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<<<<< Where Its Still hurt>>>>>>

Hai kya jalan, hai ye kaisa dhua

jal kyu gaya ab mera aashiyajal

kyu gaya ab mera aashiyajal

kyu gaya ab mera aashiyaaa na aaja na,

na kar diwanao aa na aaja na, na kar o diwana

M A H I R A

SHRISTY'S SANGEET NIGHT

Life is too unpredictable.
Or maybe... it has always been unpredictable for me.

Just when you think everything is finally falling into place, it finds a way to remind you how fragile control really is.

I was talking to my another best friend, Aviyan Malhotra.

A man who had just crushed a glass in his bare hand....watching the girl he loved become his brother's forever,  Shristy Singh.

Fate.
Cruel. Precise. Unforgiving...especially to those who love too deeply.

I quickly gathered the sharp shards before they could cut him further, wrapping his bleeding palm with my handkerchief.

"So... you're escaping reality?" I asked softly.

"No." He finally looked at me. His eyes were raw...stripped of everything except pain. "I'm just... trying to heal."

"And how long will that take?" The question slipped out before I could stop it.

A question I had been asking myself for years.

"I don't know," he admitted, his voice barely steady. "Until I can stand in front of her without... this."

His fist clenched, trembling.

"Forever, then?"

This time, it wasn't for him. It was for me.

I pressed the cloth more firmly against his hand, stopping the bleeding. The cut wasn't deep....but pain doesn't always need depth to hurt.

"I hope you find someone who loves you as much as you love her," I said, patting his shoulder.

For a second, silence settled between us. Then....That familiar glint returned to his eyes. Mischief. Deflection. Survival.

"Are you single?" he asked suddenly, grabbing my shoulders.

I stilled. Confusion tightened in my chest as I nodded slowly.

His smirk deepened....dangerous. And then..."Marry me."

My mind went blank. Air vanished. Blink. Blink again. Nothing made sense.

I shoved his hands away, stumbling back instinctively.

"Yikes!" I yelped, my heart racing wildly.

"Hush! Don't you dare come near me, you idiot!"

I turned to escape....running, still half-looking at his mischievous laughter....when I collided into something solid.

The impact jolted through my body. I braced myself for the fall, eyes squeezing shut.

But it never came.

Instead....Strong hands wrapped around my waist, holding me in place.

My breath hitched. I couldn't move. Couldn't think. I felt... suspended. My fingers instinctively clutched onto the person...like gripping stone. Something unmovable.

Slowly, I opened my eyes.

The ground wasn't beneath me. I was lifted...just slightly...but enough to send my pulse spiraling. Panic surged.

I twisted instantly, ready to push him away. I didn't like being touched. Not like this. Not by anyone. But the moment I turned...I froze.

Those eyes. Dark. Bottomless. Unavoidable.
The very eyes I had been running from all day were now locked onto mine.

Him.

Abir Singh.

Shristy's brother.
The one I had avoided. The one my mind never escaped. The one my past refused to bury.

Holding me.

Like fate had finally grown tired of playing games... and decided to confront me directly.

Of course I knew he was here.
How could he not be? It was his sister's wedding.

The moment I stepped into this place, something inside me shifted. Like the air had changed. Like danger had found its name again.

I didn't need to see him. I could still feel him.

Every laugh, every step, every turn...I calculated it. Because I'm here from Shristy, not for any kind of drama.

Avoided empty spaces. Stayed where people surrounded me. Made sure I was never alone long enough for the past to catch up.

Eight years... And I was still hiding like a criminal in my own life.

I told myself I was in control. That I could survive this wedding without facing him.

I was wrong.

Time stilled between us. My heart... forgot how to beat.

He was looking at me. At me.
And yet... there was nothing there.

Not the hatred he had left me with that night. Not even recognition. Just... stillness.

His grip on my waist tightened slightly....just enough to steady me as he set me back on my feet.

Like I was nothing more than someone who had stumbled. A stranger.

The moment my feet touched the ground, his hands left me. Immediately.

I forced my fingers to loosen their hold on him.
Forced my breathing to steady. Forced my face into something neutral... something unaffected.

I straightened, pulling my shoulders back, my spine rigid. My fingers curled into my palms, grounding myself before anything on my face could betray me.

Like he was just another man who happened to catch me.

Breathe. Be normal, Mahi.

I lifted my gaze to him...steady, composed... the way I had trained myself to be.

"Thank you," I said. My voice didn't tremble. Didn't break. Didn't belong to the girl who once knew him like her own heartbeat.

