Next Day

Vihaan avoided crossing paths with Aarchi at all costs. He reached the hospital earlier than her so he didn't have to interact with her. While on the other hand Aarchi was confused on seeing Vihaan put up a distance between them especially after what she saw last night. It was during the lunch hours she finally was able to see Vihaan.

"Vihaan" She stood beside Vihaan as he ordered his food.

"Ohh" Vihaan looked at Aarchi tensed.

"Are you okay? You've been avoiding me" She said looking at him hopefully.

"Ohh.. Nothing like that. I'm just busy" Vihaan said looking around but her.

"I'm infront of you Vihaan not where you are looking" Aarchi replied feeling humiliated at the lack of attention.

"Is it about what I said yesterday?" She held his hands in hers and asked concerned about his reaction.

"Yesterday... What happened yesterday? Nope nothing. I'm busy Ari, I'll catch up with you later" He took his order and tried running away from her but she stopped him by not giving him space.

"I like you is what happened yesterday. Now if you are done pretending can we talk?" She said straightforward, avoiding any talks that would end up in circles. Vihaan blushed at hearing her speak so openly.

"Ari... Vikas, hey" Vihaan quickly ran away from there making Aarchi breathe out angrily. She placed her order and pretended to be busy on phone knowing that Vihaan was staring at her.

"Aarchi" Her friend, Tara called her smiling as Aarchi looked for a space to sit. Aarchi smiled widely seeing it was right opposite the table Vihaan was sitting at. She walked over and sat by her friend.

"Have you heard this song?" Tara showed her phone to Aarchi who ignored the man staring at her.

"Yeah, its my current favourite" Aarchi said looking up at Vihaan, catching him off-gaurd. Vihaan cleared his throat and looked away and started talking to his friend he had run off to.

"Sing it na? I have a feel I'd like it more in your voice than original" Tara said recording Aarchi's voice excitedly. Aarchi smirked seeing it as an opportunity to get back at Vihaan.

"Ho.. leke aayi hoon main ishq ja nazrana

Jaanu main palkon se meh ko chhalkana
Main hoon fitoori

Dono aakhon se baandhungi tana bana
Tera dil ye bharega jurmana
Main hoon fitoori" Aarchi sang as she cut her parantha with a fork and knife, looking at Vihaan who gulped seeing the intense look in her eyes.  

"Doon main chahat raahat thodi si

Pal do pal shohbat thodi si
Phisla doon niyat thodi si

Haaye!
Ho.. leke aayi hoon main ishq ja nazrana
Jaanu main palkon se meh ko chhalkana
Main hoon fitoori" Aarchi winked at Vihaan seeing that no one was looking at them making Vihaan choke on the water he was drinking. He quickly got up and excused himself making Aarchi shake her head chuckling at seeing Vihaan so flustered.

___________

Later That Day

"Done running away?" Aarchi entered Vihaan's cabin without knocking.

Vihaan looked behind to see the intruder as he wrapped up for the day.

"Aarchi..." Vihaan breathed out in defeat.

"Have a seat" He said motioning her to take a seat. Aarchi sat down looking at him curiously. Vihaan sat on the chair beside her and faced her, resting his elbows on his knees.

"I flirted with you here and there to cheer you up.  You are mistaking it as love" He explained to her in a tight voice, feeling his heart shatter. Aarchi looked at him with a bored expression knowing he was spitting out nonsense.

"Fine, forget my feelings. You don't like me?" She asked mirroring his actions.

"Ari... You are being difficult now. I'm not the man who deserves you" He said holding her hands in his.

"And why is that?" She asked glaring at him.

"You won't understand" He said looking at her pleadingly.

"So you are saying that if another man comes up to me and flirts with me, I should take that man up for offer?" Aarchi pulled her hands out of his hands and tucked them at her chest angrily.

"Teri jaisi ladkiyon se flirt nahi aashiqui ki jaati hai. Don't fall for a man who flirts with you, fall for one who love you too and flirts to keep you smiling" Vihaan said standing up trying to make his point clear.

"Toh aap hi karlo... waise bhi aap flirt bura hi karte ho incase you didn't know. Flirt bhi karlo aur aashiqui bhi karlo mere saath" Aarchi said biting onto her lower lip stopping herself from laughing at how she was running behind a grown man who was hiding from his feelings.

"Huh? Tere se aashiqui karunga toh tere dono bhai mera kachumbar bana dege" He said turning around and laughing at her innocent words.

"Toh aapko kya laga tha, asaan hai mujhse pyaar karna. Saheb... bohot kathin hai dagar panghat ki" She said pushing her hair behind her ear and standing up.

"Pagal" He said shaking his head and moving away from her.

"Nai sachi keh rahi hoon. Aapko aashiqui hi karni hai toh mujhse hi karlo. I don't have a problem" Aarchi said holding him by his shirt and pulling him closer.

"No!" He made her leave her t-shirt and turned around and started walking.

"Why?" She ran behind him asking him.

"Because you are off limits to me. You are my best-friends sister and my brother's best-friend" He said stopping and answering her seriously. He pulled his hair behind in frustration that she wasn't understanding his point.

