"Our love must not be a thing of words and fine talk. It must be a thing of action and sincerity."

- (1 John 3:18)

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He softly smiled as he read the hand-written message she had sent him today with the launch box.

'You told me to make it my own, and I have tried to do so.

You are the first and the only one who is going to taste my very 'own' daal.

So, you better tell me the truth if it's any good. I hope you would like it! :)'

"Sumo..." He whispered with a smile as tenderly gazed at the piece of paper in his hand.

Manjeet, a newly appointed member of PCT's delivery staff - who had the special duty to make sure Shravan's lunch box reached him every day - started to shake his head at the strange behavior of her bossy employer's crazy friend, Shravan Malhotra.

At first, when Manjeet had not known him very well, he had asked Shravan how come a gentle soul like him was friends with the bossy and brash person like his employer - Suman Tiwari. Looking amused, Shravan had answered him that he was her friend because he too was bossy and aggressive when needed and that Manjeet should be grateful that it was her who was his employer and not him.

Now seeing the man smiling at a piece of paper like a loon, he was sure that must be the case. He would take bossy over a goofy person any day. But what would he know? Anyone who could stay friends with Ms Tiwari for as long as the man in front of him has, they were not sane in his eyes.

By now, after weeks of witnessing the same scenario, Manjeet was sure that his employer and her friend both have gone crazy as both of them had the same strange expression on their face whenever he would deliver their hand-written messages to each other. He had found that both of them could stare at the piece of paper for hours, smiling goofily. If he hadn't known any better, he would have thought of them as a silly newly married couple.

"You can go, thank you, just tell her I will pick her up in the evening and then give her the answer," Shravan told with a nod and waited until Manjeet walked out to drop the serious expression.

As soon as the door closed behind the man, unable to contain his excitement, he opened his lunch box, digging in to eat the daal she made just for him. As he savored what she had cooked, he found no trace of the daal his mother used to cook. It was all hers now and it tasted much better too. Shaking his head, he found out he would have approved it even if it didn't taste as good as it did because she had made it keeping him in her mind. Because it was something she had done only for him.

He would never able to express the overwhelming tenderness he felt for her and her actions. The love, the care, the warmth, and the attention she showered over him these days were enough to make him dizzy with happiness. Even though there were times when his pessimist side asked him why he was so sure that Suman Tiwari was in love with him? His brain trained to come up with proves that he could not deny. Even if what she did today was a gesture of friendship, what about that fact that a week ago she had dressed up in blue because she remembered that once - years back - he had told her that he liked blue on her? And why would she buy countless dresses of every shade of blue because she wanted to figure out which 'blue' he meant?

He still remembered the day when he had told her that; they were hunting a dress for her for their school prom. He could recall how after an hour of hunting - when they hadn't found anything she liked - she had turned to him and had asked which color looked best on her.

'Every color looks good on you, Sumo, but I like the way blue looks on you.' He had answered her shyly back then.

And then without adding another word, she had started to hunt for a blue dress, only to forget all about it when she had come across the light peach color dress that she had fallen in love with and wanted it for the prom. He had felt very disappointed but had let it go, telling himself that what she liked was more important than what he did. That to him, her choice should always matter the most.

But that didn't mean he liked her ignoring his wish. He hadn't voice it, but he had been hurt then, he had been hurt during the prom night too, so much. And no matter how much he liked to deny it, but the reunion that he had organized when he came back - a few months ago - had everything to do with it. He had given her a blue dress to wear, made sure she came, that he was her only partner, and had made sure he was the only one who she thought about all night.

Unknowingly, he had done that to fulfill that fantasy of sixteen years old Shravan who wanted his Sumo to be dressed in his favorite color, to dress up for him, and dance with him. Only him...

Unknown to him, there had been a part of him, to whom the past decade - the time he had been away from her - didn't matter at all as long as she was with him now. The teenage Shravan who still lived within him wanted to relive that prom night, but not in the way he had last time. This time, he wanted to have her by his side, all of her. He had made her want him. He had made her come there just for him. All of her, just for him.

