The Distance Between Us - An AR FF (Link to TDBU#2 - Page 1) - Page 77

Originally posted by: RihooHaws

Usko bolke faida hogi tabhi toh bolenge ne
Deal katke bhaag gaye
Aur update toh baapre
Once in a centure bhi deti hai kiya

Hahahahaha. Baat toh sahi hai!

Previously On...

Armaan remembers the time he and Riddhima were planning Dr. Shubhankar & Dr. Keerti's wedding.

Enter - Shilpa & Karan.

Track 23 - A Sunday Kind Of Love, Etta James

The youngsters forgotten, Karan made his way to Shashank, who was looking at him wide eyed, unable to comprehend that he was standing right there, in front of him, in the flesh. After almost 20 years. 14 years gone by, without even a photograph.

Karan, though, still looked the same. Yes, he'd grown up to become a handsome man, but Shashank could still see the boyishness in his features. The twinkle in his eyes, the roundness of his chin, just like he'd had when he was 10. For a moment, all Shashank wanted was to hug him tight and then never let go, but he knew that the time to do that had long passed and he didn't have the right to do that anymore.

There was nothing Shashank regretted more than the way he'd treated Karan all those years ago, but then again, at the time, he'd been so overwrought with a myriad of emotions and things were just happening one after the other and he didn't know what was the right and what was wrong. No, that wasn't true. He knew what was right, but he'd been too much of a coward to choose the right path and had instead opted for the easy.

Smriti had been the one who was so much braver than he was. She'd tried to right the wrongs Shashank had committed so ago, her forgiveness apparently knowing no bounds as she tried to bring their entire family together, but she'd passed away before she could see her dream come to fruition.

After her death, Shashank had lost all hope of things getting better. And, the things he'd done after that, he would forever regret. But, there was nothing he could do now. He had to live with it. If there was a way to go back in time and undo all that he'd done, he would have, but the truth was there was no such thing as time travel and so he would forever be stuck in a storm of regret and guilt, not knowing how to make things right and knowing it was too late to do that anyway.

"Dr. Shashank Gupta?" Karan asked him, a small smile playing on his lips. Not knowing what else to do, Shashank nodded dumbly.

"I've heard a lot about you!" Karan said good naturedly. Offering his hand, he said, "I'm Karan. Karan Kapoor," emphasising on his surname.

Shashank still kept gaping, not saying a word, not moving his hand to take Karan's. He didn't know what to do, what to say, how to react. Rahul (Mehra) had informed him on the phone that Karan was still living in the same city, even if he didn't live with them anymore, intent on finding his independence, but that Shashank was sure to see him at the wedding because Karan was very fond of both Rohan and Jaanhavi. Knowing this, Shashank had tried to mentally prepare himself for this moment, but standing here, right now, he understood that no matter of preplanning would have been enough for him to feel confident in this situation.

"Shashank?" Padma, who was standing beside him, said. "Woh aapse haath milaane khada hai. Chaliye, haath aage badhaiye," she instructed.

She was so blissfully ignorant of this part of his life and Shashank didn't know how he would explain to her, the situation he was in. No one apart from Rahul, Juhi, Smriti, Smriti's mom & him knew the truth. And, that was the way it had been for the last almost 30 years. He didn't have the guts to tell Padma the truth, to come clean. He'd hidden all this from her for the decade they'd been married, when he should have told her about it before everything happened, but the truth was he'd been so aloof from it all, at times it felt like a nightmare that he'd seen in the dead of the night and forgotten come morning. He didn't think that this part of his life would come back to haunt him in the flesh, ever, even though the shadows of his guilt had scarred him irrevocably.

Shashank was still in a daze, but some part of him seemed to acknowledge his wife's words because he robotically took Karan's proffered hand. He shook it once then let it go as if Karan's skin was on fire.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Dr. Gupta," Karan said, still smiling, and Shashank was surprised to find that Karan seemed almost genuine. He'd thought that after everything, Karan would loathe him, hate him, despise him. But, he seemed really unaffected by it all.

Receiving no response, Karan turned to Padma and introduced himself, seeking her blessings, which surprised Padma, but nevertheless, she wished him all the best in his life. Karan smiled brilliantly at her and she couldn't help return his smile. He was such a nice kid, she thought. Something about him made her want to hug him tight, like a mother to her son, but she refrained herself from doing so because she didn't want to offend him. She made do with a ruffle to his hair, which made Karan grin.

