The Clash at Midnight

Kriya got overly drunk and blurted out her suppressed feelings:
"Kaaya, don’t linger around him! He’s mine—he always has been MINE, YOU TWO-FACED BITCH. Why don’t you just decide to be with Nimish? He’s a great guy. Just spare my Akaay.

Kaaya responded, "The problem isn’t that Akaay still loves me, the reality is that you cannot digest the fact he’s not at your fingertips anymore. You can’t accept that you keep reaching out to him but can’t have him. You’ve been treating him like a thing you can pick up whenever you desire. Now that you can’t, you’re trying to possess him. Don’t give me that crap about him being yours, we all know that’s not true anymore.
You call me two-faced? The real one is you. You want Akaay, but simultaneously you want to keep up a friendship with me, someone you secretly despise. I never lied about hating you. Knowing your truth made me think otherwise for a while, but I couldn’t spend a single day with you. At least I had the guts to walk away, while you keep pretending about friendship. A true friend never pretends, Kriya.
So, thank you for ruining my birthday with your lies surfacing. Keep your Akaay with you and spare me. I’ve tolerated enough. You’re an abomination, Kriya."

As Kaaya turned to walk away, a stranger placed his hand on Kriya’s shoulder and suddenly hugged her from behind.

"Oh, poor thing. A beauty like you doesn’t deserve such harsh words. Let me calm you, my love."

He rubbed his face against her neck. Kriya was disgusted. She struggled to break free, but she couldn’t resist much. Akaay stood there, stunned. Suddenly, Kaaya rushed in, smashed a bottle on the man’s head, and shouted:
"Let go of my friend, you low-class moth!"

Sapna quickly pulled Kriya aside to safety. The man’s head started bleeding, and his friend struck Kaaya. This infuriated Akaay, Gautami, Dodo, and Nimish, who thrashed the boys brutally. Akaay’s reaction wasn’t surprising, but it was shocking to see Gautami, Dodo, and Nimish lose their calm.
Meanwhile, Kriya, still drunk, started yelling like she was cheering in a wrestling match, giving Sapna a hard time controlling her. Sapna yanked her hair and snapped:
"Shut up! Stay calm and don’t gaslight the situation further. You’ve caused enough trouble already."

It was an uncharacteristic outburst from Sapna too. Soon, bouncers and security rushed in to calm things down.

The mess led them all to spend the night at the police station, where they were interrogated. Kaaya’s uncle and aunt hurried there. They were joined by Prayag, Kunal, and Ana, who had gone to get the cars out of the parking lot and by the time they returned, chaos had already unfolded.

They looked worried. In the background, Prayag whispered to Ana:
"We missed the fun? They fought without us? How could they?"
Ana rolled her eyes: "Thank God we escaped to the parking. I couldn’t have watched that violence."
Prayag smirked: "It’s not that you couldn’t watch you just wouldn’t be standing here now. Who knows where they’d have thrown you, and we’d be searching for you in some corner."
"Oh please, I’m with a kid did you forget I’m pregnant?" Ana snapped.
"Of course not. Considering your pregnancy, your kid just missed a free lesson in self-defence. But no wonder—the mother is overly sensitive."
Ana got furious, but before she could respond, Kunal interrupted:
"What’s the situation now? What were you even fighting over?"
Prayag shrugged sarcastically: "We came back when everything was over. Poor us! We missed the thrill."
Everyone gave him a look.
"What? I didn’t do anything. Nothing was left for me anyway. You should’ve waited for me."
Ana slapped his shoulder and hissed: "Shut up, you overly talkative nut."
Prayag protested: "Don’t use curse words. What will the child learn? Instead of self-defence, you’re teaching it bad language."
Everyone stared at him in disbelief. Kunal tried to calm things down:
"Stop it, Ana. You know how he is. Just leave it."
Ana fired back: "Leave? That’s not what we were supposed to do in the first place. You can leave if you want."
Kunal, offended, started arguing with Prayag too. Finally, Kaaya’s aunt gave them all a sharp look. Silence fell instantly.

Kunal went outside and returned with ORS packets.
"You must all be tired after fighting. Take these."
Everyone caught the sarcasm, but still accepted the packets. They stabbed the straws in and began drinking together.

Kunal smirked: "Unbelievable."

Kaaya, Sapna, Gautami, and Dodo chorused: "Thank you!"

Kunal raised an eyebrow: "Sapna, why are you thanking me? You didn’t even fight."
Sapna shot him a death stare and gestured at Kriya, who was still drunk and rambling.
"Keeping her calm is mental warfare. That’s strength too."

The police officer entered and scolded the group:
"Do you have any idea how much trouble your kids caused tonight?"
The group grew nervous. But Kaaya’s uncle and aunt reacted unexpectedly.
"Oh God, how much they’ve beaten my kids! But I’m sure your men beat them ten times harder," her aunt chuckled. Even the police were surprised.
She turned to the inspector:
"We come from a reputable family, but that doesn’t mean my children will stay calm when someone misbehaves with their friend. They didn’t act impulsively. Still, I’ll teach them next time to break legs and arms instead of stopping with just a beating."

Kaaya’s uncle addressed the boys:
"You misbehaved with a girl. Either apologise to my children and end this here, or we’ll escalate this legally and I’ll make sure you’re punished."

The boys quickly realised this was no ordinary family. To avoid legal trouble, they apologised to Kriya and the others.
And with that, the group finally headed home.

30/05/2025