KRISHA

"Listen to me, Karan!" I grabbed his hand while he was fuming with anger. Outside the green room, when everyone left without uttering a word or further questioning, Karan was still standing there. I went up to him but he began walking right away.

"What?... What shall I listen to you? You just made me look extra bad now. Are you satisfied or is there more of this to humiliate me?!" He asked, shoving my hand away.

"I was forced to reveal. You know that well!" The words in my mouth trembled and it was becoming more difficult for me to explain to him.

"So why didn't you tell your part of the story? Your bad deeds! You were so toxic even as a one-sided lover, why didn't you reveal that?" Which part of my story is he talking about? Is he still in his little shell? I have been over him since I joined this institute. And I was never toxic!

"Have you lost it, Karan? What are you even mumbling?" I shouted at him.

We then realized that we were already in the middle of the road. It was midnight and the weather was pretty chilly. The smoke from our mouths was mingling with each other. There was nothing on the road. Everything was a pin-drop silence. But it is better as long as we are not carrying on this frightful conversation in the institute. The drama that happened today was enough of a pain in our butts and there is no need for anything this extra.

"Krisha, just get lost!"

"I don't want to? In which part was I toxic? Let me know at least!" I say, staying stubborn and sturdy at my point.

"Why do you even want to get there? The chapter has been closed now. I don't want to make my brain run for this shit." He began walking again.

"Well, I opened it now! So tell me? Which part?"

"You blamed me right now because you thought I did it. Right? If anything bad happens to you, you will blame it on me, Right? You should have at least inquired first!"

"Well that's off-topic right now, but to answer you very honestly, wouldn't you have done the same thing? You would eventually think of your enemy first, would you not?" I say.

"Yeah,....but don't you know your enemy too well for this matter?" He looked at me for what my answer would be.

"Karan....I....I don't trust you anymore! How can I?"

"Then maybe I was wrong about you!" He kept on gazing at me with sad eyes.

How can I trust him after all these years and this kind of past? Most importantly, how did he think that I would trust him?

"The one who broke my trust is talking about knowing-well-stuffs now?!" I looked the other way.

"I didn't break your trust. We were kids, Krisha!"

"We were not!" I yelled.

"Stop yelling at me. This is the reason I call you toxic."

"Oh, shut up, Karan. You have always been immature! Naive! You don't care about commitment..." Tears started to trickle down unknowingly from my eyes.

"Don't you speak about commitment! I know it well and I'm doing it with Kritika. I don't need to explain it to you though." The fight began.

"Of course you are! But would you get married to her?!"

"For me, marriage ain't commitment!"

"That's a huge statement coming from your mouth, but also if I see it from the other side, you can say this!"

He was going to throw a fit but said, "You know what, Krisha, you just require the right person for commitment. And Kritika is that person for me."

"Coming back to the toxic part, you still haven't answered me! And I'm not letting you go until you do." I hopped in front of him when he turned around to walk away from me.

"You decided on your own to let our past be known to others without even waiting for me and I should let you know now about why you are toxic?! Huh!" He chuckled.

I frowned at him because I was seriously looking for a proper explanation.

"I opened the chapter, but you are insulting me again by saying that I was toxic. You are no better!" I retorted.

"There are many relationships, Krisha, that break off over some time. But you tend to take it seriously. You could have found another person in the meantime."

"Easy for you to say, because you were a changed person when you returned."

"Because of you my break up happened!" He yelled and yanked me near.

Wincing, I said, "You were double-dating me. That was wrong! That was wrong even for the girl you were dating at that time!"

"I never dated you, so no, I wasn't double-dating. You are again putting false allegations on me."

My wrist was hurting and I pushed him away on hearing his remark, making him stumble a bit.

"I agree that we never dated, but we confessed and said that we would be in a long-distance relationship. So technically we were dating. We were calling each other, sending romantic texts to each other, what was that for you then?!" I was losing my grip on me.

"Was I physically there?" He asked, This time his voice was soft but so intimidating.

"No, you weren't, but if nothing was there between us, you should have ended it right there and told me that you love someone else. That thing would have been right. Not you directly bringing a girl when we were dating, 'technically'."

