Varun P.O.V.
'Varun, phone.' Alia groaned, turning and burying her head in my shoulder, pulling the blanket up to cover her head.
'Scoot.' I mumbled, trying to gently push her over.
'M comfy.' she grumbled.
'Can't get the phone unless you scoot.' I told her, rolling her over softly. She groaned slightly, muttering something that sounded vaguely like sleep disturber. Chuckling, I picked up the phone and lay back down, pulling Alia back to her comfy position as I did, earning a sleepy smile and a lazy hug.
'Bro, you there?' came the voice of my friend George, who was on the other end of the line.
'Yeah, I'm here. Sorry, little slow, just woke up.'
'Oh, so you actually got some sleep last night?' he asked, teasing lilt in his voice.
'Why wouldn't I have got sleep?'
'You tell me.' he said.
'Dude, seriously, it's too early for these games.'
'Funny you should talk about games; what happened to Mr. Doesn't Cheat?' he queried, confusing the crap out of me.
'What?'
'Well, you've been going on about your girlfriend most of the past two weeks but you left with someone last night.' Said someone began to giggle, having heard what had just been said. 'And sounds like you're still with her now.'
'Would you stop laughing?' I mumbled, trying to glare at her but failing when she gave me her puppy face.
'Uh, mate, you talking to me? Cause I'm not laughing.' George said, sounding much like he was doubting my mental health.
'I know you're not but my girlfriend is finding it highly amusing that you think I'm cheating on her... with her.' I explained, the words causing Alia to laugh harder.
'Wait, that's your girlfriend?' George questioned.
'Why do you sound so shocked?'
'Well, I mean, she's hot mate.' he deadpanned.
'Yeah, I'm aware of that.'
'No offense man but how did you manage that one?' Alia picked her head up from my shoulder and looked at me, her face a mixture of amusement and annoyance.
'Simple, I asked her out, she said yes. Now, I'm sure you didn't call me at eleven on a Saturday to question me about my personal life.' I said, diverting the conversation from the topic of my relationship.
'Oh, yeah. We're thinking of going out this afternoon. Catch a movie, grab some food. You down for it?' he asked. I looked to Alia, receiving a shrug in answer to my unasked question.
'I dunno. What time you thinking?'
'Probably about three.' he told me. Again, I looked to Alia.
'Mane su kam jos? Tane jawuhoi toh ja.' (Why are you looking at me? If you want to go, then go.) she mumbled. I rolled my eyes and turned back to the conversation with George.
'Mate, is it cool if I bring my girlfriend?' I asked, ignoring the slap on my arm I received from her and the frantic shaking of her head.
'Well, Sarah, Ashley, Rose and Lucy are coming so I don't see why not. Besides, we'll finally get to meet this mysterious girlfriend of yours; god knows you've managed to evade it long enough.' he joked.
'Alright then, where we meeting?'
'In town, by clock tower at quarter till.'
'Cool I'll see you then.' I hung up the phone and leaned over Alia to put it on the nightstand.
As soon as I lay back down, she shifted, propping herself up on her elbow and glaring down at me. 'Why are you angry?' I questioned, perplexed.
'Varun, I am not coming out with your friends!' she exclaimed.
'Why the hell not Alia? We're not in India, there's no reason to be careful about it.' I persuaded.
'Whether we're in India or not, the whole world will find out courtesy of your Instagram and your obsession with instastories.' she refuted.
'What's the big deal Alu? Why the need to be so secretive all the time?'
'I'm not being secretive, I just don't want to sit there being awkward.' she answered, trying to worm her way out of it.
'And if you don't come I'm going to sit there being awkward! My friends are all bringing their partners, why can't I bring you?'
'Varun, I'm not coming with you.' she denied.
'But why?'
'Because I told my parents I wasn't coming here to see you!' she snapped, going red.
'You told them what?' I asked, laughing.
'Well, when I said I wanted to come here for a couple of weeks, they started teasing that oh, isn't Varun in London and it's not like I can pretend I didn't know that and you know it bugs me when they do stuff like that so I just told them that I'm coming here to have some time to myself and it has nothing to do with the fact that you just so happen to be here.' she explained, voice becoming quiter as she spoke.
'You realise they know you were lying right?'
'Of course I know that but I don't want to give them proof!' she exclaims.
'Aluuuuu, just come on. The whole world knows that we're here together. Hell, the second you were spotted at the airport it started. Just come out with me please. I promise I won't post anything online.' I swore, giving her my best serious face.
'Don't give me that look.' she whined, clearly close to caving.
'Then just say you'll come. Please baby, we hardly get time together.' I pouted, knowing she would give in.
'Ugh, fine.' she finally conceded.
'Yess!' I exclaimed, leaning upwards in an attempt to kiss her only for her to push me away. 'What?'
'We have a rule, Dhawan.' she reminded, pushing herself up and getting out of bed.
'You and your rules.' I muttered, rolling over and sitting up.
