^ Vivan up top.

Chapter 7 ~ "Tear Falls"

EDITED.

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Akira's POV

"Akira! Hurry the hell up!"

"I'm coming! I'm coming! Jeez have a bit of patience will you?" I muttered, stumbling out the door with many bags in my hand. "Abhi!" He looked over at me, pausing his conversation with Shanaya. "Can you help?"

He stood there grinning, almost about to shake his head. Of course my death glare worked as he half jogged over to me. I lifted my arms to transfer the couple of bags to him. "I want the bags with food." He whined. 

I shrugged, trying to hide my smile, while giving him four of the five bags, all filled with food, of course. I quickly scooped up the remaining bag, and practically ran towards the car. 

"What the hell Kir!" I heard him shout behind me.

"You asked for it." Meera retorted from my side. I threw my arm around Meera's shoulder as we walked towards the car, with Abhi muttering something like 'bringing three bags of food from his house too.' 

As we grew closer to the car, I noticed Shanaya, Dhruv, Kabir, and Adhaya arranging to fit approximately ten bags of properly packed food in the trunk. Inwardly face-palming myself, I drop the remaining bag in my hand into the trunk. Suddenly, three dirty glares—and a sigh from Dhruv—were directed towards me. Holding up my palms in defence, I slowly backed away from the struggling four.

"We just finished arranging all these bloody bags." Adhaya cried out in annoyance.

"Well tell that to mom," was my simple reply.

"Why do our parents have to pack so many bags of just food. Do I look like I'm gonna carry roti rolls at Niagara Falls?" Kabir exclaimed.

"They seem to forget we're adults."

"These aren't even the bags with food." And in perfect timing, Abhi came from behind me, and dropped the bags on the ground.

"Don't you dare Abhi." Shanaya warned.

"These aren't even mine," he rolled his eyes.

"Oh god." Dhruv sighed and shook his head.

As we all stared at the filled up trunk, a series of groans erupted. "Why is there only one car?"

"My car needs an oil change."

"I walked here."

"Mom needed my car."

"Kabir picked me up." I rolled my eyes at Adhaya's reply. I didn't have a car either, for obvious reason so there was no reason to mention it. 

"I still have my car, but my trunk is full too." Meera piped in. We all turned our heads towards the navy blue Volkswagen Beetle. I sighed, atleast that increased more seats.

"That gives us only six seats, leaving one person out." Kabir stated.

"Thanks genius." I replied, earning a glare.

I heard a car engine stopping right in our driveway, as we all turned to face it.

Was it just me noticing our synchronicity?

As the passengers from the car stepped out, I groaned. I was hoping he wouldn't show up, even if the chances of that were unlikely. But I was slightly more surprised from Vivan's presence, instead of Ayan's. A side glance at Shanaya confirmed she was shocked as well.

The lingering silence created an unnatural distress. But Ayan seemed to ignore it as he walked towards us, giving polite nods to the girls and the weird bro-hugs to the guys. All I got was a sinister glare, which I returned gladly.

"Hey guys." Vivan smiled at us, but his eyes not moving from Shanaya. She still had not sorted their issue yet. I stepped forward to relieve her from his cautious gaze.

"Hey Vivan, I didn't get to meet you properly the other day. So you're coming with us too?" I asked, eyeing Kabir, knowing he was the one to invite him without letting us know, from his fidgeting under my gaze.

"Yeah, it's great to see you again Akira." He said as he hugged me. I noticed Shanaya relief that the attention was directed off her.

"Well at least we have another car!" Adhaya piped in.

After a couple of minutes we all arranged ourselves to fit into the car, thankfully leaving space for extra materials in the back seats. Shanaya, Adhaya, and Kabir in his Porshe. While Dhruv, Vivan, Abhi and Ayan in Vivan's car. No way in hell was I getting in that car. So that left me with Meera in her small, but cute Volkswagen. 

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I stretched out my legs as we jumped out of the car and walked over to Kabir's car a few lots down.

"Tell me we aren't carrying all these bags inside?" Abhi asked coming from behind Meera, stretching his arms out. Zoning out of the conversation, I turned to look at my surroundings. Most of the parking lot was full, presumably everyone had chosen this nice day to get outside. I shifted my gaze to the Falls itself, and a sudden memory struck me. My lip tugged downwards as I recalled it.

