"You can't fight the tears that ain't coming

Or the moment of truth in your lies"

Iris, Ronan Keating

Dedicated to @omahazeeya for that wonderful comment in the last chapter:* I love your support, girl!

Neil's POV

Shantanu was staring at me.

Because we were late for check-in, we got seats a row apart, and thank god for that. Because he couldn't talk now, Tanu had been glaring at the back of my head relentlessly for the duration of the flight. Seeing how we were going to touch-down within the next half a minute, I knew that he was going to catch hold of me and subject me to the inquisition of a lifetime.

I sighed. Better now than in front of Dhati.

He caught hold of my jacket even before I had managed to get off the plane.

"You are a sick piece of shit" he hissed so loud that the old lady in front of me turned to give us an evil glare.

"Later" I muttered back.

"Does she have any idea of what you're doing?" Shantanu wrenched on my collar, his face uncomfortably close.

"She doesn't need to know!" I hissed back, pulling away from his grip forcibly, "And apart from the...obvious, they're nothing alike!"

"Oh, I bet-"

"NO" I turned and glared, "We are not having this conversation in a fucking plane, you hear me? I have to go the clinic Stacie wants me to go to, and give that goddamned DNA sample. I need this nightmare to END!"

He stared at me, possibly surprised at my outburst, but it didn't take him more than a minute to get back on track, a minute in which I exited the plane and rushed to the exit. We didn't have any checked-in luggage, and I had no inclination to dawdle and give Tanu time to catch up and castigate me.

Oh, I knew I was in deep shit. And I knew that I had a lecture coming. I deserved it. I was the pig he was accusing me to be, and more.

He caught hold of me just as I crossed over the threshold of the airport.

"I'm coming with you!" he hissed again.

"NO!" I grit my teeth.

"Oh, I'm coming alright, even if it's just to prove what a dickhead you're being!" he followed me doggedly, "You know what's gonna happen when Dhati finds out? It's gonna break her heart!"

"And that's why" I whipped around, pissed beyond my limit, "She. Is. Not. Going. To. Find. Out."

"She's coming to LA, for life, and she wouldn't find out?" Tanu was livid, "She told you everything! What's she gonna feel-"

I hailed a taxi and jumped in before he could edge in any more words.

"Go! Go! GO!" I roared at the poor driver, who, in shock, instead of speeding, turned to check if I was alright. That was all the time Tanu needed to push me aside and hop in next to me.

"What're you lookin' at? Go, go, GO!" he yelled.

The poor driver, possibly thinking us mad, sped away. I gave him the address of the clinic and sat back.

Tanu was sulking, which was brilliant for me. I sincerely could not take any more of his preaching.

"All this while..." he started, speaking in a low, murderous voice, just as I was thanking my luck that he had shut up, "She's going to think you care for her..."

"I do care for her" I growled back.

"Really now?" he eyed me with contempt.

"I...I really like her" I faltered, knowing that he was right within my heart of hearts.

"Because of who she is?" he continued.

"Yes...?" I couldn't even convince myself.

He didn't speak to me for the rest of the fifteen minute ride, choosing to sulk away. I closed my eyes. If Dhati ever met Stacie...it would be over for us.

I threw a twenty dollar bill into the front seat when we reached, instructing the cabbie to keep the change. I strode in, heart in mouth at the prospect of the test, and Tanu followed sullenly.

"Ms. Kepler?" I asked at the reception, referring to Stacie.

"Paternity test?" the receptionist confirmed. I nodded. "Right this way." She walked ahead as we both followed her down a short corridor, "Please wait inside, I'll send in Dr. Hayes immediately."

I took in a deep breath, and walked in. At one of the visitor's chairs sat Stacie, her back towards me. I stopped so suddenly that Tanu bumped into me. She heard the noise and turned.

A small smile lit up her face as she saw us and stood up.

"Neil, Shaan...it's been a while" she smiled at us.

"Hey, Stace" Tanu murmured.

I couldn't say anything, because I felt like the world's biggest phony right about now.

Because the woman who was smiling at me, save for her hazel eyes, could have passed as Dhati's younger sister with ease.

**

Arundhati's POV

I concentrated on breathing.

In.

Out

In

Out

In

Ou-

"Couldn't wait to run away and start your life with that Indian wimp of yours?" the voice hissed.

You're better than this, Dhati. You will handle this with maturity.

In

Out

In

Out

"Ever thought of what your son would feel?" the voice continued, closer to my ear now, "What the entire household would say?"

Come on, a little more.

In

Out

In

Out

"Ever cared for what I would feel to hear that you ran away with him?"

Maturity will have to wait.

I braced my shoulder and jabbed my right elbow backwards, hitting between the ribs, right above the solar plexus. A scream-worthy pain shot up my arm, but it did its job.

Winded, Michael let go of me.

I whirled around, clutching a bronze figurine off the mantelpiece, ready to do some serious damage if the need arose. He was on his knees, clutching his side. In time, he looked up, and in his eyes I saw a mixture of contempt and fear...and regret?

"Why. Can. You. Not. Leave. Me. ALONE?"

"I love you" he answered in a matter-of-fact tone, as if this was the simplest thing in the world.