'Yes, me and my rules.' she called from the bathroom, somehow having heard my comment. 'Now get up, I'm hungry.'
'I'm getting up. Impatient woman.'
'Varun, when it comes to food, do not mess with me.' she told me, turning to face me as I walked into the bathroom. 'Surely you've learnt that lesson by now.'
'Trust me jaanu, I have definitely learnt that lesson.' I agreed, wincing at the thoughts of the nights I had been banished to the sofa as punishment for contesting her food choices the last time we had filmed together.
'Good, then you don't need to be told what'll happen if you don't hurry up and get dressed?'
'Haan mari maa, I know. Can I go to the toilet at least?' I asked jokingly.
'Go, koi tane na pareche?' (Is anyone saying no?) she quipped, laughing and walking back to the bedroom.
***
By twelve we were out of the hotel, sat at a little café down the road eating an extremely late breakfast. 'So, other than movies, what's the plan for today?' Alia asked once she'd decided what she wanted to eat.
'Well, we can go shopping, we could go back to the hotel and watch tv or we could go find a park and forget that we are actually fully grown adults.' I offered.
'Meh, do a lot of shopping, tv can be watched at home so, park sounds like a good option.' she told me, just like I thought she would.
'Figured you'd say that. We'll go find a park once we're done eating.'
'Are you sure that's a good idea though? I mean, there'll probably be lots of people there and you know, we don't really look young enough to be at a playground...' I laughed at her sudden apprehension, used to her sometimes indecisive nature.
'Alu, it's the middle of the day during term time; there won't be any kids there.' I assured.
'Oh, right then. Sounds good.' She sounded convinced but there was something slightly off. I didn't get the chance to question her about it, our food got there before I had the time to. Seeing her plate of French toast, Alia immediately brightened, worries apparently forgotten.
***
Throughout the rest of breakfast, everything seemed normal but, on the short walk to the park, Alia became silent.
There was clearly something bugging her but I figured the middle of the street wasn't exactly the best place to question her about it so I said nothing until we got to the park. She no longer seemed nearly as excited to be here as she had an hour ago, the desire to let go and be childish having disappeared.
Still without speaking, she let go of my hand and went and sat on a swing. There was a small, kind of nostalgic, ghost of a smile on her face as she gently pushed herself back and forth, still lost in thought.
Unable to stand her oddly sad mood, I followed her to the swing set, claiming the swing next to hers, giving her a smile as she looked in my direction. She attempted to return the smile but it turned out more like a grimace. 'What is it?' I asked, reaching out a hand to take hold of the one that wasn't holding onto the chain.
'Well, you know how you promised not to post anything?' she queried, speaking slowly.
'Yeah. Why?'
'It would be really hypocritical of me to go and post a picture of you then wouldn't it?'
'Uhm, what does that have to do with anything?'
'Well, it's not often we get to do stuff like this and, you know when we do I don't think twice before posting pictures...' she trailed off, looking slightly embarrassed. I couldn't help but laugh, more at myself for being so worried than at her for worrying over something like that.
'Alia, stop worrying about what will happen if people see us together. You know, you should be worrying about the rumours that start if we aren't seen together. Considering everyone knows we're both here, if we aren't seen together at all, people will make a big deal out of it and, next thing you know, apparently we've got into a huge fight and broken up, for the I think eighth time since we got together.' I joked, watching as the embarassment and anxiety began to fade, a begrudging smile appearing on her face.
'Maybe you're right. I'm just overthinking it. Guess I'm just paranoid.'
'Paranoid?' I questioned, slightly confused.
'I know you generally avoid looking at rumours but there's been a lot about us recently.'
'Okay, but that's nothing new. Why does it bother you?' I asked, not understanding what the problem was.
'Because people are saying really ridiculous things. I know it shouldn't bother me, people can say whatever they want and it wouldn't annoy me but, honestly, can somebody please explain how this is something our parents arranged?'
'Sorry, what?' I questioned, sure I'd heard her wrong.
'Apparently, us being together is somehow something to do with our parents and them being good friends. People are acting like we're suddenly getting married or something, saying it's arranged.'
'Arranged what though? How do you arrange a relationship?' I queried, more weirded out than I'd ever been by a rumour.
'Heck if I know. I just know people seem to think that our parents have.'
'Well then let them. Eventually people will realise that this isn't some kind of joke, that we're serious about this.' I told her.
'Varun, maybe they'll realise you're serious about this but you're forgetting that I've done that before, been with someone because I was told to.'
'Alu, that was different.'
'How? That's exactly what people are saying about us, that we're together because our parents want us to be so how is it any different?' she questioned.
'Because our parents have nothing to do with our relationship. This isn't something that we're doing because we were told or for the media or whatever, at least, I hope it isn't.' She sighed and looked down, making me worry a little. 'Alia? It isn't, right?'
'No. If it was, I wouldn't always be so cautious about us being seen together, would I?'
'Well no but then what's the problem?'