I shook my head and looked somewhere else. My eyes caught to Kabir who also standing solemnly. He met my gaze, and I think we were thinking the same thing. I offered a small smile, which he returned weakly.

After  walking around and taking many pictures, we decided to view the falls close on the observation deck. So here we were, dressed like ducks in yellow ponchos.

I leaned against the metal bar, feeling droplets from the Falls hit my face. It felt so refreshing and relaxing just standing there midst the breeze, it was such a peaceful feeling.

But of course, every good thing had an end.

Unfortunately for me, the end was a smart mouthed jerk with nothing better to do, than ruin the serenity. A bird crapping on my head would have been better than hearing his goddamn voice.

"Just lean over a bit more, and you could be pushed off the ledge." Ayan stated casually, leaning against the metal bars.

"Oh, you would love that, wouldn't you?" I scoffed in return.

"No doubt about that."

I flipped him off.

"Aren't you a ray of pitch black."

"And aren't you annoying. Listen, giving a damn doesn't really go with my outfit today," I rolled my eyes and looked back at the falls. Sadly, the peace wasn't regained, in fact the memory from before returned. I sensed him still staring at me from the corner of my eye. 

"What?" I snapped.

Ayan blinked, and replied, "nothing." Coughing awkwardly he walked away to flirt with a random girl.

What the hell was that?

Shrugging his behaviour and his presence away, I looked around the deck noticing that it was just our group hogging the area. Typical. I spotted Vivan taking pictures a few feet away from me, and I took a deep breath before following my stride towards him.

What am I doing? What am I even going to say?

"Akira," he looked up in surprise.

"Hey, mind if I keep you company for a while?"

"Not at all." He tucked his camera away and leaned against the railing, as we both watched the water tipping and hurdling down against the rocks. 

"So how has life been for you?"

I rolled my eyes, lightly hitting my shoulder against his. "That's such a formal question. But I've been good. Moving to London soon."

"Nice! Promotion?"

"Yep."

"Congratulations. Ayan's in London too. Chances of running into him are much more likely," he grinned. 

I scoffed, "if it's up to me, then no way."

He hummed, "who knows?"

I gave him a side long look. "What about you? How is like working with little devils all day." 

He grinned at the mention of his work, "it's great actually. They're pretty decent most days."

"I always thought you wanted to become a lawyer. I remember you and Kabir planning to study at the same law school and opening your own law firm in the future."

"I realized it wasn't for me. And teaching gave me the stability...that I really needed at the time." He breathed. I was surprised he shared that bit of information with me, no matter that I already knew. 

I patted his shoulder. "We're all here for you Vivan. Even Shanaya, who may keep her distance right now, but she still cares."

He smiled a wistful smile, "I don't know how long to wait."

"You waited six years. Are you going to let go now when you're so close?"

He let out a breath, straightening himself. With a smile he ruffled my hair, "you've grown Akira."

"Pfft, I'm only two years younger than you Vivan." 

"Still. You should listen to your own advice too." He shot me one last smile before pushing himself off the ledge and walking away, leaving me to ponder to the sound of the water.

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"Pass me the water bottle, Kir." I roll my eyes before throwing Shanaya the bottle. Currently, we had gathered back to our cars, eating the bags of packed food. Adhaya, Meera, and I were sitting in the trunk with our feet dangling outside.

"Why are we eating like this? You know how many girls laughed at me. This is so embarrassing!" Abhi grumbled, standing there with a plastic plate with leftover pasta.

"Be thankful, our moms didn't actually pack rotis." Shanaya stated. That was true. Thankfully the moms decided to spare us from cold rotis, and oil filled curries, and packed homemade pasta, and luckily some junk foods.

"True that."

A couple seconds later we heard a groan erupt, once again from Abhi. "Abhi, what the hell is wrong now?" Meera asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Stupid Ayan—" I second that statement, "—gets all the girls even if he looks stupid standing in the parking lot eating food from a plastic plate." He muttered.

Dhruv swooped in to the rescue, "Come on buddy, lets go find out how he does it." He said patting Abhi's shoulder and carrying him away.

So now it was only Meera, Adhaya, Shanaya, Vivan, and me. It seemed that the tension from before had calmed. Even if they weren't speaking to each other, at least they could remain in the same vicinity. That would count for something.