It belonged to someone else. Someone I had forced myself to become.

His eyes met mine. Unreadable. Cold.
Assessing... like he was trying to place a face in a crowd, not remember a person from his past.

Then......"You're welcome, Mahira. Be careful."

Polite. Flat. Detached.
The kind of tone you use for a stranger out of courtesy.

And just like that... it was over.

He didn't look at me again. Didn't wait. Didn't search my face like he used to... like he should have.

He simply stepped past me....smooth, effortless....like I was nothing more than a momentary interruption in his path.

Like I had never existed in his world at all.

My fingers twitched at my sides, but I kept my expression neutral. Unbothered. Unaffected. Moved on.

Because that's what I was supposed to be... right?

Then why did my chest tighten? No.
Relief... I should feel relief. Isn't this what I wanted? For him to forget me like I never existed? To walk past me without hesitation... just like this?

Then why did it feel like something inside me had just been ripped apart... like all those years I spent stitching myself back together meant nothing?

"Mahira beta, are you okay?" Suman aunty's voice broke through my thoughts, laced with concern.

I lifted my eyes, forcing a small smile. "Yes, aunty... mujhe kya hona hai?" [What will happened to me?}

"Thank God. If Abir hadn't caught you at the right time, beta, you could've gotten seriously hurt." She patted my arm with a relieved sigh.

Of course he did.

I turned slightly, watching him from a distance. He adjusted his cufflinks with quiet precision, already engaged in conversation with other guests.

Completely unbothered.

I looked away.

"Yes, aunty," I repeated softly.

"Be careful," she said before walking off.

I took a slow breath, trying to steady the chaos inside me. And for a moment... I almost felt relief. I didn't have to hide anymore.

Around me, the wedding carried on....laughter, music, voices blending into a blur of normalcy.

And I blended into it just as easily. Standing beside Shristy. Smiling at guests. Playing my part. Just another face. Just another story that didn't matter.

But somewhere deep inside... something shifted. Something... quietly displaced.

Like a memory being rewritten in real time. And somehow... That hurt more than if he had looked at me with hatred again.

I forced the feeling down. This wasn't the time to fall apart. I had to stay in control. I couldn't afford a single slip.

Not for Shristy. Only for Shristy.

It was already a mistake....falling in love with my best friend's brother in this entire, vast world.

After the sangeet, we finally returned to our room, exhaustion clinging to every inch of my body. But sleep... refused to come.

My mind kept circling back. To that moment. To his eyes. Why didn't he recognize me? Or worse...

Why did it feel like he chose not to?

"What are you thinking, idiot?" Shristy asked, walking toward the bed.

"Kuch nahi," I muttered, quickly looking away and pretending to scroll through my phone. [Nothing]

She narrowed her eyes at me, suspicion flickering for a moment... but then she sighed.

"I'm so tired. I'm going to sleep."

"Yeah... rest. Tomorrow's your big day," I said softly, pulling the duvet over her.

"Hm..." Within seconds, she drifted off.

At least one of us could sleep. Because I stayed wide awake... staring at nothing.

Convincing myself that after Shristy's bidai, I would leave this place....return to my world....without wasting another moment here.

Without facing him again.

The next day was chaos. It was Shristy's wedding day. First haldi. Then the rituals. Everything had been perfect.

She was ready.
Any moment, Pandit ji would call them for the pheras. Until....The groom left.

And I found Shristy unconscious on the floor. Still in her bridal dress. A crumpled piece of paper clutched tightly in her hand. I didn't think. I didn't feel. Instinct took over before emotion could.

Her pulse was dropping. BP too low. Shock.

I acted fast.....administered the injection, stabilized her breathing... forced her body back from the edge it was slipping toward.

But outside....Everything was collapsing.

Everyone had gathered in Aviyan's dadi's room. Deciding. Discussing. Judging.

And I stayed beside her... holding her. Alone.

And then...It hit me.

That same suffocating feeling. Those same invisible hands closing around my throat. The same voices. People who know nothing... yet decide everything.

I had been here before. Alone. Helpless. Destroyed.

And I....I wouldn't let it happen to her. Not to Shristy. Not to the only person I had left.

Something inside me snapped. I stood up. And ran.

The moment I pushed the door open....The room fell silent.

Every face turned toward me. Confusion. Shock. Tension thick enough to choke on.

They were still thinking. Still deciding. Still wasting time.

I didn't give them any.

My eyes locked on Aviyan.