'Varun, I'm getting tired of hiding! I don't want to be so cautious anymore, but we have to be because of my stupid mistakes. I never should have gone through with Karan's stupid plan but I did and now our relationship is constantly being called into question.' she ranted. It wasn't the first time I'd heard her say something like this, she has a bad habit of dragging up the past and blaming herself for the way people are always questioning how real our relationship is, but I'd never seen her get so worked up about it before.
'Alu, has someone said something? Other than the stupid rumours I mean?'
'Not exactly.' she said, looking like she was having an argument with herself. 'Except well, Sid kind of did. And Karan asked me how I could be stupid enough to make the same mistake again.'
'I, okay, I doubt Karan meant anything bad by it, he's just looking out for you and, considering the mess that came out of it last time I can't blame him but what did Sid say?'
'That I ended it with him because our relationship was fake and I couldn't be with someone for the sake of PR or media but now I'm doing the same thing with you.' she recounted.
'Sid doesn't honestly believe it?' I questioned, receiving a nod of conformation. 'But how? I mean, we're hardly seen together, we're so damn careful even though the world knows we're together! That's the opposite of a PR relationship.'
'Yeah, I know but evidently the world doesn't see it that way.' she sighed, looking more upset than I'd ever seen her be about a rumour.
'Alu, come on, don't let this get to you. Why do you even care what they're saying?'
'I don't even know! That's the thing, I can't figure out why the hell it bothers me but I can't get it to stop bothering me either.' she complained. 'It's not that I care what people think, I don't really give a shit, but the whole reason we've always been careful about letting people see us together is to avoid these kinds of rumours. We've had to compromise so much and miss out on so many things to keep people from speculating but they're doing it anyway so what the hell was the point?'
'It's not necessarily a bad thing baby. I mean, we've kept our private life private, not let it interfere with our work, that's what we wanted to do isn't it?'
'You don't get it Varun. When I was with someone I wasn't in love with, I was supposed to be seen with him, supposed to post pictures but now I'm with someone I am in love with and if I'm seen with you or post pictures of us, we're being a media-couple.' she griped, trying to get me to see it her way.
'You know what, I don't see why we're bothering with this anymore.' I told her, starting to get annoyed.
'Bothering with this? Meaning... with us?' she questioned, tears springing up in her eyes.
'What? No! I mean I'm done with the hiding. I don't care what people say, you know I never have, so why are we bothering with all this secrecy? I mean, people now that there's something going on and we don't exactly deny it, even if we've not outright said that we're together, so why have we been hiding all this time?'
'Because we don't want our personal lives to take precedent over our work and there's already been too much shit about us and it shouldn't matter what people say about us or what rumours are floating around, so long as we know the truth.' she said, giving my own words back to me. 'And because every time we're seen together, it gets this same response.'
'You know people only think this way because we're hardly seen together. When we're seen together it's at some kind of event or party, never just chilling. Even when you were with Sid, you were seen at his place, or going out for lunch or a movie.' I reasoned.
'Yes, because it was supposed to be convincing and people were supposed to see us doing those things. I'm not trying to convince the whole world of something that isn't real, I'm trying to be in a relationship without everyone and their mother sticking their nose into it!' she exclaimed.
'You're an actress, dating an actor, and you expect the world to stay out of your business?' I questioned, fearing my girlfriend had gone insane.
'Varun, you know what I mean! I don't expect people to stay out of my business but I'd appreciate it if I didn't get so much hate for who I'm seeing. I didn't even get so much hate when I was seeing Sid! I spend time with you, I'm being too public; I don't spend time with you, we've broken up; I spend time with someone else, I'm cheating on you. I've never had to deal with so much stupid conjecture before and it's getting beyond a joke.'
'So what do you want me to do? If I tell you to chill and stop thinking so much, you give me half a dozen reasons why that's a bad idea. If I say we'll keep things the way they are, you get annoyed. What do you want me to say?' I demanded, getting beyond frustrated.
'I don't know! I just... I just want this to work VD. I want it to work so badly but it's not and I know that's my fault but I really, really do want this to work. It's taken us so long to get here and-' I cut her off with a hand over her mouth, not wanting to risk kissing her to shut her up like I usually would because she's halfway to an anxiety attack and that'd probably just earn me a slap.
'Don't you dare even think about finishing that sentence. This is working. Just because we have to be careful, doesn't mean we aren't working. I love you Alia Bhatt, and I'd shout it from the mountaintops if you'd let me.' I declared. Finally, a smile stretched across her face, reaching her eyes and lighting up my entire world.
'I love you too, Varun Dhawan, so so much. And, well, I don't know about mountaintops but maybe it wouldn't entirely be a bad thing to let people know.'
'What're you thinking Bhatt?' I questioned, recognising the look on her face to be her I've-got-a-plan look.
'You know, nowadays when you want to announce something, you do it on social media.' she stated, giving me a pointed look. I caught on to the plan immediately and was about to say no but I realised it wouldn't actually be that bad.
