bag with harder force than necessary. Sweat trickled down her forehead and her back was drenched, but Nyla had no plan of stopping anytime soon. The last few days, any spare moment was spent at the gym taking out her frustrations and sadness. Nyla had thought she was over the family drama, but Ramesh's visit opened up a void in her heart that she though she'd closed a long time ago.

"You need to take it easy." Darius' low voice filled her ears.

Nyla didn't bother turning around, instead she punched the bag even harder. "I'm fine."

He snorted. "You sure aren't. Ever since you saw Meena, I've only seen you at the gym. Let's go out for lunch, I'll pay." Darius pleaded with her.

Nyla was hungry but if she knew that she went to lunch with Darius, he would just try and talk about her feelings—which she did not want to do.

Luckily, her phone rang, and she untied her gloves before picking it up.

"Hello?"

There was a small cough on the other line. "Nyla?"

Nyla froze at the sound of her sister's voice. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Darius glancing at her curiously, but she didn't say anything.

"I was hoping that you could come join me and the boys for lunch at a restaurant. We are going to be leaving for Pennsylvania tomorrow."

There was silence on both ends before Nyla uttered one word. "Why?"

"I realize that I said some harsh things to you when I found Ramesh and I want a chance to make it alright. It's been too long since I've had my baby sister with me." Meena admitted.

"You had to chance to reconnect before." Nyla said before getting ready to end the call.

As if sensing that Nyla wasn't moved Meena hurriedly yelled, "Wait! Arush and Ramesh really want to see you. If you don't want to see me that's fine, but I can't let my kids down."

Nyla's heart softened momentarily. "I'll come. Just text me the details."

She hung up the phone and glanced at Darius. "Meena wants to have lunch today."

Darius's blue eyes peered into hers as he cocked an eyebrow. "And what did you say?"

"I said yes."

He nodded once. "Good, I think it will be better for you. Lie all you want to me, but you haven't been fine the last couple of days. Hopefully this will help you heal."

Nyla began stuffing everything into her gym bag. "I want you to come with me."

"I thought you might want to have this moment with your sister and family."

Nyla gently placed her hand on Darius' beard and tilted his head towards her. "You are my family."

Darius' eyes sparkled before he swooped in to give her a sweet kiss on the lips. He hugged her tight. "If you want me to go, I will. I'm pretty sure I would follow you to the moon if you asked me to."

♠♠♠♠♠♠

Nyla walked into the restaurant and her eyes scanned the place for her sister and nephews. Meena hadn't chosen a very expensive restaurant—most probably because Ramesh and Arush wouldn't be allowed to enter.

Her eyes connected with her sisters as she glanced at the corner of the room. They were sitting in a red booth which gave it a family feel. Butterflies crept though her stomach and she felt like she was going to throw up.

"You've got this," Darius' hand grazed her back in a comforting motion. "Anytime you feel uncomfortable, just let me know and I'll make an excuse."

Nyla smiled. She was lucky to have such a supportive boyfriend. Linking fingers with Darius, she made her way over to the booth.

Her sister immediately stood up and glanced at Darius first before cocking an eyebrow and asking the unspoken question, who was standing beside her.

"This is Darius, my boyfriend." Nyla introduced.

Meena shook his hand and smiled tightly, but it didn't reach her eyes. Darius meanwhile looked extremely relaxed and seemed to be enjoying Meena's discomfort.

"Aunt Nyla!" Ramesh shouted before leaping out of the booth and giving her a hug. "I didn't think I would see you again."

Nyla's heart melted at her nephews' words and she hugged him tightly. "Your mom called me today and what kind of aunt would I be not to see you before you leave for Pennsylvania."

She saw another figure shifting to the corner and Nyla smiled. "You must be Arush."

There was no response from her younger nephew.

"He'll warm up to you." Meena said taking a seat. "He's just shy around people he doesn't know really well."

There was an awkward pause around them as anger filled Nyla's body. It was not her fault that her nephew wasn't comfortable around her. It was Meena who had kept them away after the fallout with her parents and Rohit.

"Why don't we all sit down and order some lunch." Darius suggested smoothly.

Nyla nodded and settled in between Darius and Arush who was still not making eye contact with her. A waitress came and took their order before it was silent at the table once more.

