after my senses slowly started kicking in and that I had grabbed my towel, thanking heavens that it was still dark and had worn my clothes, and wrapped my towel around my torso.

I didn't want to tell Karthik that I might have had to do a walk of shame if the remainder of my clothes wouldn't have been there or if my senses had kicked in a little too late.

Most of all, I didn't want to tell Karthik, that I was naked in front of Mayur, although he couldn't really see me as most of my body was underwater, and we almost did things that we shouldn't have. Almost.

Karthik realises that I have paused and he asks, hesitantly, "Did you guys....?"

"No", I shake my head. "No we did not. We almost did." Karthik's jaw tightens and I tell him hurriedly, "I mean, he wanted to, but I wasn't ready. When I told him that, he got mad and he left. And I haven't heard from him since."

"So you went unintentionally skinny dipping while you were stoned?" Karthik asks, correctly interpreting my silence.

That's why this boy scares me. He knows me too well and I can hardly ever hide anything from him. Just like he could never hide anything from me.

I nod my head slowly and Karthik takes a deep breath. "Okay", he says, his expression stoic. "What happened then?"

"When I finally realised what was happening, I got out of the water, got dressed and went back to my hotel room. Mayur had already left. I was so tired, that I simply flung myself on the bed and slept off and woke up in the afternoon the next day, when somebody was banging the door of the room", I tell him.

"Let me guess", says Karthik, scathingly. "The hotel manager and one of the workers."

"Yeah", I sigh. "Apparently I was supposed to check out ten minutes ago and they tried calling me but nobody answered and they finally came up to the room. I told them I would be out in five minutes. I wore the first thing I could find, which explains the shorts I am wearing now, and washed my face and packed my bags and left. I had literally no place to go.

I called Mayur almost ten times but he did not pick up. I was really panicking because I didn't have money on me either. I had apparently spent all of my cash when I was drunk, by betting on something I don't even remember. I was crying and panicking when I finally called Roshni up and asked my friends to pick me up. Kyle was unfortunately in Bangalore, and when I had called him up he asked me to remain calm and contact my friends. I couldn't just call my parents and tell them what a fool I had been.

I didn't eat the whole day, since I had no money. But thankfully, I wasn't that hungry. I spent the night sleeping on a beach. I got pretty lucky because there was, thankfully, nobody on that beach. I curled up next to my bag and fell asleep and woke up to you calling me and telling me that you were near the beach I was on. I had given my location only to Roshni and the girls before sleeping so I was extremely befuddled especially after finding out that you were the one to pick me up and that you knew where I was. So I called my friends up and now, here we are", I finish lamely. "That's the whole story."

"That's a pretty wild story, especially for you", Karthik states and I nod, ashamed of what I had done.

How am I going to face my parents after this?

How am I going to face my family?

My friends?

What am I going to tell them?

How am I going to explain what I had done?

I wouldn't tell them anything ofcourse. They would go bat shit crazy. But there was no justification to my immature, reckless and irresponsible behaviour.

What am I going to do?

I look at Karthik to see him looking at me, slightly disappointed. I hate seeing him disappointed in me. I just hate it.

I have never felt so ashamed in my whole life.

"Are you mad at me?" I ask him, in a low voice, my head hanging down.

"No", he answers calmly. "Not mad. Just disappointed."

I sigh. "I know. I'm sorry. I was completely out of line the whole time."

"No", Karthik interrupts me. "That's not what I meant. I am just disappointed that you did not do all those things with me, under my care. Then I would have ensured that you were in safe hands the whole time. I'm just disappointed that you chose to believe that bastard, Mayur."

"What?" I ask, faintly.

"Look, you are young", Karthik explains. "This is the time to do all sorts of crazy stuff and I am glad that you had all kinds of new experiences, but Aarohi, I want you to have them under my protection. You were in a strange city, with strange people, alone at night, without food. You have no idea how unbelievably lucky you are. There were millions of things which could have gone south. You've had it really easy, and I am extremely glad that you are okay. I just wish that you would have been wild with me. I would have taken care of you."

