
Absolute, complete filler that takes place right before Shilpa drops the bomb that she's Riddhima's step sister.
Bonus Track 5 - The Guessing Game
The next morning, almost everyone was on the dining table, with the exception of Shilpa and Karan who were sleeping off their jet lag, devouring breakfast. Surprisingly, Armaan was not there. Since they'd gotten to New York, Armaan had been there to greet them every morning with steaming breakfast to go with it. So, everyone was a little worried as to where he might be. Rahul had assured them all that it was nothing to worry about, that Armaan got lost in his own world at times, and that he would be here when he wanted to.
They were busy munching on their breakfast, enjoying it, when they heard Armaan shout, "JAANA!"
To everyone's surprise, it was Rahul who replied. "YES, BABY?" Not looking up from his plate.
"Jaana, tera fir se start ho gaya?" Armaan asked as he walked in to the house, looking miffed and walked to where Rahul was sitting. He brought his hand in front of Rahul's face, as if expecting him to put something there.
"I don't have change," Rahul replied, grinning cheekily. Saying so, he flicked Armaan's hand away.
Armaan made a face at him, and brought his hand out again.
"Bola na! I don't have change!" Rahul said again, flicking Armaan's hand away for the second time.
Having had enough, Armaan whacked Rahul's head and then put his hand forward again. Pouting, Rahul moved his plate aside to reveal a worn out leather journal. He gave it to Armaan, who immediately kept it in the pockets of his hoodie.
"It's not nice to take someone else's stuff without asking them first," he lectured, coming to sit beside Rahul on an empty chair.
Rahul shook his head and made a face. "It's not like it was useful! You haven't written anything new!" He whined.
Armaan laughed maniacally. "That's what you get for stealing it!" Saying so, he smacked a kiss to Rahul's cheek, before turning to fill his plate with food.
"Maani?" Tamanna asked hesitantly.
"Hmmm," Armaan acknowledged, still eating.
"You really haven't written anything? It's almost been a month since the last one!" She remarked. Armaan had never gone so long without writing a new song.
Armaan chuckled. Looking up at her, he said, "Kya yaar? Tum logon ko kya lagta hai? Bas aise hi ho jaata hai? Aankhein band ki aur jo mann mein aaya likh diya? Aisa nahi hota hai. I need inspiration. I need to feel."
"To feel karo na, baba!" Tamanna whined.
In that moment, Tamanna looked so much like Riddhima, Armaan was taken aback. The same expression, the same tone - it was uncanny.
"Tum bhi na, Ba -" Armaan started to say, but cut off abruptly, as he realized what he was about to say. "Tammy," he said after a brief pause, "I can't whip songs out of thin air, no matter what you believe. Upar se, with all the wedding prep, I've hardly had the time to sit down and write."
Tamanna pouted.
"Chal, chal. Don't make excuses. Tune socha, ab Jaanhavi will leave the house in a few days! Uske pehle toh there should be one new song!" Rahul demanded.
"Yes, Dada!" Jaanhavi chimed in. "One new song before I leave. Please," she begged, giving her the eyes.
Armaan sighed and looked up with an expression that screamed Why Me?! Before nodding. "Fine!" He agreed. "I'll try my best! One new song before the wedding."
"YAY!" Jannhavi and Tamanna screamed in unison, hugging each other tightly. Armaan and Rahul laughed at their cuteness. These two were just so adorable.
Riddhima looked at him, shocked. Was he about to say Riddhima instead of Tamanna? She'd heard it. Loud and clear. Ba. As in Basket. Is that why he was with Tamanna? Did she remind him of herself? Had he slipped before? She wanted to know. She hadn't taken interest in the past 7 years of Armaan's life because she thought it wasn't her business, but now, after this little interaction, she wanted to know. But, who would she ask?
Armaan? No way! She couldn't ask him. Rahul? Nah, he hadn't been forthcoming before and she doubted he'd say anything, especially to her. And definitely not after the last conversation they'd had. She'd been so rude to him! It was a wonder he was actually talking to her still. Tamanna? No way, no how. She would never ask Tamanna about Armaan. Jaanhavi? Maybe. But, it would be awkward. She didn't need to have a tense relationship with Rohan's fiancee. That's it! Rohan! She'd ask Rohan. He'd tell her, she was sure. She would just need to find a suitable time to ask him.
"Armaan, you write?" Abhi asked, surprised, bringing Riddhima out of her train of thought.
Armaan blushed and ducked his head. "Yes," he replied. "Just a little."
"A little?" Rahul scoffed. "Yeah, right."
Turning to Abhi, he said, "Don't believe him. Armaan writes a lot. In fact, he has a new song every other week. He's constantly writing new music."
"That's... That's great, Armaan!" Abhi congratulated him.
