Thank you everyone! Here you go the next chapter...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By now Naira had already turned and was resting her head over his chest, while Kartik made sure her hands were in between the warmth of their bodies. He held her body close to his with one hand and was rubbing her shoulders over the coat with the other to make sure she was warm in that chilly wind.

In a daze, Naira questioned him "Mendak, why do you care for me so much?" Kartik was confused with her abrupt question. He found something was amiss. He gently held her by the nape and made her look at him. "Why do you ask that suddenly?" he asked curiously.

Still lost in her thoughts, she replied softly "Just felt like asking you again." He sighed and gestured her to rest her head above his chest again, to which she obliged happily. Kartik also wrapped both of his hands around her and took her in a tight warm hug.

"I care for you because you are my life, Sherni. Tell me, what will this Mendak do without his Sherni?! There would be no one with whom he can do his tar tar. He will be all sad and silent without her. Only this Sherni can handle her Mendak, right!" he simply stated the obvious.

"You see your Mendak is very smart. He doesn't want to live a boring life without his Sherni. That's why!" he told her in a teasing tone, but with a feeling that was genuine.

After a short pause, Kartik's tone turned serious as he reminded-asked her "You know how much I love you, right?!" She mumbled a slow "Hmm!" "Then never ask this question again, because you mean everything to me!" he told Naira while caressing her tresses with his one hand.

"And I know, you love me a lot too!" he declared cockily. "Yes, I do!" came her instant reply. "Yeah, yeah! I know you do, Sherni!" he teased her with a heartfelt smile.

"I really LOVE YOU, Mendak!" she told him in a serious tone, making him lose his grip on her. "What are you saying, Sherni? Pulling my leg again! Isn't it?" he blurted out being shocked and fearful about her revelation.

Now he was holding her by the shoulders and looking at her in the eye. "No, I am not! I LOVE YOU, Mendak! I really, really love you!" she professed again without breaking their eye contact.

Kartik took a deep breath to calm down his nerves and asked her, not trying to be paranoid "Look, I won't tease you again. I know you are trying to pull a prank on me. So, please stop this one for my sake!"

She spoke nothing and remained frozen on the spot! "Sherni, please speak! You are scaring me!" saying he shook her a little and tried to find any hint of mischievousness in her eyes. To his dismay, he found none!

Yet again, Naira didn't reply and kept staring at his face blankly. He looked scared! Really scared, as if he was a lost child in an unknown crowd. Clear worry lines were visible over his forehead. She came back to senses when he shook her again and almost yelled, "Naira, are you listening?"

Only evident hurt was visible on her face, listening "Naira" from his mouth. Realizing what he just said, Kartik asked in a composed tone "Sherni, you are joking right?!" "Tell me seriously! Please!" he prodded further.

This made Naira extremely angry. He thought her love for him was a joke. Why would she joke about her feelings for him? It made her all the more disappointed about the whole situation. Not being able to hold back anymore, she retorted, "Yes, I Love You! Why do you think it has to be a joke, Mendak?!"

"Because you can't! We can't! I can't...." he sounded all confused. "Stop talking in riddles and just speak up!" she said cutting him off with an annoyed and hurt look.

"Well then listen! I don't believe in love. You knew that already!" he said accusingly. "We are best friends and I love our friendship more than anything. Then, why is this LOVE coming in between us now? Why did you have to fall in love with me? Why?" "Because I had no control over it. You can't have control over your feelings, Mendak! You can't!" she uttered softly, almost on the verge of tears."

"But why us? Why it has to be you falling in love with me, knowing I can never love you back that way!" he spoke quizzically, as he ran his fingers through his hairs, all worked up.

There was a deadly silence before his mind came up with another question. "Wait a second! Since when...I mean since when did you develop this stupid feeling for me!" he asked almost angrily. A tear rolled down Naira's eyes, listening to his offending remark. She was hurt! She felt insulted!

