***Veer's POV.***

"You look dashing, son. What are you planning?" Dhruv Uncle asks with a frown as I wait for Piya.

"Partying?" I say, confused.

"With my daughter?" He asks.

"Yes?" I ask, confused again.

He narrows his eyes at me and I don't know what to make of it, but then Simi Aunty interrupts and says, "Drop her home before 12. Okay, Veer?"

"Yes, Mam." I say with a smile.

"I am here." We hear and turn to see Piya coming down the stairs.

When I see her, for a few seconds I feel like I am experiencing the punch that my Mexican trainer landed in my gut one time. She looks... stunning and not to mention way more than beautiful, she looks... I don't wanna even think about those words. But the truth is, she looks... hot.

I don't know what to make of that thought right now and I am feeling uncomfortable under someone's gaze. I smile at Uncle then look back at Piya, who looks a little conscious maybe because I am taking time to approach her.

"Aunty, we should leave now." I say.

"Okay, Veer. Take care." Aunty says, and I nod.

I walk towards Piya and ask, "Shall we?"

She nods and follows me as we leave her house. I open the car door for her and she gives me a small smile. After waving at her parents, we leave for the pub. Rihaan already texted me that everyone is already gathered and are waiting for us to arrive. So I text him back that we are on our way.

We stop at a signal and I look beside me at Piya, who is wringing her hands as she is looking out of the window.

"Is anything wrong?" I ask as soon as I start driving again.

She turns around and says, "No. Everything is fine."

"Any suggestions on where we should go for the trip?" I ask just to make her feel relaxed.

"Hmm... I don't know." She says.

"Come on. There must be somewhere you want to go on a weeklong trip." I ask.

"Well, there is one place." She says.

"Where?" I ask.

"It would sound stupid." She says shyly.

"That is for me to decide. Just tell me." I say.

"Fine. I wanted to go trekking with you guys in Manali and also I want to see Jammu & Kashmir." She says with a big smile.

"And how did you think that would sound stupid?" I ask.

"Because Rihaan and you have gone there with your friends." She says.

"That's not entirely true. We had gone to Manali but not with friends and definitely not for trekking. And we have only seen Vaishno Devi and Srinagar in Jammu & Kashmir. We have yet to see Leh Ladakh, which I am eager to visit." I say, and her smile gets even bigger.

"Really?" She asks.

"Yes." I say.

"Well, then we will talk with Rihaan and Subu and finalize everything." She says excitedly, and it makes me smile even more.

"We are here." I say as we come to a stop in front of a hotel.

After parking the car, I ask her to stay in and get out. Then I open the door for her and give her my hand. She tucks her hair nervously and takes my hand. I keep holding her hand unconsciously until we reach the entrance. When I had to give Id, then I realized it and left her be.

"Are you nervous?" I ask.

"Yes." She says as we walk down the stairs.

"About what?" I ask.

"I don't know." She says, shaking her head, making a few strands of her hair fall on my face.

"You still use that same shampoo, huh?" I ask.

"What?" Piya asks over the sound as she didn't hear that and thank God for that.

"Nothing." I say, as I don't want to sound creepy.

"Rihaan." Piya says, and I look in the direction to see him waving his hand.

"Where were you guys?" He asks as soon as we reach him.

"Traffic." I say, and he shakes his head.

"Come now. Let's meet up with others first, then we will have food and drinks." He says and takes Piya's hand.

I shake my head and follow them. Piya almost fell down because of Rihaan's dragging and I took her hand from him. I don't know why that stupid was grinning like a stupid man when I did so. But then she leaves my hand as soon as we reach our private booth.

"Veer!" Everyone shouts as soon as we enter and my four school friends stand up to meet me.

"It has been a while since I saw you, hunk of a man." Dev says and pats my back harshly.

"You are still the same. Taking your frustration out on me." I say and do the same. We were kind of fighting buddies in the school who loved taking out our frustration on each other.

"You both are weird." Om says with a frown.

"Not more than you, baby." Isha says, giving Om a cheek kiss, then comes towards me to give me a hug, "How are you, cutie-pie?"

"Shocked." I say.

"Why?" She asks, looking up at me.

"Baby?!" I ask with a frown.

"Yep. My baby." Isha says and clings to Om's arm again, "No correction. Babies. Three months along." She says, rubbing her belly.

"Oh, my!" Rihaan says, "This soon."

"Don't blame me if you all are slowpokes." She says with a giggle.

"No, idiot. Weren't you married only a month ago?" Dev asks with a frown.

"What did your parents say?" Rihaan asks with a mischievous glint, and I elbow him.

