FF: Yeh Pyar Kya Hai?...CONT. Part 41-Pg 1 7/12/10

Part 40-

I sighed. Sharad's mom was always on my back, these days. She was back to her nosiness. And honestly, I don't know how I actually thought she was an alright woman. She was different with me, though. The real her was how she acted in front of Mr. Malhotra, quiet and weak. The whole strong and in control attitude was just an act. I release my doorknob, turning to face her.

"Yes?"

"If you don't mind, I need to go to a kitty party today. But there's nothing for dinner so do you think you could take care of it?"

Ugh. "Um, yeah, sure."

"So just follow the recipe I left on your bed."

"Oh, I didn't see it yet. I just came home." I bit my tongue after the last word. I wish I could have taken that back.

Her lips twitched. "Oh, where were you?"

"With Riya, shopping."

She eyed the bag in my hand. "What'd you get?"

You see what I mean? "Just two dresses."

"Can I see them?"

"Uh, sure. I'll show you inside." I know I should just stand up to her and tell her to get off my back. But there wasn't any point I only had to deal with this for a few more days.

We stepped in the room, she following right behind me. Our eyes went straight to the flowerbed on my bed. We both stopped. I looked at Sharad's mom who was already watching me. I knew why she was watching me, to see if my face gave anything away, to see if my explaination would match my expression. I kept a blank face, while my brain was racking for answers.

"Oh, what's this?"

"Um, I'" I saw a sudden movement from the crack of my closet. Sharad. I forced a smile, hoping my eye reflected it. "Woh, it's an inside joke between me and Sharad. Nothing serious." I glanced behind her shoulder at the closet. "You go, I'll show you the dresses later. I want to rest before I get dinner started." She looked at me, seriously before replying. Her eyes searched face-for the truth, probably. Maybe I wasn't such a good liar, but at least I hid the truth.

"Okay," she smiled, watching my face still.

As soon as she left, I stood in front of the closet my arms folded limply at my upper abdominals. "You can come out, now."

With a little banging and sliding, Sharad stumbled out of there. He looked up, grinning weakly. "So you like the'bed?" He attempted a chuckle, but it made an awkward sound.

"Sharad, I'm leaving in a few days. So I don't care. Even if I forgive you, I won't stay. Because I don't know why I'm here. Marriage, real or fake, true love or a compromise, is not for me."

"Fine, you can leave but I need to be forgiven. Truly forgiven. Because'" He paused. Then his lips parted as if they were going to continue but all that came out was a sigh.

"Well, I don't know yet. I'll let you know before I leave."

"Can I at least explain myself?"

I was about to refuse but decided otherwise. "If it'll make you stop annoying me, then yeah."

There. That was the last of my stuff to pack. I know I should at least tell Sharad's mom that I'm leaving but what am I supposed to say? I don't want to have any sort of confrontation with the woman as it is. I feel bad, I really do. But wouldn't you want to leave? I want a marriage not just a wedding. Actually, I'm not even sure if I want a marriage. I just don't think any of it is for me. Of course, I want someone to love and someone to love me. But…UGH. I'm so confused. I used to be so sure about what I wanted. And now…what's happening to me? It's probably just being here. Once I'm back home, I'll be back to myself.

I look at the clock. 1 more hour till the cab would be here. Just. One. More. Hour. Yes. Sharad still hasn't come to my room to say bye to me. He knows I'm leaving. Guess he doesn't care. All he really wanted was forgiveness. He hasn't even asked once for me to stay since I forgave him. Not even once. Not like I would stay anyway, but still, you know? Maybe I should say bye to him. Hmm.

I sit up on my bed, contemplating whether I should. No. Why should I? I'm the one leaving. But what if he didn't hear me right when I said the time? What if he's not even home? I should go check. Oh. My. Gosh. See what I meant? I'm so indecisive now! UGH. Maybe I'll just discreetly walk past his room. Yeah, that's what I'll do.

As if right on cue, Mrs. Malhotra calls my name. I quickly get up and walk to the door. I can't risk her coming into the room and seeing the suit cases. I open the door, and yell, "Coming!" I grab my dupatta and run down the steps. I look around for Mrs. Malhotra.

"We're in here," I hear Mrs. Malhotra say from the living room. We? I walk to the living room, a bit worried about why she's calling me. Sharad must be with her.

But I'm wrong. Well, I'm not. Sharad's here. Mrs. Malhotra's here. Mr. Malhotra's there. But they're not the only ones. My parents are here. And I swear, I have no idea what emotions are running through my right now.

"Divyanka," my mom says, as Papa and her walk up to me. The grins on their faces are so wide. I smile automatically seeing them, disregarding everything else running through my mind. I hug them both, tightly. It's been forever since I've seen them. Still hugging them, I glance over their shoulder and see everyone else's face. The Malhotra's are smiling at the reunion. Mr. Malhotra's smile seems genuine. Mrs. Malhotra's is surprisingly genuine looking too. And Sharad's? It's a sneaky little crooked smile. I should have known, he called my parents. I release my arms around my parents. They get a good look at me.