"Thanks, Abhi," Armaan replied, smiling at him.
"Hmmm," Nikita intervened. "Anything we might have heard?" She asked.
"Definitely," Armaan replied. "I'm sure you've heard my stuff." He was looking all kinds of smug.
"Are you sure?" Nikki asked. Armaan nodded enthusiastically.
"Care to share?" She questioned.
"Ummm," Armaan pretended to think. "How about you guess one and I'll tell you if I wrote it or not?"
"Really?" Nikki was shocked.
"Yes, really! You used to take pride in being my best friend na?" He asked. Nikki nodded. "Toh dekhte hai, how much you actually know your best friend."
"Not a bad idea, Armaan. I like it," Abhi announced. "Nikki always says that." Armaan and Abhi bumped fists while Nikki looked at them with her trademark puppy dog expression.
"Maani, tu apni best friend ke saath aisa karega?" She asked.
"Haan. Bilkul," Armaan replied without missing a beat.
"Let's make it more interesting," Rahul announced. "All of you guess. We'll see who guesses correctly first. Just one song."
"Oh, yes!" Jaanhavi cheered. "That's awesome, Rahul!"
"Hmmm. I know Armaan the best. So, obviously, my answer is gonna be correct," Nikki said smugly.
Atul cleared his throat. "Nikki, tu uski best friend hogi, but Armaan is my brother, of course my guess is gonna be correct."
"Oh, hello, Atul! Armaan is my brother also," Sid butted in. "And we toh used to live together. I know him best. Isliye correct guess mera hoga."
"Oyye, khottey!" Muskaan swatted Sid's arm. "Why will your guess be correct? Mine will be correct! After all, woh mera Hero hai."
"Muskaan! You're forgetting that I've known Armaan for longer. And I was his first friend in Sanjeevani. I know him best, so mera guess correct hoga," Anjali announced.
The five of them started bickering on the table while Abhi, Riddhima, Rahul & Riddhima looked at them affectionately. Seriously, even after so long, it seemed like some things never changed.
They waited for sometime, but the gang just kept on arguing about who would guess correctly. Fed up, Rahul screamed, "STOP IT!"
They stopped arguing immediately and looked at Rahul with wide eyes.
"Good, thank you!" He told them sarcastically. "The game is not to argue who is going to guess correctly, but to guess. And then we'll see. So, ready?"
Everybody nodded.
"Okay! Who should we start with?" Rahul wondered aloud.
"I'll start," Nikki declared. "Ummm, Story of My Life by One Direction." Nikki was absolutely sure that Armaan had written for 1D and that song seemed like a good choice.
"Hmmm. Not a bad choice. Let's move on. Abhi?" Rahul asked.
"Arre! But tell me if I guessed correctly?!" Nikki cried.
"Results at the end, Nikki. After everyone has guessed," Rahul supplied, not giving her room for argument. "So, Abhi?"
"I'm not playing," Abhi answered. "Sorry, Armaan, but I don't know you well enough," he said apologetically. Armaan smiled at him and patted his shoulder. "It's okay."
"Hmmm. So, then, Champ?" Rahul asked.
Atul thought for a while before saying, "Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran?"
"Not bad, again. Pretty calculated guesses, both of them," Rahul announced, like a game show host. "Anjy?"
"Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding," she answered confidently.
Armaan was surprised at her song choice. How did she guess that he had worked with Ellie? And on this song? He'd helped produce it, but hadn't written it, sadly. Atul and Nikki's had been calculated guesses. Atul had seen Ed's and his photograph in his room, so Atul knew that Armaan worked with him. And, being the romantic he was, Atul thought he'd written one of Ed's most romantic songs. Oh, how he wished he had! But, he hadn't. Sadly. And, Nikki. Well, she really did know him well. 1D. Of course she knew he'd work with them, even if the others hadn't seen the boy band's photo in his room, Armaan was sure that Nikki seen it. He was just surprised she hadn't questioned him about it yet.
"Sid?" Rahul asked, continuing.
"Uh... We Found Love by Rihanna?" He guessed. Armaan almost chuckled. That guess was so wrong. But, he could understand why Sid would think he'd write something like that, so he didn't say anything.
Rahul cleared his throat and asked with a thick voice, "Mus... Mus... Muskaan?" His voice broke and Armaan silently caught hold of his hand under the table, intertwining their fingers and giving his hand a firm squeeze of support. Rahul looked at him and smiled gratefully. Armaan returned it with a smile of his own.
Muskaan looked at Rahul with wide eyes, unable to say anything. This was the first time that Rahul had addressed her directly in all these days. Rahul stared at her right back, both of them unable to break their eye lock.
"Uhm," Armaan cleared his throat, bringing them back.
