Committed In Love

22: Mess

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Kritika:

I walked out of Naveen's kitchen to see everyone on the couch with their phones in their hands. I sighed and slowly backed up until they couldn't see me but I could see and hear everyone.

This had been going on for about 2 weeks. Whenever we would meet up, they would be on their phones. They had suddenly become really busy and we rarely had any movie nights at this point.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard everyone snicker or giggle simultaneously. Their head snapped to Navya who was grinning. Something clicked in my head, as I took out my phone and checked our group. There was not a single message. And all of them were stuck to their phones since I walked in 3 hours ago. So, if I'm not wrong-

They have been chatting without me.

The realization made my throat clog, old nauseous feelings came back up. After the whole Shivani incident, I couldn't let anyone in. Not until Shanaya. I had always been insecure about all of my friendships. But Shanaya and the gang never made me feel like I was a burden to them. Like they had to hide something from me.

Until now.

Another pang went through my heart when I wondered if Jai was in their new group chat too. I knew if I stayed any longer, I'd have a breakdown. So I slowly tiptoed into the living room, took my bag, and walked towards the door, the sounds coming from the TV hiding the sounds of my footsteps. As I stepped out of the house, not one of them lifted their head. And as soon as the door was shut, the first tear fell.

Naveen:

"Uh guys?" My oh-so-funny sister asked as we all looked at her.

"Where is Kritika?" She asked.

"She is in the kitchen." Aki said in an obvious tone. She shook her head.

"It's been 30 minutes since she went there. And look, even her bag is missing." She said. And that is when we realized that she was right.

"Wait, she left?" Aakash said as we all looked at each other.

"Without telling us....." Aki trailed off and I could hear the gears turning in everyone's head, including mine.

Did she realize....

"M-Maybe we should go check on her." Aki said as he looked up in panic.

"Hey, hey. Calm down." I said as he made a face at me.

"Calm down?! Naveen for all we know she could be thinking we are pushing her away like her bitch of an ex-friend." He said as he started to hyperventilate.

"I mean we have been busy with all the preparations and....." Nayana said as I shared a worried glance with Aakash.

"We should go." Aki said in a panic as he got up and walked to the door.

"Where?" Ritwik asked as Aki opened the door.

"To her home." He yelled as he walked out and I nodded at Aakash.

"Aakash and I will go with him. You guys stay here, ok?" I said as they nodded in reply.

Akhil:

"Aki, calm down. Maybe we are just misunderstanding the whole thing." Aakash said, but I didn't respond and continued watching the numbers go up.

"Hey." Naveen whispered as he turned me towards him.

"We will fix this, I promise." He said as I nodded. Right on cue, the elevator opened and we got out, making our way to Kritika's apartment.

"Go ahead." Naveen said as I nodded and knocked on the door. It took a few moments before I heard shuffling on the other side. I felt Naveen hold my hand and I squeezed back right as the door opened.

I lost my breath when I took one glance at her face. Her nose was swollen and so were her eyes. I guess she wasn't expecting us because her eyes widened in........panic?

"Uhm, hey guys." She whispered and even in the tiny voice, I could hear the coarseness.

Yep, we made her cry.

Fucking hell.

"You left without saying anything. So we got worried." Aakash said and I watched as her eyes slightly narrowed, which usually happened when she had an angry/sarcastic quip on the tip of her tongue.

Say it.

Please say it.

"I wasn't feeling too well so I came back home." She said as I felt my heart fall.

Shit.

"Are you okay?" Naveen asked as he stepped towards her and placed the back of his hand on her forehead and I immediately saw her form go rigid.

"Nothing some advils and a few hours of sleep can't handle." She said with a smile that looked so real but was so fake.

"Okay." Naveen said, nodding as he moved away and I could see her relax a bit.

"Maybe you should leave." She said as we froze.

"I mean, if I have a bug or anything like that, I wouldn't want you to get it. Especially you Aakash. Wouldn't wanna cause problems for my godchildren." She said.

"Okay. Take care hmm?" I said as instincts took over and I pulled her into a hug. I could feel her tensing, and I knew what was coming.

Please let it out.

Please, Anything.

Just cry, get angry, just do something.

Pleas-

"Okay." She whispered in a forced voice as she hugged me back and I could feel my heart break into tiny pieces.

No.

"Love you, Boss." Naveen said as he slowly pulled me away and hugged her.

The rest of it passed in a trance and I was stuck in my thoughts until we were out of her apartment building. I immediately took out my phone and called him.

"Aki what are-" Naveen started asking but I ignored him as someone picked up the phone.

"Aki I'm in a meeting right no-"

"Jai." I cried out and interrupted him, making him go silent on the other side.

"We fucked up."

AN:-Honestly, I didn't like how this chapter came out because my Grammarly is broken, and I couldn't even think of a song which connects with this chapter. Do you?

And I didn't realise until it was too late that I didn't give it a title. Great.