22.

Heyy mere laaljhando😼🤌🏻

I usually don't update this quick but today was the last (final) exam anddd tmrws the lastt day of the sessionn,

I'll miss this class, teachers and the students sm 😔 aur mere paas kaafi free time pada tha to I wrote this real quickkk, do let me know how was the chapp!!

I get it if you're a silent reader, and I'm thankful for all the votes okay but please do comment, also if you aren't liking the story please do let me know.

Bohot bol dia, anyway, enjoyy readingg

Love, A.

༘˚⋆𐙚｡⋆𖦹.✧˚

"Fuck," Abhinav grunted. "Khidki band hai."

"Damn! Toh ek kaam kar, neeche kood ja," Vihaan suggested.

"Pagal hai kya? 200 maale ki building hai!" Abhinav shot back, his hands trembling as he looked down, yet still maintaining his posture.

"Laila ki khidki khuli hai. Khidki ke neeche hai tala, ghusu kahan se mai, saala?" he muttered under his breath.

"Haramzade... raat ke dhai baje... arey... mummy... yahan neeche se upar dekhne mein sab dheema-dheema ghoom raha hai... tujhe kisi ki khidki khuli milegi kya?" Vihaan's voice crackled through the phone, which was resting on Palak's locked window.

"Kaahe khati kar rahe ho ye sab? Mujhe laga sach mein kisi musibat mein ho, lekin ye... alag hi scene hai," came another voice-Utsav Chaubey. Once a classmate of Abhinav, Vihaan, and Aadvik, now a fire brigade officer, whose truck had been borrowed-or rather, stolen-by none other than Abhinav and Vihaan.

"Arey, bewde! Muh band kar na," Abhinav snapped, silencing them both. He quickly pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, scribbled a note, and carefully tucked it into the gap between the window and the wall, ensuring it would fall inside once the window was opened.

> Aaina Palace, 8:00 PM sharp.

(Be there, or if you're late even by a second, your beloved naukar will be there in milliseconds ;) Hate, Abhinav.)

As he looked down again, his mind began to spin, his heart hammering against his ribs.

The fire truck's ladder was too long.

"Hawaye hawaye mein chadh toh gaya, magar utru kaise?" Panic gripped his chest as he muttered to himself, Jai Hanuman gyaan gun saagar, Jai Kapis tihu lok ujaagar...

Vihaan, catching onto his distress, muttered, "Chal, Hanuman Chalisa gaana band kar... vo bhi tereko aadhi hi aati hai."

From the phone, Utsav's laughter rang out, only to be drowned by the distant blaring of sirens-sirens that were getting closer.

Abhinav froze. From his high vantage point, he could see everything, and that included the unmistakable blue and pink flashes cutting through the night.

"Haramzaade, bhaag!" he yelled, grabbing Vihaan's shirt by the shoulder and yanking him forward.

"Bhaag, bhaag, DK Bose! DK Bose! DK Bose, bhaag, bhaag, DK Bose, DK bhai!" Vihaan screamed, exhilarated as if this were his first time in such a situation-though it definitely wasn't.

They sprinted toward their parked motorbikes, leaving Utsav standing there, dumbfounded. It took him a moment to snap out of it, but when he did, his stomach dropped. Two beams of light shone directly at him.

"Sala" he muttered, sweat trickling down his neck as he spun toward the fire truck. His hands trembled on the ignition. There was no real reason for him to panic-he wasn't the one being chased-but as they say, in a rush, even the smartest forget how to use their brains.

Meanwhile, Abhinav and Vihaan were too busy racing each other, as if they weren't being tailed by four police cars.

Their tires screeched as they swerved into a narrow alley.

A realization hit Abhinav like a brick.

"Kutte! Utsav ko toh bhool hi gaye!"

His fingers tightened around the accelerator as Vihaan turned back, scanning for their friend-only to see nothing but the cold, misty road behind them.

Vihaan, still high on adrenaline, turned back, expecting to see Utsav right behind them. But instead, he was met with... nothing. Just a cold, misty road and the faint sound of sirens.

