The group spent some time at the club where Aarchi put on the mask of fake enthusiasm and conversed with everyone after which they all went to Lavanya's farmhouse to chill. They all sat in the garden having barbeque paneer tikka and pizza made on coal stove. 

"Vihaan please" Aarchi held his hand and squeezed it lightly. Vihaan looked at her confused.

"So Princess Ranawat why don't you drink?" Rizwaan with whom Aarchi had warmed up asked playfully with no evil intentions.

"I don't like losing control over my senses" She said holding her Coke can and sipping from it.

"But we all have seen you holding champagne glasses and Vihaan says that you have a good knowledge on alcohol" Shreya asked curiously. Shreya being a reporter had snapped pictures of many royals at the balls hosted every month and recognized Aarchi from there.

"Holding a glass doesn't indicate that you are drinking and yeah I do have quite some idea about alcohol because my friends used to drink. I used to take one sip from their glass to taste it. One sip doesn't make you high" She said with a smile which brought a smile on everyone's face except Vihaan's.

"Did Gautam drink?" Aarchi stiffened at the name and looked at him, gulping down her saliva.

"Did he?" Vihaan repeated the question.

"Bro take a chill pill. This isn't the discussion we called her here for" Neel said placing a hand on Vihaan's shoulder.

"You don't like drunkards either" Vihaan whispered making her nod her head.

"But you don't seem to have a problem right now" Vihaan asked locking her gaze with his.

"I don't. I hate it when someone surpasses their limits and starts with their sad story. I don't like that. I don't like it because what's the point of acknowledging the hurt if you are going to forget it the other day, it is either way going to be in your heart so might as well try the sober way to talk it out" She said playing with her fingers as a way of being calm when she was anxious.

"Not everyone is strong enough to do it when sober. They need to lose little control of life to navigate back. Some aren't as strong as they let others believe" Vihaan argued with her, wanting to know what her reaction was on it.

"Is it worth it though? Is a few hours of intoxication worth damaged organs, strained relations, worried friends and wrong judgements that will affect everyone for whom you matter? Sometimes it isn't about being strong or weak, it is about making the right choice. You aren't wrong Vihaan, but neither am I" Aarchi said with a smile that reached her eyes. Everyone in the group remained silent even after seeing the electrifying chemistry between the two.

"What's the story you are hiding behind the facts everyone knows?" Vihaan asked looking at her deeply. Aarchi looked at him shocked at how he managed to read between the lines.

"When I confronted Surya about him cheating on me, he blamed it on alcohol intoxication" She said lowering her gaze feeling embarrassed at her reasoning.

"He was a prick Aarchi" Manav stood up and hugged her making her smile slightly as Vihaan simply stared at her without blinking. Everyone who was sitting in the circle could sense the sparks between them except the two. 

"She's Arya's and Avi's sister, tone it down" Manav slapped Vihaan's shoulder as he stood up to get more food.

"I know who she is Manav" Vihaan looked at Manav confused.

"They will rip your head apart so don't do anything stupid" Manav warned him before disappearing leaving Vihaan to ponder on his words. Shaking his head, Vihaan sat beside Aarchi and asked her if she needed any more food. She refused and got busy in talking with Divya as they discussed about various fashion brands.

"Is that champagne?" Aarchi asked with excitement.

"Uhh yeah, why? You'd like to raise a toast?" Lavanya asked confused.

"Not really. Can I open it?" Aarchi looked at her with puppy eyes that Lavanya couldn't refuse her and agreed.

"Ari?" Vihaan stopped her as she leaned to take the bottle from Shreya. She looked at him questioningly.

"What's cooking in your head?" He asked concerned.

"Nothing, I just want to open the champagne bottle" She gave him a mischievous smile and took the bottle from Shreya.

"You all want to see something fun?" Aarchi asked as everyone looked at her curiously and nodded their heads.

"This is me bragging about sabering a champagne" She giggled as she removed her credit card from her purse.