"So? Just say you don't have the guts to be with me" She took a step closer like a queen challenging him into a dual. She placed both her hands at her waist and challenged him.

"Guts... Saheba I can throw you over my shoulder and not let you leave my room ever" Vihaan held her nape making her look at him. Aarchi looked up at him, holding her chin up as if to defy him. She placed her hands on his hand and leaned on it.

"I am not against the idea" She replied winking at him and smiling mischievously.

"You want your father to kill me?" He asked touching his forehead with her, raising goosebumps on her skin.

"Aap ke aage khadi rahungi agar zaroorat padi toh. Take a step towards me and then let me do the rest?" She looked at him with a pout stretching her neck to allow her to take him fully.

"I can't do this Ari. Don't make me question my morales" He said pushing himself away from her and walking away leaving her seething in anger.

"Fuck you Vihaan Malhotra" She took a paper weight and was to throw at him when he was suddenly on top of her.

"Don't play with fire here Ari. Don't call the devil so much that he may appear" Vihaan said pulling her hands behind her back.

"I need to know whether you like me or not? If you don't I won't disturb you but if you do and aren't agreeing because of my brothers or your brother, I took you to be courageous than that. I am not going to beg to you to accept my love so if you are going to walk away, do that but know one thing that I'll never bend for you again" She said softly.

"Your family won't agree" Vihaan left her hands and sat down on the chair.

"Forget my family for the time being, I just said I like you and you being you didn't even say yes or no to it" Aarchi knelt down, placing her hands on his knees.

"There's a long distance between 'I like you' and 'I want to bear your children', do you understand me? Probably we both might realise that it isn't working out or something or the other. Family is important but why include them right now when we aren't sure whether we are going to stick together for long?" Aarchi looked at him hopefully with a pleading look in her eyes.

"So you are saying we date secretly?" Vihaan pulled her up and made her sit on the chair.

"That's not what I said, that's all you saying it" Aarchi said raising her hands in air.

"What do you want me to do then?" Vihaan asked tiredly.

"Are you always this daft? Were you this difficult with Aparna? You are the man between us and you are supposed to court me then if we like each other then you ask my parents for their permission to wed me.... Sorry" Aarchi looked at him angrily but then bit her tongue seeing Vihaan's entire demeanour change at the name of his girlfriend.

"I didn't mean to bring her up. I'm truly sorry. I didn't want to hurt you" Aarchi realised her mistake and apologized profusely.

"I think you are right. This is a bad idea. I'll say something like this and then you'll get sad and it'll bring back memories you want to move on from. I'm sorry" Aarchi stood up to leave when Vihaan stopped her by holding her wrist as he sat with his head ducked.

"She owns a part of my heart Ari. If you can adjust with the remaining pieces of my heart then I'm all yours. I can't forget her because she's an integral part of me" He said looking up at her.

"But there'll be a space exclusively just for me right?" Aarchi asked cupping his face in her palms.

"I wish I could give you the whole of me but I'm already too broken and I can only offer you the remaining pieces" He said holding her hands.

"As long as only I have the right on those pieces, I can manage if you can accept my broken pieces" She said with a smile.

"You wear those pieces as a warrior Ari, you look beautiful in them while I look broken and defeated" Vihaan said looking away from her embaressed at himself.

"Vihaan... all my life that I have an exceptional taste and yet you choose to disregard yourself putting my tastes in question. I don't like to be questioned for my choices if you didn't know that already" She said rolling her eyes.

"Will I ever hear more than 2 words of consolation from you?" Vihaan asked chuckling and standing up.

"Depends on whether you confess your feelings to me like I did or continue acting like a pain in the ass" She said taking a step away from him and removing her hands from him.

"Crude words don't suit the princesses." He said cupping her cheeks.

"Now you want to be a gentleman? All this time when I was practically on my knees asking you to accept my love, where was the gentleman? Had gone to take a piss?" She looked at him angrily.

"What can I say? He's got the timings wrong when it comes to you. It forgets when he should act as a gentleman and when as a thug in front of you" He said kneeling down on his both knees in front of her, holding her hands.

"I like you... I like you so much that I'd burn down the ground if I don't have you. I beg you Princess Ranawat, accept my love and make me the luckiest man on Earth who will have the pleasure of having you on his arm" He looked up at her with a smile that made him look like a boy. Aarchi laughed shaking her head hearing him praise her so much.

"You are lucky my lord, I accept your love wholeheartedly" She said bowing down slightly as she giggled. Vihaan stood up and hugged her tightly.

"I like you so much" He whispered kissing her head as she whispered the same and closed her eyes liking the warmth.

"In the shows after the hero confesses, he gets a kiss" Vihaan teased her. Aarchi hit his back in mock anger.

"But you are my King and Kings need to earn it, they don't just get it because they confesses their undying love" Aarchi said breaking the hug and looking at him.

"Then I shall work hard to earn it" He said holding her close to him.

"You are going to be the bane of my existence Princess Ranawat" He whispered hugging her tightly making her giggle at his eagerness.