Is It Me... Or Have We Grown Up? #VariaSquad

Chapter 6

Alia P.O.V.

I don't know what happened back there but I don't think I can do that again. I was calm until I got of the stage and then I sped up, almost running.

Shraddha saw me and gave me a weird look. When I didn't stop, she came after me. I thought I had an advantage considering I had a head start, but she had always been faster than me. She caught up to me in no time.

'Woah, woah, woah. Where are you going?' She asked stopping me.

'Shraddha, just let me go get some air.' I told her.

'Idiot, it's raining. Varun will kill me if I let you go and you get sick. And you're missing his performance. Do you realise how upset he'll be when he knows you didn't see?'

'He doesn't need to know about this. Just go back over there and if he asks you didn't see me.'

'Why are you acting so weird? What's going on? Has something happened?'

'No. I just need some air. And you need to go back over there and act like this didn't happen.' I told her.

'I'm not lying to Varun for you and I'm not going to let you go outside while it's raining like this. You'll catch your death.'

'Fine. I'm not asking you to lie to him. But you are not missing your performance because of me.' I told her. She was about to protest but didn't get the chance.

'She's right. You're not.' I looked over her shoulder to see Varun stood there. 'You're up in five.' He told her.

'Right. Well I'll just leave you two to sort this out.' She said, walking off. I glared at the back of her head until she was out of sight. Varun waited until he was definitely sure there was nobody around to hear before speaking.

'So, you want to tell me why you suddenly seem keen on catching pneumonia?' He asked, a little too casually. I mentally swore. I knew exactly what that tone meant and I really didn't like it.

'I'm not. I wouldn't have caught pneumonia, just a cold.' I replied.

'Or you would've been struck by lightning, but whatever.' He shrugged.

'What are the chances of that? You worry too much.' I told him, rolling my eyes.

'You give me too many reasons to worry.' He snapped.

'Sorry, Mr. Grumpy Gills.' I tried to lighten the mood.

'Don't. Just don't. I need you to be serious.' That line brought up a memory I hadn't thought of in years.

I was 16 and in an after school theatre group with Shraddha and Varun. We were supposed to be practicing, but Varun had dragged me away for some reason.

'You know, you could have waited for half an hour to get me alone.' I joked as he pulled me into an empty room.

'Stop joking. I need you to be serious.' He told me. My joking mood dissipated instantly. I nodded.

'Alu, I probably should have planned this, but you know me, I like to be spontaneous.' He began. I looked at him curiously as he pulled what looked like a ring box out of his pocket. 'I've come to realise that I'm not sure what I would do without you and I don't want to find out. So, I know we're young but,' at this point he got down on one knee and took a hold of my hand. I know what you're thinking, I thought it too, but that's not entirely what happened. 'Alia, marry me?' He asked opening the box to reveal a gummy ring. I glared at him and he started laughing.

'Idiot! You scared the life out of me!' I screamed at him, slapping him.

I really hoped he wasn't about to pull another stunt like that.

'Alu, where are you lost?' He asked. I shook my head, coming out of my memory.

'Nowhere. Just remembered the last time you said that. You don't have a gummy ring hidden anywhere, right?' He laughed and shook his head.

'No. But I wasn't joking. This is a serious matter.' I sighed, knowing full well this conversation was happening whether I liked it or not. 'Why did you run off like that?'

'I don't know. Just too many thoughts and memories all in my head at once. I needed to get some air and clear my head, you know?' He nodded, looking relieved.

'Good. I thought I had somehow done something.' I shook my head.

'No. It can just be a bit much sometimes. I mean, the people and the performances and everything. And on top of that, I've been taking frequent trips down memory lane recently.'

'Well, tell me next time it gets to be too much. You don't have to deal with it alone. Main hoon na.' He told me.

'Thank you.'

'What for?'

'For everything. For always being there for me. For not leaving me for better friends or cooler friends. For always cheering me up and making me laugh. For staying up with me all those times I couldn't sleep. For encouraging me whenever I needed it. For being my support. For all of it.'

'Don't thank me for that, it's my job. All of that is in the job description for best friend.' As I smiled at him, I realised that nothing else mattered so long as he was still by my side.

A/N: really short chapter, but I had the idea for the flashback and built the chapter around it so, yeah. Hope you enjoyed it.

See you soon.