The whole day passed in a jiffy for Annika. She had to finalise on the guest list and the theme of the wedding. She also wanted to ensure that Priyanka got everything she wanted for her wedding. She walked towards Priyanka room to finalise a few things and also to tell her she would be leaving in sometime . As she entered Priyanka room she saw the girl staring at a photo of her childhood.

In the photo a small smiling priyanka was looking upto her Shivaay bhaiya as he looked at the camera and on either side of Shivaay stood Rudra and Omkara. Holding him by his waist. Priyanka has moist eyes. Annika walked upto priyanka keeping her hand on her shoulder. "This is a beautiful photo but ur bade bhaiya has so much of tadi, you are looking at him and he is looking at the camera." Priyanka looked up confused, "tadi what do u mean by that." Asked a baffled priyanka "Arey I mean attitude matlab bacche ko bhi attitude dete hain, baagad Billa". Priyanka again got confused. Annika looked at her and said "koi Nahin Bata Mujhe why were u crying."

Priyanka again looked at the photo and said, "this is one of my best memories. Shivaay bhaiya May be my cousins but he loves me more than my real brothers. Infact he loves all three of us more than anything even our parents. As children our parents were so engrossed in business or their own domestic fights that they used to forget us but Shivaay bhaiya never forgot us. This one in particular is my fourth birthday and all forgot my birthday. Shivaay bhaiya had gone for a school camp but then had taken ill at the camp purposely so he could come back. He quietly baked a cake for me and brought it to my room. I was so surprised to see Shivaay bhaiya back cause I thought even he had forgotten my birthday". Wiping a tear from priyanka face Annika hugged her.

Priyanka continued, "Shivaay bhaiya has played the role of mom and dad for me Om and Rudra for the longest time. We don't even know parents love but we know our bhaiya love that's the only reason I didn't want to start anything till he could come."

Priyanka heard dadi call out and she told Annika , "I will just meet dadi and come you wait."

Annika looked at another photo which was kept which was a recent photo of Shivaay and her heart just skipped a beat. She smiled looking at the photo and unconsciously stroked Shivaay face and a small smile formed on her lips.

At the same time Shivaay came to Priyanka room and he saw Annika there smiling as he looked at her he saw her hand on a bracelet of Priyanka. He thought she was taking the bracelet and hence smiling. He fumed looking at her and with long strides walked towards her. He held Annika hand tight and spun her around twisting her hand behind and caging her in his arms.

With the sudden jolt Annika got s little scared and looked up to find Shivaay staring at her angrily. Before she could even say something, in a very dangerous tone he said, "how dare you? Just because priyanka and dadi are nice to you, you want to take advantage of them. Ur showing ur middle class status in everything, trying to steal from Priyanka who considers you her best friend how can you stoop so low."

Annika looked upto him shocked, she tried removing her hand from his but due to her wriggling he tightened his hold. The pain was unbearable for Annika and tears were threatening to fall, yet she didn't want to fall weak in front of him, " I may be from a middle class family Mr Oberoi but I don't steal, I was waiting here for Priyanka cause she had gone to meet dadi. I don't need your wealth to fulfill any of my dreams I have all that I want and if I want something I work towards it to get it myself. I don't use shortcuts. My self respect is everything for me."

This reply irked Shivaay more,  he further tightened his hold breaking her bracelet and since her bracelet had the charms they started piercing her skin causing it to bleed. The more he tightened his hold the deeper the bruise cut.

He was about to say something, when he heard Priyanka calling he immediately left Annika slightly pushing her. It took Annika a few steps to stable her self , "arey Annika sorry I made u wait but I have to go now can we talk tomorrow and also continue our story."
Annika nodded.

Shivaay phone rang and he walked out of the room to answer it, as he did that he noticed his hand bleeding. He kept the phone at the side and wiped his hand with his handkerchief but soon realised he wasn't bleeding.

Reality dawned that due to his hold and Annika bracelet breaking her hand was bleeding. Instantly a guilty wave washed him over and he regretted his action. He took the first aid box from his room and walked towards her room. He saw her standing in front of the mirror trying to remove the small pieces from her skin but her hand was trembling and tears were constantly flowing. Shivaay felt terrible. He walked towards her she looked up from the mirror and for a second fear was visible in her eyes. She turned around and said I was just going home and was about to leave when he held her other hand pulled her towards him.

The way he pulled her, his chest was pressed against her back. He held her bruised hand and she whinced in pain. He slid his right hand across her waist and both felt a shiver run down their spine and with his left hand he held the bruised hand. He slowly removed the pieces of the charm. She had closed her eyes during the whole time biting her lip so that her sobs are not heard. He kept looking up at her and was very guilty seeing her tears.

He removed all the charms that had pierced holding her in the same way. He was about to apply the antiseptic cream but her hair kept coming in his eyes. He moved all her hair to one side. As he was applying the cream she hissed due to the burning sensation moving her shoulders due to which the nape of her neck touched his lips.

She sprung her eyes open. Looking at him through the mirror their eyes locked. He dressed her hand but both didn't want to let go of each other. His face so close to her neck that she could feel his breath she had slightly tilted her head so his nose was almost touching her skin like he was nuzzling. Her one hand unconsciously on his hand holding her waist and their other hand with intertwined fingers. They stood staring at each other. Both didn't know what the magic was but they just couldn't let go as they basked for the first time in the glory of each other's touch.