'You really want to do this?' I asked, waiting for the uncertainty to kick in and her to change her mind.
'Yes.' she answered, surprising me.
'Alu, there's no going back afterwards.' I warned, giving her one last chance to back out.
'I know. And I'm not going to change my mind about this. You're right, hiding is stupid and pointless. We've got nothing to be afraid of, no reason to hide and I'm done hiding it.'
'Okay then, how do you wanna do this?' I asked, leaving it up to her because I didn't know what to do. A smirk slowly spread across her face and she let me in on her plan. Before we could put the plan into action, I felt a drop of rain on my head. Thinking I'd imagined it, I took my phone out to continue with the plan anyway. Of course, the second I'd taken my phone out of my pocket, the heavens opened up and it began pouring it down, you know, as it tends to do in the middle of April in England. We both froze for a second, standing in the sudden torrential downpour, before my brain caught up to me and I ran for shelter, going to hide under the giant wooden climbing frame/jungle gym, assuming Alia would follow.
Once I was out of the rain, I looked to my right expecting to see a thoroughly drenched Alia stood next to me but found nothing except air; looking to my other side gave me the same result. Confused, I looked out over the playground, trying to see if she'd chosen to take cover under another of the play structures, and saw she was still stood out in the rain, a huge smile on her face as it continued to pour down on her. 'Alu!' I called, my voice fading quickly amidst the noise of the rain but managing to catch her attention all the same. She turned to face me, saying something I couldn't quite hear but guessed to be come here from the way she gestured to me. 'Are you nuts? You'll catch your death. Come here!' She shook her head, laughing and twirling in the rain. Despite the fact that I was more than slightly worried she'd get sick, I couldn't help but be in awe of her. There was a freeness about her that I hadn't seen in a long time, like she was letting the rain wash away all her troubles and burdens, bringing back the happy childishness that had slowly worn away during the many years spent being constantly scrutinised. Though she was comfortable enough with me to be her true self, I hadn't seen her be so light and untethered in years, the weight of her career and the struggles that come with it had become a part of her, just like mine had become a part of me - though not to the same extent. I hadn't become more reserved or all that much more mature but Alia had; she'd started to guard herself early on and adopted an air of maturity that didn't suit her, grown up too fast. Now though, she was letting it go, leaving behind the pretences of being someone older, someone who was always poised and knew what they were doing. For the first time in so many years, I was seeing her as the girl she had been when I first fell in love with her and I felt myself falling all over again. It wasn't an uncommon feeling for me to experience - I couldn't even count the amount of times in one day that I'd look at my girlfriend and find myself falling a little more, a little harder - but this was something different, something deeper.
Looking at her now, stood in the rain with her head tilted back letting the water fall straight on her face and run over her, eyes closed and smile brighter than the sun, I felt like I had the first time I'd seen her laugh, openly laugh not the polite chuckle she often gave, like the earth had stopped turning and I was free falling but, at the same time I wasn't. The gravity was gone but that wasn't what was holding me in place anymore; it was this girl - this crazy, annoying, caring, stubborn, strange girl - that was keeping me grounded. It was in that moment, all those years ago, that I realised I would do anything for the girl stood in front of me, do anything to make her laugh like that, keep the smile on her face. Stood under the shelter of the playground equipment, I felt that same inexplicable emotion, the strange sensation that it was no longer earth's gravitational field keeping me in place but Alia's own gravitational pull.
Without any conscious thought, my feet began to carry me forwards till I was stood behind her. She turned to face me, her smile growing wider still as she saw me. My arms wound around her waist and she wrapped hers around my neck, both of us swaying slightly to non-existent music. It was so easy to just get lost in her, to let myself forget everything - including the fact that it was piss pouring it down with rain. It didn't occur to me that we were both soaked to the bone and getting more drenched with each passing second, at least, not until Alia spoke. 'Varun?' she whispered.
'Hmmm?'
'I'm cold.' she told me with a slight shiver and a small laugh.
'We should probably go back to the hotel.' I suggested. She nodded her agreement and we began the walk back to our temporary residence. Consumed by the cold that was setting in and lost in the thoughts of getting back to our nice, warm hotel room, neither of us noticed the figure stood at the edge of the playground, the person who'd stopped to watch the two strange people who'd stopped and stood in the rain, caught up in each other.
***
By the time we got back to the hotel, we were both absolutely freezing; maybe walking in the rain hadn't been the best idea but, considering it wasn't really far enough to be taking a taxi and the bus didn't stop near the hotel, it had been the best option. Once we'd made it through the lobby, trying to ignore the perplexed looks from the receptionists, and up to our room, the only thing either of us wanted to do was take a hot shower and get into warm, dry clothes. We both came to the realisation that there was only one shower which lead to a brief argument over who got the shower first before Alia suggested that we just share to save ourselves from dying from pneumonia caused by remaining in absolutely drenched clothes.