"Woahh Ari, that's your credit card" Vihaan held her hand and asked her to leave whatever was going in her mind. She patted his shoulder and turned around to everyone.

"Gather around me" She motioned everyone to come closer behind her as she unwrapped the foil around the cork.

"What does sabering a champagne mean?" Rizwaan asked confused.

"It is a way of opening the champagne bottle by using the pressure inside the bottle. Generally you have a special knife to open it but since I don't have one here, we can always use a credit card" She explained to them as she unscrewed the cage and tightened it again when there was some space between the cage and cork.

"You need to move the metal cage away because if I don't then the metal cage will absorb all the energy and the champagne bottle won't open the way we want" She looked at everyone who nodded their heads interested in what she was doing.

"The weakest point in a champagne bottle is at its seam. You need to find the seam... See here it is" She showed it to everyone and asked them to touch it. They all looked at her as if they found gold.

"Now, I will run my credit card along the seam a few times and then pop... the bottle will open. Ready?" She asked excitedly. She held the bottle at 45 degrees and ran her credit card a few times up the seam creating pressure before she snapped the cork and cage away which flew a couple yards away from them. The champagne poured out fizzing and everyone cheered including her.

"That was cool" Rizwaan said taking the bottle from her and looking at the neck.

"I want to do it too" Lavanya said bringing another champagne bottle and forwarding it to Aarchi.

"No thanks Lav" Vihaan pulled Aarchi towards him and glared at Lavanya who pouted and kept back the bottle.

"Where did you learn that?"

"I read about it in a novel and then when we all friends met up we used to get champagne so we can try this. Its so fun, you should try it too" She said smiling up at him.

"I shall" He said smiling back at her, happy that even if it was for a while, she had forgotten the club incident.

"Why don't you all stay back? Its already late, stay the night" Lavanya looked at everyone with a pleading look.

"Sure" Vihaan agreed and relaxed in his chair as Aarchi looked at him worriedly.

"I'll talk to uncle, relax" He squeezed her hand firmly, assuring her that she won't be in trouble.

"You guys keep talking I'm done for the day" Neel stood up and stumbled slightly as Shreya quickly held him straight and shook her head. Aarchi looked at the two with hearts in her eyes and prayed for the couple to be more than 'just friends'.

"I'll show him to the room and I'm tired too" Shreya said waving good night to everyone.

"Are they in a relation?" Divya asked once Shreya and Neel were at a distance.

"Internally yeah, externally no. Neel's being a dumbass as always and Shreya... she's Shreya. Neel's going to regret the day she moves on from him" Manav explained to Divya who looked at them with fascination.

"Then I'll pray he gets his mind out of the gutter and acknowledges her at the earliest before its too late" Divya said crossing her fingers and wishing that the couple solves their problems quick.

"What about you two? Neel and Shreya will probably get together, what about the ones that are already together?" Vihaan asked looking at Rizwaan and Lavanya.

"What about us?" Rizwaan asked looking at them confused.

"When are you two getting married?" Vihaan asked helping Lavanya collect the trash.

"When she agrees" Rizwaan subtly walked by Lavanya's side and pinched her waist making her shriek gathering everyone's attention on her. She ducked her face down, blushing furiously as Rizwaan smirked and took the trash bag from Vihaan and help Lavanya himself. The 4 smiled and looked away.

"I've had a long day so I'm dipping too" Manav stood up pulling Divya with him. Divya tried to fight him but one look from him she stopped and rolled her eyes. Manav carried her bridal style and walked inside as Divya threw many colourful words at him making the rest laugh.

"You two want to chill or you are also dipping?" Lavanya asked.

"Dipping, we don't want to see you two get cozy" Vihaan pulled Aarchi with him inside and showed her the guest room and asked her to wear Lavanya's clothes as he walked to his room and informed Rishav and Kaira about the change in plans. 

Tired of the whole day everyone soon found themselves drifting in to soundful sleep except two beings who tossed the whole night.