A Secret No More

                                    

                                          
The room is filled with a stony silence, an awkward air surrounding the three actors. 'So, you two planning on actually explaining?' Ranbir asks, the words basically being spat at the other two. 
                          
'Explaining, right, yeah,' Alia mumbles, looking at Varun, hoping for some form of help, support. He takes her hand silently, the feeling of his hand covering hers instantly making her relax. She looks at him, giving him a soft smile and nodding her head gratefully at the do you want me to handle it? look he gives her. 
                          
He takes a breath and then turns to face the man opposite him, the man who he's counted as an older brother for most of his life. The man who he can't really stand the site of anymore. He takes another breath and then begins to speak, trying his best to modulate his voice, sound calm - or civil at the least. 'Look,' he begins and immediately has to stop, quickly realising that his attempts at civility aren't going to last very long if the asshole across from him doesn't stop glaring at him. 'Alright, you know what? I know full well you don't give a crap about what we have to say. I know you're probably going to be on the phone to Karan the second you leave from here, giving him some stupid story that doesn't come close to what we tell you. Nothing either of us say is gonna change a damn thing. I could sit here and narrate the whole story to you or I could give you some horse shite about being drunk in Vegas and it probably wouldn't make a fucking difference. But you asked for an explanation so why don't you stop glaring at me and just generally acting like a jackass and just listen to the goddamn explanation that you fucking asked for!' 
                          
'That wasn't really much of an explanation Dhawan,' Ranbir comments, still very much behaving like a jackass. 
                          
'You want an explanation? Fine. How's this for an explanation. The two of us,' he says, gesturing between him and Alia, 'we've been through a lot of shit together. And in the middle of all the shit, we figured out that the crap isn't so bad when we're together-' The young actor cuts himself off when he sees the elder miming trying to stop himself from puking. He exhales slowly, hands clenching into fists as he tries to keep himself from throwing a punch. 
                          
Sensing the danger on the horizon, Alia places a hand over Varun's, her thumb rubbing circles over the back of his hand until his fingers straighten out. And then, when she's sure her husband has calmed down, she turns to the guy she's been pretending to date and there's a fire burning in her eyes, one that anyone who knows her would know to run away from as fast as they possibly can. Varun drops his head, trying to hide the smile that's threatening to spread across his face. 'You. You are an asshole. And I want you out of my house, now.' She spits the words out, her death glare trained on Ranbir. 
                          
'You sure about that Alia? Because see, all it will take is one phones call and this little secret of yours is out.' 
                          
'Oh shut up,' she snaps. Surprisingly, he does, immediately. 'Here's the thing Ranbir, you know nothing, absolutely nothing, about me, about my relationships with anyone, least of all my relationship with Varun - my best friend, the guy who I love, who I decided to spend the rest of my life with. It's none of your business alright. None of your business, none of Karan's business. And the two of you have been making my life hell for so goddamn long and I am sick of it. So the both of you just stay out!' 
                          
'Who said I was talking about Karan?' Ranbir asks, smug smile fixed in place.
                          
'What?' Her eyes widen, surprised, but Varun just lets out a hollow chuckle, lifting his head and looking from the man in front of him to the girl next to him. 'What?' she repeats, this time looking at her husband. 
                          
'Bhaiya.' is all he says, the word hardly more than a mutter. Ranbir's smug smirk grows and Varun lets out another low, bitter chuckle. 'That's it isn't it? You're going to tell bhaiya.'