*Flashback*

After I had reached home, I took a nap because I had the entire evening off until the guests came over. I woke up after two hours, refreshed. I decided to run and exercise for a bit to tone down my flabby tummy and then showered.

Finally, I dressed in a simple pink kurti top and some black leggings. After pulling my hair in a ponytail and doing some simple make-up, I came downstairs where Mom was setting the dishes out on the kitchen island.

"Oh good, you came. The guests are coming any minute." Mom said. I rolled up my sleeves and helped her set the table. The bell rang and I answered it only to see Ved, Virat, Ved's mom and dad at the doorstep.

"Ved?" I said, perplexed. Virat gave me a tight hug.

"Hey Virat!" I said, still confused.

"Wait, so you are Shilpa's daughter?" Ved's mom asked.

"Yes Aunty." I said, smiling.

"Amrita!" My mom said, wiping her hands on a dishtowel and hugging Ved's mom.

"Shilpa, it's been too long!" Mom said. She led Ved's mom and dad into the living room and soon my parents and his parents were chatting. Virat busied himself with one of my books when Ved winked at me.

"What?" I asked him.

"I told you it would be unexpected!" Ved said.

"It was unexpected enough." I said. Virat decided to read in my room when I showed Ved my rec room, aka the only place I spent more time in other than my room in the house.

"This is the one room Priyanka and I have our sleepovers. It was my brother's ro-" I stopped at the memory of Yash anna.

"You have a brother?" Ved asked me in disbelief. After noticing my expression, he put his hand on my shoulder. "It's ok if you don't want to tell me."

"Yash anna was my older brother. He wasn't like other brothers, who were loud and annoying or the too overprotective type. He was like my best friend and also a father at a same time. We spent all of our time in here, whether it was me trying to beat him in a video game or him having to sit through watching my Indian serials. I loved him more than anyone else in the world." I said, looking at Ved.

"Where is he now?"

"I would rather not talk about it." I said

"You can tell me whenever you feel like it." he said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Anyway, let's play some video games. I am so sure I will beat you in this one game I have." I said with a smirk.

"Who are you even talking to? I mastered Halo, Call of Duty and practically every new video game. But his face turned white once the game flashed on the screen.

"Super Babiez?" he said, his eyebrows furrowed. "You have got to be kidding me."

"I am most certainly not." I said.

"Please don't play with me Maya."

"But that's what we are here for, aren't we?" I said, teasingly.

"Maya, I can't play these kinds of stupid games." Ved said.

"Are you scared of losing Mr. I am the master of video games?" I said, picking up the controller. He gave me one good look in the eye, picked up the controller and spoke.

"You've got yourself a competitor." he said. We both began to review the game rules. We were both supposed to care for our own babies and the one with the most points won! We played the game and raced to change the diaper, virtually of course. We were so into the game that my mom and Ved's mom had to come and get us. They saw us playing Super Babiez and then began to tease us about it relentlessly.

"Shilpa, I think these people are not our kids." Ved's mom said.

"Mom! You made me lose the round! I was so close to taking out the last diaper!" Ved said, whining. I laughed at his silliness.

"Now come down for dinner." Mom said and we made our way down, Virat clinging to my side as he joined us.

"Oye, looks like you changed sides now." Ved said, ruffling Virat's hair lovingly.

"Maya akka is awesome anna. Maybe you should learn a thing or two from her." Virat said, sticking his tongue out.

I watched these two banter off as we walked downstairs. It would be awesome if Ved and I were always together like this. Best Friends and maybe even more.

*Present Day*

*Vikram, calm down! He didn't do anything." I tried reassuring a panicked Vikram after he found out that Aryan and Ved were there.

"Today, I am going to end him." Vikram said and cut the call.

"Vi-Vikram!" I yelled into the phone. I pulled on a cardigan over my gray pants and navy blue top and ran outside. But it was too late, he had driven off.

I called Priyanka in a panic. "Hey Maya." she said, muffled. I imagined her with a paintbrush on her mouth.

"Call Vikram! Now!" I said.

"Why, what happened?" she said clearly as the paintbrush must have fell from her mouth.

"Long story short, I had a confrontation at Paati's bhajan group with Aryan and Ved. Vikram is pissed and is probably heading to Aryan's house now! Stop him!" I yelled.

"Ok!" she said and cut the call in a panic. I just hoped Vikram wouldn't come home all beaten up. Five minutes later, Priyanka called me and I picked up instantly, imagining the worst possible situation. And it was pretty bad.

