Next morning, the girls were having a talk of the anonymous reply letter and the dress sent by Karan, meanwhile Preeta was sitting dull at a corner recalling the recent traumatizing events in her life.

Sh: yaar mujhe toh kal ek love letter aya, lekin woh reply tha, maine kisi ko love letter likha he nahi tha, toh obviously us anonymous ne na kisi aur ki jagah mujhe woh letter aur woh dress bhej diya ho ga, lekin kaafi talented hai woh letter likhne wala, kaash mujhe bhi koi aisa mil jaaye

She said dreamily.

Si: tujhe bhi aya koi love letter?

Sh: haan na, aur tujhe bhi?

Si: haan

Sh: kahan hai?

Si: mere liye nahi tha na isliye phaar diya

Shivani laughed accompanied by her.

Sh: dress ka kya kiya?

Si: sambhaal liya, pyara tha

Sh: maine bhi, waise kaisa dress tha? Mujhe toh white dress mila jis pe golden design thi

Si: aur mujhe bhi, kaisa itefaaq hai na?

Sh: haan, woh toh hai

Dv: yaar letter toh mujhe bhi aya tha, same waise he dress ke saath

Simar and Shivani said in unison: tujhe bhi?

Dv: haan, lekin kaash woh mere liye hota lekin mere liye nahi tha kiun ke maine bhi kisi ko love letter nahi likha

Si: don't be sad, jo cheez kismat mein nahi us ke peechhe nahi bhaagna chahiye

Sh: point to be noted.

Dv: tujhe koi dress aya kya Suhana?

Su: mujhe? (she tried hard to hide her blush) umm nahi toh, na he koi letter aya

Dv: jhooti, sach bol sach

Sh: haan haan bol, blush kar rahi hai aur bol rahi hai ke nahi

Si: relax guys, its okay agar woh nahi batana chahti

Sh: yaar lekin hum sab friends hain

Si: aur kuchh baatein share nahi ki jaati na close friends ke saath bhi

Sh: chal theek hai, Suhana, mat bata, lekin ek baat kahoon?

Su: kya?

Sh: suhana safar aur ye mausam haseen

Suhana looked down biting her lip to hide her blush as Karan sang the same line previously for her when they competed for football and cricket. She stood up and ran away, the trio had a laugh. Simar's eyes went on Preeta who was dull and silent. She stood up and went to her sitting beside her and placed her hand on her shoulder.

Si: Preeta?

Preeta startled and looked at her.

Si: relax, its just me, kya hua? Itni gumsum kiun hai? Kya tujhe bhi...

Pr: nahi, nahi aya koi letter na he koi dress mujhe, par kho diya usay maine humesha ke liye, ye sab meri galti hai

She burst into tears shocking Simar who pulled her in a hug.

Si: Preeta, shaant ho ja, kisay kho diya? Kya ho gaya tujhe?

Shivani and Devanshi's attention shifted to them, they stood up and walked to the duo as the situation turned serious. The sat by her side.

Pr: ye sab meri galti hai yaar, main Goa nahi aana chahti thi, main bilkul aana nahi chahti thi yahan kiun ke yahan woh tha

Dv: Preeta, calm down, kaun tha? Kya hua? Bol toh sahi

Pr: maine kaha tha na phone par mujhe Goa nahi aana? Yahi asal wajah thi, ek month pehle main yahan Goa ke college mein parhti thi jahan mujhe pyaar hua Dev se, sab kitna achha tha, achanak ek din hum drive par thay, gundo'n ne attack kiya, us ne kaha ke bhaago, main bhaagi lekin bhaagtay bhaagtay ambulance pehle he bula li kiun ke usay bohat chot aai thi, bhaagtay bhaagtay mujhe goli chalne ki awaz aai aur main ultay paun uski taraf bhaagi, mere peechhe poori bheed bhaagi, woh gunday bhaag gaye, is doraan Dev ne self defense mein un gundo'n mein se ek ko maar dala tha, khair Dev ko hospital le gaye, aur phir police case bana, police aai aur Dev ne un ke saamne ye kaha ke us ke haatho'n khoon hua hai, aur phir kya, maine convince kiya bohat ke woh sirf self defense tha lekin woh tha ke kuchh sun'ne ko tayaar nahi tha, main us se alag ho gayi ye keh kar ke humesha bas maine usay pyaar kiya hai usne nahi, main Goa chhor kar chali gayi. Aur ek month baad main phir yahan aa gayi tum sab ke saath. Yahan mera ek bohat achha dost bana jis se main tum sab se bhi ziada close ho gayi, woh hai Rishab, maine usko saari baat batayi, uske saath main phir se Dev se mili, Dev ne keh diya ke tum aur Rishab ek ho jao, hum saath nahi ho saktay. Main phir ek baar naraz ho kar chali gayi. Lekin mera birthday tha toh main Rishab se mili, aur Rishab se he kaha ke woh meri ye wish poori kar de, jo ke woh maan gaya, kiun ke usay pyaar hai na mujh se, ye baat mujhe Dev se he pata chali. Khair phir Dev jail se bhaag aya, hum ne saath mein time spend kiya lekin, woh gundo'n ne phir ghera humein, us par goliyaan chalai, woh nahi bacha, woh mar gaya, sab meri galti hai.

She couldn't stop crying and they all looked at each other.

Dv: Preeta, nahi hai koi galti, honi ko kaun taal sakta hai

Preeta stifled her tears.

Pr: main taal sakti thi, na he main Rishab ko bolti, na he woh convince karta, na he Dev bhaagta, na he woh gunday aatay, na he woh marrta.