"Bhagwaan uski aatma ko shaanti de," Vihaan muttered, shaking his head dramatically.

"Saale, zinda hai vo!" Abhinav smacked the back of Vihaan's helmet.

Meanwhile, Utsav, sitting inside the stolen fire truck, was having a mental breakdown.

"Kya life thi meri pehle... ek imaandaar aadmi tha... gharwalon ka laadle tha... shaadi ke sapne dekh raha tha... aur aaj-CHORI KI HUI FIRE TRUCK CHALA RAHA HOON?!" He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at his reflection in the rearview mirror. "Kaun hai ye aadmi? Main toh main hoon hi nahi..."

But existential crisis ka time nahi tha. Because just as he hit the accelerator, a loud THUD came from the back of the truck.

"Abey maa ki aankh!" He jolted in his seat, gripping the wheel tighter. "Kisi ki laash latak gayi kya?"

He hesitated before glancing in the side mirror-only to see a cop hanging onto the ladder.

His soul left his body.

"AREY NAI RE BAPPPPPPP!"

In pure desi instinct, Utsav did what any self-respecting Indian would do-he turned on the windshield wipers.

But instead of scaring the cop off, the wipers just squeaked helplessly.

The cop, who was somehow still holding on, banged on the glass. "Oye! Truck roko!"

Utsav, panicking, screamed back, "Bhai, gir ja na please! Tujhe bhi sharam aani chahiye!"

Meanwhile, Abhinav and Vihaan had taken a sharp turn, cutting through the alleyways like they were in a South Bombay Fast & Furious remake.

Vihaan, now officially out of his mind, was singing-no, SCREAMING-"Bachpan ka pyaar" at the top of his lungs.

"BACHPAAN KA PYAAAAAR MERA BHUL NAI JANA REEE!!!"

"Saale, chup kar! Police peeche hai, auto rickshaw nahi!" Abhinav barked.

Vihaan grinned under his helmet. "Toh? Bachpan ka pyaar hamesha yaad rakhna chahiye!"

Before Abhinav could strangle him, they spotted a tiny, shady tapri tea stall ahead. The chaiwala, a grumpy uncle with a gamcha around his neck, was stirring his chai like it had personally betrayed him.

"Idhar rok!" Abhinav shouted.

They screeched to a halt, jumped off the bikes, and ran behind the stall.

The police cars came to a stop right in front of the tapri. A cop stepped out, looking around.

Uncle, without even looking up from his chai, muttered, "Arey kaun log hai re ye? Raat ke do baje customer aata nahi, police aa gayi."

The cop, narrowing his eyes, turned to him. "Koi do ladke bhaag ke aaye kya? Aur ye raat ke do baje tapri kyu khole ho"

Uncle, casually sipping his chai, "Sahab highway hai ye, rukte hai log raat ko." pointed to a rickety wooden bench where Abhinav and Vihaan now sat-chhoti chhoti chammach se chai peete hue.

Like innocent PG ke bacche.

The cop frowned. "Tum dono ne koi bhaagta ladka dekha?"

Abhinav took the smallest, most dramatic sip of chai in history. Then, in the most innocent voice ever, he replied, "Kaunsa ladka, sahib hum to just abhi abhi aayein hai chai pine, aap bhi piyo kya mazedaar chai bani hai?"

Vihaan, playing along, added, "Sahib, raat ke is waqt koi shareef insaan bahar kyun ghoomega? Aaj kal crime kitna badh gaya hai na?"

The cop scratched his head, looking suspicious. But before he could speak-GHARRRRRRAAAAAMMMMM!

A massive noise came from behind them.

Utsav with his truck came on the road,

Abhinav and Vihaan facepalmed in unison.

The cop turned around. "YEH KYA HO RAHA HAI?!"

Utsav, gripping the wheel like a possessed man, yelled, "RASTA DO, BHAGWAAN KE LIYE RASTA DOOOO!"

The chaiwala took another sip and muttered, "Bas, yahi dekhna baaki tha."

"Na Palak ki khidki khuli aur kal paper ke front page pe humara thobda dikhega" Vihaan muttered as the cop looked at them suspiciously.

