"New breakup?" Aarchi asked as she rolled the spaghetti on her fork and ate. Vihaan looked at her shocked.

"Why do you think that?" He asked intrigued about her choice of words.

"You look lost and like sad and tired" She replied picking her adjectives carefully not wishing to hurt the feelings of the new friend she made.

"What made you feel that am sad?" Vihaan pushed the plate aside and looked at her, captivating her with his gaze.

"You... you are looking at rain like you want to wet yourself in it but then just when the idea clicks you look away from the rain. Your eyes brighten up and they suddenly become blank. Too many contradicting behaviors like you'll stare at your phone with hope and then keep it down as if you are annoyed with yourself for looking at it" Aarchi said truthfully, looking at him not wanting to miss any emotion that his eyes reflected, partially because she liked how his eyes expressed all his emotions and other because they had been the most beautiful shade of brown she'd seen.

"You were psychoanalyzing me?" Vihaan asked with a stern look.

"I do it to all, it happens naturally with me. I didn't mean to hurt you. In case I did, I am sorry" She apologized not wanting him to be angry at her.

"You look like you are in love, the red hue on your cheeks appear as you see your phone. You've checked your phone multiple times since you were here. When I walked in you were lost in your thoughts and were smiling, which generally happens when someone is in love. You were also singing a romantic song" He looked at her with a smirk. She looked at him with a shock at how he managed to join the dots of her behavior.

"Can I trust you with something?" Aarchi asked suddenly making Vihaan look at her suspiciously.

"You can but what is it that you want to talk to me despite having Aryaman, Aviraj and Arush?" Vihaan looked at her with full attention. Aarchi looked at her hand in her laps and licked her lips before looking up ahead at him.

"Arush knows it but both bhaiyus.... Mumma papa too" She looked at him hopefully that Vihaan couldn't deny hearing her.

"So... I am dating a guy and I want him to meet my family but I've not yet told anyone about him because... you know what happened with Surya. I don't want anything to go wrong" Aarchi said patiently explaining him the whole thing.

"Can I have a look at who he is?" Vihaan asked not knowing how he could be of help to her but also didn't want to hurt her.

"Yeah sure" She unlocked her phone and showed him all the pictures of Gautam and her with a shine in her eyes. Vihaan looked at the guy carefully.

"How is he?" Aarchi asked excitedly wanting to know his opinion on her boyfriend.

"Ehh" Vihaan looked at the picture and said the first thing that came to his head.

"Huh?" Aarchi looked at him with a fallen face at hearing such a bland response from him.

"I mean... you like him so yeah he's good. What do you need me to do?" Vihaan still wasn't sure if the guy was right for her.

"Will you support me when I tell ma and papa right now?" She held his hand unconsciously and pouted pleadingly.

"Fine" He wasn't sure of what was going around but hearing his yes Aarchi hugged him tightly and pulled him with her.

"Where are we going?" Vihaan asked her by stopping her.

"To tell everyone" She said smiling and dragged him with her.

"But..."

"Ma, papa, uncle aunty I have some news to share" she said asking Vihaan to sit with them. They all looked at Vihaan for hopes.

"I am in love, and I want you all to meet him whenever it is possible for all of you to. His name is Gautam Rastogi." She passed her phone to Veer who was the closest. Aarchi's one of the qualities was she could never speak in circles, whatever she wanted, or she had to say would always come out in a straightforward manner.

"He and I are dating for now about a year. We met each other in college. He is elder to me by 3 years, but he takes very good care of me. He came all the way to hospital today morning to wish me luck and also gave me a rose" She tried selling Gautam's image well in front of everyone.

"You have pretty low standards if you get happy by just a rose" Vihaan murmured making Rishav and Veer agree with him. Aarchi glared at him reminding that he was supposed to be on her side.

"But... are you sure Aaru?" Kaira asked crossing her fingers tightly praying that no one breaks her little angel's heart again.

"Yes mom. This time I am sure he isn't like Surya. Gautam doesn't look at other girls with perverted eyes, he respects all and he gives me time and space, supports me when I need him, he doesn't hold me down" Aarchi walked up to Kaira and went down on her knees and held her hands.

"Aaru think again" Ridhima said still not convinced about Gautam.

"At least meet him once, for me" She understood their doubts and asked for one meet. They all agreed unsurely but put a smile for her sake.

"You all are the best. Thank you so much for understanding me" She hugged Rishav and Kaira tightly who hugged her back. Rishav motioned Vihaan to take Aarchi out as they discussed the new topic at hand. Vihaan nodded and convinced Aarchi to walk back to the patio.

"I didn't expect everyone to agree so fast. If Arush would have been here he would for sure have cracked some joke" Aarchi was extremely happy at hearing their decision.

"But where is he?" She looked at Vihaan for answers.

