I didn't lose you. You lost me. You'll search for me inside of everyone you're with and I won't be found.

- R.H.Sin

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"Whatever Shravan told Aditya is true," Suman whispered.

Her voice sounded shaky, not as firm as she wanted it to be, but when with a new determination she looked at him, she found him gasping at her, shell-shocked.

Shravan did want her to get them out of the messy situation he had created, but not at her expense. Shaking his head at her, Shravan tried to stop her, but when had she listened to him? Looking into her eyes, he noticed a glint of humor in there and it scared him, and as if sensing that, she reached out, settling her hand loosely on his arm, stopping him from saying anything. With a gentle shove, she moved him aside, stepping out to face the fire line.

"Sumo!" He yelled as he pulled her back.

"You know, Mami is right. You have always protected me. This time around, let me do the same for you. So, from now on, I can taunt you too." She whispered as she smiled at him humorlessly.

"Suman Tiwari, this is not funny. You don't know the rubbish I uttered last night. Don't take the blame for that. Please!" He begged her.

"I will deal with you, but later, for now, do as I say!" She ordered him as she intertwined their fingers and dragged him behind her as she walked to where Nirmala and Aditya were standing.

As she approached the man who had assaulted her just minutes before, her entire being shook, and her brain ordered her to run, but she couldn't, wouldn't, show him anything. She was not weak, and she couldn't afford to be at the moment. After all, she needed to not only defend herself but also save her best friend, the person who had put them in such a dire predicament. Taking a deep breath in, she assured herself that Shravan Malhotra would pay for this. But that was for later.

With her head raised high, Suman looked into Aditya's eyes without an ounce of fear. Knowing he could not hurt her anymore, knowing he had no hold on her anymore. Even so, as he kept to look down at her with a glint of evilness in his eyes, her shield again came to stand in between them as he tried to pull her behind him.

Taking his stand in front of her once again, Shravan glared at Aditya, unmoving even as she gently shoved him away. After huffing at his stubbornness, Suman turned to Aditya, no longer trembling and shivering as now her focus was set on her stupid and stubborn best friend, and on the disgust and anger, she felt for both men and on how they both had wronged her in different ways.

"I don't think I need to say more. The way you both act is enough to show how 'close' you both are," Aditya taunted.

"And you, Suman, you can hug him and hold hands with him in front of everyone, yet I can't even demand a kiss from you?" Aditya snapped at her.

When she felt Shravan go stiff before moving to beat Aditya again, she pulled him back by tugging at his hand forcefully as she continued to glare at the man standing in front of them.

"I don't think you are anyone's best friend, Aditya, that is why you couldn't understand what we mean to each other." She said as she expertly moved the attention in the direction she wanted to.

"Exactly, Aditya, you don't know the kind of friendship Suman and Shravan have. It is something very rare, something more than the trust and comfort level that husband and wife have between them. I had told Shravan the same thing tomorrow, I am sure that is what Shravan meant." Lala Ji jumped in to defend the friendship he had admired for years.

"I don't think you understand what love or friendship is. You expected me - who took a decade to recognize and understand love and friendship - to believe you were in love with me, didn't you? Not only that, but you were also forcing me to confess that I felt the same. But I tolerated all of that, and for what? For you to attack me, badmouth me? Is this your love?" She accused as she glared at him.

"You both had lied to me about your relationship, you still are lying. Your Shravan told me all about it last night. So, stop pretending to be a true sanskari girl." Aditya yelled at her.

"Whatever he told you doesn't give you permission or the right to attack me, Aditya. And shouldn't you have asked me if whatever he was saying was true or not? But what did you do? You assaulted me. You knew that Shravan was upset with me, you knew that you being Nirmala aunty's son disturbed him, yet you still believed in whatever he said in the rage without even asking me once?" She snapped at him.

