'Kabhi Kabhi aisa kyun hota hai ki apne paraya ho saate hain?'
~ Hrithik Roshan in Kabhi Kushi Kabhie Gham
Varun P.O.V.
I stared at the girl stood in the doorway, unable to do more than gape at her like a stunned fish. She looked at me, clearly expecting some kind of explanation but I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say. Complete, tense silence settled over the three of us, the only movement Alia's fidgeting.
After a minute or two, I received an elbow to the stomach, jolting my brain back into gear. I coughed out a groan at the sudden pain in my gut and Alia seemed to realise she was fidgeting. 'Oh shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you.' she apologised immediately.
'It's okay.' I mumbled, unwrapping an arm from around her to rub at the sore spot. Unconsciously, my other arm wound around her a little more tightly, making her squirm as she tried to get away from me, cutting her eyes to Natasha who was watching us carefully. Clearing my throat a little nervously, I straightened, reluctantly unwrapping my arm from around Alia who pouted jokingly. I had to hold back a laugh at her expression, fighting to keep a straight face as I turned to Natasha. 'Okay, I know what you're thinking right now but it's not what it looks like.'
'Seriously? That's the best you can do? A pathetic overused line that people only use when it's exactly what it looks like.' she scoffed.
'It's really not.' I persisted.
'Then what the hell is it Varun?' she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.
'Look, I can explain. Just come inside.' She glared at me and I smiled at her, hoping it would soften her slightly. It didn't work; I got a harsher glare. Unsure of what to do, I shot a pleading look to Alia.
'Okay, let's not make this into a bigger deal than it is. Just come inside and we can talk about it like adults.' Alia spoke up. Natasha looked from me to Alia and back again before nodding and stepping inside. Alia led the way to the sitting room, asking Natasha if she'd like a drink and shooting me a triumphant smirk over her shoulder. I groaned internally as I followed them, fairly certain that this wouldn't end well for me.
***
We spent almost two hours trying to convince Natasha that, despite what it looked like, the situation really was innocent. The fact that Alia was still in my hoodie - and it made it look like she didn't even have shorts on underneath - didn't exactly help but, once it was explained as a matter of convenience and I'd pulled on a pair of bottoms, we managed to move passed the matter and explain that we're friends, best friends, and habits developed in the beginning of our friendship are hard to break.
Eventually, she was convinced, or at least pretended to be. The too long hug and the oddly intense kiss I got as she was leaving made me think she was a little jealous but I tried not to pay it any attention. Obviously, Alia had notice too, given that Natasha had made sure to do it where we were still in Alia's line of sight, only she's not the type of person to let something like that pass without commenting. 'Well, somebody's a little insecure.' she remarked as I came back into the room. I rolled my eyes at the bluntness and flopped onto the sofa; usually, Alia's no bullshit policy is one of the many things I love about her but the comment wasn't exactly necessary.
'Come on Alu, it's not like your boyfriends have never been jealous of us.' I returned.
'Of course they were.' she agreed with an eye roll. 'But that's because any guy on the planet would be insecure when you're the competition.'
'What's that supposed to mean?' I asked, forehead scrunching in confusion.
'You're Varun Dhawan. Superstar of this generation, heartthrob of the industry, sweetest guy on the planet. Need I go on?'
'You left out the part where I'm a player and a commitment-phobic jerk.' I countered.
'You're not a jerk. A player, yes. A commitment-phobe, definitely. But it's not without reason.' she defended. 'You're a good man Varun, just because you've not had a serious relationship in six years doesn't make you a bad guy.'
'Alu?'
'Hmmm?'
'Have I ever told you that I love you?' I questioned, wondering if she knew just how much those words meant to me.
'Shut up yaar.' she muttered, hitting my arm.
'No seriously. I don't tell you enough but you're actually a really good friend.'
'Seriously, shut up.' she repeated. I opened my mouth to say something else but she cut me off with a glare. 'I mean it. Just shut up. I'm not doing this senti stuff after seeing your girlfriend all over you not ten minutes ago.'
'What's that got to do with anything?' I questioned, completely thrown.
'Nothing. Just forget it.' she sighed.
'Alu-'
'It's nothing VD. Just, I don't wanna see it okay. I didn't wanna see it with Imara, I didn't wanna see it with any of the "girlfriends" you've had in the past six years and I don't wanna see it with Natasha.' she stated. I puzzled over her words for a minute before I came to a realisation.
'Awww, is somebody jealous?' I teased.
'Jealous? Of what?' she demanded.
'Of the fact that there's another girl I want to spend time with.'