"Kyu Muski? Guess nahi karegi?" He asked.
"Ha... Haan, karungi na," Muskaan replied shakily. After a second, she added, "I Won't Give Up, Jason Mraz," she enunciated clearly. Rahul didn't know if she was guessing a song Armaan had written or promising him something. He desperately hoped it was the latter.
"Nice choice," Armaan commented. The looks between Rahul and Muskaan were not lost on him. He needed to do something about it. Quick.
"So, has everyone guessed?" Armaan asked, desperate to break the tension in the room.
"Arre, abhi kahaan?" Sid answered. "Riddhima is still remaining."
Armaan glared at Sid when he wasn't looking, but all of them turned to look at Riddhima expectantly.
She looked at Sid with wide eyes, trying to tell him that she didn't want to say anything, but he just smirked.
"Umm, I don't know," she said finally.
"Aise kaise? C'mon Ridzy. It's a game! Don't be such a spoilsport," Anjali whined as she winked at Sid secretively.
"Haan, Riddhima. Anjy is right. You have to guess," Sid seconded.
Soon, Jaanhavi joined the two of them, followed by a reluctant Muskaan and Atul.
"Okay, okay, okay!" Riddhima finally gave in.
"Yay!" The gang cheered. "Toh bolo!" Sid insisted.
Riddhima thought for a minute before looking Armaan straight in the eye. "One, Reve."
Armaan's breath caught in his throat at her answer. He looked at her and she stared back. And he knew she knew. She knew. That song was written by him, for her. A dream, a desire. He'd written it way back in 2012, when he was still so desperately in love with her and wanted to have her back, wished that the last 3 years of his life had just been a nightmare and nothing more. In a moment of desperation, he'd penned those lyrics down. But, he hadn't had the guts to actually sing that song then. He would've broken down sobbing in the middle of recording. So, he'd sat on it for almost 3 years before releasing the song in 2015.
Rahul noticed the look between them, flabbergasted. Riddhima still did know him better than anyone else. He'd never dreamt that any of them would be able to guess correctly. But she had.
"So? Did any of us guess correctly?" Nikki asked impatiently.
Armaan grinned at her. "Yes. Just one of you," he answered.
"I'm sure it was me," Nikki replied, grinning smugly.
"No! Me!" Sid glared at her.
"Sid! I'm your bhabhi. Don't glare at me," she rebuked.
"Bhabhi, you can't do this every time, okay?" Sid whined.
Nikki a flashed a smug smile his way. "Of course I can. And I will."
"You guys keep your household matters out of this. I've guessed correctly," Atul said.
"No! I have!" Anjali announced. And they started fighting again. Muskaan had seemingly lost all interest in the fight. She was busy thinking of ways to talk to Rahul. To ask him if he was ready to give them another chance.
"Guys, can we not do this again?" Armaan asked, exasperated.
Everyone looked at him and nodded.
"Thank you. So, the winner is... Drumroll please... Dr. Riddhima!" He announced, looking at her with a tentative smile on his face. He clapped his hands.
"Apparently, she does know me pretty well, despite what I thought," he said.
"Wow! That's great, Ridz!" Anjali smiled.
"Yes! That was awesome!" Sid crowed, pulling her into a side hug. "How did you guess?"
Riddhima shrugged her shoulders self deprecatingly.
"But, all of you were good! Great guesses. I've actually worked with all those artists at one point or the other. And, I've written other songs for them, just not the ones you guys guessed. So, kudos! You really do know me pretty well!" He said, smiling. He really was happy that his friends had understood him so much. He wasn't expecting that. Really.
"Yay!" Everyone cheered for themselves.
They spent the next hour, talking about more songs that Armaan had written and were surprised to find that he'd written very many popular and hit songs for very famous people. In addition to the ones they'd guessed, he'd worked with Maroon 5, Coldplay, Taylor Swift and many other big names. Also, a few of them they hadn't heard of like Dresses, The Early November, Kelvin Jones and others.
They were listening to his stories in awe, when Shilpa came down, a determined look on her face. She stopped in front of Armaan, and said five words that changed their lives forever. "I'm ready, Armaan. You're right."
xxx
This was actually supposed to be the original Track 25, but then I thought that this chapter was unnecessary and I only wrote it because I wanted a cliffie ending. :P
So, this became an outtake and the original chapter changed.
The song that Riddhima guessed - One, is actually an Ed Sheeran song from his album, Multiply.
Also, check out Love Beyond Words - a new AR fanfic that is an AU from the time Riddhima goes to Kasauli to bring Armaan back. :)
Another absolutely amazing one is Holding On & Letting Go by Sanju, but I suspect most of you already read it. :P
Bas, ab bata do, was this nice?
Edited by DMGThings - 7 years ago