-

The city bookstore was just as it always had been-shiny, comfortable, and bustling with people coming and going.

Amidst the chaos, Aadvik remained still, sipping his coffee while signing books. He never thought he'd write a book-not for her, though.

Suddenly, a girl stepped into view, a book clutched in her hands.

"Oh my God! Is this Vik?" she exclaimed, emphasizing his name with excitement.

Aadvik's smile wasn't visible beneath his mask, but the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled was one of the reasons people called him pretty instead of handsome.

"Yes," he said warmly, taking the book from her hands and signing it. "What's your name?"

"Vaidehi," she replied, a little too excited, as if it were her first time at a book signing event. But a hint of doubt flickered in her eyes.

"Author Vik, I have a question."

Aadvik's gaze remained steady, his focus split between signing books and listening to his reader. His poetry book lay open before him, its words speaking volumes.

Log apne chahne walon ke liye kavi zaroor ban jaate hain.

"Are you single?" Vaidehi asked suddenly, flashing him a heartwarming smile-one so genuine it could melt anyone's heart.

Aadvik hesitated for only a second before replying, "No, sorry, Vaidehi, but I'm already committed." His fingers lingered on the book as he sighed.

"Oh, it's okay! I was just wondering because... no way someone who's committed would write this!" She gasped, flipping through the pages and pointing at the title.

A chuckle rippled from his throat. "What do you mean?"

"Arey- I mean, the title says Letters to Moon, not Letters to the Moon, which means it's not about the satellite. It was meant for someone."* She stood up from her seat, a knowing smile on her lips.

Aadvik let out a short laugh. "Dimaag ka bohot achha istemal kiya," he said, amused. But as quickly as the laughter came, it faded.

Vaidehi walked away to a different section, leaving him with a gnawing realization.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath.

His gaze landed on her.

Veda.

She stood a short distance away, a little girl by her side, pointing at books and giggling. Meanwhile, Aadvik was signing as if the world were ending, as if he needed to finish quickly-before it was too late.

The moment he was done, he stood up, ready to leave. But fate had other plans.

As soon as he moved, his coffee tipped over, crashing onto the floor.

All eyes turned to him.

Including hers.

For a moment, something flickered in Veda's expression-a familiar feeling, a forgotten memory. But she shrugged it off.

"Aadvik?" she whispered.

And as they say, a lover hears a whisper-even in the midst of a crowd, even if he were deaf.

[A/N : no one said that,  mere hi vichaar hain😔]

KThe bookstore smelled like old paper and freshly brewed coffee-Veda had always loved that. But today, her hands trembled as she ran her fingers along the book spines, her breath shallow.

She hadn't expected to find his book here.

The book with her letters.

The letters she had poured her heart into, the ones she thought had never reached him. But they had. And instead of a response, he had turned them into a goddamn novel.

Veda's fingers clenched around the hardcover. "What Letters?" The title mocked her. His pen name-her nickname for him-etched in bold on the cover.

The bell above the door jingled, and she felt it before she saw him. Aadvik.

He froze mid-step when he saw what she was holding. His face, usually unreadable, flickered with something she couldn't quite place-guilt? Relief? Fear?

"You wrote this?" Her voice was quiet, controlled. Too controlled.

Aadvik exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "Veda-"

"You wrote this, Aadvik?" she repeated, louder this time, her grip tightening on the book.

"You never answered my letters," he said, his voice rough, like the words hurt to say. "I thought-" He exhaled sharply. "I thought you never cared."

Veda laughed, but it wasn't light or happy-it was broken, bitter. "You thought I never cared?" Her eyes burned. "I waited, Aadvik. I wrote to you. I poured my heart into every damn word. But you never-" She shook her head, her throat closing up. "I thought you didn't love me enough to reply. I thought you gave up on me..on us.."

Aadvik took a step forward, his breath hitched "What letters, Ved?"

The air between them stilled.

"What?"

His eyes were dark, stormy. "I never got any fucking letters, Veda. Not a single one. What the hell are you talking about?"