"Maya, he isn't picking up. I am worried." Priyanka said.

"Pri, you wanna come over for a sleepover? I could call over Vikram too until the sleep part." In normal times, we would have made a joke over this but now, the situation was serious."

"Mama and Papa are home for once Maya, I can't leave. I will try to sneak away whenever I can. Please manage him whenever he comes." Priyanka said and cut the call. I had to find out where Vikram was and what he was doing. I could only get help from one person.

"Paati please!" I said, kneeling down next to her rocking chair.

"Why would I call Aryan's mom?" Paati asked.

"Because I don't know where Vikram is and what he is doing! Please Paati!" I begged. She looked at me with a death glare and then picked up the phone, calling Aunty.

"Thank you!" I whispered. Aunty picked up and Paati exchanged a few pleasantries before getting to the point.

"So, what is your son doing?" she asked casually.

"He went out to the park to walk the dog but he should have returned by now." Aunty said. I texted Priyanka immediately.

*Vikram at Park. Possibly beating up Aryan*

My phone buzzed instantly.

*Will be there in an hour. Parents are starting to drift to bed.*

I waited in my room, looking outside by my window to see if he was home. A half hour later, his car pulled up. I ran outside and saw him, his knuckles bloodied and his face bruised and battered.

"Vikram! Are you crazy!" I said.

"He deserved it." Vikram said plainly.

"You can't go home like this. Your mother would get a heart attack." I said. I snuck him through the back door to avoid any questions. However, we did run into Paati and one look at Vikram was all it took.

"I will bring some turmeric milk." she said. I took him to my room and opened the first aid box. I dabbed the cotton pad dipped in anti-septic and pressed it on his busted knuckles.

"Owww! That hurts!" Vikram whined.

"Serves you right. You thought it would be simple like the movies?" I asked him, sitting on my bed.

"But I mean it Maya. He deserved it and I would beat him up a million times for you." Vikram said. I reached over and gave him a hug.

"Thank you for being there for me. You and Priyanka are my only support now." I said. My phone buzzed.

*Be there in five* Priyanka texted.

"You are going to have to deal with a very pissed off girlfriend." I said, with a smile.

"Uh...I might have ignored her calls." he said, sheepishly.

"Idiot! You could have at-least told her that you were ok or just could have picked up the damn pho- Oh no! I forgot to tell Mom and Dad that Priyanka is coming!" I said.

"No worries. Help me here." Priyanka said from the window. I pulled her up when Vikram looked at her, impressed.

"VIKRAM HARIKRISHNAN KUMAR! YOU ARE SO DEAD." Priyanka said, taking in his appearance.

"Calm down bab-"

"Don't babe me." Priyanka said.

As I saw the cute and clichéd scene unfold in front of me, my mind yet wandered into the throes of another flashback with Ved, from that night.

*Flashback*

After dinner finished and Ved and I were eating our delicious dessert, ice-cream and brownies, Ved turned to me.

"Don't cliché's annoy you?" he asked.

"Uh, I am actually a fan of cliché's but some of them certainly do annoy me." he said.

"Wait, don't tell me you are one of those people who love for the serial and Bollywood cliché's?" Ved asked.

"Hey, don't insult my serials and Bollywood. And yes, I like some clichés, the key word here is some. Not all." I replied.

"Name some annoying cliché's." he said.

"Love triangles, squares, pentagons...." I said.

"Girl's dupatta flying 50 meters in the air and magically on the hero's body or face for a slight breeze in the air." he said.

"Dream sequences annoy the hell outta me."

"The inbuilt tracker? Like the girl could sense the guy was there without seeing him."

"Billionaires in every corner, or a lower middle class to poor. It's either one extreme or the other."

"Memory loss. Just when the guy and girl are about to get together, the guy or girl gets memory loss and remembers everyone, except for her boyfriend or husband."

"God, we sure do hate cliché's" I said, laughing. But there was one cliché that I didn't mention and was my favorite cliché of all time even though it was so cheesy. I had always dreamed of the perfect moment where Ved would catch me in his arms when I tripped in the hallway. Cheesy, right?

Even after Ved left, I was still left in my fantasy. When would this happen to me? But I was still naïve then. I didn't know what he could and would do to me. If only I had known...

A/N: Hey Guys! Long time no update, how was the chapter?

1) Ved and Maya's cute banter at the dinner! Wasn't it adorable?

2) Vikram is literally #friend/boyfriend goals. Who would want a great friend like him?

Please keep voting and commenting!