Turns out, it wasn't the best idea in the world. For some bizarre reason, the hotel seemed to think it was a brilliant idea to have showers smaller than the cubicles at the gym, making it next to impossible for two people to shower at the same time. Despite the fact that it was a very cramped situation, the hot water was too tempting to ignore and, once stood under the spray, there was no way either of us would be giving it up so, with much swearing and stepping on each other's feet and shifting and accidental tickling and giggling, we managed it.
Once we were done with the, disappointingly short, shower and had pulled out the warmest pyjamas we could find - or, in Alia's case, jacked one of my favourite hoodies and given me the most adorable, impossible to refuse, pout to make me cave when I'd told her to pick another one - the only logical thing to do was to get some hot chocolate so I called room service and ordered us some while Alia flicked through the channels on the TV, trying to find a movie to watch.
By the time Alia had finally decided which film she wanted to watch, the drinks had arrived. I handed one of the mugs to her as I settled in beside her on the bed, her smile making my heart feel infinitely lighter. For a minute or two, I watched her, the way the sleeves of her hoodie covered her hands and the tranquility of her expression as she took a sip of her hot chocolate, the small hum that escaped as the warm drink chased away what little cold was left. I'd sunk back into my Alia trance as my brother often calls it, taking in all the little details and committing them to memory, not wanting to forget the way she was curled up or the way my hoodie drowned her tiny frame or the way her eyes seemed to change colour. It wasn't until Alia spoke, breaking the trance, that I realised I'd just been looking at her. 'Oi Dhawan, if you just keep sitting and staring like that, your drink will go cold.' she chuckled, not even looking away from the screen.
'Yeah well, kinda hard not to stare when I've got a sight like this in front of me.' I justified, pulling her attention away from the movie.
'Sight like what?' she questioned, raising an eyebrow.
'My beautiful girlfriend curled up next to me in my hoodie that completely drowns her, looking pretty happy with life.' I explained, laughing slightly as the smile she tried to keep off of her face made itself known. She looked around for a change of topic, taking a sip of her drink.
'You might want to drink that you know, before it goes cold.' she commented, nodding to the drink in my hand.
'Hmmmm, maybe. But there are other ways to warm up so wouldn't be that bad if this went cold.' I shrugged, watching her face contort in confusion before her eyes went wide as she realised what I meant.
'Just shut up and watch the movie.' she instructed, turning her attention back to the TV.
'Now where's the fun in that?' I murmured, moving slightly forward so that I was facing her and taking the mug out of her hands, setting it down on the nightstand. There was no protest as I took the drink away but she quickly let me know that she wasn't going to go along with my plans so easily, pushing me back with a hand on my chest, grinning teasingly up at me.
'Varun, I wanna watch the movie.' she stated, though her grin and the glint in her eyes let me know that she had no desire to finish the film.
'You mean to tell me you can't think of anything more fun than watching a movie you've seen a thousand times?' I asked, tilting my head inquisitively.
'Mmmm, not really no.' she teased, contradicting her words as, seemingly acting without her permission, her hand slid downwards over my torso till she found the hem of my shirt.
'Nothing at all?' I queried, letting myself lose a little of my self control now that she was, hands moving to settle on her waist, pulling her towards me slightly so that she wasn't leaning back against the headboard anymore.
'Well, I might have a couple of ideas.' she conceded, smirking at the shiver that ran down my spine as her, still slightly cool, hands slipped under my shirt, splayed across my skin.
'Care to share?' I asked, thoroughly enjoying the way her eyes darkened a shade and her breath hitched in the back of her throat as my hands travelled a little further downwards, ghosting over the bare skin just under the hem of her hoodie. She squirmed slightly at the touch, trying to move just that much closer. 'Uh-uh. I thought you wanted to watch the movie?'
'Forget the movie.' she muttered, bringing her hands back down to tug at my t-shirt, pulling it upwards and groaning in complaint when I stopped her. 'Varuuuuuun, stop being such a tease.'
'But it's fun.'
'Wouldn't be fun if you were in my place.' she mumbled, her words turning into a sharp gasp as I gave in a little, leaning forwards, gently pushing her back so she was laying down at the same time and placing a feather light kiss on the soft spot just below her ear.
'Oh, I've been in your place, several times Miss. Bhatt. You find great joy in being a tease.' I murmured against her skin. Her hand fisted in my shirt as I continued to tease her with the barely-there kisses and soft touches.
'Varun yaar, stop with the torture.' she whined. I chuckled and pulled back to look at her, about to give in but, of course, that was when my phone rang, the loud music startling us both and completely destroying the moment.
Sighing, I sat up and answered the phone, resenting the object - and the person calling - more than a little. 'Hello.'
'Mate, where are you?' came the voice of my friend Ian.
'Uh, at my hotel. Why?' I asked, brain still trying to catch up.
'You're supposed to be meeting us in town.' he told me, chuckling slightly.
'Oh, yeah. Sorry, forgot. We'll be there in about twenty minutes, maybe half an hour. That alright?'
'Yeah. We're gonna go see if we can get a table at Nando's. Meet us there?'
'Sure.'
'Cool, see you then.' He cut the call and I turned to Alia.
'You completely forgot we were supposed to be meeting your friends, didn't you?' she asked knowingly.
'Kinda hard to remember anything when I'm with you.' I defended.
'I'll take that as a compliment.' she grinned, getting up. 'Now come on, get dressed. We're apparently meeting your friends in twenty minutes.'
***
'About time you got here. D'you get lost or something?' Tyler asked as we approached the table they were seated at. Ashley rolled her eyes at him.
'Seriously Ty, do you never bother with a hello?' she reprimanded, getting up and coming over to give me a hug, surprising Alia when she gave her one as well. Tyler followed his fiancé without arguing, the others doing the same.
After the round of greetings and hugs was over, we all sat down. 'So, long time no see stranger.' Lucy said, being one of the only people I hadn't caught up with in the past two weeks; apparently being a writer was time-consuming work.
'Been busy, Luce. This is my first break in a long time. Though I only took it because my mother, sister-in-law and this one all teamed up on me and told me I better take some time off.'
'About time someone told you, bloody workaholic.' John laughed. 'By the way, are you going to introduce us to your girlfriend or not?'
'Right, sorry. Alu, this is John, Rose, Lucy, Ian, Tyler, Ashley, Sarah and George,' I introduced, gesturing to each of them in turn. 'And guys, this is Alia.' she waved a little, her other hand finding mine under the table, possibly seeking reassurance.
'Nice to finally put a face to the name.' Ian joked. 'Been hearing so much about you over the past couple of weeks but he's always so hesitant to share pictures and he changes the subject when we say something about meeting you; I was starting to think he'd made up a relationship.'
'I imagine most of what you heard wasn't good things.' she laughed, seeming to become more comfortable now that it was a joking atmosphere. 'And this one, hesitant? Since when?'
'Actually, he doesn't have a bad thing to say about you, been raving about your acting and singing and pretty much everything; loved up little puppy.' Tyler joked.
'Wait, I want to know why it's surprising that he's hesitant.' Rose interjected, looking way too curious.
'One, why do you only say the good things when I'm not around?' Alia asked me. 'Two, why is it normal for you to be shy or hesitant?'
'Well, I can't tell you the good things to your face. You hardly believe them and, you know, kinda my job to balance you out. You hear it from the whole world, I only tell you the good things when you need to hear them.'
'And hesitant?' she queried.
'That would be because he's always been very reserved about his personal life. He doesn't like to say much about it.' Ashley explained.
'That is so not true. He used to broadcast his life when we were in uni. It's only since he's become an actor that he's become more careful about what he says. And, for some reason only about his romantic relationships.' George pointed out. I felt my face heat up as Alia looked at me, probably having figured out that she was the reason behind that. If she hadn't known it, one look at my face confirmed it; I saw her nose twitch slightly as she tried to hold back the laugh, a few small giggles escaping despite her efforts.
'Since you became an actor, huh?'
'Oh, shut it Bhatt.' I muttered.
'What's so funny?' Sarah asked, looking between us.
'Nothing just, uh, people usually come out of their shell when they start acting.' Alia lied, her continued giggles giving away the fact that she was lying.
'I get the feeling that's not the joke.' John deadpanned, looking to me for an explanation.
'That would be because, for an actress, this one is a terrible liar.' I told him. 'The joke is that we met on the sets of our first movie.'
'Right, still not getting it.' Ian said.
'The whole reason I became much less open was because I spent an extraordinary amount of time with Alia in the first few years of my career and my friends and my family used to take the mick out of me for talking about her so much.' I explained, getting an awwww from the girls while the guys tried to hide their snickers.
'So, if you've been together so long, how come we've only started hearing about her recently?' George asked.
'That would be because we haven't been together that long. We met about ten years ago, and spent most of our time arguing but somehow ended up as good friends. And that's all we were for about seven and a half years.'
'Wait a second, this is that Alia, the one you were so caught up on but wouldn't give you a chance? Your best friend who you couldn't tell that-'
'Yes, Tyler, this is that Alia.' I spoke over him, not wanting him to let Alia know everything I'd told them in a slightly drunken rant.
'Okay, I need to know the rest of this story.' Rose said.
'It's a very complicated story, can we please order food first.' Having been reminded of the purpose of coming to a restaurant, they all agreed and we spent a short while looking over the menu before us boys got sent to place the order.
***
Over the course of dinner, my friends conducted somewhat of an inquisition about my relationship with Alia, finding most of it to be utterly hilarious, especially the many times I'd somehow messed up when attempting to confess, somehow always chickening out.
Once the food was done, it was decided that going to see a movie wouldn't be as much fun as walking around town for a while so we walked through the grid of streets, eventually finding ourselves at a grassy square that seemed like a good place to chill.