From her silence, it didn't take him time to understand that she had been hiding about her feelings for quite a long time now. "Why didn't you tell me?" Kartik shouted in a furious tone, as he discovered this new piece of information. "Why didn't you tell me then? Maybe I could have helped. Maybe we could have stopped you from going that far!" he tried to reason with her in a desperate and dissatisfied tone.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Love is nothing, but utter...." "Enough! Enough is enough! You have already said a lot!" screamed Naira, as she cut him off in an infuriated tone.

"You think I am some kid that you telling me not to love you will stop my feelings for you? Or my love for you is so worthless that it will go away with a few mere words of yours? What do you really take me for, huh?" she charged him with no mercy.

"Yes, I already know you think love is stupid and you can never love me back, but please don't insult my love with your piercing words. Please don't, because it just bloody hurts!" she half yelled in her broken voice. "You have no idea, how painful it is to hear those words coming from the man you love with all your heart. You would never understand that feeling!" whispered Naira, the last sentence in a dejected tone, as her eyes brimmed with fresh tears.

There was silence for a minute before she continued "I was stupid enough to fall in love with you and even bigger stupid to tell you about my feelings." "I don't know why I just did!" she said with uncontrollable tears now.

That's it! All it needed for him to become tight-lipped was Naira's tears. He felt someone pricked his heart and twisted it very badly, as he witnessed her breaking apart right in front of him. He motioned to hold her by the shoulders and wipe her tears, but she moved back immediately. Next Kartik tried to take her in a hug, but Naira told him off meanly "Don't you dare touch me!"

He looked at her with equal fierce eyes now, in response to her cold behavior. Still, he couldn't ignore her moist eyes and dejected look. So he requested, "Please stop! I can't see you crying."

While requesting her, Kartik advanced forward, making Naira go backward. He realized that it was of no use and immediately backed off in surrender. "Ok! Promise, I won't do anything. I won't come close to you. You only stop crying. You know, I can't take it!" he told her in a pleading tone.

"Why do you care? Just stop with your pretense already!" she snapped at him, failing to comprehend what she was saying anymore.

"Pretense! My care for you is pretense now?" asked Kartik, astounded. "That's why! Exactly, for this reason, I can't deal with this stupid feeling of love. See it for yourself! Now it will break us apart and leave us nowhere!" he said furiously trying to prove his point.

"No! This love won't break us apart, but us! You and me, we are!" Naira spat back at him.

"Actually it is my fault! I should have never confessed because nothing will be the same anymore. You won't be able to accept me with my truth and I won't be able to live past this so-called STUPID feeling of mine. It is only MY FAULT." saying she tried to run, but he held her by the arm just on time.

"Where are you going?" Kartik asked her being totally pissed. "Please, let me go! I have to go home!" said Naira, feeling miserable and broken. "Sit in the car! I think you are forgetting we came together, and I won't let you go all by yourself. Definitely not at this hour of the night!" he told her in an assertive tone.

"I can't be with you right now!" she blurted out, not meeting him in the eye. He looked at her for a while, still keeping her hand in his clutch. Then he let go and held out his car keys for her. "Take the car. I am not coming with you." saying Kartik tried to hand her the keys.

Naira looked at him keenly. His eyes held immense care for her, but there was no regret for any of his words that he had hurled at her earlier. Instead, she found anger in them. "Keep them! I am going to take a taxi. And stop caring for me, because I may end up falling for you even more. I am sure you wouldn't want that!" she stated in a firm tone and walked passed Kartik, leaving him baffled.

That night, he followed her until she reached Singhania house safely. Both were broken inside. When his anger subsided, he reprimanded himself, realizing how badly he had treated her and how hurt she might have felt with his behavior.

How did he even go ahead and did this with his Sherni? He should have handled the matter carefully! The matter was sensitive and most importantly their friendship was at stake. He mentally cursed himself over and over again for messing up everything and most importantly hurting his Sherni so much!

Now he, Kartik Goenka didn't know how to fix it! But what he didn't realize, perhaps it was too late!