Background: Abir Mishti are discussing about Kuhu's romantic self and her day dreams about her prince charming and how Kunal isnt someone like that. Kunal happens to overhear a part of the conversation and gets mad at Kuhu for that. Kuhu feels mishti again interfered despite being asked not to and and goes to fight with her. Mishti gets shocked on the accusation and tells her whether she believes her or not, she hasnt spoken to kunal about it and walks away. Abir having heard the argument between the sisters decides to step up and goes to Kuhu and Kunal's room.Abir: "Are you guys busy?"
Kuhu looking towards Abir, nods in denial and asks him to come inside the room. Abir breathes heavily and questions Kunal, "Nanko, did Mishti come and talk to you about anything?"
Kuhu realizes where the conversation is going and tries to lighten the moment: "Bro, let it go. Its between us sisters. #Letitgo #youdontneedtoworry"
Abir stresses and says "#ineedto. It's high time now. I have always maintained my distance when it comes to you and Mishti and your guys relationship. Mishti has always asked me to stay away from it and hence I always did. I have never let it come in between us and our friendship. But after what I heard today and what I have been noticing, I think there are couple of things that should be addressed. Atleast for my peace. So Nanko, did Mishti say anything to you specifically?"
Kunal feeling little embarrassed and denies. Kuhu is surprised and looks towards Abir with shock,
Abir continues, "Exactly! Mishti didnt say anything to you. So how do you know what she said?"
Kunal gets little annoyed and said "Bhai, i heard you both talk. Mishti only said how Kuhu always wanted a romantic guy and I am not like that"
Abir gets mad and says "And that is all you heard. It was a conversation that I was having with Mishti. And do you know what she said after? She was asking me to stay out it. She knows what lengths i can go for you Nanko as I did things for you during hers and yours courtship. All she did was to ask me to not interfere in this and let you and Kuhu figure your life out in the second chance you both decided to have. She didnt want mine or anyone else's interference to create any more issues. So she was just explaining me that."
Kuhu looks towards Kunal in disbelief and closes her eyes with guilt. "I am sorry big bro. I didnt"
Abir interrupts Kuhu and says "You know kuhu who you really need to say sorry to." Stressing on it. "I know Kuhu that you also know Mishti has never meant anything bad for you. She will never intentionally try to hurt you or anyone for that matter. You dont want to admit it fine. Maybe you just care for me and out of that you are keeping your peace with her. Fine appreciate that too. You do know she cares for you somewhere but like Kunal, your ego also doesnt let you admit to that. Fine. But stop finding reasons to fight with her. She doesnt want to fight you. But you keep fighting her. Maybe blaming her is probably helping you, but it sure isnt helping her."
Abir than looks towards Kunal and says "And nanko, for the last time, stop hearing half things and stop manipulating them like ma and definitely stop playing the victim card. Everyone now knows you are the last person to be called a victim. Baba was wrong about a lot of things but one thing he was definitely right. You are exactly like mom. Get out of that before its way too late for you to have anyone by your side" And Abir storms out of the room.
Abir enters his own room and finds Mishti standing by the window, lost in her own thoughts. He sighs, walks towards her and takes her into his warm back hug and kisses her ear. Mishti smiles lightly on his hold, tightens his grip, and rests her back on his chest. Abir asks Mishti if she was ok. Mishti nods in agreement and asks him where he was all this while.
Abir with a little guilt says, "I know Mishti you had asked me to stay out of it but I couldnt help today. I saw Kuhu getting mad at you and I didnt like the way she said things to you so I just went to her to clear things out."
Mishti sighs in disbelief and says "Abir, you know you shouldnt have. These things keep happening between me and Kuhu. Its normal. I am use to it. You should have just ignored it like I do all the time."
"Mishti, there was no way I could have ignored it today. You werent even at fault" said Abir with alerting tone. "But Abir"
"No if's or buts Mishti" interrupts Abir and hugs her tight. Mishti gives in the argument and just enjoy being in his embrace. Abir then turns Mishti around and asks her if she is interested in going for a quick walk with him to which Mishti happily nods.
While walking in their garden, hand in hand, Abir looks towards Mishti and asks "Mishti, you and Kuhu have been staying together for so many years? Why do you guys have so much hate and misunderstanding between you guys?"
Mishti smiles at the question, looks down and says "Before even I answer that question, do you know Abir, there was a time me and her were best friends? Like our jodi was unbreakable. We were really tight. Our elders sometimes would really had to force us apart"
Abir was shocked hearing that and asks "Really? When was that? How? what happened than? Why are you guys like this now" Abir continuously asks them without stopping. Mishti turns towards him, puts her finger on his lips and says "How am I going to answer your questions if you dont stop asking them?" Abir nods in agreement.
