Heya lovelies!! Here's the next update! Didn't wanna keep you away for long.

There's an author note at the end. Don't miss it out please.

Enjoy! ;)

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Shock was the only emotion that Neil could say he felt at Aarohi's statement. When she had explained to him how she had no will and wish to find happiness, he knew she had gone through some bad experience.

It had to be so.

Otherwise, there was no reason for her to suppress her emotions. Her family was supportive and she trusted him. It was quite obvious because if she didn't trust him, she wouldn't share a detail of her past that easily. What else could the reason be? Ironically, he wasn't willing to know the reason. God forbid, what it would be.

"Toyed with? Aarohi, do you mean what.." Neil asked, still not recovered from the shocking revelation. It felt terrible to even speak of something that she had to go through. It was almost suffocating to even think how she actually felt.

"Yes. No. Maybe? I have no answer. But one thing you should know is I was in a relationship which began healthy, or so I thought," Aarohi chuckled sardonically, looking at the ground, "but it was far away from that. I was too much into the shit that I didn't realise earlier. Par jab pta chala, it was too late." Her voice broke as she looked at him straight in the eye. Her smile, although pulled up till the corners of her face, was completely fake.

The pain her eyes conveyed was easy to decipher or she made it easy for him to see and notice it-he didn't know. He only knew, it wasn't a good feeling to see her pained and distraught.

"I-I don't even know how I could be foolish to not notice it, for God's sake." Aarohi cried out in exasperation, wringing her hands through her hair, threading the tendrils back into place with the breeze blowing around them. "He kept on being domineering and just kept fooling me and I didn't realise, how?"

Neil tightened his grip on her hands, and replied with a smile, "It's okay. It was meant to happen that way so that you could learn. Don't feel bad about it, Aarohi. There is no way you'd have done it had you known, right?"

"But," Aarohi tried arguing because she knew that what Neil said wasn't true. How could she let it go when it was a mistake that she had made which led to her losing her family, even if it was for sometime? She couldn't let it go. She had to remember the mistake that has always helped her stay watchful and mindful of her every action.

"No buts Aarohi. I know, it's tough. Life doesn't give you a bed of rose petals to walk on. There will be such occasional thorns that take time to heal but the scars always remind you; remind you of how strongly you bore that pain and that you have to be careful to not make the same mistake the next time." Neil chuckled, distractedly. Aarohi found that weird. His expressions spoke so much more than his words could but she knew it better than to accept his words.

"But those thorns are also a reminder of how you didn't pay enough attention to lose yourself in the softness of petals that you had to step on those thorns. Dhyaan rakho toh wo bhi nahi hota." Aarohi replied with a sardonic ferocity that involuntarily made Neil smile as he looked down to regain his composure.

'Nice! Ms. Cute can be Ms. Lioness too.' Neil chuckled softly at his thoughts. Composing himself after realising what he did, he cleared his throat, "So, this is why you were so against Bhai and Akshara's relationship, right?"

Aarohi looked at him startled at the change of topic but thought it was better to play along. Shrugging her shoulders, she answered, "I-I guess, it wasn't just that. I mean, I felt really bad because she did something that I did not know of. You know, we sisters, we were close like this since the beginning par in the middle, something happened after our parents left us and we both drifted apart." Aarohi took a deep breath, gathering her courage to continue her words.

"But then, after my relationship ended and I was difficult and," Aarohi hesitated, struggling to find the right word, "ugly to handle, she stood by me. An unspoken understanding enveloped us and we both pledged to be by the other's side always. Toh when Akshu just kept this from me, mujhe bahut zyada bura laga. Dude, I've always been there by her side. Itna toh woh mujhe trust kar sakti hai na? I'm sorry, I'm ranting by this point but please,"

Aarohi froze when she felt a warmth enveloping her. Just like the warmth that engulfs you when you step in a car after getting drenched in the rains and the warm air rushes past you and makes you feel warm, safe and cocooned from all the harshness and coldness of the world, leaving you easy, happy and content.