Karan introduced himself to the rest of the people present, telling them about how he was good friends with the groom, having grown up with him and how he was extremely fond of the bride as well. It didn't take long for Karan to gel with the rest of the gang and entertain them with his stories. An adrenaline junkie and successful businessman, Karan had many stories to tell, and the others were all too happy to listen to him, to hear about his experiences of life.

As Karan talked, Shilpa looked at him with a dreamy smile on her lips. Gods, she was so in love with him! She thought. If only she could gain the courage to tell him, too. She didn't want to lose his friendship, which is why she had never tried to express her feelings to him, but she felt that the dynamic between the two of them had changed in the past few days. Ever since Karan had landed in Florida 4 days ago, intent on bringing her to New York for the wedding, Shilpa had noticed a change in his behaviour towards her. He'd been more attentive to her than he'd ever been before, he'd smiled a lot more and he'd found silly excuses to touch her, even if it was just a brush against her arm. Their conversations had suddenly turned deeper, more meaningful than the idle chatter they indulged in as friends. She didn't know what to make of it, but decided to go with the flow.

She knew that Karan wasn't keen on the idea of relationships - something that was deeply rooted in the kind of person he was, his mother's history making him hesitant to pursue any kind of romantic interlude with anyone. Shilpa understood where he was coming from, but she still wished for a more intimate relationship between them, deeper than that of friends, even if Karan wasn't ready to commit just yet. She was afraid to voice her opinions on the matter, scared that Karan might take away his friendship from her in the process, which is why she'd decided to keep her mouth shut about it. No one knew she loved him, apart from Armaan & Rahul, who seemed to have a sixth sense on finding out who liked who. Seriously, those boys were really good at this.

Everyone teased her and Karan, saying they should start dating already, and they always dismissed these comments, sticking to the "we're just good friends spiel everytime. Shilpa had it down to an art after all these years. But, Armaan and Rahul were the only ones who'd been able to see through the facade. They understood that she had feelings for Karan that went beyond friendship. When she'd first realized it, she herself had been taken aback by her thoughts, but Armaan & Rahul, who apparently had been able to figure her feelings out before she was able to do so herself, had helped her through it all. They'd been great friends and had supported her throughout. Just because they were aware of her feelings, they didn't try to force her into anything, or try to convince her about what they thought was the best course of action, but silently backed her up as she stumbled through her choices, always ready to pick her up again, should she fall.

However, over the past few months, Rahul had observed a change in Karan. He would grin stupidly whenever Shilpa's name was mentioned, he was constantly on the phone with her - talking or messaging, which while not something new, was different because the length of their conversations had increased, as had the number of texts they shared. He would always connect any random topic they talked about with Shilpa and he would always mention her name during various discussions.

All these things had led Rahul to the conclusion that slowly but surely, Karan was also starting to develop deeper feelings for Shilpa. When he'd shared his theory with Armaan, Armaan had started observing Karan more copiously and had the same conclusion. Since then, Armaan & Rahul's teasing had reached new peaks where Shilpa was concerned. Those two never left any opportunity pass to tease her about it.

She definitely didn't like this new rigorous regime of teasing that these two had adopted, but she let it slide, knowing that they didn't mean any harm, and also because they always stopped before things got too far. If, on the off chance they did, both Armaan & Rahul were quick to apologize, admitting their mistake. She really liked that about them.

And really, she didn't mind the teasing all that much, enjoyed and basked in it, really. But, her biggest fear was that someday, Karan would someday understand that Armaan & Rahul's teasing wasn't superficial, like the others, but that it meant something. And, if he did, things would surely get awkward. Coming back to the circle of where she was afraid to lose her friendship, she tried to avoid getting teased by them.

She'd already lost her first love, Armaan, because he hadn't reciprocated her feelings. She didn't have the strength to lose Karan, too, especially when her feelings for him were so much more than what they'd been for Armaan.

"Hey!" Armaan greeted, taking a seat beside her, bringing Shilpa out of her thoughts.

"Hey!" She replied, hugging him around his arm. "How are you? She asked.

"I'm great!" Armaan replied, smiling down at her.