"You had a problem with my friendship with him, right? Why him and not you? Let me tell you, Aditya, he does mean a lot to me. After my grandfather, Shravan was the only constant I had in my life. I had pushed him away, hurt him countless times, and he had done the same with me, but we still know that we have each other's back." She continued.

"He had made his own place in my life and with time, you would have made your own if you wouldn't have had pulled such a disgusting stunt. What you had today was horrific and disgusting and that proves that I shouldn't have any kind of expectations from you," Suman said as she glared at the man standing in front of her.

"You have been insecure about my friendship with him and that is why you have questioned both of us about it, isn't it? You kept insisting that I had some kind of past, you kept taunting me and I tolerated all of it because of my family. I should have known that you are nothing but a narrow-minded man." Suman snapped at him.

As she revealed what had happened between the past five days of their wedding preparation, others were left in shock. Soon things became clear to them.

"You knew he was feeling insecure, Suman? Even then?" Nirmala asked her, shocked.

"That's why - that's why I had told you, Shravan, to stay away from this marriage, to stay away from Aditya and Suman. See what you have done?" Nirmala accused as she glared at Shravan.

If it was any other time, about any other thing, Shravan wouldn't have stopped himself from uttering the first insult his mind could come up with, but it wasn't any other day. It was the day that made him realize that it didn't matter what was the situation, the insults and the jabs he impulsively uttered always came back to haunt him. For once he kept quiet, as he had no words as a comeback for Nirmala Ahuja.

"How could you tell Shravan to stay away from me? You had witnessed how much we mean to each other from our childhood. So how you tell Shravan that?" Suman asked her, shocked.

"Suman, you don't understand. After marriage, these kinds of friendships end anyway. On top of that, this is a complicated situation. After getting married, the friendship between you both would have broken anyway. Shravan hates me too much for it to be any different!" Nirmala explained herself, only to accuse him at the end.

"Nirmala auntie, it doesn't matter who we end up married to, my and Shravan's relationship, our friendship, nothing can end. Doesn't matter what happens, we would always need each other - hum ek dusre ki aadat bhi hain aur zaroorat bhi. We have been relying on each other for way too long to not be there for each other in times of distress." Suman said with conviction.

Her words cleared the misconception Shravan himself had. Shocked at her words, he could just stare at her in awe. So sure she was of them, while he had lost all hope for anything. The way she talked about them seemed so eternal, so unconditional. Amazed at her words, he felt his heart melt as he gazed at her with tenderness.

"You see that, Mom! That is what I have been talking about! And even after listening to this, you are going to say that they are 'best friends'?" Aditya yelled.

"Even after marriage, she would have continued to be in a relationship with him. How can anyone expect me to marry a badhchalan - characterless girl like her?" Aditya screamed out.

"Shut up, Aditya. Don't you dare!" Suman yelled at him as Shravan again tried to step closer to him with his hands clenched into fists, only to be stopped by her as she tugged his hand hard and pulled him back.

"Now that everything has been cleared, I don't think your presence is necessary... So please!" she told Nirmala, gesturing with her left hand towards the door, indicating her to leave.

"You both can't just get away with this," Aditya yelled, ignoring his mother who was trying to drag him away.

Knowing Suman wouldn't let him move, Shravan turned to Pushkar, and with a movement of his head, he indicated for his cousin to throw Aditya out of the Tiwari Killa. As Pushkar and others dragged Aditya away - who kept on blabbing about what not - Nirmala too turned around to walk away.

"Mrs Ahuja!" Shravan called his mother, stopping her near the door. Ignoring his father's call, he moved closer to her - dragging Suman with him by their intertwined hands - to stand in front of her.

"You will receive a restraining order tomorrow morning. If even after that, your son is seen anywhere near Suman or her family, I will make sure he doesn't get out of jail. Ever!" Shravan threatened.

As she looked at his tense stand, his face set with resolve and a promise shining in his eyes, Nirmala knew he meant it. Nodding at his warning as she kept on crying silently, she walked out, taking away with her the person who had been the cause of their distress ever since he stepped into their lives...

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