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C- are you mad annika ,aisa kaun kartha hai ?

A- charu please , already my eyes have become a bubble with swelling ab tum muje aur irritate mat karo.

She complained touching the bulged region around her eyes .

Ad- hey charu chod na , stop scolding her now.  Actually you have to appreciate your man for being a hero tonight,  I easily picked the code word , how brilliant I am !

Charu rolled her big eyes to all sides while Adi boasted of himself.

C - nahi ,you both have gone mad , you were using your own phone to message him so what's the use of this code word thing? You could have just been direct right ?

As soon as she pointed this Annika and Adi's reactions changed , both realized how silly they actually were . 

A- I don't know all that , I sent him the location with code word . It helped , that's the climax.

C - hmm , only you can act all stupid and silly even in these kind of situations annika .

Ad - charu bas na yaar .

C -nahi adi you don't know, maa almost fainted on hearing that she fought against some robbers  with a knife aimed at her . It was really hard to make her stay back , you could have hid somewhere until he came right ?

Annika frowned and turned the other side , not facing her .

C - dek na , even now she's showing that attitude to me . You'll never listen and never change. 

Charu vented out in frustration and slapped  annika's leg to make her move before sitting  there on the bed . Adi just let a huge sigh and shook his head .

P- leave her charu,  Doctor mentioned ki infection zyada huwa hai . She needs to sleep , rest .

A- isko dekiye na aunty , I'm struggling here  with a mug of chlorine in my eyes and he's sleeping nice and sound after  inhaling a drop of chloroform . It's been 2 hours already. 

Pinky smiled on hearing annika's comment and watched Rudra who was sleeping peacefully on the next bed .

C- is it hurting too much ? even after taking the drops ?

Annika gave an instant nod when she enquired .

A- God knows how I'm going to be there for tomorrow,  with this fat runny eyes. 

Ad- hey don't,  ask God to make it fine ASAP.

R- bhabi !!

Everyone were startled when Rudra jumped to sit up and screamed suddenly. He was petrified and looked around to  notice each and everyone there .

A- aah !! My ears , Rudy what's with you now ?

She complained with her eyes closed, he climbed down the bed and ran to her .

R- thank God bhabi , it was  a dream . You know I dreamt of fighting with a thief at OM . I punched him twice and saved Aaru but he caught me at the end . Whoa , it felt so real .

Just when he completed his narration he watched the other's reaction one by one and grew suspicious . Charu and Adi showed cringe on their faces while Annika and Pinky looked hopeless . He didn't understand it first but after realizing where they actually were , something struck him.

R- oh God bhabi what happened to your eyes ! Aap teek haina? Matlab , everything was real ? Like I really fought that 6 feet man ?

Annika immediately tossed around to turn and didn't face him at all .

A- oh I'm tired , God please save me from these weird creatures around.

Uttering these lazily she entered in process of seeking sleep which really was difficult with her eyes having  extreme irritation .

Next day

Kh- sorry mam.

A- no no it's ok .

T- sorry ? Khanna you realize what could have happened? How can you all be so careless haan ? We don't pay you're group to sit idle like this.I'm not gonna leave you all .

As Tej kept adding in anger she pitied the security crew and tried to stop Tej .

A- uncle please , even they were hurt last night. Let's just forget about this please .

T- how can I forget this annika ! What if something had happened to you or aaru ? What will I tell shivaay !

A- uncle I understand but shouting at them is not going to change anything right ?

Tej couldn't just stand there and say nothing  , he shook his head and quickly walked away making fast loud steps reflecting his raged self . Here annika shrinked the lids and closed her eyes when they started hurting . She turned around extending her hand to him seeking help.

A- baiya , can you take me to my room please ?

Kh - come mam.

He caught her hand and walked her to the room .

A- baiya don't feel bad .

Khanna gave a nod and smiled faintly.

Kh- I'm sorry for failing in my job, shivaay sir had asked me to keep you safe but

A- baiya please, it happens, I just hope shivaay understands . I don't know how he's gonna react to you for this .

Kh - maybe I should start looking for jobs .

A- ohho no way. Don't worry I'll take care of him. Vaise , how are they baiya are they hurt badly ?

Kh- no mam, they have some external injuries . Nothing serious , I spoke to the doctor.

A- thank God.

She stood leaning by the wall and peeped down to see the decorations for herself. Finally it's her wedding week and she just could'nt express how happy she felt right now . The banners had their names etched together and flowers  of her favourite colors flung to hang in spiral rolls everywhere. Before she realized,  she was grinning in joy .

And that's when she felt his arms crawling to have her waist in hold from behind,  she chuckled .

C - I thought you were getting ready

Ad- I hardly take 10 minutes , unlike some people.

