"Mere bacchon!" Anju was the first one to hug the guests. She had seen them since they were in their preschool, she saw them grow up and become beautiful people. She was so happy to see them after so long.

"Aunty, we've missed you so much!" Mannat hugged her tight and expressed her joy.

All of them used to live in the same building, around the similar floors and bonded really well. The last time they met was when Neetu was getting married a few years ago, soon around the same time a lot of their fathers had retired and settled in their home towns.

"Tumhare uncle ne kal bataya ke sare bacche aaye huye hai, mai toh badi khush hui. Aao baitho." Anju said, gesturing them to settle down in the living room.

"Isse milo, Gurjot." She introduced them to a tall and fair guy they almost didn't notice yet.

"Hello." Gurjot timidly greeted them, he didn't know why he was nervous as he walked ahead to shake hands with them.

"Pao chhu, ladki wale dekhne aaye hai tujhe!" His fiance, Sheena, appeared and teased him. All of them laughed at her words.

"He knows all of you. Batao Guru, yeh kon hai?" She continued to do so.

"Aap Montu bhaiya ho." Gurjot smiled, mentioning.

"It's Sidharth for you." Sidharth replied quite shortly with a straight face and Gurjot was intimidated by him.

"I'm sorry man. Just kidding." He laughed, watching Gurjot so nervous and hugged him out.

"Dara diya aapne bhai." Gurjot chuckled and they made themselves comfortable.

"This is Honey bhaiya, aka Harshwardhan and that's Golu, aka Gaurav." Sheena introduced them further, watching the guys shaking hands with her fiance.

"Sana, aaja beta. Sab aa gaye." Anju called out, noticing someone missing.

"Aai aunty." Shehnaaz walked out of the kitchen while wiping her hands with a napkin and greeted them with her smile. Although she couldn't bring herself to look at Sidharth.

"Shehnaaz yaha?" Mannat asked.

"Bas, jaha Mickey waha mai." Shehnaaz replied, sitting on the arm rest of the furniture Anju had occupied.

"Humare sath hi rehti hai, yahi ek badi si software company me graphic designer hai." Anju told them.

"That's nice." Honey complimented.

Sidharth was facing her but she wasn't, it was like she didn't want to look at him. Was she worried about what she said last night? He wondered. She was wearing a plain sleeveless top with denims, looking simple as her hair were nearly clutched back. Unlike the dress she wore last night, a shimmering black sequin short dress that made her look quite bold and loud. On the contrary, she look prettier today.

"So Gurjot, what do you do?" Honey asked for a change.

"I've a startup of my own. Athlead, sports marketing company hai." Gurjot answered.

"That's good. Even my brother in law's into marketing." Sidharth said, initiating a conversation about their jobs with the guys.

"It's already 1. Khana lagau baccho?" Anju suggested.

"Ha aunty, aapke hath ka khana khane ke liye humne apni subha ki flight chhod di." Sidharth joked and the rest of the gang agreed.

"Aunty, please boliye aapne aaj biryani banayi hai!" Mannat excitedly asked.

"Ha baba! Tumlogo ke liye biryani banayi maine! Hath-muh dholo." Anju chuckled, gesturing them to freshen up and take a seat at the dining table.

"Washroom kaha hai?" Mannat asked.

"Yaha left side." Shehnaaz replied, showing her the way. She also showed them the way to the washbasin. She patiently waited for Honey and Golu to leave after they washed their hands to talk and apologize to Sidharth in private.

The moment she came back to her senses in the shower, she started regretting what all she told him last night. Even though he was hot, he was her best friend's brother and he was off limits! Since showers were the best place to rewind what all happened the previous day, she could remember how boldly she had told him he was handsome and she was so embarrassed about it. Flirting with a random guy was so much better than flirting with best friend's brother! She might have given him a whole different kind of hints and it could give away a wrong impression of her.

"Um, Sidharth." She stood behind him.