"To answer all your questions, I will have to start from the very start"
"What do you mean from the very start" asked Abir.
"I mean from my time in the singhania family" Abir was little concerned and shocked. He knew Mishti never spoke about them. The only two people she really cared to talk about was her cousin Naira and her BF Kartik. Rest for everyone else, she would never open up. He asks her if she is comfortable to talk about them to which she responds and says "Who else will I even talk about this to? You are the only one I have, dont I? And I think I am ready to share that part of my life with you. I know you never asked or forced me but you were curious. You were just waiting for me to be comfortable about it. I think we both have shared so much, seen things together so much that its only fair I dont hide this part of my life from you."
Abir feels happy that Mishti was finally ready to talk about her family but still holds her by her shoulder to reaffirm that. He makes her sit on the bench and puts his hand around her shoulder. Mishti sits comfortably, looks towards Abir. Abir gives one final look to Mishti to reconfirm again that she is ok to which Mishti nods in approval and starts talking,
"Singhania house! The place where I was born and where I spent my 14 years of life. I was the youngest member of the family. I was literally a princess Abir. And a pretty naughty one too. There wasnt a day I wouldnt get into any trouble with my parents. I would have done some or the other mischief but I had other family members who would always come to my defense and save me from my parents wrath. Especially my Taiji and Naira di. They were my favorites. If there was a day I would be upset, the whole house would make efforts to cheer me up. I had my best brithdays there. I had everyone to celebrate. I had everyone to pamper me. I was close to everyone. Especially my cousins. Naira di, Naksh Bhaiyu, Ananya di, Gayu di, Yash bhaiya, Anmol bhaiya, Nannu... everyone" Mishti was smiling, with tears slowly starting to flow down her cheeks. Abir was slowly caressing her hands and feeling her pain. He hadnt realize but her tears were flowing through his eyes too. " And than came Kuhu in our lives. Me and her were almost the same age. So we both connected instantly and became best of friends. We would make different plans, pranks and what not. I had so many people who loved me, cared for me, understand me, fight for me. You know Abir, something had happened with my dad. I think he was arrested and my mom wanted to send me to boarding school. I dont know why. Maybe because she was ashamed of what dad did and she didnt want me to face any such humiliation. But my taiji didnt let my mom do that. She fought with my mom, everyone fought with my mom and they made sure I stayed with them." Mishti again smiling with tears constantly flowing down her cheeks. "And one day my taiji passed away. My cousins one by one got married and started getting busy in their new life. My mother got remarried and left me behind with my grandparents. I think dad was constantly creating problems there. So my dadi thought sending me away was the best solution to keep the family from not getting bothered by him." Abir could feel Mishti was about to share one of her really sad moments and made sure he made his hold one her shoulders even more stronger. Mishti took a moment to continue. "No one asked me Abir. No body asked whether I wanted to leave. Even after that I told my dadi as well that I didnt want to leave. But she didnt listen. I had no one to support me. My cousins didnt even know what was going on with me. But there were other elders in the family like badi dadi, taya ji, dadu.. No one came in my defense. No one stopped my dadi from what she was doing with me. I still feel that if taiji was alive, she wouldnt have let my dadi do what she did. No one fought for me. No one. I literally felt like those 14 years, that I spent with that family was a dream or just a sad joke. That didnt feel real. I was scared, confused. I had no idea why I was being sent away. No one told me the truth about my dad either. I just felt like someone just took my lungs out and left me to suffocate" Mishti stopped for sometime as her tears were getting uncontrollable and she was struggling to find words to continue. Abir made sure to give her enough time to compose herself. He gave her a kiss on her forehead and made sure to constantly hug her in the process. Mishti was slowly getting her strength back. She pulled out of his hug and decided to continue. "Abir, you would always ask me right, why would I not give up on fighting for your family? Because I know what it is to get snatched away from that. Trust me Abir, I would give up anything to undo what happened with me and get that family back. But I know its far too long now. There is no way I can get that back. But i know there is no way I am going to give up on something else. On your family. I know your mom and your brother dont like me. But your other family members love me and everyone loves you too. Just for two members of the family, I didnt want to punish the whole family for no mistake of theirs. I have paid the prize of my parents mistakes. And trust me Abir, it doesnt feel good. It doesnt. And also trust me on that, you dont want to feel that too. I know we both have one thing in common! We both have disappointing set of parents. But the difference is, atleast one of them wants to keep you. Your family wants to stay with you, unlike mine. Atleast they have the strength to fight for you unlike mine.." Abir again pulls her in a side hug and lightly kisses her hair.