"We missed you, beta," Papa say,

"I missed you guys too," I say. "So much."

Mrs. Malhotra walks up to us, putting her hands on my mom's shoulders. "Arrey, of course. You all missed each other a lot. But, Madhvi Ji, we took good care of your daughter, huh?"

My mom laughs. "That is true. Thank you."

"No thank you's please. It's our pleasure to take care of your lovely daughter. Actually our lovely daughter. She's our's now too." Mr. Malhotra says.

My father nods, smiling. Sharad then speaks up, "Hey are you guys all going to talk standing up. Come on, sit down."

We all laugh and sit down. I look at the time. Around 30 minutes left till the cab. Crap. Crap. CRAP. "What a surprise, though," I say, "A very pleasant one. Whose idea was it?"

Papa was the first to speak. "Well, we were going to come in a few weeks anyway. Right in time for the engagement. But then Sharad called and told us he wanted to surprise you. He set everything up for us to come here. Thank him."

I knew it. I chuckled nervously. And forced a smile. "Sharad did?" I look at him, wishing I could kill him with my eyes. Sharad smiles at me, cheesing hard.

Mrs. Malhotra says, "Yes, he told me about it before he called Kamal Bhaisaab and Madhvi Ji. We called the train station immediately and booked a trip."

"It was a great idea," Mr. Malhotra says. "But you guys must be tired."

"Yeah," I agree immediately, "Why don't you guys go up and rest and we can catch up during…dinner?" I look at Sharad when I say this, and his eyes shoot up to me as soon as I say it. I turn my gaze to my parents. "Sound good?"

"Another great idea. Divyanka and I will take you up to your room."

As soon as I get back to my room, I go to my phone, dialing the local cab service's digits. I look at the clock with every ring. In 15 minutes, I would've been out of here. I hate Sharad. I cancel the cab. And throw my phone far away from me. I bury my face in my hands, aggravated.

"Want help unpacking?"

I look up from my hands and see him at my door. He's smiling that crooked smile again. I wish I could slap it off his face. I glare at him. He walks in closing the door behind him. "Do you?" He looks at the bed, seeing the two big suitcases. "Damn, you got a lot of clothes." He walks past me to the suitcases, his back facing me.

"Why, Sharad? Why'd you have to call my parents?" My voice is weary, too tired to even come off as mad.

He turns around. "Cause you were leaving."

"So?"

"So if I hadn't called them, you would've been gone."

"I repeat, sooooo?"

He opens his mouth, probably to give another annoying answer but he sighs instead. "Well, I don't want you to go."

I sigh too. "Why?" I really don't get why he'd want me to stay.

He looks down, standing behind the love seat across from me. He still doesn't look up. "Cause…I don't know.."

"Well, I can't wait for you to find out. I really needed to leave, Sharad. But now you trapped me. I can't break my parents' hearts like that. I was going to go to them and make some excuse. But I don't know what excuse to make now since they're here. I…don't want to marry you."

Sharad looks up, his facial expression is soft and almost helpless. He lowers his gaze again. "Sorry," he mumbles.

"What is sorry going to do, Sharad? I'm stuck. I don't know what to do."

I hear him take a deep breath. He looks up and sits on the love seat. He locks his eyes on mine. "I want you to stay because I'm selfish. Because I want my dad to see that there is stuff I don't screw up. Because I want to have a friend who knows me, like you do. I haven't ever had the guts to bring a girl home when my parents are home or awake. I hardly bring my guys over when my dad's home. They don't know how I feel about my dad. They don't know anything about my family life. And I don't know. I feel like you know so much about me. And I kinda like the feeling. And I want us to be friends. Real friends. And just give this thing a shot. I don't know if I'm even making sense. I just want you. As a friend."

It's hard to pay attention to what he just said with his eyes so intent on mine. They don't move even once. I find it hard to keep mine steady but I do. "How about what I want?"

Sharad finally releases his gaze. "Sorry, I'm selfish. And I'm sorry if it isn't a reason good enough for you to stay."

"Sharad, you've said all that so many times. And you break your promises. You sometimes don't control your actions. And you don't stick to what you say."

"Trust me this time, Divyanka. I've never been so sure about what I want."

"I really don't want to marry someone I don't love."

"Our wedding isn't in a while. Same with our engagement. We can just go with the flow. And see where our this time real friendship takes us."

I chuckle. "I'm never going to fall in love with you."

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that anyway. I would never fall in love with you either. No offense. But I mean, just in case we decide to marry because there's no one else better to marry. And we can do the original deal, an open marriage. But for now, let's go with the flow."

"Uhmm.."

Sharad smiles lightly, and speaks in a low tone. "Just go with the flow. What do you say? Do you want to?"

I bite my lip, unsure. And then let go and get up. I walk behind Sharad to my bed. I can hear him sigh, disappointed.

I turn around and he's looking at me. "Hey, aren't you going to help me unpack?" I smile and he smiles. And something feels right about the whole situation suddenly.

heyy Kalee! I just re read the entire fan fic, and fell in love with it all over again(: