Annika felt her heart beating loudly, the words in front of her didn't make any sense. Everything around her came to an abrupt pause, she could no longer hear the noises in the hospital, she blinked, trying to take in the newly found information. She re-read it over and over again, there were twenty other articles about it, explaining every single detail in depth, throughout the party how they have been spotted together and how they left together. A picture attached at the end to which Annika couldn't help but keep looking at, as if trying to tell her brain it's not what it looks like.

He wouldn't do that to her, she knew that but the rational part of her brain was dormant. She closed her eyes, trying her best to convince Shivaay wasn't going to do that to her, there is no way in hell she was going to trust the articles, knowing how the paparazzi throws in fake things that never would have occurred in real life, Annika personally never did that being a journalist.

She took a deep breath in, she needed to trust him and she did, with her whole heart. Annika turned on her phone only to find it dead, the battery had run out of power. 'Great' she muttered under her breath. She ran her fingers through her hair only to find knots tangled in her fingers. She cringed, trying to remember the last time she had combed her hair.

The night was still dark, her head was tired of all the thinking, she yawned, hoping her father would be awake by the time she woke up. She couldn't help but picture him in the black suit he wore today, looking dangerously handsome, if only she saw him in front of her, she would have loved

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"Annika, Annika, wake up" She winced in pain, the morning sunlight hitting her face as she opened her eyes, the sun was beaming loudly today. Annika met with her mother's face who looked happy. "Mom? Dad, is he alright -"

"Yes, yes. He is awake, I just had a small talk with him, go, he is waiting for you" Annika's eyes widened. Was this really happening? He is awake? Tears of joy rolled down her eyes as she ran towards the room. A wave of relief washed over her when she found her father looking at her, a small smile touching his lips. She walked towards him slowly, telling herself that he was alright and out of danger.

She wrapped her hands around him, breaking down in his arms. "Dad, I thought, I -" She hiccuped, not able to fork words. Is this what felt like losing someone so close? "Shush, it's okay, I'm here, ain't I? Stop crying Annu" Harshvardhan Mehra couldn't see her daughter crying, it was the hardest thing for him.

Wiping her tears, she parted herself away, not wanting to hurt him as she looked down at the bandages wrapped over his chest. Radha stood there, tears in her eyes as well but she was no longer stressed, seeing the two most important in her life safe and sound, eased her.

"Annika, you should go back home and take some rest, I'm here now. I will look after him" As much as Annika wanted to disagree and stay there with her father, she couldn't help but feel pain at the back of her head which seemed to increase every passing second so she gave in, nodding her head.

"Dad, take care. Mom, call me immediately if you need something" Radha nodded her head, she couldn't understand what she had done to get Annika as her daughter. Harshvardhan smiled at her daughter and Annika bid them goodbye before walking out of the hospital.

Finding a taxi was easier than she thought. Her dead phone was with her, she wondered if Shivaay had tried to call her, maybe he wouldn't have because the night must have been tiring for him. The thought of him and Tia came back but she pushed it away, she wasn't going to think anything stupid.

Upon reaching the house, she paid the taxi driver and hopped off, taking a deep breath in, she took her time walking towards the door and her mouth hung low when she looked at the sight in front of her. Was she dreaming? Was he really here? What would he be doing here? She looked at the time, it was ten in the morning.

He was leaning against the door to the entrance, his eyes shut close, his eyebrows frowned. She gulped down, wondering what exactly she should do, should she be waking him up or leave him be? She shook away the last thought, she wasn't leaving him on the porch. "Shivaay" she spoke softly and slowly, that didn't work, he was still sleeping.

"Shivaay, wake up" Annika touched his shoulder, shaking him slowly. And within seconds his eyes flew open only to find the beautiful women in front of him. "What are you doing here? What if my mom saw you?" Annika whispered to him as if afraid someone were to spot them together, not that she minded but they would talk about how immature is the daughter of Mehra's to be spotted with a bachelor and then talk shit about their family, she couldn't bear that.

"Then I would have introduced myself" Shivaay spoke, his voice serious and that made Annika look at him. "I would have told her how much I liked her daughter and how I'm willing to be with her forever" At that Annika couldn't help but blush. Shivaay brushed his fingers on her cheek, grabbing her face closer, he could see the tiredness in her eyes.