He commented placing his chin over her shoulder while she rose her brows up high.

C-  have any problem with that ?

Ad - no no  , we have ample time .

Charu smiled on feeling him gulp down in fear.

C- Adi we've been friends , lovers for so long . Ab hum husband and wife kiase rahenge kya karenge saath mei?

Ad- even I'm curious to know that .

He kissed her cheek mentioning this and  she bumped her forehead on his lightly in reflex.

C- let's go check if the stage is done .

Ad - hmm

That's when her mobile rang , it was Meena .

C- haa maa ?

M- where are you?

C- terrace pe

M- ok come see me now.

C- what happened mom ?

M- I don't know your sister is saying something , she can't attend the function I seems .

C- what !

M- my head is breaking here charu , I've got so much of work  and she's playing with me at this last minute.

C - I'm coming. 

She hung up , Adi noticed her tensed face and questioned .

Ad- what is it ?

C- annika won't attend the sangeet .

Ad- hain?

C- this girl ...! Chalo

She caught hold of his hand and dragged him downstairs.

R- meena, it's ok . Don't make this a big issue .

M- how can I just leave this ? It's not someone else , it's Charu and Adi ! You've come all the way here to say this ?

A- maa please , I can't even open my eyes fully . Dek rahi ho na tum ?

Charu who just barged in looked super frustrated after hearing it.

C- none asked you to practise and win medals for Archery here annika , can't you just be with me on this day ?

A- charu look at me , you think it's easy for me ?

Ad -Annika you've gone mad for real this time .

A- Adi samaj na yaar , the swelling

C- shut up annika !

She screamed to stop her from saying anything and immediately ran to the corner of that room to pull a big box kept there . She opened it in hurry and dragged it down for all the things inside it were spread on ground already .

C- see this ? Adi bought this last night .We knew your face won't heal so fast . He roamed all around the city in that late night to buy these for today's theme . It's not gonna be light music anymore , it's dark DJ night with each and everyone wearing this .

Annika's eyes were still fixed on the box of coolers which charu pointed . She then slowly looked at Adi who was watching her in worry .

Ad - annika , I've given them an freaking awesome playlist yaar . Aao na .

Annika remained quiet when he pleaded.

C- annika glasses are mandatory tonight and people won't even be able to see anything in the dark .

A- charu can you please stop this , I feel really guilty .

Everyone in the room were kind of taken aback when annika shouted suddenly . Adi just couldn't take it , he slowly went close and sat next to her .

Ad- hey , what is it with you today ? Zyada mat kar .

He warned holding her hand while she frowned looking away. Meena who watched this quietly all this time decided to speak .

M - ok , I think she's not able to tolerate the pain that's why . Teek hai annika let's do this , tum  ab so jao aaram kar. We'll come and wake you up after a couple of hours haan , then you can come . Teek hai beta ?

Charu kept staring at her sister in keen .

A- nahi maa , I don't think I can .

C- annika , you're being so rude now . It's our family function you stupid , take your medicine and sleep . Then after

A- charu I don't want to argue , it's really irritating.  Only I know how painful it is , I can't even keep my eyes open for a few minutes and  the irritation is like permanent that I can't even sleep. Can you for once in your life be considerate ? Stop being selfish all the time  charu .

R - annika enough.

Charu's eyes were already welled up by the time she finished. She gritted her teeth and scowled hard at annika before rushing out .
Annika felt his grip loosening and took her eyes towards him slowly,  he looked hurt as well .

Ad- annika I've always tried to understand you both equally in any circumstance , but today what you did is really too much yaar. Charu ...charu wait ,

His voice reflected his disappointment, he straightaway ran behind charu after saying this .

M- who taught you to speak like that annika ? Deko vo ro rahi hai ab .

R- Meena , don't. She must really be in much pain , else she wouldn't ever react like this. Tum jao , check if things are done correctly , I'll stay with her .

M- I don't know what to say only.

Meena muttered this to herself on her way out while Raghav helped anika lay down on the bed and used the drop in her eyes.

R- sleep for sometime  ,then we'll go to the hospital.

A- no need papa , aap jaayiye.  There must me so much work outside .

R - shh don't speak anything now , just sleep .

He pressed his finger on her lips when she tried to say something and started patting her arm .

Ad- charu , charu stop.

He ran and caught her from behind.

C- leave me Adi. See , kitne happy thei ham,  she just spoiled everything.

Ad- charu you know right , annika kabi kabi pagal hojathi hai but you know she didn't mean any of it .

C- nahi Adi , you  heard her . Even now she's blaming me I don't know for what . I agree I am selfish and I do stupid things at times but

She couldn't even speak after that , she just kept shaking her head and kept looking on top to hold  those tears from falling down . Adi immediately pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight , he felt really sad after seeing her like that  .