"Marry her." My voice didn't shake. Didn't break.
It cut through the room.

Every single head turned toward me. "Marry her, Aviyan."

This time clearer.

Understanding flickered. Then spread. And then....all eyes shifted to him. But his eyes... stayed on me.

"Don't speak nonsense," he snapped. "That's not a solution."

Before I could tell him it was the only way to save my best friend, the silence was broken.

"She's right," Dadi spoke.

And just like that...The room erupted. Voices. Arguments. Decisions. But I didn't hear any of it.

My only focus was on Aviyan. I wanted to talk to him, to explain....but I was interrupted.

A shadow invaded my personal space, a presence so familiar it felt like a ghost walking through my skin.

"Abir." The name slipped out after eight years. And to me....It sounded like glass shattering in a cathedral.

He froze.
Completely. As if something inside him had just cracked. His eyes locked onto mine.....And this time... there was no emptiness.

There was fire.

"Mahi."
The moment his lips released my name, my heartbeat fastened into a frantic rhythm.

That name....After years....It still knew how to find me.

For a second...Just a second.....It felt like he had been pretending too.

Just as hard as I was. Like we were both just ghosts haunting our own lives. Like I wasn't the only one.

But then, Aviyan walked past us, heading out of the room. And reality snapped back. This wasn't about us. It never could be.

"Aviyan...." I turned quickly, moving to go after him.

To stop him. To tell him...to choose himself. To choose love. But I didn't get far.

A hand wrapped around my arm. Tight. Unforgiving. And yanked me back with a force that made the world tilt.

"Abir...." I winced, my words breaking as his grip tightened.

He didn't speak. Just dragged me through the crowd. Through the noise. Through the whispers that followed us like shadows.

Straight to the back of the haveli. Where the silence was heavier than the chaos we left behind.

I could barely keep up in my heels. But he didn't slow down. Didn't care. And then..... He shoved me forward.

Hard. Like I was nothing more than an obstacle in his path.

I stumbled, barely catching myself before hitting the ground.

My breath came uneven. My wrist throbbed where he had held me. But I straightened. Forced myself to stand tall. And turned to him.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Abir?"

Something in his expression snapped. Shifted. Darkened into something far more dangerous.

"Don't." His voice dropped....low, lethal. "Don't say my name with your filthy mouth... like you still have a right to it."

"Is this a coincidence... or another one of your games?" His voice was low. Too low. Dangerously controlled.

"Didn't I tell you to stay away from my family... and me?" He stepped closer with each word. And instinctively....I stepped back.

"Didn't I tell you to never come near my sister again?" Another step. Our movements fell into a rhythm. His forward. Mine retreating.

Until....My back hit the wall. Before I could react, his hand shot out. He grabbed my arms and yanked me into him so harshly a cry tore from my throat.

"Then why the hell are you standing here," he snarled, "taking decision for my sister's life?"

I flinched at the sheer force of his voice. My eyes snapped up to his. This....This was the version I had been avoiding.

The man who pretended not to recognize me was gone, replaced by someone burning with eight years of stored-up rage and hatred.

Don't let him, Mahi. Don't let him break you.

"Let me go, Abir," I hissed, my voice echoing against the walls. "You're hurting me."

"Hurting you?" His grip tightened—merciless. "You don't know anything about pain. You just know how to walk away... and left pieces behind that someone spent years trying to put back together."

He yanked me closer until I stumbled into his chest. His scent hit me...so familiar it hurt....that once gave me peace....now felt like it suffocation.

"I didn't come here for you, Abir," I said, forcing my voice steady, forcing myself to meet his eyes. "I came here for Shristy. She's my best friend. You don't get to decide who I stay for."

"And you do?" he laughed....hollow, broken, wrong. but his eyes told a different story....one of deep, unhealed scars. "You decide when to leave, whom to leave... who should marry whom...."

His grip tightened again. "Whose life you get to ruin next?....Just like you decided to ruin mine?"

The words hit harder than his hands.

"This isn't about you," I snapped, trying to pull away. "You don't get to make everything about us."

"It is about me!" he exploded. "Everything becomes about us when you're involved"

His eyes burned into mine. "You didn't suggest that marriage to save Shristy," he continued, voice dropping again....deadly. "You did it because you can't stay out of people's lives."

My chest tightened. This was getting out of my hands. This was shifting from Shristy's wedding to us.....the 'us' I had buried and left behind.

"You're addicted to this," he said, each word sharper than the last. "because you're bored of the damage you've already done to my life".

