Dil Jaanta Hai | ✔

forty-three

||CHAPTER 43||
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The clichè thing was seeing my brother's best friend in the kitchen, making pancakes, all alone.

The non-clichè part of the deal was sleeping in different rooms, and him classically not being my boyfriend.

Eyeing the heap of freshly made pancakes on the plate beside him on the counter, I padded towards him, aiming for the shelves above the counter.

His movements halted on sensing my presence, and from the corner of my eye, I was trying hard to not see his disheveled hair, early morning droopy eyes, and white shirt he slept in.

"Jal jayega," I cleared my throat, removing a few dishes from the shelf.

"Huh?" His ears registered the sizzling sound before he flipped the pancake. "Oh, thanks."

Deciding to observe his features at six thirty in the morning, I turned around and climbed on the counter, dangling my legs. I was trying not to be obvious that I was staring at him, but I didn't have a reason to shy away from such meek confrontrations.

"So... tumhe khana banana pasand hai ya fir tum mujhe ek bad host feel karana chahte ho?"

"Well, jab ek teer se do nishaane mil rahe ho, koi kaise inkaar kare?"

"Spoken like a true businessman," I patted his shoulder.

"Don't you know it," he commented, a low smile sprucing up his face.

"You made me believe that you won't judge me," I scratched my arm.

He turned the gas off, "And I am not! I am just..."

"Shocked?" I watched him as he came and stood in front of me. Even with my elevated height, he was slightly taller than me.

"I mean, yeah... Tumhe yaha wapis aye sirf maheene huye hai, yet you were the one to act upon the fishiness in Karan and Gaur Sir's case. Are we that shitty of friends?"

I scoffed, "It's because you are friends that you didn't want to dig deeper."

Digging deeper meant acquiring information worthy of blackmail. Now, or ten years later, they would be able to blackmail each other for their industries. And that, that would be the time they backstab each other, and realise they never were friends to begin with.

And that was the break out they didn't want. So to keep each other close, they didn't get closer.

To escape the guilt, they didn't want to be the guilty.

"Then why did you?"

I waited for the guilt to make me feel ashamed. Someday, I knew it would hit me. But another thing I knew for sure was that my ambitions wouldn't be the reason for my demise.

"So that no one else tries to be his friend," I replied, eyeing the pancakes beside me.

The reason I stated, was more of a solace to myself. Convincing others was nothing compared to convincing one's ownself.

"And Vansh..?" When he looked up again, I continued. "I'm sorry."

"For not letting me trust you?"

I gulped. He was more insightful than he ever let on. "Yeah... You're not just my bestfriend from seven years ago."

The smirk that I didn't know I missed had returned. "Well, like I said last night, you're not just my bestfriend's sister either."

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