Annika slowly opened her eyes after knowing the room was empty . She  pretended to sleep just to make her father leave , if not he would have been with her throughout  and lost interest in the function going on out there . Fresh liquid ran down her eyes as soon as she opened them , it wasn't because of the swelling  though .

She was crying .

Sometime before

A- ok maa I'll give it to aunty .

She carried the jewel box and made way towards praniti's room .

' I don't think this is right Praniti , even if Adi insists we elders should know what's the best for him .'

Annika held back from knocking when she heard this from the other side. 

Pr- nahi didi

' don't try to convince me praniti , it's about our child's future . I thought her sister had this problem but only yesterday I heard the truth ki charu '

Pr- didi please,  charu is like my own daughter . We know there is problem,   we'll help them overcome it . That's what family is for  .

' you don't realize the seriousness of this praniti '

Annika had a contented smile on her face after hearing Praniti's kind words.

Dh- it doesn't stop with this .

She was startled when he appeared behind her  suddenly.

A- uncle

Dh- can I have a minute with you if you don't mind ?

She nodded quietly and he asked her to follow him back until they reached an idle spot .

A- what happened uncle?

Dh- since the past few days this has been our job . We've been talking over and over about the same thing with our relatives. 

She remained confused when he said this .

A- but , how did they know ?

Dh - word spreads annika , we can't do anything about it . Even last night I had a big fight with my brother about accepting Charu .

A- don't take it seriously uncle , people's job is to talk , just talk .

Dhruv smiled faintly when she mentioned this with that stern reaction on her face .

Dh - I know but I can't keep numb and do nothing about it , I don't want any bitter moments  in their wedding .

A- same uncle.

Dh - in that case you'll have to help me.

A- ofcourse.

Dh- I know I'm being really cruel , sorry , don't appear for the functions and remain idle till this wedding is over .

A- kyun?

She was shocked and disturbed by the heartless request he made.

Dh- deko annika , people here know nothing, they think the half truth they know is everything and speak rubbish. Not everyone but some did see what happened at the engagement , we can't expect everyone to stay quite and I can't be running to each and everyone to shut their mouth and give explanations .

A- uncle you said it yourself,  it's just rubbish . Don't just care about it.

Dh- I don't blame you , your generation it is . But I have some restrictions and some expectations annika , I don't want to give them chance to speak anything about my family.  Charu ofcourse is my family now. Your presence will give them a chance.

Annika felt restless .

A- but uncle this is

Dh- I want none to remember that night  If you think properly you'll realize ,I'm just trying to protect Charu and Adi . I hope you don't want them to feel down on their important days .

A - I don't think this is possible uncle, you're wrong . We shouldn't hold back fearing others words .

Dh-  Maybe you still don't realize how sensitive this is . A heir is the family's happiness , pride , so I can't really blame my people for being reluctant but I can't sacrifice my son's joy at the same time. Try to understand my situation too . And moreover , you started this , so you will be the one to take responsibility. Hope you get it. One more thing,  don't tell anyone about this, I don't want to argue with my son in midst of these happy moments .I'll apologize to Adi after the wedding.

Saying this he walked from there slowly leaving her in deep thoughts .Her mind had his last few words in grip .  She turned back to walk out from there and randomly noticed someone staring at her from the balcony . They turned as soon as she found them staring . She hates this . This part of behavior in people . Just because they're never tired of opening their mouth , some others have to suffer .

Present

She saw the shades of different colors spread on the ground and chuckled leaving a defeated sigh . She had already hurt her beloved just in process of keeping them afar from any disturbance . Annika doesn't really care about other's words but she was too afraid to take risks again .

They took so much effort to comfort her and all she did was behave so rude to them , annika hated herself . She felt restless and frustrated by her own deeds .

Just then the door slowly opened awide,  the creaky noise from it made her look up in front.

S- why did you do this annika ?

Shivaay with that lovingly concerned reaction on his face stood there and complained.

In no time he found her attached on him as she ran to clutch onto him. He had to fall back and lean on the wall to get some balance as her force was full and he totally didn't expect that .

A- I'm sorry shivaay .

She hugged him tight and started apologizing, while he was still confused by this reaction from her . Annika tightened her hold and tried to hide herself  within his embrace . Shivaay who was still  bewildered just rubbed her back softly for she started feeling calm which she craved badly .

They didn't exchange words as she behaved so desperate in getting his attentive concern which he provided anyhow though .

Today she has done something which made her hate herself , she just couldn't tolerate that thought . Annika really couldn't  tackle with herself , and needed someone to make her feel ok with the own her.

All she required is all what he was giving her now .

Love is what makes the ride worthwhile 💘

Precap

Shivaay argues with Charu

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