Mishti continues, "And then I came to Maheshawari house. Or I should say I was sent to Maheshwari house..I was distraught Abir. Not in my right frame of mind. I had millions of questions and no one to answer. I would miss my family. Kuhu was supportive initially. But I was taking a long time to deal with that pain which is why Badi ma's and Bade papa's constant attention was on me. I was not asking for that attention. I just didnt know what to feel. How to feel better. I was a child Abir. I didnt know any better. So I did cry a lot. And I think that made Kuhu fed up. She was a child too I guess. She didnt know any better too. She thought I was just another intruder in her life who will snatch away everyone from her. And her feelings towards me were getting stronger because jasmet chachi was of no help. She would make sure to say things against me and even if Kuhu didnt agree to them, she started believing all of those stuff. Varsha aunty had no idea because I would not tell not anyone. And Kuhu was her child so her focus was always on Kuhu. And I didnt intrude that because I didnt want Kuhu to say that I snatched away her parents too like I snatched away her grandparents. So I kept my distance. I couldnt trust anyone. Instead of becoming sisters, we went from being best of friends to complete strangers. I lost my only best friend I had Abir. My self confidence was getting hugely affected. I couldnt make any friends. No one understood me. I was constantly getting bullied for my height, for my glasses. I had no one to go to other than Bade papa and Badi ma. I didnt share much with them initially and I think they got why. So they started reading my eyes and giving me everything I needed. They became my parents, my teacher, my guide and my best friends. My new very small world with Badi ma and bade papa. I took some time in accepting their love but once I did, i decided to dedicate my life to them. What my own dadi couldnt do for me, my badi ma and bade papa were doing. Badi ma and Bade papa had all the more reasons to get rid of me since my dad tried to kill their son in law. But they didnt. My dad also didnt stop when I was sent away to rajkot. He came there, blackmailed badi ma. They still took care of me. I slowly learned how to deal with my own pain. Jasmeet chachi's and Kuhu's complaints didnt really help much but I did my best to ignore them and not let them affect me. If it did affect me, I would cry to myself, get it out of my system and then smile. Just for my badi ma and bade papa. Maybe Kuhu got annoyed to having a constant crying roommate. Maybe I got annoyed of having a complain box roommate. But it did drift us apart. But when I thought I was ok and maybe I could salvage our relationship to atleast being friends, I think I was too late. Nothing I did was appreciated. Infact it was always taken in a wrong light. If something went wrong, she would blame me rather than taking any responsibility of it. I know there are times she would just purposely try and fight with me to make sure I am ok or just because she is bored. But she will never admit to it. I did learn to not listen to everything she said. I would give her back too because there are certain things she would say that I wouldnt be able to bear. But with whatever happened, I decided that was it. Badi ma and Bade papa were my everything. My small little world and their family and their responsibilities were mine as i was theirs. And than after years, one ajeeb insaan came in my life." She smiled and with that Abir smiled as he knew where she was going. "When you came in my life, I was almost done picking my pieces up and standing tall and strong but there were still some pieces lying here and there. I wasnt able to join them back. And they did hurt. But you came in my life. After years, to be honest, after ages I felt that there is definitely someone other than my bade papa and badi ma who will listen to me. Who just doesnt listen me, also understands me. You gave me that confidence back that even I could have friends. Even I could make friends. I can also have other people who will atleast let me have my say. Understand it. We went from strangers, to friends to best friends and now life partners. You stood by me every step of the way. You made everything beautiful. You gave me every reason to smile. And you gave me a reason to forget my past and live in my present and build my beautiful future. You took away that fear I had of people walking away from me always." They both had tears in their eyes with Mishti's honest confession. "Thank you Abir. For being my friend, my confidant, my life partner and my everything. Most importantly, thank you for being my home". And with that they hug each other tight.
Abir: "No Mishti!! Thank you for coming in my life. I dont know if my family ever noticed or acknowledged this. They all knew I use to go away from the house for days and come back. I use to go out because sometimes I use to feel suffocated here. I use to go find my peace and sukoon outside. But ever since you came in my life, everytime I would try to leave my house, I would come back the same day. You would take away all my suffocations with your stupid talks. You were my home. You would bring me back home every time I lost my way. So thank you". Mishti smiled at his honest confession and took his hand and kissed him.
Abir, trying to lighten the situation, continue "You know what Mishti?" Mishti looks towards Abir with curiosity. "I dont think there is anyone else who will understand our weirdness the way we understand eachother". Both look at eachother and start laughing realizing that there is definitely so much more truth to that and hugged and continued starring the sky for the night and promising eachother their support for eternity.
PS: I am writing after a long time. So i am sure there will be some errors here and there. Hopefully you can ignore it. Any reviews will be welcomed!
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