She stared at him, her pulse roaring in her ears. "But-"

"You know what? It was your dad" His voice was quieter now, bitter. "I knowyou were close to your family and they knew everything about you and as you know,..they hated me, as i was a bad influence, your father dearest burnt all of them. From where i knew that? Abhinav."

Her chest ached. "You-You never read them? How would you'veread them jab tum tak mere qhat pahunche hi nahin.."

"Not until years later. And by then, you were gone." A pause. "And I thought... maybe you had moved on and wouldve married..."

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she blinked them back. "So instead of finding me, instead of asking, you turned them into a book?"

Aadvik swallowed hard. "It was the only way I knew how to tell you that I never stopped loving you. It was the only way i could make it alive, the letters had nothing but remorse and love, and love? Its a delicate thing, Chanda, i wanted to keep of my love in my heart. I knew you loved books, it was your only escape and you loved the letters, the unsent letters in a pile, a reminder that a peice of someone, a peice of something has been etched so deeply in the writer that they couldn't show it to them but to the whole world."

Her breath hitched. She wanted to be angry. Wanted to scream at him, shove the book back into his hands and walk away.

But she also wanted to fall apart right there and let him hold her.

Aadvik's voice softened. "Veda, I swear, if I had known-"

She didn't let him finish.

Because in that moment, none of it mattered more than the fact that they still loved each other.

He knew she loved him.

She knew he loved him.

What they were waiting for? God knows.

Her heart pounded. She wanted to be angry. Wanted to scream at him for not fighting harder.

But more than anything, she wanted to fall into his arms and let everything else fade away.

Aadvik stepped closer, voice barely above a whisper. "Agar mujhe ek baar bhi pata hota ki tum wapas aana chahti ho... main duniya chhod ke bhi aa jata, Veda."

Tears slipped down her cheeks. "Ab bhi der ho sakti hai, Aadvik?"

He looked at her, his eyes holding nothing but love. "Kabhi nahi."

And for the first time in years, Veda believed him, a faint sound of Aadvik holding his tears was heard as he pulled her closer and rested his chin on her head.

Tripti dolled up in a white kurta and black pants came out from her house, the one in Udaipur.

"Gauriiii, chalo late ho raha hai!" Tripti's mother shouted from downstairs.

"Aate hai!" Tripti applied her lipgloss and took her phone and gasped when she opened her display.

Vihaan Kutta - 20+ missed calls

She thought of calling him but shrugged because she was gonna meet him anyway!

As she reached the porch, everyone was seated in the car and there was no seat for her, which made her a little frustrated "Batao! Dulhan ki shaadi hai aur usi ke car me usi ko jagah nhi de rhe hain! Kaha baithe ab hum?!" Tripti whined while her eyes scanning throughout the car, on the passenger seat, her dad, on the back seat, her brother, and cousins and on the sabse back sides? The damn luggage.

And where they were going?

To buy jewelries for her wedding.

"Baaki cars kahan hai?" She interrogated.

"Gauri, samjha karo, shaadi wala ghar hai." Yashashwi, Tripti's brother teased her.

"Tum chup karo, tumse nahi puche hum! Papa se puche hain!," Tripti snapped.

"Gauri," Her mother scolded her by her glare.

"Didi didi aap bihaa jiju ke saath aajalna" the six-year old Atharva said, his eyes gleaming differently.

~

After sometime her family fled off because Vihaan's family reached at the shop already

"Chalein?" he asked, tilting his head toward Tripti.

She nodded, adjusting her dupatta before swinging her leg over the bike. As she settled behind him, he smirked slightly.

“achhe se pakad lena,” he warned, revving the engine.

Tripti scoffed. "Mujhe koi zaroorat nahi hai," she declared, folding her arms defiantly instead.

Vihaan just chuckled. "Dekh lenge," he murmured under his breath before taking off.

The road stretched ahead, and just as he predicted, a speed breaker loomed in the distance. Without slowing down much, Vihaan maneuvered over it smoothly—except Tripti, caught off guard, let out a tiny gasp and instinctively clutched his waist.