"Ha?" He replied, turning to her once he patted his hands dry.

"I'm so sorry for last night. Mera koi vaisa intention nahi tha aapse baat karne ka." She hesitantly spoke.

"No big deal. Isme sorry bolne wali koi baat nahi hai." He chuckled, wondering why she was apologizing.

"Aap Sheena ke bade bhai jaise ho. I should have behaved." She expressed.

"You know what, I'm just glad you thought I'm handsome." He joked to let her know that it was completely fine.

She looked at him surprised and chuckled. She shook her head and made her way towards the kitchen and helped Anju set up the table.

"Sidharth ko dekh ke bada smile kar rahi hai tu?" Gurjot asked Shehnaaz while standing next to her with the casserole.

"Aisa kuch nahi hai. Ja, pani leke aa." She shut him down, trying not to get caught like that.

When Sheena was busy talking to them, Sidharth could see Gurjot had volunteered to help the ladies. He whispered something to Shehnaaz and it made her glare at him, she replied to him shortly and went back into the kitchen. He wondered if they were close. Why wouldn't they be? It was none of his business. He asked himself and shrugged off the topic.

"Vaise aunty, aapne bataya nahi tha engagement ke bare me in logo ko. Maine jabhi invite kiya party ke liye, all of them were shocked. Not surprised but shocked." Shehnaaz asked.

"Aisa nahi hai, Mickey ke rishte ki baat chal rahi hai bataya tha maine. Date final ho jayegi shaadi ki, tab toh card dene ghar hi aaungi." Anju replied.

"Mujhe toh koi idea nahi tha, I couldn't believe yeh piddi itni badi ho gayi hogi." Sidharth joked only to get glared at by Sheena in return.

"Khana kaisa bana hai?" Anju asked the kids.

"Bohot tasty hai aunty, maza aa gaya!" Mannat replied.

"Sana aur maine mil ke banaya. Kheer toh bacchi ne khud hi banai." Anju smiled looking at the girl.

"Kheer bohot hi achi bani hai! Chalo aunty, aapko finally ek beti mili jo kuch kaam karti hai." Sidharth joked and everybody laughed looking at Sheena.

"Tune khud ne aaj tak konsa kaam kiya hai? Anda bhi ubala hai aaj tak?" Sheena asked him challengingly.

"Mickey! Wo mazak kar raha hai!" Anju shushed her daughter.

Done with their lunch, the group freshened up since it was time for them to leave. They got a few pictures clicked together and began to walk out of the house. But Mannat and Anju kept chatting.

"Aunty unki flight hai 3 baje ki." Shehnaaz reminded the lady, people chuckled when Anju sheepishly smiled.

"Bhejne ke itni jaldi hai?" Sidharth asked her in volume not audible to all.

"Aisa nahi hai. Ab baat sirf aapki hoti, toh aapko rok lete." She replied after giving herself a minute to think.

"Ah, koi nahi. Fir milenge." He assured her in a consoling manner.

"Ha. Ab Mumbai me milenge." She told him.

"Mujhse milne aaogi?" He excitedly asked.

"Ha! Shaadi ki shopping karne ke bahane." She couldn't help but chuckle when he said that but still played along.

He was fun to have around, she realized it when he left and he had left behind a smile on her face. As of his attire today, he again wore a really plain pair of brown tshirts and jeans. She wondered if he always dressed like that, she did recall the time she had gone through his Facebook profile while she was planning the bachelorette. There she found a bunch of old pictures of him and his friends. He was always wearing tshirts and jeans, except for a few festive occasions. Also, he was thin back then, not that now he had gained weight but boy he had grown some nice-big biceps.

She smiled, he was really friendly. She hardly came across people like him these days. For the small amount of time they got to talk, she felt nice to have met someone like him. Their conversation didn't really have any base nor there was anything romantic. Well, honestly why does everything have to be romantic in between a guy and a girl? She simply liked the way he carried their conversation ahead.

