Chapter two! *insert disclaimer*

XXXXXX

"Stop talking about her." Paige said, obviously annoyed.

Evan looked up at her in surprise, "I was only trying to say that I can't believe that she's still with him. I thought he was just some—"

"You're insulting her as well as yourself by saying that. Please, just stop." Paige sighed. "I don't need to hear 'Divya this' and 'Divya that.'"

"I was just saying—"

"Well, stop just saying. You're driving me insane."

Evan looked at Paige like he'd never seen her before, "You just don't understand."

"No," Paige stood up from her perch at the counter. "You don't understand. I came over because I wanted to spend time with you. Not with you and Divya."

"Divya isn't here," Evan said cluelessly.

"Ugh," Paige threw her hands up in the air. She grabbed her purse, "I'll see you later."

"Weren't we going to have dinner?"

Paige sent him an annoyed look. "No."

Alone, Evan threw his hands up in the air—in a manner amusingly similar to the way that Paige had done so moments before. "What did I say?"

XXXX

Hank watched as his brother and Divya argued yet again.

"You lied!" Divya practically screamed. It was interesting to watch because Hank rarely saw Divya lose her temper. And when it came to Evan she usually managed to stay in control and just taunt him.

"I did not!" Evan protested childishly, a slight whine evident in his voice.

"You did."

"Okay, so maybe I stretched the truth just a wee bit."

Divya scowled at Evan. "You said you'd leave me alone."

"No I didn't. I said that if you were happy then I would be happy for you. Obviously that doesn't mean I can't proceed to make you unhappy."

"How does that even begin to make sense?"

"I said that if you were happy then I'm happy. I didn't say that if you were unhappy then I would be unhappy."

Divya took a moment to attempt to understand Evan's illogic. "So you want me to be unhappy?"

Evan looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "Of course not."

"Then what—"

Hank decided that it was time to interfere. "Don't even bother arguing with him, Divya. His mind doesn't work the way the rest of ours do."

Divya stared at Hank. "I don't understand how the two of you can possibly be brothers."

Evan narrowed his eyes, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Hank turned to his brother, "Exactly what it sounds like, I'd assume."

Divya and Evan shared one last antipathetic glance as Hank ushered her out of the room.

Evan realized moments later what Hank had done. "I hate it when he does that." They'd been having a business meeting and they'd cut it short. Evan swore that without him HankMed wouldn't be half the success it was.

XXXX

Divya really liked spending time with Adam. He made her happy.

He was sweet and kind . . . and hot.

But that was beside the point.

Her parents hadn't spoken to her in three months—exactly since the day she'd told them she wasn't marrying Raj.

Her mother had looked at her, completely shocked. Her father had seemed incredibly disappointed. Her sister had cocked her head in confusion—hadn't she told Divya to just take up with someone else after the wedding?

They were all disappointed in her. But Raj—lovely, amazing Raj—had stood up for her. He had assured her family that there was nothing to worry about.

They still weren't speaking to her though, and it hurt her more than she thought she could bear.

She hadn't told Adam though. She couldn't. She didn't want him to feel guilty for tearing her away from her family—even though it wasn't his fault. He was a wonderful person, and he would feel like it was partially his fault even though it truly had little to do with him.

Instead, she suffered in silence.

After three months she couldn't handle it anymore.

She and Adam had been dating, taking things incredibly slow. She liked him. A lot. But she couldn't hold it all in anymore.

He'd been telling some story about his family when Divya had burst out crying. "Divya, what did I say?"

She realized that she was crying. She also realized that she couldn't lie to him—not if she wanted her relationship with Adam to work.

"You and me," she motioned back and forth between them, "My family doesn't like it."

Adam raised an eyebrow, "Doesn't like, or hates?"

"Hates," Divya said, smiling humorlessly.

"I'm sorry," Divya melted into his outstretched arms.

"I am too."

"Well, if they won't support you, then you should just cut your ties. Let go. You don't need them." Adam said.

Divya's eyes went wide. "I love my family."

