Chipkali aur Chamgadar [Neirohi ff]

Chapter 8

I'm going to do a 3 month timeskeep to kind of move the story along.
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The crew, along with its new addition of VC, had been getting along great these past 3 months. Time had seemed to be flying by, and with Neil's guarantee, she had started her work at the hospital again. This officially ended her suspension, and she had worked hard these months at work and at finding her brother and sister. While she was excelling at one, however, the other was not so much. Which was the task of finding Akshara and Kairav bhaiya.

The crew had looked everywhere for leads, but it's like they had all disappeared of the face of the earth. Seeing her family so depressed and Neil seeing Abhimanyu so lost was also not well.

Sitting at their usual starbucke cafe on their usual Sunday, Neil and Aarohi contemplated whether or not they should continue searching or not. They were too tired to continue this.

"Neil tumhe lagta hai ke hum umeed chor ke halat kar rehein hain?" Aarohi sighed, dark circles underneath her eyes. The stress of work and finding her sister getting to her. The depressed atmosphere at home is not helping her case either. Neil didn't look too well, either. Yet he still pretended to be strong for his brother, for their families, for aarohi.

He reassured her, "Hum umeed nahi chor re Aarohi, hum bus tareeka badal rahein hain. Itni mehenat ke bad bhi bhabi or kairav bhai nahi mile island Matlab hai ke woh abhi wapas ana hi nahi chahte Aur agar woh nahi Ana chate toh hum intezar karne ke elawa or kuch nahi kar sakte" Aarohi nodded in agreement, knowing that what he says is their only option left now.

"You're right, I just pray that wherever they are, they're safe, and they come back soon."
It's weird how when they were here, aarohi wasn't close to them, and now that they are gone, she wants them near.  Humans are such strange creatures. Neil learned forward to sip his coffee and smiled encouragingly at her. "They will, Ular wala ache logon ke saath acha hi karta hai. Dekhna woh wapas zuroor Aye gain. Aue hum Dono ke garo main sab kuch thik hojayga." She prayed in her her his words come true. "You're right phir ye sune dhin jo un ke Bina dheere dheere Kat rahe hain woh bhi nahi rahenge" she was sick of the atmosphere in her home. The walking on needles she had to do at the hospital, being Aksharas and Kairavs sister, wasn't helping her look any good in Birlas' eyes. But then again, it's not like she left them a good impression in the first place. Neil held her hand, squeezing it to reassure her. She didn't know why his one touh, small reassurances could heal all the weeks' work of stress she had piled up. "Waise is sab se ek jeez toh aachi hui." He gave a mischevious teasing grin to her while he nonchalantly held her hand. During these months, these small skinships had become normal for them. She never felt uncomfortable with him.

"Woh kya?" Aarohi questioned, to which he confidently replied,"Hamari dosti. " With a grin. She grinned back and said, "Sirf dosti?"
He leaned back, letting her hand go to sip his coffee. He smirked, the teasing glint in his eyes still there. "Haan dost. Kyun? Tum kya lagta hain aarohi? Yeh rishta kya kehlata hai?" Aarohi blushed, knowing she had trapped herself looking down to sip her coffee. She then got up and grabbed her bag, making sure to give a final reply to his teasing.

"Shut up, chamgadar, khud bhi ulte ho air sawal bhi ulte. Aab chit chat band ghar choro before it's sunset." She grabbed his hand and dragged him to his car. He let her drag him his smile, never once fading.

"Jo hukom mere aka."