Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya?

Living Arrangements?

'Reyna looked at Percy without much hope. "You do have a plan?" 

Percy wanted to step forward bravely and say No, I don't!'

~ Rick Riordan, The Son of Neptune

Varun P.O.V. 

When ma called me back into the room, I knew that something was up. She looked a little too happy for my liking given the situation. The way Alia looked at me when I entered the room was enough to confirm my fears, her eyes apologetic even as she tried to keep her expression neutral. I pretended to be confused as I looked at her, hoping that that look didn't mean what I thought it meant. My hopes were dashed when Mahesh uncle spoke. 'I know that the two of you have made up your minds but we're not okay with you ending a marriage that we just found out about.' I opened my mouth to protest but a glare from ma shut me up quickly. 'We want you two to give it one last chance, just for five months - and we mean really try - and if you still want to end it then, we won't say anything.' 

'Papa, I still think-' Alia began but the looks on their faces were enough to say that our parents weren't going to listen. 'It's not going to work is it?' They all shook their heads and she sighed, shooting me an I'm sorry, I tried look. I tried to let her know it was okay, there was nothing for her to be sorry for, but I couldn't get my face into the expression I wanted and, by the time I'd managed, she's looked away. 

'Listen, you two may not realise it, but you've got something good here. Don't give up on it yet.' my dad advised. Me and Alia exchanged a look that, thankfully, went unnoticed. 

'Just give it a few months. See if there isn't something still there.' ma said. The way she looked at me when she said it made it impossible to even think about protesting so I nodded. Alia's eyes went wide, partly from shock and partly from fear. Nobody else seemed to notice, apparently too excited to pay attention to us. 

'Well then, that's settled.' Soni aunty said, a little too cheerfully. 

'So, where are you two going to stay?' dad asked. I spluttered, choking on my own spit and Alia, who probably would've just stared at him, mortified, if it hadn't been for my coughing fit, rushed over to rub my back, helping to ease my breathing. As I began to get air back into my lungs, I glared at my dad who seemed to be rather amused by the situation. 

'What do you mean where are we going to stay?' I asked once my airways were clear. 

'Well, if you want any chance at trying to make it work, you can't be living separately.' uncle reasoned. 

'Papa, you're the ones who want us to make it work, not us.' Alia pointed out. 

'Yes, but you agreed to try.' her mum countered. 

'That doesn't mean living together! We couldn't even make it work when we were living separately.' she argued. 

'I think you'll find that's why it didn't work.' ma refuted. Me and Alia exchanged another look, both of us having come to the realisation that, as always, arguing with our mothers would prove to be an exercise in futility so we may as well agree. 

'Fine. We'll do things your way. But if we end up killing each other, don't say we didn't feel you so.' I told them. 

'You won't kill each other.' ma dismissed the thought with a wave of her hand. 'But this brings us back to the question of where you'll be staying.' 

'Well, I can't imagine Shaheen would be too happy for me to stay with them so I guess my place?' I offered. 

'I, yeah, I guess.' Alia mumbled. 

'Great, so if you both are free this weekend, we'll get Alia moved in then.' Soni aunty suggested. There was no chance we could even lie and sat we weren't free because I knew that aunty knew Alia's schedule and, because we were filming together, that meant she knew most of mine. So we both nodded, reluctant but defeated and thus began discussions of what needed to be done.  

Though they were discussing our lives, me and Alia stayed silent, knowing our input wasn't really necessary here. 

***

While our parents were discussing our living arrangements, our siblings walked into the room, Shaheen refusing to look at either of us, bhaiya giving me a somewhat worried, somewhat disappointed look and babhi looking at Alia with an oddly sad expression. I was suddenly extremely glad that Alia wasn't really paying any attention to what was going on because she would absolutely hate having that look directed at her. 

The three that had just entered the room stood at the door for a minute, just listening before me brother spoke up. 'Wait, what's going on?' he asked. Neither me nor Alia offered any explanation so he looked to out parents, who were all too happy to explain. I paid no attention as our parents  told our siblings of the situation, instead trying to figure out a way to make all this up to Alia. I glanced over at her a few times and saw that she was obviously zoned out, not even pretending to pay attention like she usually would. There was obviously something wrong but there was no way for me to ask without drawing attention. So I watched and tried to figure out what was going on. Usually I would've been able to of it but today she was hiding; even with the fact that she was daydreaming, she had up shields, shields that she usually let down around me but, for some reason, now they were stronger than ever and heavily guarded. 

Finally, after almost half an hour of her being in her trance and me watching her, she snapped out of her daze. It took me a moment to realise it was because Shaheen was talking to her - more like grilling her about what she was thinking. Alia, surprisingly, didn't say anything, answering her sister's questions with shrugs and vague gestures. 'Shaheen, I think that's enough.' I interrupted after a moment. Both sisters turned to look at me, the younger stunned and the older pissed. 

'Stay out of it Dhawan.' Shaheen snapped. 

'Leave him alone.' Alia muttered, just loud enough to be heard. 

'What?' her sister asked, just as confused as me. 

'You heard me. You're pissed with me, don't take it out on him.' 

'Except he's the one who started this. I may be mad at you, but I'm just as pissed at him - if not more.' Shaheen countered. 

'It was just as much my decision as it was his. So stop getting on at him.' Alia argued. Shaheen simply glared at her, unable to argue any further in front of our parents. 

'Okay, I get I'm not exactly your favourite person right now Shaheen, but you heard what's been decided so let's just try to be civil yeah?' I suggested, cutting my eyes over to Alia briefly to silently tell the older girl to agree for her sake. 

'Yeah I've heard and I don't like it.' she grumbled. 

'You don't have to like it.' I told her with a shrug. 'Fact of the matter is that we've decided to give it another shot and we'll be sharing a house for the next five months.' I got a look that clearly meant something along the lines of I'm gonna kill you Dhawan but I ignored it, turning to the assembled adults. 'Now are we done here? Because I should probably get home and starting clearing some space for Alia's stuff.' 

'Yeah, I think we're done.' papa nodded. 

'Alright cool, I'll be going then.' I said, turning to walk out of the room before remembering I had wanted to speak to Alia. 'Alu, you need a lift?' I asked, hoping she'd say yes and give us the time to talk. 

'I drove us here, I can drive us both back Dhawan.' Shaheen answered before Alia could open her mouth. I nodded, knowing better than to argue with a Bhatt who was pissed with me - especially when it came to protecting the baby of the family. 

'Okay, I'll see you on set tomorrow then?' I asked Alia. She nodded, barely looking at me and I figured it would be a good time to leave. 'Right, I'll see you guys later then.' I told them all, turning and actually leaving this time.  

A/N: Happy Friday guys. Hope you enjoyed that as this is one of our favourite chapters. 

What do you think? Will these two be able to get along or will they end up driving each other completely insane? 

Let us know what you think and we'll see you Monday.