"Hmm... I'll give him a call" Vihaan said moving slightly away from her as she noticed that she had many notifications from Arush on her phone. She called Vihaan asking him to not call Arush as she would either way. She downloaded the images Arush sent.

Vihaan who was calling Arush stopped and watched Aarchi pale as she saw something on her phone.

"Aari?" He called her name but there was no response from her. He took small steps towards her.

"Aari... AARI!" He saw her swaying and about to fall when he held her hand and stopped her from falling. The phone slipped from Aarchi's hand.

"PAPA! UNCLE!" Vihaan screamed for the elders as he held unconscious Aarchi in his arms as he carried her and walked inside the house.

"Aaru!" All the elders looked at unconscious Aarchi in panic.

"Aaru, what happened?" Rishav asked looking at Aarchi's pale face.

"She fainted suddenly" Vihaan laid her down in a guest room and quickly ran up to get his stethoscope and asked the workers to send a glass of water to the guestroom. In the guestroom Ridhima checked for Aarchi's pulse rate which was faint. Vihaan rushed down with his stethoscope and a blood pressure measuring machine. 

Quickly adjusting the blood pressure measuring machine around her he checked for her blood pressure. 

"Its low" He said looking at Ridhima who nodded. Ridhima opened Aarchi's kurti's collar to facilitate better blood circulation and asked Vihaan to hold her legs above the heart level for the same reasons. 

After a few minutes when Aarchi's blood pressure returned to normal, they sprinkled the water on her face and asked for glucose water. They tried to make her drink the water.

"Phone...my phone" She pushed everyone away and walked to the patio to get the phone.

Vihaan followed her out and saw her walking back and forth on the patio holding the phone to her ear.

"He...Hello Gautam" Aarchi pushed her hair behind her hair at the hopes Gautam would pick the call.

"Aarchi..." Gautam simply breathed out her name.

"Is it true? Don't lie please" She asked standing and looking out of the patio where it was still raining.

"I...I wanted to tell you in a better way" He confessed making her close her eyes and gulp down the saliva.

"When would it have been a better time? I just talked to my family about you Gautam, not more than 20 minutes ago" She breathed in deeply trying to stop herself from crying.

"I am sorry Aarchi. I tried...I tried a lot to forget her, but she never left my heart" Gautam accepted his mistake.

"Gautam... did you ever spend one moment with me where you didn't think of her?" She asked crossing her fingers that he'd say something she wanted to hear.

"I...I... I can't do that. I am really sorry Aarchi for leading you on" He apologized to her feeling genuinely sorry.

"Hmm... Wish you both all the happiness in the world" She wished him even when she didn't want to.

"Aarchi..." Gautam didn't know what to say more that would make it hurt less for her.

"If you loved her then you shouldn't have promised me a forever when you looked me in the eye and showed me the dreams of a happy future. I didn't deserve to have my heart broken Gautam... I deserved better than to be played in you both's sick game" She cut the call and looked at the rain, trying to hold herself together.

Vihaan stood by her side and pulled the phone out of her grip and read Arush's messages.

"He was in a relation with Riya just before you met him. They broke up because of some reasons but he is still very much in love with her. They were in an on and off relation with each other" Vihaan read Arush's message and saw the pictures of Gautam hugging another woman and then pulling her into a deep kiss. The family looked at him questioningly, worried about Aarchi. 

Vihaan walked to them and gave them the phone asking them to read.

"Aaru...." Rishav's heart broke reading the texts.

"I'll manage it uncle... trust me" Vihaan said before closing the doors of the patio and walking back to Aarchi who stared at the rain emotionlessly. When he thought she had enough time to process everything, he pulled her close and hugged her tightly.

"I am fine Vi..." She pulled out of the hug and looked away not wanting to fall weak in front of anyone.

"Cry it out Ari. Some pain are better expressed out then kept hidden. It will keep hurting you inside, let it out" He held her close and whispered, running his hand on her shoulders.

"No one is judging you Ari. I could go break his bones for breaking your heart but right now... You need this hug more than my wish to put an end to that asshole" Vihaan made her face him.

"Again me Vi...again" She looked at him and a tear slipped down her cheek.

"He looked me in the eye and promised me a forever" Another tear slipped down her cheek. Vihaan simply stared at her knowing that it was important to remove the hurt out rather than keeping it inside and letting it eat out the person.

"I just told everyone about him Vi" Aarchi fell down on the ground and tried hard to stop herself from crying but when Vihaan bent down beside her and pulled her in a hug, letting her rest her forehead on his chest, Aarchi let out a loud sob that everyone on the other side of the room heard and closed their eyes feeling her pain.

"Every moment we spent together in each other's arms, he was thinking of someone else" She said trying to stop herself from crying more but at the end broke apart and let out a heart wrenching sob, hiding her face in his chest.