"And what if mom wouldn't have approved of you?"

"Then I would have tried to convince her, maybe showed off my bank balance" He wiggled his eyebrows playfully and Annika slapped his shoulder lightly, chuckling. The sound of her laughter was a melody to his ears, he couldn't get over it, he wanted to keep hearing it every second.

"I'm sure mom would love you but I need to do this, the introduction. She would be too shocked if you did it or she heard it from someone else. Now get up" Annika fished for the key to the house in her purse whilst Shivaay stood up, stretching his arms.

Upon finding the keys, she opened the door within seconds. Seeing Shivaay standing outside the house, she looked at him with a questioning look. "What are you waiting for?"

"I don't know, it feels like I'm doing something wrong by getting inside with you in your house without your parents knowledge, what if they think I'm some kind of a pervert?" Annika raised her eyebrows at that, she never thought he would think so deeply about something like this. "Shivaay, come in, I'm sure they will not be mad, I'm a grown up woman, I think they will understand" With hesitant steps, Shivaay came in.

He took in the surrounding, it was warm inside. The pastel colors of the wall stretched across the living room. He looked at Annika who was busy setting things aside from the couch. "It's a bit messy in here, let me just clean up" Annika was about to move towards the dining table but she felt a tug on her wrist.

"No, sit. You're tired, I can see how stressed you're right now. Come here" Shivaay patted the seat next to him and Annika didn't reconsider a thing before sighing and sitting down. His arms going over her shoulders so as to make her feel a bit relaxed. Annika sighed, in his arms she felt safe and calm, it was like he had cast a spell on her to soothe her.

"Thankyou for coming here" Annika whispered, she could hear his heartbeat and it was undoubtedly very fast. "Anything for you" She sighed, there was nowhere else she would be right now, cuddled under his embrace was her personal heaven.

She felt his fingers tangling under her hair, tracing their length and then they were on her cheeks, rubbing circles. "Don't ever hesitate to call me whenever you feel low or tired, I will leave everything behind and come for you" Annika's heart was going to burst out her chest anytime now, she had no idea how she managed to score him. She wasn't someone who was rich or had any special social status but there she was, in his arms, safe and secure.

"I saw the news, the Paparazzi's statement about you and Tia Kapoor" At that Shivaay's breath hitched, he was aware that there were cameras all around and that it would make it to the headlines but this fast? It wasn't even a day since the Gala and the news was already everywhere. "You need not need to explain me anything, I trust you Shivaay"

"Hey, hey, hey. I was going to explain it to you if you asked me or not, I just thought we should talk about this later but now that the topic is out, let me make this clear. Tia was drunk, she had been drinking all night, her emotions were all over the place and when I caught her crying to herself, I talked to her. She loves a small shop cafe owner, she was planning on running away with him but Mr and Mrs Kapoor caught her before she could leave, she was the forcefully kept in the house with tight security, if she was going out, bodyguards were all around her, never letting her out of sight"

Annika let out a breath she had been holding for a long time, who knew that Tia Kapoor was heartbroken, the way she carried herself and smiled to the world only told us that not everything you see is to be the truth within too. "That is so cruel of her parents, why does it have to be like this, a high social status person should only love or marry a person of same status? Does only money matters and nothing more? What about respect, what about care, what about love? I wish there was a way we could help her" Shivaay let his fingers linger over her collarbone for a few seconds before grabbing her wrist.

Placing a small kiss on her knuckles, he spoke "I tried to help her by taking her to her boyfriend but I couldn't do it because of her bodyguards, so I just dropped her off at her house, I had no other option. She was very broken, I can't imagine how she was holding herself up for so long till now. If something happened like that to me, if i were to ever, god forbid never, I would make sure that no one comes in my way between you and me" Annika looked him into his eyes and he was dead serious, no hesitation in his voice and she felt herself wanting to curl up against him even more.

"I'll protect you forever"

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I can't believe I updated, lmfao, but here it is anyways. No promises on when I'll update next, life has been so busy lately that I barely get time to write or read. Thankyou for whoever is still around and I hope that everything is well and good with everyone.