Parul slowly stood up on her feet and again and again splashed water on her face, trying to regain a hold on her emotions and urging her tears to roll back without trickling down. Then she went back to her class. During the next two classes, before school was over, Sarvesh noticed that Parul seemed lost in her thoughts, though she copied notes from the green board blindly but one could bet that she understood nothing of what was being taught in the class.

Managing to occupy a seat in the school bus, Sarvesh waited for Parul to take up the seat next to him. Parul slowly approached him and he let her plonk down on the window seat beside him.

Parul looked away from Sarvesh, outside the window.

"Parul did I do something wrong?" Sarvesh enquired curiously remarking her behaviour.

"No, Sarvesh why did you transfer to this school? You were in Donboxo right? " Parul probed him.

"Parul ...in Donboxo there was a group of bullies leaded by Devansh .... they were torturing a boy without any reason. I just couldn't stand back and watch him being treated that way. I ended beating up Devansh, badly injuring him, unable to keep my rage and fury under check," he concluded earnestly.

Parul couldn't deny the fact that Sarvesh's eyes told that he was not lying straight to her face. She continued to look into his russet brown eyes.

"What's wrong Parul? What are you keeping from me?" Sarvesh asked puzzled as she behaved like a completely different person, when they got down from the bus. She had been extremely quiet unlike the other days, when her constant cheerful blabbering relished his heart with joy and happiness.

On the other hand, Parul was determined to trust Sarvesh no matter what, refusing to give in to the warning given by Ayeshi. She was sure that Sarvesh told her all about his past without any hesitation - about his late step sister, his family and Ritvik uncle only because he trusted her and she could not let him down.

"Sarvesh...I always felt that a FATSO - a fat person like me did not deserve to be loved and treated with care and affection.

When the slight whispers of around fifty of my classmates reached my ears, that ... I am a Fatso, a hippo and that I should be ashamed of myself, even the screams of Bhaiya that I am adorable, beautiful and loveable was drowned by my inner voices which yelled that I am not slim, I am not beautiful and that I don't deserve to be loved.

I never liked the way I look, I couldn't face the mirror and have tortured Bhaiya with my tantrums - refusing to eat anything, hurling and throwing things, I...I have been so troublesome," Parul confessed.

"Parul you don't have to feel that way, you are beautiful and I love you," Sarvesh whispered.

"Then why do you have to keep punishing yourself for your sister's death Sarvesh?" Parul tried to reason with him.

"Parul it is not the same,"he started to say but she cut in sharply. " It is the same Sarvesh.

Don't let my voice drown which says you are not guilty. It was a mishap. It was an accident and... don't let your inner voices float on the surface which tells you that, you are a beast...a cruel monster..that you killed your own sister.

You are admirable Sarvesh, and I am sure that Shivani will always want you to be happy and move on with your life."

Sarvesh's heart was racing and he felt the beats like a sledgehammer. He embraced her graciously, squeezing her and mumbled, " Oh! God Parul...How blessed I am to have you in my life!

See I told you ....you have wisdom well beyond your age."

He had a lovely smile on his face and they started pacing in the direction of Parul's home.

Parul had been highly efficient, not mentioning Ayeshi or her warning even once before Sarvesh. She herself was at peace,with Sarvesh displaying such a warm and loving smile.

"Sarvesh, you can give me your notebooks and I will copy the rest of the notes for you," she said softly.

"Okay! " He replied brushing his left hand against her right hand and then held her little finger with his thumb gently.

She looked up at him with a crimson red face, and a cute little pout on her face.

On reaching her home, he opened the zip of his bag and took out three notebooks and handed them to her, saying, " Thank you Parul." She smiled back at him, receiving the notebooks.

**********************************

Bhawani had returned from school quiet and upset today. When she was asked for the reason, she brushed it aside saying that it was nothing.

Bhargavi was pissed off when she had repeated the question for the thirteenth time and got a vague reply from her sister. She began to tickle Bhawani so hard that made her roar into laughter and even beg for mercy.

"Gosh! Stop it Di..you are so cruel," she squealed but again started to laugh out loud unable to even complete a sentence.

"Di...in school there is a boy named Ishaan, his mother had been detected with Alzheimer's disease last year, she is not even able to recognize him due to her memory loss and now she has also been detected with Parkinson's disease.

His mother is his only family. His father passed away two years ago due to a cardiovascular disease.

Di...He was the only person who tried to help me when he saw Mayank troubling me. I had to persuade him to stay away from this, when Mayank started to threaten him furiously.

Life is so unfair Di. Why do only good people have to suffer so much?" Bhawani quizzed sardonically.

"He might be having a really hard time, having to cope up with his studies and look after his mother, plus he might be working on a part-time basis somewhere to provide for himself as well as his mother and... her medicines.

You can help him with his studies and sometimes help him look after his mother. I will be sending him some of my savings, if you can give me his bank account number and details.

See Bhawani...I don't like to think about the things that are beyond my control. I don't want to find answers to questions like why does he have to suffer so much at such an early age, rather I would like to focus on what I can do for him... to help him.

Bhawani you love him don't you?" Bhargavi asked curiously.

"No...no..Di what are you talking about? "Bhawani protested.

"It is quite ironic that you are facetiously saying something you don't mean.

You know Bhawani eyes are the windows to one's soul and your eyes are speaking much louder than your words," Bhargavi added sternly.

"If you want, I'll speak with Maa and you can visit his home once in a while and take care of his mother but the only condition I have is ....

Prabir will drop you off at his house and bring you back home. You are not going anywhere alone,"Bhargavi added strictly as Bhawani only nodded mutely.

*********************************

"Prabu... I did some research and found out that Sarvesh was right. He was declared not guilty by the court, considering his age and Shivani's death was an accident.

His step mother, used to treat him very badly after that incident but sometimes when her motherly instincts rose, she would treat him gently, untill one day when she tried to suffocate and kill him placing a pillow on his face.

His father, Mr. Ayush saved him and Sarvesh was sent to a hostel accommodation far away from his step mother, but there Sarvesh tried to escape twice and commit suicide once.

Mr. Ayush urged Mr. Ritvik to keep him safe in his care and raise him as his own child because he knew that Mr. Ritvik loved his mother, late Mrs. Suhani and it was her last wish that her child is taken care of in her absence, when she is gone.

His father still loves him and cares for him but doesn't admit it, as he feels that he is solely responsible for all the chaos in Sarvesh's life.

He calls up Mr. Ritvik in every two days and asks about Sarvesh and his whereabouts, but doesn't have the guts to face Sarvesh. He blames himself for having remarried Mrs. Chaitali after Mrs. Suhani's death.

I spoke to the lawyer, Mr. Ayush had hired for Sarvesh's case and got all this information from him,"Bhargavi told Prabir in one go without a single pause on the phone and then finally drew a long breath after concluding.

"Bhargu...I missed you badly today, the entire day went by after we returned from college and you neither texted me nor called me and where were you all this time? I was so worried,"Prabir said mournfully.

Bhargavi giggled a bit and then placed a kiss on the phone and said, " stop whining Prabu...I missed you too.

I was just too busy, I met with many people to gather evidence and information related to Dhruv's case and then I met with Sarvesh's lawyer.

Dhruv was imprisoned for beating up Mayank when he came to know, that Mayank had killed his father as he was drunk while driving at an extremely high speed. He was so enraged that he would have killed Mayank, had Mayank's mother not stepped in.

He had attempt to murder charges placed on him and was sentenced to jail for seven long years, and will finally be released day after tomorrow," Bhargavi sighed.

A/N: Hey everyone!!

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