Darting my gaze around for my brother, I spotted him leaning against the railing along the sidewalk, looking down at the Niagara Falls. I looked over at Adhaya in question, but she simply shrugged, and nodded her head towards him, as if to say 'you should probably go talk to him.' I smiled at her, before jumping out of the car, wiping my handing with a tissue and walking over to my dearest brother.

I leaned against the railing, not sure what to say. So I didn't, instead I closed my eyes listening to the surrounding sounds.

"Two thousand six." Kabir said after a couple of minutes, startling me. Opening my eyes I looked at him, telling him to continue.

"That was the last time we went to Niagara Falls, as a family." Hearing the last part, I knew what was coming, and could feel my heart hammering inside my chest.

"I remember every single bit of that trip."

"I do too." I whispered. 

But he continued on, "don't you remember when the three of us were fighting in the car for which song to play? And of course you won. We had to listen to your stupid songs all the way there." I would've laughed at the memory if it weren't for the fact there was a painful wound hidden there. I looked up at Kabir, but he was looking ahead at the flowing water.

"Oh yeah, remember when we left our parents to get ice cream. And you two bullies kept trying to push me off the railing, laughing your heads off." He continued. 

"I remember."

"And all those time she would save us from mom's wrath, and then–"

"I don't want to talk about it Kabir." I interrupted once I found my voice.

"Then when will we talk about it Kir?" Kabir's voice much louder then before, as he finally turned to me. My eyes grew a little wider at the unexpected tone of his voice. His anger was not an emotion that was revealed often, but I had a feeling his was going to let it all out today.

"At home? Because whenever I bring it up, you run out of the house. And should I remind you, you ran out on Shanaya at the café the other day. She did tell me."

I stood quietly, remaining calm for the both of us.

"Do you remember that summer after it happened?" He gave a sardornic laugh, shaking his head. "Oh wait, of course you wouldn't! You know why? Because you left a week after it happened!"

I could feel tears brimming the edges of my eyes now, but I quickly blinked them away.

"I knew you were deciding to leave for Stanford, but why did you leave so early. Was it to escape the pain? The pity looks from people? Well guess what Kir, you weren't the only one!" A traitor of a tear slid down my cheek.

"Mom, dad, me!" He tone was growing closer to a shout. I could feel curious stares of people, but I didn't dare look away from Kabir. "I know there was more to what happened. I never pushed you to tell me. But I never expected you to run either. I don't know about maa or papa or anyone else, but you hurt me. You left at the first chance you got, and who was here to take care of our parents alone? Me, of course. I don't even care about that.

Akira, you only lost one sister that day, but what hurt me the most was I lost two sisters, instead of one that day. And it still hurts."

He slowly rubbed his face with his palms, and shook his head, before walking away without another word.

I stood there numb, biting down on my trembling lip. We had argued before. Many times, but never like this. 

The bitterness in his voice isn't what hurt me, it was the words.

They hurt because they were true.

And I couldn't do anything to fix it.

"I lost two sisters instead of one that day." He was right. I was mourning over her, that I didn't realize I was pushing away the others. He lost Rhea and me.

Rhea.

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Akira: What the hell just happened?

Author: You should know. You caused it.

Kabir: Yup, she did.

Akira: Did not.

Kabir: Did too.

Akira: Did n–

Author: Alright, shut it. This part is edited and I decided to leave this lil A/N thing as many people seem to enjoy it.

Ayan: Why am I barely not in this chapter?

Akira: Because no one likes you.

Author: Akira stop interrupting. And patience Ayan, you'll get your turn soon. This chapter is pretty important.

Abhi: And boring.

Author: *rips paper* Do you hear that? That's the sound of all your potential love interests being ripped to shreds. 

Abhi: Nooooooo. I take it back. I'm so sorry *attempts taping sheet back together*

Ayan: Pathetic.

Meera: Anyways, dedication goes to @Being_Kaju for her amazing support in this book.

Author: Remember guys, I may not reply to all your comments, but don't worry I notice them, and best comments get dedications!

Dhruv: Yea, and thank you for the 10.3K reads!

Shanaya: And the +230 votes!

Vivan: And of course for getting TKK #277 in Humor!!!

Author: So all in all thank you guys, Comment and vote!

xoxo,

loveYJHD