Meena cleared her throat. "So how long have you both been dating?"

Darius and Nyla glanced at one another. "A few months," Nyla finally replied.

"How did you meet?"

"At a Charity Gala," Darius said.

Meena nodded. "That seems like a cute story. So, what do you do?"

"This isn't an interview." Nyla cut her off. "Lay off the questions."

"I can ask as many questions as I want." Meena retorted. "Last time I checked, I only invited you but if you brought your boyfriend, maybe he can give some inside about your life, seeing as I don't know much."

Darius fingers gripped hers much tighter.

"You made that decision when you sided with Mom and Dad."

"I know," Meena said in a softer tone.

Beside her, both her nephews were staring at the two of them go back and forth. Nyla didn't want to waste her time, so she needed to clear the air. "Why did you even invite me to this lunch?"

"Because I thought it was time to build the bridges that were broken between us. It's been so many years since you've come home Nyla. Arush hasn't even met you before."

Nyla stared at her sister. Something was off. It wasn't like Meena woke up one morning and decided to reach out to her. There must have been a catalyst to set her off.

"Is Ma dying or something?"

"Nani ji is dying Mama?" Ramesh's voice cut in.

Meena gave them both a look of horror and shook her head violently. "No, that's not true." She tousled Ramesh's hair. "Your grandmother is fine."

Darius looked between the two sisters. "Maybe I should take the boys outside for a bit so you both can speak."

"That's a wonderful—"

"It's not really necessary."

Both of them spoke at the same time.

Nyla glanced at her nephews. "I don't think this is a suitable conversation for them."

Meena bit her lips. It looked like she was struggling internally. She glanced at Darius critically for a few moments that annoyed Nyla.

"He's not going to kidnap your children for goodness sake Meena."

Meena flinched at the use of her name. For as long as Nyla had been alive, she had always called her sister Didi, but it just didn't feel appropriate now.

Darius didn't bat an eye. Instead he pulled out his wallet and passed over his driver's license to Meena. "There's all my information. Is it okay if I take your kids for a walk now?"

Meena's eyes scanned the card. "Are you the Giordano from G-Health?"

Darius' lips pursed and for the first time today he looked annoyed. "And if I told you I was, would it make a difference?"

Meena sighed before pushing the card back across the table. "Ramesh and Arush, I need you to go with Darius outside for a bit. I'll buy you ice-cream afterwards if you do."

It seemed like ice-cream was the magical word as both boys leapt out of their booths towards Darius. He held them in each hand and as they walked away, Nyla felt something deep in her heart. It was at that moment she was certain that she loved Darius. She knew she was falling but seeing him take care of others in such a sweet manner made her truly believe that she'd made the right choice.

Nyla turned back to Meena and her face hardened. "Now cut the bullshit, why have you decided to see me after so many years of staying away?"

Meena sighed. "Rohit was at the same conference as my husband. He saw me and asked that we talk—so we did."

"And what did he have to say?" Nyla asked tightly.

"That we were wrong to judge you. He admitted it was his fault that you guys broke up. He admitted to being a jerk and that he treated you wrongly."

Nyla was surprised that Rohit admitted all that to Meena. It seemed Karishma might have been a positive influence on him—something Nyla hadn't expected.

"Did he also tell you that he got married to Karishma?"

Meena's mouth fell open. "Your first-year roommate?"

"That's the one."

"Wow, I didn't see the coming."

"Well you didn't see a lot of things—including the fact that I was innocent."

Nyla watched as Meena took a sip of water. "I'm sorry about that."

Nyla never knew how much she needed to here those words however she also realized that she hadn't forgiven her sister completely. One did not completely remove someone out of their lives and waltz back in whenever they felt like it.

"It's a lot to digest but I accept your apology. I'm going to need time. Not everything can go back to the way it was, especially because Mom and Dad still don't speak to me."

"I can reach out to them and try to get them to understand if you want." Meena offered.

Nyla's chest tightened. There were very few things she would have liked more but shew as also scared of being rejected again by her parents. She'd proven everyone wrong with her success, yet her parents still made her feel inadequate.

So, she answered honestly. "I'll let you know if I want to."

Her phone pinged and she read the text message from Darius.