"This is the part where you are toxic! Exactly my point! I needed my freedom at that time. But you, you didn't even let me have that, and chased me all the time." He said, shaking his head.

"If that was the case, you could have told me. If you needed freedom, you could have told me, Karan!" Another tear trickled my cheek.

"You know what, now that I think, I got mature earlier than you and moved on. However, you still need to get your head checked! You are so obsessed with everything that comes your way!" He said.

I was broken again hearing his words, seeing that he hadn't changed a bit, but I managed to speak further.

"I'll leave then, I got my answer! And thank you for today. You found the dress-culprit." I said, wiping my tears off.

"Wait! I'm sorry if you felt that I ruined your dress. And I know that you know this too that I won't ever do this kind of thing, then why don't you admit it?" He stopped me.

My lips tremble and one more tear trickles down my red cheeks as I say "I admit it now, I didn't think that you would do something like that, but my impulses....it is a bother!"

He stares at me as he sees me completely broken down in front of him. I was turning pale as I spoke further with quivering lips, "But do you also really think that I was toxic? Do you really think that I was the only one that was wrong at that time? And you did nothing?"

He looked the other way and bit his lips right after running his hands to his hair. I Feel like it's heavy on him too!

"No, not completely!" He says, hesitantly.

"So you admit that you were wrong too. Just your ego wouldn't let you do it! Because I was wrong to wait for you, to hold on to it?"

I can see the white of his eyes suddenly turning red.

He nodded, "I admit! We both were immature, we both were naïve, okay?! And we can't do anything about it!"

I nodded too, "I should have let you have your freedom. Right?" I say looking at him with teary eyes.

"And I should have let you know at least as a friend!" He said, meeting my eyes.

"We both were negligible towards each other's thought process, I think." He said.

"And maybe we both have our egos. We should have let each other breathe. So there's nothing more to talk about!... Yeah, this conversation ends here then." I folded my hands in a square.

"Then why were we fighting all these times? It should surely end here! Let's go our own way."

"But our egos won't let it settle ever," I say.

"I'm not going to settle it either! Once you are my enemy, forever you will be."

"Yes, same for me, because we have already ruined many things for each other that can't be fixed."

He agreed and I gave a nod, smirking at him, and then we began walking out separate ways, thinking that the day after would be the days same as other days for us. And this will never end!

KARAN

There was a group of four people coming our way from a little far distance. We both didn't walk that fast and met them as they walked fast. The cold weather and heavy hearts stopped us from moving that fast, eventually making every bond in our bodies freeze. I thought they were some bunch of travelers, but they were a group of youngsters who were our fans.

"KarSha!" They exclaimed. We both stopped at them.

"Hey, pal, we didn't think that we would meet them at this hour! Such a good night!" One of them said.

"Are y'all shooting?" The other asked.

"No, we were just walking!...." I looked at Krisha to help me answer them, but she looked like she was still frozen from our fight.

"Y'all, walking together?" Another person asked.

"It's none of our business, sorry on his behalf." The first person said, pinching the other's arm.

"It's okay, we just happened to cross paths. We come for a stroll here every night, separately. Many people from our institute do!..." Krisha finally spoke.

"Ah, Krisha, it's fine, sorry to bother y'all at this hour, but we have been your fans since the beginning." They said.

"Thank you." We both said in unison and then immediately glanced at each other.

"Now that you both are already here at this hour, would y'all mind if we ask for a favour?"

"No! Do y'all want selfies?" I asked them.

"No, actually we have a Dhaba (eatry) from a little distance here. We would be so happy if y'all could come and enjoy the night there. The food is good and there is a music festival tonight! Please so if y'all..."

I peek at Krisha, side eyes, and she gives a nod for a yes. I wouldn't mind too as for fans like these we both would do anything. Plus, they were persistent and seemed like good people, and to add on to that, we both needed some drinks and good food and a little relaxation from what was on our minds already!

I nod at them and see them jump in joy. They hold our hands and walk with us like we are one of them. Hey, heart, it's so difficult! It's times like these, when we both can't deny but to get together!

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