I had cried nights for this man. I had cried nights because of this man. This time, I laughed. It bordered on hysteria, I fell onto the floor clutching my sides, and yet I laughed without pause, as if he had told me the world's funniest joke.

In fact, he had.

"He is on the rebound!" Michael snarled, "I had him checked out! He got this girl pregnant!"

I wiped away the tears from my eyes, jaw hurting from all that laughing.

"Get out." I said plainly, trying to control the laughter.

"I'm trying to SAVE YOU!" he yelled, getting on his feet. I reacted, jumping up with the figurine in hand.

"You don't have to" I cocked my head.

Is this what obsession was? Was this insanity?

"You're making a mistake" he advanced towards me, but I raised the figurine in warning. He eyed the figurine for a few moments before he focused on me again. "I love you, Hattie."

"Oh dear God, not this again!" I stepped back, "I'm getting tired of this drama, Michael! What part of Leave me alone didn't you understand?"

"I can't live without you." He stated.

Unwittingly, I sat down on an armchair close by, head in my hands. Again. He was back with the same argument again. It never changed - the plea, the reason, none of it. I love you, I care for you, I can't live without you. It was all the same.

"I don't want to call the cops" I looked at him in the eye, "You are in security, you know what breaking and entering means in terms of jail time."

"Hattie..." he tried to walk towards me again, but I raised my hand.

"You will leave, Michael." I was surprised at my own strong voice, "Move on, damn it! I have, you can too!"

"I DON'T WANT TO!"

"YOU DON'T REALLY HAVE MUCH OF A CHOICE!" I screamed, "WE'RE OVER, DAMN IT! I'M GETTING MARRIED IN FEBRUARY!"

Silence enveloped us as he stared blankly at me. He stepped back involuntarily, which is when my trance broke. I had lied to him, of course. Which meant that now I had to Neil about this incident, and I knew that he would be far from happy with this.

"Michael," I started, "If you want help, I can help you...I do have a good psychiatrist..."

Something shifted in his eyes, and he advanced towards me, contempt visible on his face. He caught hold of my arms, and no amount of figurine-waving made him step back. He leaned in till he was barely an inch away from me.

"I. AM. NOT. CRAZY" he roared into my ears. I cowered, partially deafened by the loudness, "IF YOU'RE AFTER THE MONEY-"

"I DON'T WANT YOUR MONEY!" I screamed back, "I NEVER DID!"

"Then what do you want form me?" his voice dropped, "What do you want me to give you? What will it take for you to forgive me?"

"Mickey...please" I pleaded, "You don't have to do this...I can help you...I can take care of George till you're fine..."

"YOU THINK I'M CRAZY?" He roared into my ears so loudly that I physically cowered, "Fine! I'm crazy, alright? I'm crazy for you! When will you understand that I. Don't. Want. To. Live. Without. You?"

"Mickey..." tears pricked my eyes, "Mickey you're hurting me..."

"And what about how much you hurt me?" he shook me hard once, so hard that I was sure I was going to fall down, "How about how much it hurt me that the first person you asked for when you woke up was Neil and not me? Huh? How about how much it hurt me when that fucking IDIOT thought he could taunt me in my own home? How about how much it hurt me when YOU RAN AWAY? How about how much it hurts me every time you ask me to GO AWAY?"

Adrenaline spiked at his words. If I was scared before, I was beyond angry now.

"OH?" my voice shook with venom, "You have the gall to talk about HURT? You? You have a fucking PhD in hurting people, you bastard! You...You want to talk about how much it hurt you? You want me to tell you how much you have hurt me?"

"Don't hash up our past again!" he warned.

"WE HAVE NOTHING BUT OUR PAST!" I screamed, "How about the time I caught you cheating on me? Huh? With a man, no less? Did you think of what it would do my emotional health? Social standing can go to hell, I don't give a fuck about it! But what of me, huh? You know what you did to me? You crushed my confidence so well that I had to go in for depression counselling! You think it didn't hurt me? Going in for counselling, having a psychiatrist evaluate me 'MENTALLY UNWELL'?"

"Again! Again with the same old-"

"Oh, I'm not done" I hissed into his face, "Three years of my relatives bitching about me! Three years of potential suitors calling me a damaged whore to my face!"

He had the decency to flinch hard at that.

"You scared away my next fiancé, a man who didn't mind me divorced!" I kept at it, "You want to know how much it hurt me when Seth said he can't be me with me because I'M NOT WORTH THE PAIN? YOU...You want to talk of hurt?"

"He DIDN'T DESERVE YOU!" he roared.

"And YOU DID?" I shrieked, tears blurring out his face to me, "After all you did to me, you think you deserve me?"

He continued to glare at me till I whimpered from the pain. He had gripped my arms so tightly that my palms were going numb. His eyes shifted to my arms, and he let go of me violently, as if proximity to me burnt him.

I wish it did.

Before I could gather myself, he caught hold my arm again and pushed up the sleeve. I heard a sharp intake of breath when he saw his red fingerprints marked on my arm.

It took him a few moments to meet my eye.

"You know a psychiatrist?" he whispered.

**

Hey reader!

Phew, the twists and turns continue! I'm glad to keep you all entertained:)

Till the next one, I rest,

Ellanie:)

PS, I have someone in mind who could probably play Neil...let me know on who you think it should be, and I'll let you know who's my choice in the next chapter!