Is it safe to come back in?

She quickly typed that he could bring her nephews in. Meena watched her texting.

"He seems like a good guy." There was hesitation in her tone. "He also seems like someone who Mom and Dad wouldn't approve of."

Nyla knew it was the truth. Her parents wouldn't approve for the soul reason that Darius was not Indian.

"Well it's a good thing that I don't give a fuck about Mom and Dad's approval."

Her sister flinched at her tone but before she could say anything, Darius and her nephews returned. They had a very tense lunch and sufficient to say, Nyla didn't think she would see her sister anytime soon.

♠♠♠♠♠♠

"Could you please grab my glasses, they should be on the nightstand." Darius shouted from below.

Nyla, who was in the process of straightening her hair yelled back yes. She quickly finished off before searching for Darius' glasses. She frowned when she didn't find them on the nightstand. Maybe they were inside?

Her fingers opened the draw and leafed through a couple of pages. She didn't find the glasses, but she did find something more interesting. Her heart beat wildly, and she read it twice to make sure that she'd understood what it said. It seemed like Darius had a lot of explaining to do.

She walked down the stairs, the see Darius sipping a cup of coffee. She held the papers in her hands, "Do you want to explain this?"

Darius winced as his eyes landed on what Nyla was holding. "I was going to tell you about it."

Nyla snorted. "What I don't understand is how you can book a trip to India for the two of us without discussing it once with me."

Darius set down his coffee mug. "I knew you really wanted to go and after everything that happened with your parents and sister, I thought it was the perfect time for you to go. I also knew that you would say that you can't leave because of work but I cleared everything with both Hyeon and George before booking it."

Nyla laughed hysterically. "It doesn't matter who you asked. You should have asked me first!"

"You're right. I'm sorry, I'll cancel the tickets right away."

As Darius picked up the phone, the words that were clogged in her throat came undone. "Wait, I want to go with you."

Darius cancelled the call. "Are you sure, I'm not pressuring you to do anything you don't want to."

"I want to this," she grabbed one of Darius hands in her own. "I'll be happy to have you there with me."

Darius kissed her softly. "I guess this means we are going to India."

Nyla grinned widely. "It does."

♠♠♠♠♠♠

Nyla watched out of the airplane window as the announcement went off on the plane.

"We will be landing in Indira Gandhi International Airport in approximately forty minutes, please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts in preparation for landing."

Her stomach felt anxious as she did what she was told. In the seat beside her, Darius was still asleep, snoring lightly so she woke him by gently pushing his shoulders.

He woke up with a startle. "Did we land?"

Nyla shook her head. "We are about to."

Darius nodded as he stretched out his arms and yawned. "That was a good nap."

Nyla stared at him until he asked her, "What?"

"You didn't take a nap. For the last five hours, all you've been doing is sleeping."

"I was tired."

Nyla rolled her eyes but didn't make any other comment. She was finally returning to India. A place that held so much of her culture and background. Originally her parents were from Punjab, but Darius hadn't known that, so he'd booked flights to New Delhi instead. Nyla was fine with it since they had also set up a couple of meetings for introducing the vitamin line to India.

The next thirty minutes flew by and before she knew it, the first-class passengers were being ushered out. She grabbed her bags and followed Darius through the airport terminal. She was officially in India.

The two of them walked off and then Darius spoke. "I wanted to give you something when we reached here."

Nyla looked at him confused. "Does this have to happen in the middle of a crowded airport?"

Darius nodded. "It's the reason why I choose New Delhi as our first stop." He fished through his briefcase and brought out a certificate before passing it to her.

Nyla read the first words, confused. "Are we visiting a school or something?"

Darius smiled. "Yes, but this school is different. It's for young girls and because there was not enough funding, it was about to be shut down, so I made a donation in your name. They wanted to honour us so that's the first place we will be visiting."

Nyla's eyes started tearing up as she read the document once more. She engulfed Darius into a tight hug. "Thank you. This is the best gift ever."

Darius returned her hug. "I know how much education means to you, so I wanted you to have something positive to remember India by, even if the rest of this trip turns to shit."

Nyla laughed, wondering how she'd gotten so lucky to have a boyfriend like Darius. He was truly one in a million.