She felt the same happiness and contentment.

But the source was different.

It was not something that she had expected ever and felt that she wasn't entitled to it. And it was a hug that Neil gave her. The one that made her feel so warm and safe that she felt protected and vulnerable, rightfully so. His hands at her back made her feel like she could lull to sleep with the gentleness.

"Shh! Calm down. She trusts you and in fact I know you enough to understand that you need to calm down or this over-thinking will only give you head-ache." Neil whispered in her ears and the emotions that were overwhelming her, made her cry now.

The instant when her first tear dropped on his shoulder, he knew she was crying. It made him feel astonished to see her crying because his brother had many times shared about the hospital's physiotherapist who was a tough woman and how she never let anybody see if she was feeling vulnerable. And now when the same woman was crying in front of him, it only added to his non-existent ego.

It was pathetic of him but he felt nice because she was crying in front of him. It simply made him feel more inclined to just get closer to her. This joy that he felt was not a mere feeling of happiness. It gave him a sense of pride because Dr. Aarohi Goenka, the tough woman was now his to tend to.

"And besides, agar yeh kisi ko pata chala ki Dr. Aarohi has her tear glands functioning, kya pata unka heart hi function karna band ho jaye?" Neil gave a look of horror and Aarohi froze in his arms. She retreated to only give him a glare of disgust while he gave her a cheeky grin.

After trying unsuccessfully, Aarohi's lips twitched and she couldn't resist giggling, "Too bad of a joke Neil but I couldn't resist laughing."

Neil puffed his chest and stood straight and said, "Well, I know I am great. You can praise me directly." Giving a wink, he looked at her and the two burst into laughter.

"So, what do you want to do with this?" Neil asked after a moment, with his right thumb alternatingly pointing towards the two of them, his demeanour changing.

When Aarohi gave a look of confusion, Neil elaborated, "Um, I confessed that I want to date you but you didn't give me any answer. So, I am asking you again, what does the confession mean for what we share now? And mind you, if you deny, there will be severe consequences."

Aarohi gulped and asked, "Severe con-consequences?" Neil nodded. "What are they?"

"I see, you are more inclined towards denying, aren't you?" Neil nodded to himself and tilted his head to the right.

Aarohi froze. She couldn't deny the squeeze her heart felt as she looked at the pain and hurt in his eyes that accompanied his words.

Years of conditioning and self-loathing had made her brain to not agree or feel at ease with any approach. Maybe, it was her fault to have not been strong enough to let go of the past and feel shackled, even today. But it surely wasn't her fault to be careful, guarded from any alarming person or issue.

And Neil Birla was no less.

Her brain gave her sirens to be watchful because it knew what she didn't. It warned her of the inevitable consequence if she gave into his alluring charms.

She was doomed.

Her heart that needed and wanted tending wouldn't be able to resist him and if he left someday, she would have no source of survival.

It certainly is difficult to survive when at a young age, you lose the only two people who brought you into the world and made you taste its elixirs and poisons. It gets tough to understand what things are actually right and wrong because you lose the only source of guidance.

And likewise, Aarohi didn't know what to feel at that moment as even if her brain alarmed her, her heart tried pushing her into the abyss that she knew would never reach a shore.

She was confused because Neil's words with the look in his eyes, created a sense of panic in her as she felt the urge to take it away from him. On the contrary, the urge to not feel bad about taking a decision for herself overpowered her and so she replied, "Yes, but I want to know what you mean when you say there could be severe consequences."

Neil looked at her blankly and leaned towards her face, "Well, if you deny me, unlike anybody else, I'm still going to," continuing in a husky voice, he continued after looking at Aarohi, who was closing her eyes, "I'm still going to stay by your side and irritate you to no ends."