I struggle, desperate to get out of his hold.  Because it was starting to hurt....not just my arms, but something deep inside that I had kept silent for so long.

"Because once you're done ruining one's life... you move on to someone else's."

"That's not true," I whispered, my vision blurring as tears filled my eyes. I closed them tight before they could spill. No. Not here. Not in front of him.

"Then look at me." His voice cut through me. A command. "Look at me and say it."

I could feel it.

The erratic rhythm of his heartbeat...right beneath my hands, resting against his chest. It was a language we both still understood, even after eight years of silence.

"Tell me you didn't feel anything when I caught you," he said, his voice rough. "Tell me my name didn't make your heart race when you said it after eight years."

That was it.

"Leave me," I whispered, my voice breaking despite everything. "I can't... just leave me."

"Say it," he murmured. Soft. Dangerous.

"I said leave me, Abir!" With all the strength I had left, I shoved him away and tore myself free.

My breathing turned uneven....but I forced it steady.

"Just stop it," I said, meeting his eyes firmly.

"Hate me. Question me. Blame me for whatever you think I did But......I am not destroying your sister's life."

His gaze hardened.

"Aviyan loves her," I continued, my voice rising. "And he's the only one who can save her from the ruin left by the man she was supposed to marry an hour ago."

His jaw tightened. His eyes, bloodshot and dark, searched mine for a lie, but I didn't give him one.

"So stop this," I said quietly. "We can't stand here and chase something that doesn't exist anymore."

He didn't say a word, but I could see the fury simmering just beneath the surface, like a live wire sparking in the dark

And I knew....If I stayed any longer, I would break. I was barely holding the pieces together.'

So I stepped aside. And walked away. Fast. Each step quicker than the last. Just a little more....And I'd be out.

Back in the hallway. Back where I could breathe. But he didn't let me go.

Of course he didn't.

I was shoved backed.

My spine hit one of the haveli's stone pillars with a dull thud. He caged me there. Trapped between him and the cold wall.

"Didn't I, Mahi?" My breath hitched. Goosebumps rose along my skin.

"Didn't I love you?" he said, his voice breaking through clenched control. "But still you walk away... like none of it was real."

"Abir..." I murmured. My eyes stung, and my throat burned with the tears I'd been holding back for a decade.

He wanted closure. After eight years of staring at a blank screen, he needed an ending.

And I decided to give it to him. The kind of ending that would let him move on. The kind that would kill the ghost of the girl he once loved.

"But you never love me," he said, leaning his forehead against mine. "Not even for a day?"

I took a deep breath, one that shook every part of me. This had to end....here and now. Once and Forever.

"NO!" I shouted, my voice cracking. "Not for a second."

Lie.

"I didn't love you," I said, forcing the words out. "Not once. Not ever."
A tear slipped down my cheek. I didn't look away.

"I just liked the idea of you."

Lie.

"You were just a phase of my life... something I left behind, Abir. We were never meant to be together. Not then. Not now. Not ever."

Another lie.

His grip loosened.

"That's your problem," I continued, my voice quieter now. "You took it seriously... when I felt nothing. When I left you behind like you're nothing more then my best-friend brother."

Another tear fell. I didn't wipe it.

And that lie.....That was the one that broke him. His hands dropped from me completely. Like I had burned him.

He stumbled back. A tear slipped from his eye. And something inside me... twisted, shattered, and burned all at once.

Because once again... I had broken him.

"I hope you got your answers," I said, finally wiping my tears.

Because it had to be this way. It was always meant to end like this.

He nodded slowly. Jaw tight.

"Yeah," he said hoarsely. "I did."

His chest rose and fell sharply. "Leave."

I didn't move. I don't know why.

"Leave... before I do something I'll regret." His voice snapped. "LEAVE!"

This time....I ran.
I didn't look back. Didn't care who saw me. Didn't care where I was going. I just ran....Until I found a room....definitely not mine.....but it was empty.

I slammed the door and finally let the lies consume me

_________________________________________

Hey my Gulab's & Gulabo's
How was the chapter?

Please share you opinion I really need it.

I will provide one more Preluded of Abir Pov Then will proceed to actual chapter.

I know You may have many Q!

Just don't judge without getting into whole story.

Cause A known judgment is preferable to an unknown one.

"Better the weight of a known verdict than the silence of the unknown."

If you want to know About Shristy You can read my first book.

Entangled by Fate ( Entangled series Book-1)

I will be back with another one soon.

Till then be safe and happy.

Your Author

Fahi.