"But if they won't accept you—" with that Divya interrupted him with a kiss. She didn't want to hear what he had to say. It would just ruin the illusion.

For the first time since she met Adam she wondered whether or not there was anything truly special about her connection to him.

Maybe, simply, he didn't know her well enough. Her family was important to her—and she couldn't expect him to understand that. Then again, if their values were so different . . . Divya cut off that train of thought.

She didn't want to think about that. For now, Adam could stay the man of her dreams, and she could pretend to have only misunderstood what he'd meant.

He would get to know her in time.

XXXX

"You need to stop giving her such a hard time." Hank told his brother.

"I'm not giving her a hard time." Evan protested.

Hank gave him a look. "You are."

"I'm not."

"Evan," Hank said warningly.

"He doesn't know her."

"When you first get to know someone you usually don't."

"They haven't even known each other for very long, but she's let him into her life. Do you know how long it took for me to get Divya to like me?"

"Divya still doesn't like you."

"Exactly." Evan said as if he believed that Hank had just proven his point. "He doesn't know what her favorite food is, or her favorite time of day. He doesn't know the little smirk she gets on her face when she knows something and thinks you don't. He—"

Hank sighed. Maybe it was time.

"Evan, shut up."

Evan, surprised, complied.

"You missed out. Let her go."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Can you at least try to make sense?"

"You're in love with Divya."

"No, I'm not." The response was almost immediate, it took absolutely no thought. Because, he assured himself, it was the truth.

"Then why in the world are you so jealous of Adam? And why were you so determined to prove that Raj wasn't good enough for Divya?"

"Because he wasn't." That much he knew.

"The problem isn't that Adam isn't good enough for Divya, it's that you don't think you are."

Evan stared at his brother. "But I'm not," he said without thinking. A shocked look crossed his face. "I don't know why I just said that."

"Because you're in love with her."

"I'm not." Evan said, his heart sinking. Maybe he was.

Hank just shook his head. "Stop being so damned annoying."

"I'm not annoying."

Hank merely stared at him.

"I'm not," he protested.

Hank raised an eyebrow.

Evan narrowed his eyes. "I'm not."

The kitchen was filled with the sounds of Hank's laughing as Evan left.

XXXX

"Hey Div."

Divya turned and scowled at him. "What are you doing here?"

Evan twiddled his thumbs nervously. "I came to apologize for yesterday."

Divya did a mental double-take. "What?"

"I came to apologize for yesterday."

"You've been giving out a lot of apologies lately."

"I've been wrong a lot lately," Evan said simply.

"That's nice of you to admit," Divya said.

Evan cocked his head to the side. "Are you okay?"

Divya looked at him, surprised. "I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine."

Divya pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Because I'm not. When did you start reading me so well?"

Evan shrugged. "I pay attention."

"It doesn't seem like it."

"Well I do," Evan said, not nearly as defensively as she might have expected. "What's wrong?"

"They won't talk to me," Divya was shocked to hear herself say.

"Your family?" Evan guessed.

"Yes. My family. They're upset about Adam."

"They love you Divs, just give them some time."

Divya looked into his eyes, surprised. "How did you know exactly what I needed to hear?"

Evan shrugged, surprised himself. He felt slightly uncomfortable by how serious the conversation was. "Magic, I guess."

Divya laughed at that, surprising them both with how genuine it was. "Silly Evan," she punched him in a friendly way.

He smiled. "That's what I'm here for."

"What? Silliness?"

"Yup," Evan nodded. "It's what I'm good at."

Divya looked at him, and opened her mouth as if about to disagree, but then she stopped when he spoke first. "So, are we good?"

"Yes," Divya replied.

"Good." For no reason other than he felt like it, he hugged her quickly. "Keep smiling at my magic, okay?"

Divya smiled, "I will." She watched as he left and wondered whether it would just take time. It had taken time for Evan to grow on her, and she'd started out genuinely disliking him.

Maybe, just maybe, all she had to do was give Adam time.

And everything would work out just fine, she assured herself.