good question
its not that benjis going away from sam and sam wud never leave his friends...its more of what kind of support / relationship u require from whom at waht time....
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when sam was running all over the college , he wasnt specifically interested in anyone except his basketball and his image, it suited both benji and him...life was only and mainly fun...
with all the seriousness of sheenas track, the jail time etc.,sam discovered someone whom he himself could count on, depend on relate to much better- mayank ...in all attempts to help maynak about nupur, sam found he understood himself better...with benji and even uday--they kind of treat him with a little bit of u r better than us feeling ...with mayank hes an equal...thats y even mayank cud become friends with sam
thats y that dialogue of i thought u guys were family from sam was directed at only gunjan and mayank
(by extension nupur) when hes upset that everyone knew about suhaani being his sister....the rest of the gang turned up after this dialogue
with some ppl u ve relationship out of necessity--lik benji with dia in initial episodes
with some uve relationships based on common interests--lik sam with adhiraaj/ mayank with cj/nupur and suhaani
some with common ppl- the whole gang bcoz of sam, hes the glue for them.....
with some , its bcoz of liking/appreciation---uday with sam and benji
with some, its based on long term association--sam with dia/ sam with benji
with some, its just instinct--sam and mayank...though they had competition between them since beginning, they ve always had mutual respect..
but yes they cud show little more of sam -benji too