The Arranged One | ✔️

Chapter 27 - My Home : Part 1

Siya didn't know how she got home. She vaguely knew Divya was trailing behind her, dragging her through the mess that she was. She just felt empty. No tears, no pain. Just a hollow. It felt like the walls were pulling in on her. She could hear Divya's soothing words as if from underwater. Her mind was in a bubble.

"I need to be alone for sometime Divya."

"Siya, you need to let Abhi explain. This doesn't have to be..."

She held a hand up to stop Divya.

"Please Divya. I'm begging of you. Let me be alone."

It took a while of silence before Divya left the room.

Siya finally let everything sink in. Abhi and Natasha. Her heart filled with pain so acute it was physically difficult to breathe.

Siya had known there was some attraction between the two, but she had never known the two actually went out. Even though Abhi and Siya had only been friends then, she still felt hurt that he had been with Natasha. That Natasha had gotten so much more from Abhi than Siya had so far. That Natasha and Abhi had shared such an important milestone in their life. Siya and Abhi had barely started to get physical, but Natasha and Abhi...

She knew she was being unreasonable about this. It was in the past. It didn't matter what he did or who he slept with, because it was in the past. She could deal with the pain since it was his past and she couldn't blame him for it.

Only it didn't seem like it was only in the past. The simple fact that he had omitted to mention such an important detail especially when their relationship had changed and when Natasha was still in touch with them. Hell, she was living in the same house as of now!

Why hadn't Abhi ever mentioned this to her!? There was absolutely no reason unless...Oh god, he was still seeing her, wasn't he?

No. It couldn't be. Abhi would never do that to Siya.
"You said Nat was your first love and that you owned her."

Manav's words echoed in her mind. And Siya gasped, shaking her head. Manav could be lying. Abhi would never say that now. Not now when Siya and Abhi were about to get married. Not now when they had gotten physically intimate. Not now when Siya was irrevocably in love with Abhi. The tears were rolling down hard and fast her cheeks.

For the past few weeks, Siya had been sure that Abhi was falling for her too. She had felt it in his eyes, his touch and his words. It was the growing love between them that had allowed her to get physically intimate with him. How could she have misread everything?

"Siya I can't be the other half of your soul and you can't be mine. Is that okay? Will that be enough?"

Abhi had said that when they were beginning to start a new chapter in their lives. Those words were a disclaimer, and should have stopped her from keeping any kind of illusions about his feelings. That he could never lover her as more than a friend.

She knew it was love on her side, and she had been so sure it was love for him too. But it seemed she was wrong! But if it wasn't love, then what was it? Friendship?

No. It wasn't friendship that she felt in his touch, that she saw in his eyes or that she heard in his urgent breaths. Closing her eyes and going through all the moments that had passed between them, the ones that had somehow convinced her of his love, she tried to look at them with fresh eyes. Now that the rose-coloured glasses had come off...

It was lust! Siya couldn't believe she had overlooked that. She couldn't believe she had mistaken the heat in his eyes to be love, when it was actually pure lust.

It all made sense now. Abhi had admitted to be extremely attracted to Siya in their teenage days, but he had still gone ahead and had a relationship with Natasha. Even when he had confessed about his attraction to Siya, he had managed to not mention anything about Natasha. That was because he didn't have a crush on Siya, the way Siya had crushed on him. His was more a physical attraction than anything else.

Just like every other relationship he had. Just like his relationship with Natasha. That girl obviously loved Abhi, but he had only given her physical relationships. He was marrying Siya, and not Natasha. What did that say about Abhi?

Siya wasn't even sure what was the relationship between him and Natasha now. Was he still seeing Natasha because he wasn't getting what he needed from Siya?

No. Abhi would never do that to her! But what if he thought it was okay, that since they were friends still, and not yet married, and not having s*x, it was okay for him to continue things with Natasha and not tell her. Just like he didn't tell her about the past. Was that what he was going to explain?

She couldn't do this. She wanted a marriage based on love. Not on friendship and lust. She wanted something real, and what he was offering couldn't be any farther from it. She had to make some decisions. She had to guard her heart. From the one man she thought would never hurt her.

A/N.

First and foremost let me thank all you lovely folks for commenting, voting and messaging me about TAO. As I said this book is close to my heart and that you guys are loving it, keeps me motivated to write and post updates sooner.

For everyone who has been pushing me for updates, thank you for being so excited about what's coming next. There's a serious plot twist coming up, just hang in there.

What do you think about the update? Do you think Siya is right about Abhi?

Next update will have Abhi's point of view and a confrontation between Siya and Abhi. Stay tuned to know what happens next. Will they get past this issue and get married...or will this end their childhood friendship?