"No, idiot. I meant, how are you?" She asked again, gesturing towards Sid & Riddhima, who were sat a few feet away, mesmerised by Karan's anecdote about the time he'd gone river rafting. Sid had an arm around Riddhima's shoulder and she was leaning into him, her head resting on his shoulder. The two of them looked absolutely at ease with each other, seemed to be enjoying each other's company.

Apart from Rahul, Shilpa had been the one who'd seen Armaan suffering the most because of Sid & Riddhima's union. She'd been there before, when Armaan was desperately, madly in love with her, when he was trying to hurt himself to feel pain worse than what Riddhima had caused him, when the news of Riddhima's wish to remarry Sid had caused him so much pain that he'd broken glass. She'd seen it all - his madness, his desperation, his loneliness and his love. She understood, better than anyone, the pain of losing someone you loved so much. She'd lost so many people - her mother, her father, then she'd lost Armaan also, even though he was never hers.

But, Armaan's pain had always pricked her and even when she'd left Mumbai and flown back to Florida, reluctantly, finally giving into her father's numerous phone calls and emails all of which were begging for forgiveness, she'd still worried about him. Try as she might, she wasn't able to forget the look in his intense eyes, dripping pain. Even after she'd moved on, a task that had taken a year in itself, she wasn't able to forget that look. So, she was extremely happy when Karan had introduced her to Armaan again, almost 5 years after she'd left Mumbai and she'd seen him happy. There had been a light in his eyes that Shilpa hadn't seen before, he was smiling and he was moving on.

Seeing him like that had made her extremely happy. In her eyes, if there was someone who deserved all the happiness in the world, it was Armaan. Armaan, who was always ready to help others, who was always there to solve their problems, who spread happiness everywhere he went, no matter how sad he himself was. Armaan, the best friend anyone could ask for. He'd been dealt with such shitty cards by fate, that it made Shilpa mad. Someone like Armaan should always have had all the happiness in the world as a result of good karma, but that hadn't been the case. His childhood hadn't been the easiest with his parents always fighting, his teen years spent in depression because of his aunt's death, his youth spoiled when Jaanhavi ran away and then everything lost when Riddhima married someone else. So much heartbreak and pain in one lifetime, and yet, when Shilpa had met him, he was happy. No, he was genuinely happy. And that stumped Shilpa, but also made her absolutely ecstatic that Armaan had found purpose in life, that he was no longer mourning the death of a love, love that Riddhima didn't deserve, in her opinion.

Yes, Riddhima was Shilpa's sister, and Shilpa adored her. But, there was no denying that she didn't deserve Armaan after all the pain she'd put him through. She'd seen how undecided Riddhima was, how she'd pull both Sid & Armaan towards herself, somehow giving them hope that she'd choose them, but then rebuke everything by being cold and rude. She understood that Riddhima was in a very vulnerable position and try as she might, she wasn't able to forget Armaan like she ought to have, but Shilpa believed that once Riddhima had taken the decision to stick by Sid, she should have tried harder to make things better for Armaan. She shouldn't have given him hope that things would change, she shouldn't have led him on and she definitely shouldn't have interfered in everything he did like a nosy girlfriend. But, she had. And for that, Shilpa disliked her. She could never hate Riddhima, she was her sister, but Shilpa couldn't help dislike Riddhima for the pain she'd caused Armaan.

Armaan smiled at Shilpa. She was such a good friend. "I'm fine." He said. Seeing the expression on her face, he added, "Really. I'm totally fine!"

"Are you sure?" Shilpa asked. Armaan nodded.

"Okay. I believe you. But, if you want to talk, I'm right here," she said.

Armaan smiled at her, touched by the genuine concern in her eyes. The eyes that reminded him so much of Riddhima, because they were both exactly the same.

"You're a good friend, Shilpa Malhotra," Armaan answered, hugging her tightly before letting go. "Thanks."

"Anytime," Shilpa said. "I'm here. And I mean it."

Armaan smiled at her and dropped a kiss to her forehead. "The same goes for you, you know?" He asked, pulling her into his side, an arm around her shoulder.

Shilpa smiled.

"No, seriously," Armaan continued. "I know that Rahul and I tease you a lot, and it does get out of hand at times, but we care for you, Shilpa. And, if there's anything you ever need, we're always here for you."