I stare at him, breathless. I could hardly believe what he was saying.

"So you're not mad at me because I was wild?" I ask, stupidly.

He laughs. "Hell no. I'm actually a little proud of you that you were a wackjob version of yourself, and that you were able to handle yourself. Hell, I've done absolutely crazy and wild stuff before and the things you have done are nothing compared to mine." He grins widely and I laugh.

For some reason, I am very, very glad, that he was the one to come pick me up.

He looks at his watch. The sun has already set. "It's getting pretty late, we should probably get going. We'll rest today, and commence our return journey tomorrow morning, okay?"

I nod. "Okay. But where are we going to stay? I have no money-"

"You don't need no money, as long as you have me", he grins and winks at me, and I blush a little but laugh. "We'll stay in a motel, for tonight. I hope you don't mind." Karthik gets up and stretches and yawns.

"Ofcourse not", I shake my head and smile. My phone starts buzzing then.

Dad.

Fuck.

I bite my lip, worried. What am I going to say to him?

Karthik looks at me and sees the caller ID. He simply extends his palm and says, "Give me the phone. I'll talk to Reehaan uncle."

I look at him, hesitant.

"Trust me, Lizzie."

And I do. I give him the phone without another word.

"Hey Reehaan uncle", he answers and walks away from me.

I sit where I am, tapping my feet, solicitously. I always do that whenever I am extremely nervous.

What is Karthik saying?

Will my dad listen?

Is my mom talking as well?

What is going on?

After about twenty minutes of waiting and wondering, Karthik comes back, smiling slightly. I stand up immediately and he gives me my phone back.

"Don't worry", he laughs at the expression on my face. "Reehaan uncle has calmed down. You aren't completely off the hook but they understand what you did and why you did it. Not entirely, but mostly. Something along the lines of 'you are their daughter after all'", he shrugs. "I didn't tell Reehaan uncle whatever happened here, by the way. If you want to, you can. Radhika aunty has asked me to tell you to stick to me and do as I say, otherwise the consequences would be bad", he smirks slightly. "And I'm going to take full advantage of that."

I roll my eyes, but smile in relief. "What did you tell them?"

"That's for me and them to know, and you to never find out."

And I don't care. I don't care what Karthik has told my parents. I'm just so happy that they're okay.

So as Karthik hands me my phone, I fling my arms around him and hug him tightly. His hands immediately travel to my waist and he pulls me closer, hugging me back. I try to put all the unsaid words into my hug and I think he gets it, because he pulls back and kisses my forehead, making me feel warm, secure and comfortable.

But mostly, loved.

And that scares me a little.

"Thank you. Thank you so much for everything you've done, Karthik", I tell him and he pulls back and looks me straight into the eyes.

"You don't have to thank me. Ever", he says firmly and then hesitates. "I just... I want you to know how truly sorry I am, Lizzie. Extremely sorry for whatever I have done in the past. I know you might not be ready to accept my apology, but please know that I am very sorry. And I have been trying to be your friend ever since I behaved so stupidly. I really miss you. I'm so sor-"

I clap my hand on his mouth, shutting him off.

"It's okay, Karthik. We were both kids back then. And I know you have apologised to me countless times after that. I forgive you. Let's just forget what happened", I tell him, and I mean it.

I think it's time to let bygones be bygones.

He looks as if he can hardly believe what I am saying. "Really?" He breathes.

"Really", I smile and nod.

His face breaks into the most wonderful grin and it makes me want to laugh in happiness.

That idiot.

He hugs me tightly and jumps a little, still hugging me.

"Friends?" He asks.

"No", I say, and he pulls back, looking shattered.

"Best friends", I grin and he laughs and hugs me again, lifting me off my feet.

My best friend is back.