'So, Varun, how is it that someone who knows London as well as you do has somehow forgotten how to get to Nando's from your hotel?' Ian asked as we sat down on a clear patch of grass.
'I didn't get lost.'
'Then why were you so late?' Tyler enquired.
'We got drenched in the freak storm earlier. Had to go back to the hotel to dry off and well... got a little sidetracked.' I smirked, earning a sharp slap on my chest from Alia.
'Akhi duniya ne kewanu kai jaroor nati.' (It's not necessary to tell the whole world.) she muttered.
'Hu akhi duniya ne thodi kowchu. It's just my friends.' (I'm not telling the whole world) I returned, rolling my eyes. 'Anyway, you were the one who wanted to let the whole world know earlier, what's changed now?'
'Oi, I have no intentions of ever telling anyone anything about what happens behind closed doors.' she told me, fixing me with a glare that never failed to scare me.
'Okay baba, I'm sorry.' She dropped the glare but didn't look any happier. I took my hand from hers and wrapped it around her, giving her a lopsided grin.
'Whipped.' George fake-coughed. I rolled my eyes and Alia turned to him, giving him a very toned down version of her glare. Though it wasn't anywhere near the kind of glare she'd just given me, which itself was one of her less intense stares, he looked slightly afraid, scooting a little closer to Sarah.
'Seems like this one isn't someone to be messed with.' John chuckled.
'Definitely not, she's a force to be reckoned with.' I agreed.
'Hold on a sec, did you say you got caught in the storm earlier?' Lucy asked.
'Yep. We'd decided being adults is overrated so we went to go hang out in a park for a while and it started chucking it down. Apparently, Alia thought it'd be fun to stay out in the rain instead of heading straight back to the hotel.'
'Wouldn't happen to be the park that's by the little cafe we used to go to on those weekend trips would it?' she questioned
'Uh, yeah, that's the one.' I confirmed. She immediately grabbed her phone, scrolling through something for a few seconds before turning the phone and showing it to us.
'I was out getting pictures for my book, there's a lot of rainy scenes and I went to the park to get a picture of it in the rain. Didn't mean to be a creep or anything but it was kind of a perfect picture, couldn't help it.' she grinned sheepishly.
'How did you manage to get such an amazingly clear picture in the rain?' I asked, astonished at the fact that, despite the fact the picture must've been quite zoomed in, it wasn't any blurrier than it would've been had she taken it stood next to us.
'Special camera lense. Kinda necessary for the kind of photography I'm doing at the minute.'
'It's a beautiful shot.' Alia told her as I handed back the phone.
'You want me to send it to you?'
'I was just about to ask you to.' I chuckled. Thirty seconds later, my phone vibrated to indicate I'd received the picture.
'Varun, what're you doing?' Alia questioned as I unlocked my phone, being careful to turn the screen away from her so she couldn't see what I was typing.
'You'll see in a second.' I told her slightly distractedly as I typed out a caption. She tried to peer over my shoulder at the phone but I didn't let her until I'd hit the post button. 'There.'
'Now can I see?' she asked impatiently. I scrolled down so she could see the first of the pictures I'd just posted before I handed her the phone and she looked at the screen in surprise. There on Instagram, for the entire world to see, was the picture of the two of us in the rain. I watched carefully for her reaction as her eyes ran over the words written beneath the picture. The best present in the world is when your girl surprises you. #surprisevisit #earlybirthdaypresent #happybirthdaytome
She looked from the phone to me but, before she could say anything, I scrolled up so she could see the second picture, or rather collage.
I was even more anxious as she read through the caption beneath this one, half fearing she'd be mad. It's about time I come clean about this amazing person who's presence is enough to make even the darkest days happier and who's smile lightens my entire world. Filmi, I know but she brings out the filmi in me. This strange being who I met almost ten years ago and thought I wouldn't ever stop arguing with - which is true but gotta love the arguing - or ever call my best friend, let alone be in a relationship with. I won't say my better half cause she'll hit me but my other half, the one who balances me out, brings me up when I'm down and knocks me down a few pegs when I get too full of it, just like I do for her. After a lot of arguments and more laughter and smiles than that, I finally get to tell the entire world that this crazy, stubborn, argumentative, caring, beautiful girl is my girl. And, all of you out there saying finally!, I agree with you completely. It's about bloody time. I've spent so many years with her, as a co-star, as a friend, my best friend, and now as my girlfriend as well. My wonderful crazy girl, I love you. Here's to a lot more years of smiles and laughter and, of course, arguments. #somethingsneverchange.
She looked up from the phone with the brightest smile I'd ever seen on her face. 'You absolute cheeseball. I swear to god, it doesn't get more filmi than this.'
'You're not mad?'
'Mad? Why would I be mad? You summed us up perfectly, even if it's filmier than you usually are.'
'Is that a good thing or a bad thing?' I questioned, unsure.
'Definitely a good thing. I...I have no idea what to say. You know when I said tell the world, I didn't expect you to go and say something like this.'