Vihaan stiffened for a second. His breath hitched, and a sudden warmth crept up his neck. Her hold was fleeting, but his stomach flipped nonetheless.

A smug smile tugged at his lips. "Ab toh pakad liya na?Pehle hi bola tha maine, kya genius hun mai" he teased, his voice laced with amusement.

Tripti quickly said letting him go. "Woh... woh bas balance ke liye tha!Khud ko bada smart mat samjho! Samjhe?" she defended, refusing to meet his gaze.

Vihaan chuckled, shaking his head. "Haan haan, lekin issmart to main bachpan se hoon, chehre pe rumaal bhi laga loon to log mujhe meri hair isstyle se pehchaan lete hain aur haan, bas balance ke liye." He winked.

But the soft blush dusting his cheeks betrayed just how much that one moment had affected him.

"Ugh, traffic," Tripti groaned.

Vihaan glanced around and then turned slightly toward her. "We'll take another route. This way's faster," he said, steering the bike toward a narrower lane.

As they weaved through the bustling market streets, Tripti's eyes lit up. Rows of vibrant jhumkas and colorful bangles shimmered under the golden afternoon sun. The small shops were packed with people, bargaining and trying on jewelry.

"Vihaan, ruko!" she exclaimed, tapping his shoulder excitedly. "Yahan kitne sundar jhumke mil rahe hain!"

Vihaan barely glanced at them and shook his head. "Chhodo, yeh sab quality nahi hoti. I'll take you to a better place," he said, already accelerating.

Tripti pouted, her excitement dimming. "Par—"

"Bas, no arguments," he cut her off.

She slumped slightly, but just as he thought he had won, she sighed dramatically. "Haan haan, mujhe kya, tum toh waise bhi kuch samajhte nahi ho," she muttered under her breath.

Vihaan groaned. "Ab yeh kya naya natak hai?"

She huffed. "Bas, chhodo. Tumhe kya pata chhoti chhoti khushiyon ka," she said, crossing her arms again.

Vihaan glanced at her through the side mirror, her face clearly reflecting her disappointment. His grip on the handle tightened for a moment before he sighed in defeat.

"Achha, thik hai, chalo dekh lo," he mumbled, pulling over.

Tripti’s face instantly brightened, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Sach?"

Vihaan smirked, shaking his head. "Haan haan, bas zyada excited mat ho jao."

But as she rushed toward the shop, admiring the jhumkas with childlike enthusiasm, Vihaan found himself smiling.

After some bike riding, they were at the traffic light which was glowing red.

"Vihaan! Golgappa!" she gasped, spotting a bustling roadside stall.

Vihaan groaned. "Nahi, Tripti. Yeh sab bilkul unhygienic hote hain. Pata hai, kitne germs hote hain is paani me? Aur pata nhi kahan kahan apna-"

Tripti sighed, already knowing where this was going. "Mujhe koi germs nahi dikh rahe."

Vihaan didn’t slow down. "Haan, kyunki germs dikhte nahi hote. Tumhe idea bhi hai ki ek study kehta hai ki ye sab khaane se—"

Before he could complete his sentence, Tripti swiftly leaned forward, grabbed a golgappa from the vendor while they were still on the bike, and without warning, stuffed it right into Vihaan’s mouth.

His eyes went comically wide as his hands instinctively tightened on the handles, barely keeping control of the bike. The explosion of spicy, tangy flavors hit him all at once, and his entire face twisted in pure betrayal.

Tripti burst out laughing. "Haan toh? Kaisa laga?"

Vihaan somehow managed to chew and swallow, still looking scandalized. "Tripti! Yeh kya tha? Itna teekha—paani jal raha hai! Khati hain ladkiyan ye sab gandi chize,"

Tripti, still giggling, rested her chin on his shoulder. "Drama mat karo, Vihaan. Ab chup chaap doosra bhi khao."

Vihaan huffed, pretending to be mad, but the lingering taste of spice—and the sound of Tripti’s laughter—made it impossible to hide his smile.

Just take a look around, and you’ll find ishq always in the air.