Sidharth and his friends made their way towards their respective places. Once he landed in Mumbai, his nephew came to pick him up.

"Adi!" Sidharth hugged him, they were meeting after one good month.

"Mama! Mai ghar aaya aur aap bahar chale gaye?" Advait complained.

"Kya girlfriend ki tarah rota rehta hai bey!? Aa gaya na mai Christmas se pehle!" His uncle smacked his head, dragging him towards the Starbucks in the airport to make it up to him.

They ordered their drinks and took a seat in the corner, using their phones for the time being. Sidharth was scrolling through his Instagram when he saw that Mannat and Sheena had tagged him in a picture. He saw those pictures, smiled and reposted the stories, getting back to the aimless scrolling.

"You guys partied hard, ha?" Advait asked, watching the same on his Instagram. People were dancing in the background.

"Mickey ke friends hi kar rahe the dance wagera, hum sirf baithe the." Sidharth shrugged.

"Acha, who's this? Inko dekha nahi pehle?" Advait asked, turning the screen towards his uncle.

"That's Shehnaaz, Mickey ki dost jisne party organise ki." Sidharth answered and just in time their orders arrived.

"Acha." Advait nodded, keeping his phone aside along with the keys.

"Tu bullet me aaya?!" Sidharth asked as soon as he noticed the keys to his Royal Enfield.

"Ha! Itne dino ke baad dikhi, I couldn't resist." Advait sheepishly grinned.

"Kisse puchh ke nikali bullet? Tujhe chabi kaha se mili?" Sidharth asked, he was really possessive about his bikes. But more protective in his nephew's case, Advait got his bullet scratched a couple of times while the boy was learning how to ride.

"Mama come on yaar, abhi mujhe bilkul ache se chalani aati hai! Chill man!" Advait tried to justify.

"Aur mera suitcase kya sar pe rakh ke le jayenge?" That question got him speechless because he didn't think of that.

"Um- manage kar lenge Mama." Advait chuckled like a nervous prey. They couldn't manage, the suitcase wasn't big but wasn't really small either, one of them had to sit back and hold it tightly and Sidharth made sure it was his nephew.

Returning home and getting back to family was a nice feeling, he enjoyed the long weekend, a little trip away from home and work. Since it was another day off, the family had decided to simply spend their day together and have a meal. Sidharth brought a small Christmas tree home and decorated it with Advait. It wasn't a festival they celebrated, it was just another reason for them to gather around for dinner.

"What are your plans for 31st?" Vardhan, Sidharth's friend and colleague, asked him in the office.

"Wahi family dinner hoga yaar." He replied, not having any other plans.

"There's this place in Malad, musical night hoga waha. I was thinking apan sab chalte, with our families of course." Vardhan suggested.

"Sure man. Mai Preeti aur sab se baat karta hu." Sidharth agreed, an evening together with everybody would be nice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello all, here's the new chapter!

I'd like to tell you all something, a story, a love story precisely isn't just made up of two individuals. It has to have a lot of characters in it, who are going to play some good roles in the relationship with the protagonists.

All I mean to say is that, this story will not only explore and develop a relationship out of various complexities in Sidharth's and Shehnaaz's lives.. but it'll also ponder upon the friendships they are going to have..

Life me sirf relationship hi sab kuch nahi hota. I don't think anybody would be able to survive without their friends. So, with this thought I've started to write Rab Rakha..

Not that I'm going to show more couples but I cannot focus on Sidharth and Shehnaaz since the beginning without the complete background picture, can I?

I hope you all will get my point. But don't worry, I'm not going to bore you people! Sidnaaz moments aayenge Bhai! Thoda sa patience to rakhiye!!

Comments kiya karo yaar! Pareshan kardo mujhe comments me puch puch ke, ideas do, kuch feel ho toh bolo.. maine itna lamba explanation aap logo ke liye hi toh Diya hai..