'It's all true, even if I don't say it all that much.' Still beaming at me, she hugged me.
'I love you too.' she whispered.
'Okay, I gotta see what it is that you've posted.' George spoke up, interrupting our moment and reminding me that there were people around.
'George!' four girls exclaimed at once, Sarah hitting him on the back of the head.
'Ow! What was that for?'
'Mate, even I know what that was for.' Tyler chuckled.
'You could have let them have a moment.' Ian reprimanded.
'Sorry, but I'm curious.' he apologised.
'We all are George. You still could've let them have a moment.' John told him
'Sorry guys.' he apologised again. 'But now that I've already ruined the moment, may as well see what's going on.' Apparently there was no arguing with that logic and they all quickly reached for their phones.
'I should've waited to post it.' I muttered, burying my head in Alia's shoulder. She laughed, a bright happy sound, and moved her hand to find mine.
'Awwww, Varun, who knew you were such a romantic?' Tyler teased.
'Instead of teasing him, try learning something from him Ty.' Ashley joked.
'Hurtful.' he complained.
'Seriously though, this is really sweet. Didn't know you were such a good writer.' Ian spoke up.
'Sometimes things just come out.' I shrugged.
'Very cheesy things.' John remarked.
'Dude, when did you get all teen romance?' George asked.
'I act in Indian films. That's kinda my job.' I quipped.
'Point.' he nodded. 'But still, so much cheese in this.'
'Okay, I get it, it's cheesy. Now can we move on?' I asked, not wanting my apparently extremely cheesy writing to be the only topic of conversation for the rest of the night.
'Yeah, the word cheesy is starting to sound weird.' Lucy agreed. 'So, you remember that time when we went to Alton Towers and the guys were acting all tough about going on the rollercoasters?'
'Oh god, not this story. Anything but this story!' Tyler complained, but the girls were already telling it and, though none of us were all that fond of hearing the story, we managed to suffer through it, and the rest of the many stories that were told.
***
Despite having gone out at three, by the time we got back to the hotel it was gone ten. We'd spent a good number of hours sitting on that patch of grass telling stories and then gone to eat dinner as well. The time had passed quickly, as time tends to do when you're enjoying yourself, and when we walked out of the restaurant it was dark. We'd said our byes, promised to meet up with them again before we went back and, because the night was quite mild and the hotel only a ten minute walk, we'd walked back to the hotel.
Even though it'd certainly been an eventful day, neither of us was quite tired enough to go to sleep yet so we came to the decision that a movie was a good idea. I didn't really care what we watched so I let Alia pick the film, smiling slightly when I saw she'd picked Humpty. We spent the entirety of the movie quoting the dialogues that were still as fresh in my mind as though I'd filmed the scenes yesterday and reminiscing about the memories we'd made with that film. As the movie reached it's climax, I looked over to Alia, who'd gone quiet, expecting to see that she'd fallen asleep, and found her wide awake, already looking at me. 'You okay?'
'Yeah.'
'You're quiet.'
'I was typing.'
'Typing what?'
'Come on, you didn't think I was going to let you have all the fun did you?' she asked.
'Meaning?'
'Well, I couldn't just not reply to your post.' That sparked my curiosity; I raised an eyebrow at her and she passed me her phone, already open on the post she was talking about.
To the only person who is possibly truly as crazy as I am, happy birthday. I'm not even going to try to write anything like you did because I'll end up babbling and this will be much longer than it needs to be. But I will say that I'm so very glad I met you and that we're on this crazy journey together. I hope we get to spend so many more years on this journey, annoying each other, laughing together, arguing about the stupidest things and just being us. I love you yaar.
She was looking at me, waiting for my response. Words fell short, as they often did when it came to Alia, so I kissed her.
The movie was still playing in the background, the oh-so-familliar sound of Saturday Saturday beginning to play as the alarm clock on the desk beeped, signalling midnight. She pulled away ever so slightly, looking up at me with so much love in her chocolate brown eyes. 'Happy Birthday Varun.' she murmured.
'Happy Birthday indeed.' I smiled, closing the gap and kissing her again.
A/N: so, I debated a while about the ending, could probably have stretched it a little further but well, this OS kinda has an overall theme of fluff and cute and stretching it out might've taken away from that. Gotta say, this was a loooooong time in the making. Thanks so, so much to VD_KiLadkiBeautiful_ for helping me get past the major road block in this one. Literally could not have written this without you.
Well, it's Varun's birthday (kind of, it's like quarter to eleven here but it's his birthday in India and I also really could not wait to post this now that's it done and well uni means I need sleep so I probably won't be awake at midnight. Maybe.) I'm not really able to comprehend that he's actually thirty but apparently he is. So, Happy Birthday to the amazing, humble person that is Mr. Varun Dhawan. You're seriously an inspiration.
Anyways, that's it for today. Hopefully I'll see you sometime between now and exams (ahhhh, exams, the horror!)
Till next time.