Chapter 27
February 11, 2014. 11 pm. Agarwal House.
Kabir and Rachna arrive back at the Agarwal house after having a cute candlelight dinner to celebrate their new found relationship. As they walk into the house, hand-in-hand, Rachna bumps into a drunken Vihaan, causing her to lose balance and become separated from Kabir.
"Vihaan get off of me! And what's this? Are you drunk?"
In his drunken state, Vihaan hugs Rachna. "I love you Rachna. I really love you. Please don't leave me."
Rachna is shocked to hear Vihaan say this. Kabir becomes angry at seeing Vihaan hug Rachna this way. Kabir angrily removes Vihaan's arms from around Rachna and helps him to lie down on the couch in the living room. Vihaan is barely conscious since he has drunk so much alcohol. He passes out on the couch and continues to murmur in his sleep. "I love you Rachna...I love you Rachna."
Kabir is disgusted at Vihaan's behavior but he just holds Rachna's hand and they both walk upstairs to the guest room together, leaving Vihaan to spend the night on the couch.
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After they are inside the room, Kabir sees that Rachna is worried. He places his hand on her shoulder.
"Rachna. You okay?"
Rachna just hugs Kabir very tightly. "I don't love him anymore Kabir. I love you! I only love you!"
Kabir lovingly strokes Rachna's hair to comfort her. "It's okay Rachna. I trust you...I completely trust you. You don't have to worry."
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February 12, 2014. 8 am. Agarwal House.
The next morning Vihaan wakes up and is confused to find himself lying down on the couch. He has a huge headache and feels really hung over. He tries to remember what happened last night but all he can recall is hugging Rachna.
[Vihaan's Thoughts]
Oh sh*t! What have I done? Did I do something wrong with Rachna last night?
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Vihaan decides to go to Rachna and Kabir's room to apologize for last night. He knocks on the door a few times and Kabir opens the door a few moments later.
"Vihaan? You're here? What do you want?"
Vihaan peers into the room, trying to sneak a peek at Rachna. Kabir blocks his view of the room with his body.
"Voh, I'm sorry Kabir. I just wanted to apologize for last night. I was really drunk and I didn't know what I was doing."
"It's fine Vihaan. But I have a small tip for you. Don't drink so much if you can't handle it."
Kabir is about to close the door when Vihaan stops him.
"Your anger is completely justified Kabir. But please, can I just talk to Rachna once? I just want to apologize to her."
Rachna is listening to the entire conversation from inside the room and she calls out to Kabir.
"Kabir it's fine. Let Vihaan come inside."
Kabir reluctantly allows Vihaan to come inside the room. Vihaan goes towards Rachna.
"Rachna, I'm really sorry for last night. I was not in my senses. Please forgive me. I promise it won't happen again."
Rachna turns away from him. "Oh I can guarantee it won't happen again Vihaan. Because Kabir and I are leaving this house today."
Vihaan is shocked to hear Rachna say that. He grabs her hand and pleads with her not to leave because of him. "Rachna, please! Please don't leave the house just because of me. Bhai will feel really bad."
"Vihaan leave my hand!!" Rachna screams as she pulls her hand away from Vihaan with a jerk.
Vihaan backs away from Rachna. "I'm sorry...I'm really sorry."
Kabir stands next to Rachna and protectively puts his arm around her shoulder.
"You have apologized to Rachna so I think you can leave now Vihaan. The door is right over there."
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10 am.
Savitri, Mr. Agarwal, and Rajiv are sitting together in the living room when Kabir and Rachna walk down the stairs with their bags.
Rajiv: "Arre, where are you two going with your bags?"
"Bhaiyya please don't try to stop us. I can't stay in this house anymore."
The three Agarwal's are shocked to hear Rachna say that.
Savitri: "Rachna beta, what happened? Why are you leaving so suddenly? Did Vihaan do something?"
Rachna looks down and Rajiv understands that Vihaan must have done something. He tells the servant to go call Vihaan from his room. As Vihaan walks into the living room, Rajiv begins to yell at him.
"Vihaan, what is all this? I thought I explained everything to you yesterday. I told you not to bother Rachna while she is here. What did you do that she suddenly wants to leave now?"
Vihaan looks down and doesn't say anything.
Rachna sarcastically says. "Bhaiyya what's he going to say? It's his old habit to make a mistake and just not give any explanations. He did it two years ago when we broke up and he's doing the same thing now. But I don't care anymore...Kabir and I are leaving this house bhaiyya. Sorry to hurt you like this, but we have to go."
Rachna and Kabir both start to leave when Vihaan calls out after them.
"Rachna! Please, just listen to me once. I'm sorry! I'm sorry for everything that I did. Do you want to know why I didn't say anything that day?"
Rachna turns around to face Vihaan. "It's too late Vihaan. It's way too late. I have moved on now and I really don't even want to know why you left me. When you weren't able to say anything then, why are you trying to explain yourself now? It doesn't matter anymore."
"It does matter. I may not matter to you because you have moved on, but it matters to me because I'm still stuck in the same place. I still love you damn it! I really love you!"
Everyone in the room is shocked to hear Vihaan say that. Rachna walks up to Vihaan and slaps him really hard.
"How dare you? You left me so many years ago; without any excuse, without a reason, without any explanation. And now you have the audacity to say that you love me? Do you know what love even is?"
"Rachna, you have every right to be angry with me. I know I treated you very badly, but that doesn't mean I don't love you. Breaking up with you was something I had to do then...I had no other option."
"You had to? What kind of compulsion was it that you had to leave me without saying anything?"
Vihaan looks down, embarrassed with himself. But he takes a deep breath and reveals everything that happened with Natasha. Rajiv gets really angry and yells at Vihaan.
"All this happened and you didn't find it necessary to tell me Vihaan?!? What the hell is wrong with you? Do you even know how much you hurt everyone by doing this? If you had told Rachna the truth instead of just staying quiet, she would have been angry with you but eventually she may have understood that it was a mistake. She may have eventually forgiven you. But you just made everything so much worse...you hurt her so much more by staying quiet for all these years Vihaan. You..."
Rachna interrupts Rajiv. "Bhaiyya, please calm down. You'll fall sick."
Rachna stands in front of Vihaan with tears in her eyes. "You know what Vihaan? I really loved you. And I was heartbroken for the longest time after you dumped me. But now that I am hearing the actual truth, I can only say thank you. Thank you very much for breaking my heart. If you had not broken up with me then, then I would never have been able to discover what true love is today."
Rachna moves towards Kabir and gives him a side hug. Kabir smiles at her and puts his arm around Rachna's waist.
"Yes, I loved you Vihaan, but looking back at it now, I can see that it was more of an infatuation rather than love. So thank you Vihaan Agarwal for teaching me the value of love."
Saying all that, Rachna holds Kabir's hand and exits the Agarwal house, leaving all the pain and sadness behind her, looking forward to sharing her life with her true love, her best friend, her Kabir. ❤️
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