'Please.' she scoffed. 'If anything, I'm glad of it. You'l finally stop bugging me all the time.' I had fully expected her response but I had expected it to be said jokingly, not sadly.
'You know, that really sounded quite insincere.' I pointed out.
'Varun, if you don't shut up, I'm gonna go to Shaheen's for the day.' she threatened, scooting away from me.
'Oh come on, don't be like that.' I whined. 'I was just joking.' She refused to even look at me, curling up in the corner of the sofa. 'Alia, come on yaar. I was just mucking about.' I heard a soft sniffle and realised that I'd really said the wrong thing. 'Alu, you're not seriously crying are you?'
'Don't be ridiculous.' she denied with another sniffle. With a sigh, I scooted across the sofa and pulled her into a hug. She tried to push me off and shuffle away half-heartedly but gave up quickly, turning her head into my chest and wrapping her arms around me.
'What's wrong Alu?'
'Nothing.' she mumbled.
'Then why are you crying?' I asked, rubbing her back gently.
'Because she's your girlfriend and I'm just playing a part so why do I feel like I want to punch her for acting like she has a right over you?' I couldn't help but laugh, even though I knew how Alia would take that. She began to cry a little harder while simultaneously trying to move away from me and scoot closer. 'Nice to know you find this amusing.' she grumbled.
'That's not why I'm laughing Alu. It's just, this is exactly what I was saying before. You're jealous.' I stated.
'No I'm not.' she denied, picking her head up to look at me. 'I don't care about who gets more time with you or who you're more affectionate with. I've had years of cuddly Varun. That's not what bugs me.'
'Then?'
'I don't know. It's just, the way she was acting like she needed to tell me to back off, like she was telling me "he's mine" it bothers me.' she tried to explain. Even with how well I know her, I didn't know what to make of that. So I said nothing, waiting for her to tell m what I was supposed to do. 'I'm making no sense right now but it bugs me so badly. Because she doesn't know you how I do. So she's slept with you, big whoop. So she's made you believe in love again, great job. But has she dealt with cranky Varun? Or hyper Varun? Or restless and annoying Varun? Does she know how to deal with any of that? How to take care of you? She thinks she has a right over you but does she even know you?'
'Alia, does that matter? I love her, I'm happy with her. I'm finally happy again. Isn't that what's important?' I asked softly, expecting to get a nod and a watery smile. But I didn't, instead, she got up and began to walk away. 'Alu, I'm happier when I'm with her than I've been in six years. Doesn't that outweigh the rest?' She stopped and turned to face me, looking at me in disbelief.
'So, in the past six years, you've not been happy? Not once? You've spent six years being miserable? Putting a fake smile on your face?' she questioned.
'I've not been miserable but I sure as hell haven't been happy!' I exclaimed, getting to my feet.
'Oh really?' she demanded, eyes spitting fire.
'Yes.'
'Nice to know that more than half of our friendship has been fake then.' she snapped.
'Alia, that's not how I meant it.' I quickly tried to backtrack but she wasn't having it.
'Yes it damn well is! You're saying that she makes you happier than any of your friends ever did, than acting ever did, than your family ever did. All of that, everything that we all did for you, that's insignificant now that you've got her.' she spat.
'No! But it's different.' I protested. 'Why can't you just be supportive? Be happy that I'm happy? That, for once, I'm properly, truly happy?' She deflated, looking away from me.
For half a minute, neither of us moved and then she walked forwards and and picked the lone photo frame up off of the coffee table - the one she'd put there just over a week ago. 'You know, that's funny cause this doesn't look fake to me, didn't feel fake to me. But, then again, I don't know you well enough to tell the difference.' she said, not even looking at me as threw the picture on the sofa and stalked off. I heard the door to my - our - room slamming shut and knew I'd messed up big time.
Now that she wasn't in front of me and we weren't yelling at each other, I heard what she hadn't said: she makes you happier than I ever did. Now you have her, I'm insignificant. I thought you were happy with me.
As I picked up the frame from the sofa and put it back in its place I realised what I'd done. The one relationship I'd managed not to screw up - the one I had tried so hard to keep, the one I wasn't supposed to mess up - and I'm pretty sure I'd just ruined it.
A/N: uh-oh VD what've you done?
What'd'you guys think? How's he gonna fix this? And is Alia gonna let him?
Also, some important news: the two of us, meaning SarcasticPanda__ and LoveofFiction have another account AllThingsFilmi which, as you may have guessed, is dedicated to filmi stories. So, if you like this one, keep an eye out on that account cause we've got some interesting stuff coming up there.
Anyways, that's all from us today. See ya Monday.