Now months later whenever he looked back, he could see all the telly-tells which told him that it was the sixteen years old Shravan's handiwork. It was the teen Shravan who had manipulated the Lawyer Shravan into giving him the night he had wanted years back.

The dress, the dance, the whole freaking night had been for the sixteen years old Shravan, he had fooled the Shravan with a degree in Law from Oxford into thinking that he was in control of the situation. Only months later he was able to realize that not only he had been fooled, but a fool to think he had done it for revenge only. He should have known that when his heart had skipped a few beats when he had seen her walking in, wearing the dress he wanted her to wear, looking so beautiful, more than he thought she would. She had dressed up for him that night, and her eyes had told him so. But after fulfilling that fantasy of sixteen years old Shravan, he had taken control over things and had the juvenile revenge that his ego wanted to seek for a very long time.

He had regretted it the second it was done. He had regretted it, but couldn't take it back. Then for a second, he had wondered if that's how she had felt back then when she had messed up things between them, that time when their roles were reversed. But as time passed, they both had left that episode behind, have forgotten and forgiven whatever was there to forgive and forget.

But a week ago, months later, the topic had been brought up again, unexpectedly, but pleasantly. Their classmate had organized another reunion. And when they had gotten to know about it, they both somehow, without talking, had decided that they would go together. She had assured him that she would be ready on time and he had told her that she must be as he wasn't going wait for her this time around. It had been a lie, but she didn't need to know that...

Everything was decided between them silently as if there was no need to ask out loud, no thought of the possibility if the next person wouldn't like to go with each other. Now, no more there was a place for any 'if' between them...

That evening when he had walked in Tiwari Killa, all ready to pick her up, only to be told that she was still not ready. Annoyed he had walked into her room without knocking or alerting her. And unknown to his presence, she had been busy in some very interesting conversation with Preeti.

"Di, I am confused. Why all of sudden, you, Suman Tiwari, is interested in knowing how many shades of blue there are?" Preeti had asked as she had looked at the bed where the dresses of every shade of blue were laid down for their examination of the'right' blue.

Annoyed more than ever, when he had thought to open his mouth to complain about her not being ready, he had been stopped by the words said by her.

"He didn't tell me which blue: sky blue, pale blue, dark blue or navy blue. Preeti, I didn't even know that there are so many Blues," Suman had said whiningly while they both had stood before the bed with their back to him.

"He? Who, Di?" Preeti had asked, just to look back and find him standing there.

"Shravan!" She had called him out with a smile.

"When did I say Shravan? I wasn't talking about Shravan, absolutely not. I mean, why would I buy so many blue dresses only because he likes blue color." Suman had hurriedly said.

"No, Di, Shravan is here..." Preeti had told her, letting her know of his presence.

"Oh!" She had muttered and turned around to find him standing there.

And for a few minutes, she had stood there, still, and had kept looking at him with a dazed expression on her face as if she was memorized by the sight of him. It had pleased him greatly, made him feel giddy, smile like silly. He knew he would always, every single time, react the same way he had if she would look at him the way she had back then.

"Shravan, now that you are here, please do your best friend duties, because I am out of here," Preeti's voice had broken the spell around them, making them realize that she was staring too much and he was smiling goofily.

"You are ready yet?" He had asked her after Preeti left the room.

"I will be ready in two minutes." She had told him as she hurried, grasping the first blue dress she could.

"Wait!" He had stopped her as he had walked to her bed where he found countless dresses of every shade of blue and had picked out the one which he wanted to see on her.

"This one." He had answered her, handing her the dress and solving the mystery she had wondered about for years.

And that night that blessed him with surety that yes, yes, she was falling in love with him because that night - as she had walked by his side, smiled at him softly, dressed in the color he liked the most on her - she had, in her own way, let him know that she was falling in love with him...

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A/N:- Here is the first chapter after editing, I hope you guys liked it. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments... :)

Thank you for reading and for your sweet and encouraging words! :)