Peach Daisies

"Nitya." Tarun called out gathering the attention of everyone present, even Avyan who was a bit oblivous till now. Nitya walked towards him and nodded at him to continue.

"I-I.....I want to say something to you." He started nervously.

"I like you. A lot. For a couple weeks now." He confessed, blushing a little. Gathering a little courage, he took her hand in his and bent down on one knee before forwarding the bouquet of daisies to her.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" He asked hopefully. Looking into his hopeful eyes, Nitya wanted to say no because she knew she could only see Tarun as her friend ever. But when she found Avyan's gaze fixed at them, she thought of whatever they'd discussed just now in Vivaan's room.

"Yes." She whispered with a smile taking the flowers from his hand. Tarun got up with a huge grin on his face, still holding onto her hand on which Avyan's red eyes were latched onto.

*******************

Avyan couldn't believe what just happened. Though he was the one to make all that happen, he just didn't know how much it would actually hurt witnessing the consequences of his own actions. And he could admit it hurt, a lot. It was like his heart was being poked by a hot iron over and over again. Though he knew Tarun possessed a great deal of affection for Nitya, what bothered him most was Nitya's acceptance of his proposal.

He couldn't fathom what Nitya was playing into. They had kissed just two days ago; she'd then spent the last night crying buckets when he broke her heart and now she agreed to be Tarun's girlfriend, just like that. For a moment, he thought Nitya may have hit her head somewhere and forgot all that had happened in the last 2 days. It was even more better that they were in a hospital and he could get her checked right away. But no, her empty eyes flashed before him and he knew, she remembered everything. How did they go from everything to nothing at all in just a matter of 2 days?

Angry and hurt, he just wanted answers from her. He unlocked his mobile phone and found her contact.

"Meet me in the parking lot. Now" He messaged. Huffing in anger, he came down to the parking and leant his back upon his car, closing his eyes.

5 minutes. 10 minutes. 15 minutes. 20 minutes.

It was about then he heard someone's footsteps coming towards him. He opened his eyes to see Nitya standing in front of him with her arms crossed on her chest and her face sporting a smile.

"I called you here about 20 minutes ago." He berated her.

"I know, I'm sorry. I was busy with my boyfriend. New relationship, you know!" She explained.

"And why are you here all alone, Avyan? Won't you join in on the celebration? Your best buddy is in his first relationship, after all!" Nitya exclaimed mockingly.

"Oh, did your friends forget all about you in their happiness? oh, what a pity! Poor you." Nitya was having too much fun at this point witnessing Avyan's facial expressions. She wished she had a camera to capture these rare moments.

"Listen, Nitya. Stop this drama at once. What are you trying to do, huh? Yesterday you were crying over me and now you've agreed to be Tarun's girlfriend. Are you that desperate, huh?" Avyan lashed out at once. Nitya couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. She was too hurt and angry at this point but she maintained her unfazed expression.

"Glad you finally figured me out, Avyan. Although, I'm a little disappointed that you took too long." She mocked making him feel instantly guilty as he recalled his own words.

"Nitya, I'm so-" He was interrupted by her.

"Avyan, I think you should save all your apologies. At this rate, you'll finish up that whole damn stock of yours." She laughed sarcastically.

"Nitya, please don't involve Tarun in this. He doesn't know anything about us." He almost pleaded in front of her.

"Us? Haha! Are you imagining things now, Avyan? When did you and I ever become 'us'? Last time I remembered, in your words, 'It was all just a game!', isn't it?" This confrontation with Avyan was extremely draining for her but at present, she seemed to be gaining courage from her grandfather's words.

'Be selfish enough to have self love, self worth and self respect.' She remembered his wise words.

Leaning closer to Avyan, she whispered "The story doesn't just end on a kiss."

"I'll make sure the story ends on an arrow going straight through your buddy's heart!" She finished by jabbing her fingernail on top of Avyan's heart. She leaned back and turned around. Throwing a smirk over her shoulder towards him, she left him standing there all alone in the parking lot.