"I know," Shilpa answered. She smiled to herself as she heard Armaan refer to himself and Rahul as we. True, they were the perfect example of a partnership. For her, they'd always been one unit, ever since she'd met them a couple years ago. If someone didn't know any better, they'd mistake them for a couple. It had already happened several times. They'd always laugh it off, but Rahul didn't like it when people did so. His love for Armaan was familial, brotherly. And, when people tried to imply that they were in a relationship, Rahul felt that they didn't understand the true depth of their bond, because relationships came and went, but family was forever. Or so he said. Rahul really was overprotective when it came to Armaan.

"What are you guys talking about?" Rahul asked, taking a seat beside Armaan.

"Hmmm, nothing. Just chit chatting," Armaan replied. "Shilpa was just telling me how she had a naughty dream about Karan," he added, teasing.

"Armaan!" Shilpa smacked him, shouting loudly. "Stop it!"

Her shout garnered the attention of everyone in the room and they all turned to look at the trio.

"What happened, Shilpa?" Karan asked, his voice steely as he looked at Armaan. He knew of Armaan's unending propensity to tease Shilpa, even over the littlest of things.

"Nothing, Karan. We were just teasing Shilpa," Armaan replied noncommittally.

"I asked Shilpa, Armaan. Not you," he said, turning to Shilpa. In a considerably softer voice, he asked, "What happened?"

Shilpa blushed deeply and looked away. "No - no - nothing, Karan," she answered. "We were just playing around."

Karan looked dissatisfied with her explanation but let it go. Turning to Armaan, he said, "Stop making silly jokes all the time. There's no need to tease her so much!"

Armaan grinned before saying, "Aye, aye, Cap'n!"

The altercation forgotten, everyone got busy again.

"And you think he doesn't feel that way about you!" Armaan told Shilpa. "Really? Even after that?"

Shilpa had no reply for Armaan's question then, and was left thinking. Was it possible that Karan did reciprocate her feelings?

xxx

SOOO! I hope y'all liked this! i'm sure you've guessed who Karan is, so leave me comments so I know if you know. If you haven't figured it out, main nahi bantane wali, yeh bhi yaad rakhna. :P

And, this was not a cliffie, so yay!! :D

Waise, I upheld my end of the bargain, lekin Sanju ne sabke saath cheating ki hai and didn't upload the new FF like she promised she would, toh sab usko pareshaan karo!

I want a Sunday kind of love
A love to last past Saturday night
And I'd like to know
It's more than love at first sight
And I want a Sunday kind of love
Oh yeah, yeah

I want a, a love that's on the square
Can't seem to find somebody
Someone to care
And I'm on a lonely road
That leads to nowhere
I need a Sunday kind of love

I do my Sunday dreaming, oh yeah
And all my Sunday scheming
Every minute, every hour, every day
Oh, I'm hoping to discover
A certain kind of lover
Who will show me the way

And my arms need someone
Someone to enfold
To keep me warm when Mondays and Tuesdays grow cold
Love for all my life to have and to hold
Oh and I want a Sunday kind of love
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah

I don't want a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday
Or Thursday, Friday or Saturday
Oh nothing but Sunday, oh yeah
I want a Sunday Sunday
I want a Sunday kind of love, oh yeah
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday kind of love

- A Sunday Kind Of Love, Etta James

Arrey meri kitni buarai karte ho.

Originally posted by: Meraki.

Arrey meri kitnibuarai karte ho.

ek tohi am in a mobile crisis so mom sai reqesut kar-kar ke unka mobile hotspot on karwana padta hai.

Burai nahi ki, bhai. Bas tujhko yaad dila rahi thi that you promised!! Ab mujhe kya pata there ghar internet ka issue hai? :p

Anyway, I read the prologue!! It was so amaze, Sanju!! I loved it so, so, so much!! <3333

chapter 0 pura padh : http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=5003745&PID=147700735&#p147700735

Originally posted by: RihooHaws

Res

Raat koh unres karti hun
Too tired at the moment n today i m fasting too

Aaraam se karo.

Aur fast kyu kiya? Abhi health proper nahi haina?

Originally posted by: Meraki.

chapter 0 pura padh :http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=5003745&PID=147700735&#p147700735

chapter one updating in 2 hours.

Padha. Aur comment bhi kar diya. Sanju!!!! Baby, it's so good!!

Originally posted by: DMGThings

Aaraam se karo.

Aur fast kyu kiya? Abhi health proper nahi haina?