Sh: lekin Preeta, us ki maut likhi ho gi jabhi hui ho gi

Pr: yaar itni dard bhari maut? Kis ki wajah se hui? Meri wajah se, main kaise maaf karoon khud ko?

Si: Preeta, tumhari wajah se us ki maut nahi hui, tum toh bas usay azadi dena chahti thi, us gunaah se jo usne nahi kiya, kya galat kar diya is mein? Tum theek thi apni jagah, un gundo'n ne kiya jo kiya

Pr: ye meri birthday sab se worst birthday ban gayi, sab se worst.

Simar held the back of her head and wiped her tears.

Si: bas bas, chup, shaant ho ja, nahi hai teri galti

Sh: Simar theek keh rahi hai, koi galti nahi hai tumhari.

Dv: haan Preeta, khud ko dosh denay se woh wapis nahi aye ga

Pr: kaash ke waqt wapis aa jaye, bas sirf itna ho jaaye, kaash ke main nahi milti us se, kam se kam woh door hota lekin zinda hota

She lied on her side lost in thoughts. All of their words didn't have any affect on her, because deep down she knew it was her mistake only.

Later that day, Rishab arrived there but before meeting Preeta, he met Karan. As soon as they met, they shared a hug. Then they settled to have chit chat.

R: aur bro, tujhe woh letter wali larki mili?

K: haan, woh Suhana hai, all thanks to Preeta, usi ka unique idea tha, ke sab larkiyo'n ko letter likh doon, aur khud se he woh chhupi rustam saamne aa jaye gi, lo aa gayi

Rishab smiled.

R: chal achha hai mil gayi, lekin, confession ho gaya?

K: almost, lekin usay confirmation chahiye bas

R: lekin tu kaise confirmation de ga

K: main sochta hoon yaar, mujhe nahi pata

R: kuchh special kar na, us par apna pyaar barsa de, usay confirmation mil he jaaye gi, baar baar usay special feel kara, waise woh tujhe pasand hai?

Karan smiled.

K: haan, bohat. Mere dimag se toh nikalti he nahi woh, uska woh chaand sa chehra, jo chaand ki roshni mein chamak kar aur pyaara lagta hai, aisa lagta hai saari ki saari chandni jaise usi se nikalti ho, jaise suraj ki roshni usi ko chhoo kar aur roshan hoti ho.

He said dreamily.

R: chal, tu ghum reh us ke khayalo'n mein, main zara Preeta se mil leta hoon

Karan nodded, Rishab called Preeta on her phone who answered the call sleepily.

Pr: Rishab?

R: Preeta, sorry agar maine disturb kiya, mujhe nahi pata tha tum so rahi ho, lekin main ghar par hoon, socha tha tum se mil loon.

Pr: its okay Rishab, main aa rahi hoon

Call disconnected. At the same instance, Preeta came out, Karan walked inside his room, she sat down next to him.

R: Preeta, sorry, lekin happy belated birthday, ab toh maine wish poori kar di, ab toh happy birthday keh sakta hoon na, ab toh tum khush ho na?

Preeta couldn't control and hugged him all of a sudden bursting into tears. He was shocked by her reaction.

R: kya hua Preeta? Tum is tarha...

Pr: woh nahi raha, woh mar gaya

R: mar gaya? Kaise?

Preeta told him everything.

Pr : sab meri galti hai (she broke the hug) mujhe tumhe bolna he nahi chahiye tha ye sab karne ke liye, kam se kam woh jail mein rehta zinda toh rehta na

He shook his head.

R: nahi hai tumhari galti (she looked at him with her eyes fully drenched in tears) galti meri hai, maine bhi sochay samjhay bagair ye sab kar diya, mujhe us ki bail karani chahiye thi

Pr: Rishab, baat bhaag jaane ke liye convince karne ki ya phir bail dilaane ki toh hai he nahi na, un gundo'n ki wajah se Dev ki jaan chali gayi, jaate jaate bolta hai ke woh mujhe upar se dekhay ga aasman se, aray mujhe baat karni ho usay dekhna ho uski awaz sun'ni ho toh main kya karoon gi ye toh mujhe koi bataye

R: Preeta, bas (he slowly wiped her tears and she looked on) bas karo please, kitna ro gi? Dekho, in sab mein hai na, galti kisi ki nahi, na tumhari, na us ki, ye sab kismat ka khel hai, Bhagwan ki karni hai, kuchh endings aisi he hoti hai, sach kahoon toh sacha pyaar wohi hota hai jisay manzilein nahi milti, jaise tumhara aur Dev ka pyaar.

Pr: aur tumhara pyaar mere liye

He got shocked.

R: kya keh rahi ho ye? Main tumse pyaar?

Pr: mujhe Dev ne bata diya tha, ke tum mujh se pyaar kartay ho, aur meri khwahish puri kar ke tum khud ki khwahish tyaag rahay ho, jabhi toh Dev ki aakhri khwahish yahi thi ke hum dono ek ho jaaein, lekin, ye mumkin nahi hai, haan Rishab ye mumkin he nahi, kuchh aur maangta toh phir bhi kar deti, lekin ye mujh se nahi ho ga.

R: I understand. Relax Preeta, main sirf tumhara dost ban kar rehna chahta hoon jo ke main pehle se hoon.

Pr: sirf ek dost nahi ho, ek bohat achhay dost ho, jo ke doosre dost ki kadar karta hai, aisa dost toh har kisi ke paas hona chahiye.

He smiled at her and then left from there.