"For them it would be a premature baby. Don't tell anyone or you all are dead to me. Right, Om? We don't want our parents to know where we conceived this baby, do we now?" Isha asks with a glare.

"No, we don't." He says as he rubs his head, but smiles.

"Congratulations!" I say and give him a hug.

"Thank you." He says, "How are you doing?"

"Fine. But it looks like you are the same as ever. Crushing over hard on your wife." I say with a wink.

"At least I am upfront, unlike certain people." He says with a sarcastic smile, then looks behind me.

Before I can look back, I see Kanika sitting in the corner sipping at her drink. She isn't looking at me, but at Piya with a smirk on her face. But somehow I don't feel any ill will in her eyes. She gets up when she notices me looking at her and comes to greet me.

"Welcome back." She says and hugs me.

"Thank you. How are you doing?" I ask.

"Well enough to survive." She says with her cocky smile.

"You are still odd." I say with a smile.

"And you are still unaware." She says with her sarcastic smile.

Why is everyone giving me sarcastic smiles today?

"Piya. It has been a while. How are you?" Isha asks as she meets her.

"I am good. Congratulations!" Piya says.

"Thank you. By the way, you look like a hot babe. No, you are a hot, babe. Must be Subu's doing. She always tells me how you should dress like this so you can get what you want." Isha says.

"And what is that?" Rihaan asks.

"Men." She says.

"No, Isha." Kanika says and looks at Piya, who looks a little more awkward around her, "Not men. Just one man. That too, only if she has guts."

"Woah! Hot. But let's just skip this and get to these." Rihaan says and passes the drink which came to our booth.

"Rihaan..." Piya says.

"I know. I know. For you, I have non-alcoholic champagne." He says and gives her the glass.

"Thanks." She says with a grateful smile.

"Ready for the toast. This is for our friend who traveled the world and conquered it." Rihaan says.

"But not a woman." Dev scoffs and I see my friends trying to suppress their laughter, except for Rihaan.

"And for my baby." Isha chimes in.

"Yes, for you baby, for which you shouldn't even be drinking, Isha." Kanika says with a raised brow.

"What? Om is leaving for a month-long work thing and I need to cope with something. And don't worry, it is just one glass of wine which is allowed by my doctor." She says.

"Which being Om himself." Dev scoffs again and gets pushed harshly by Isha.

"And to the cute couple, Piya and Veer." Isha and I almost spit out my champagne.

"Good one." Dev says and chugs his drink down in one go.

I look at Piya to see her looking down. Before I can make out what she is thinking, she gets a call and excuses herself. Rihaan pushes me down to sit and hands me a beer bottle. I try to refuse but my friends force me to drink it so I give in.

"Piya can drop you. She is an excellent driver." Rihaan says and gives me another bottle of beer.

"Oh, it is my favorite song, Om. Let's go dance." Isha says excitedly while we look at her as if she has lost her mind, which always happens.

"No, Isha." Om says with a frown

"But I will be fine. Look, I wore shoes for this instead of heels. We will dance in a corner. Come. And you too Dev. Become my bodyguard." She says and drags both of them to the dance floor.

"Where is Piya?" I ask when she doesn't come back.

"She is still on the call." Rihaan says pointing at her just a few feet out of our booth, but then he gets up suddenly, "Must be Subu."

"I literally saw smoke when he ran." Kanika says, and I chuckle.

"How are you, Kanika? I heard you recently took over your mother's business." I say.

"Yep. It was inevitable. But then again, none of my siblings are as capable as me." She says with a smirk.

"My sister thinks the same too." I say as I remember Siya's exact words.

"Come on. You two are not like me. I am born to run this company unlike you wanderers."

There was no malice behind her words nor any insults. It was just inevitable. She is smart and always used to hang out with Dad and Dadu a lot in their office. Dadu openly supported to quench her curiosity and taught her everything he knew. While Dad has supported someone else as he thinks that person to be capable too.

Looks like Karan and Siya would never stop competing.

"Good for her. She knows what she wants, unlike certain people." Kanika says, and I frown.

"What do you mean? I know exactly what I want and went on to pursue it." I say.

"Really?!" She asks.

"Yeah." I say.

"Then why do I get the feeling there is one more thing or person you want but have yet to pursue?" She asks.

"Like whom are you talking about?" I ask as my eyes go to Piya, who is laughing with Rihaan as they talk with Subu.

"I didn't specifically say a person." Kanika says, and I look back at her in confusion.

"I still don't understand." I say and take a sip.

"I am talking about you being unconsciously in love with your best friend, Piya forever, Veer." Kanika says, and I almost choke on my drink.