Biting his lips to control the laughter that was spurting out of his mouth at the struck look on Aarohi's face as she opened her eyes with a jerk, Neil stood there silently. But when the look of embarrassment in Aarohi's eyes shifted to the murderous glint, Neil knew, it was flight or fight mode alert and he chose flight because even in his wildest dreams, he could no more choose fight when it concerned Aarohi except when the fight was for her.

Because the world be damned but Neil Birla would readily fight for Aarohi Goenka. Always.

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Pari Sisodiya was a teenager when she had first met the best-friend duo of Nirvaan and Aarohi in her new high school. The three of them had just clicked when they were made to perform together.

There was no looking back after that but when she rarely did look back, Pari felt nostalgic and proud to have come such a long way. Sure, there were many ups and downs in the way but the journey was never a bore.

Love, laughter and joyful moments overpowered every tear that the three of them had ever let out.

But it changed when one day, in the darkest phase of her life, she left her home back in Chittorgarh and came to Udaipur, with just her degree of management and some other certificates that helped her secure this job in NeHi Enterprises.

Today, she had one more person whom she loved like her own.

Neil Birla.

The one angel who held the place akin to God for saving her life and bringing her back to life when she had almost forgotten how to. And she wanted him to find someone who loved him like he loved everybody who was dear to him.

"Toh, what happened later?"

She got interrupted in her thoughts when Nirvaan's voice reached her ears. After the tiring time she had in office, she called Nirvaan to take her to their favourite place.

They were now seated, with Pari in between Nirvaan's legs, near the lake that witnessed moments of lows in Pari's life and it was a special place to the two of them.

"Hmm. Nothing much. Neil just came in the cabin, looking livid and then he received some Ms. Cute's call and he went away talking to her." Pari answered his question as to why she had cut his call suddenly. Turning her face swiftly, she looked at his face and said, "The surprise is that the girl is Akshara too. Jo, Abhi bhaiya ki to-be wife hai, I mean. Strange set of coincidences, must say."

Nirvaan chuckled, "Maybe it's some sign for you to love her like you love our sweetheart, no?" Pari giggled and nodded.

"Vaise, what do you think about Neil's Ms. Cute? I don't know why, maybe I do but I am very curious to find out about her. Hai kon yeh jo Mr. Blue ko itni bhaa gayi?" Pari wondered out loud and Nirvaan frowned in confusion.

"Bhaa gayi? Do you think he likes her? You yourself are saying that she was Abhimanyu's girlfriend's sister then how and why would he like her?" Pari only looked at Nirvaan with a I'm-so-done-with-your-logicless-logics look.

"Silly Aan!" Pari clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Even a stranger can see that on his face, it's obvious that he likes this girl. His care and concern to not be stern and rude with her is easily noticeable."

Pari gestured with her hands to add effect to her words and continued, "I mean, in my years of working with him, I've never and I mean it, never seen him talk like that to a woman, except his mother."

"Oh, alright. Anyways, what are your thoughts about me?" Wiggling his eyebrows, Nirvaan questioned. When Pari only raised her eyebrow in question, he elaborated, with a look of mischief in his eyes, "My dear Pari, what do you think, how do I look at you?"

Pari only laughed and looked at him, "You look at me like I need to be sure that any alarming change in my heart beats is because of your presence. As if, my heart is to beat for you and our love is to keep moving outwards and spreading due to the ripples of the beats."

And truly, Nirvaan and Pari's love created ripples that reached nearby the lovebirds-in-making and helped them be sure of what their beating hearts wanted.

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So, how is it to get a surprise update in the same week? lol, consider it a priviledge please.

Theories are very much welcome about how this chapter made you feel and what do you think will now happen to Neil and Aarohi after she has brought her past to light?

A/N: I have begun a new journey of writing with Krishav and Kanchi who have met after 5 years of misunderstandings, longings and unrequited love. I invite you to join them as they find out what life has in store for them after hardships that they have endured. Will they confess? Will they find a companion in each other to share the ups and downs of life that are upcoming? Do check out 'Bid Thee Farewell' for that.

Till the next update,

Love love,
~Love Kaur