"Tu?" Harjot raised her brows challengingly at Sidharth. Although she didn't follow up with questions because she knew why he was at her niece's place.

"N-namaste aunty." He shortly greeted her, stepping aside.

"Sana kaha hai?" She asked next, walking in with her luggage.

"Bas abhi so ke uthi hai. Mai bulata hu usey." He replied, noticing her bag and jogging towards the bedroom.

"Abey aye! Kitna soyegi moti, uthja! Teri Chachi aayi hai!" He shook her, just like trying waking her up before opening the door to her aunt but this girl just wouldn't get up.

"Shehnaaz, this was the last time!" He said, sprinkling water on her face the next second.

"Yaar, sone de na!" She finally spoke, wiping her face with the quilt and covering herself again.

"Bachpan se, School ke time pe bhi aise hi karti thi. Bilkul nahi sudhari tu!" Harjot's voice however helped. Shehnaaz sat up immediately and rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't imagining her aunt all of a sudden.

"Chachi?" She got out of the bed and looked at Sidharth uncomfortably.

"Good Morning puttar. Abhi hath muh dho ke saamne aane ki meherbani kar mere ton. Jaruri baat karni hai." Harjot replied and gestured to Sidharth to follow her out.

"Aunty kuch lengi aap?" He asked, when he saw Harjot walking into the kitchen.

"Tum baitho, mai chai banane aayi hu." She replied, fetching milk from the refrigerator.

"Mai help kar deta hu." He offered and pulled out a saucepan from one of the drawers for her. Harjot let him take the lead and watched him prepare the tea for all of them with her gaze fixed on him like a predator looking for motion in the grasses.

"Um, usually Shehnaaz jaldi uth jati hai. Abhi tak toh wo nashta bhi bana leti hai, bas aaj hi.." he began to speak to keep it cool and a faint hum from her side encouraged him to keep the conversation going.

"Actually, kal raat hum kafi late soye." He said and regretted the next very moment when Harjot's eyebrows seemed surprised. It must have come out so wrong, he realised and cursed for blabbering like his girlfriend usually did.

"I mean, nahi, mai meeting me tha kal raat. Phir, uh, late ho gaya aate aate aur Shehnaaz ko disturb hua. Jab mujhe raat ko late ho gaya aane me, you know." He justified, but kept looking at the saucepan to avoid the aunt's angry face.

"Ofcourse. Mai biscuits nikalti hu." She whispered, excusing herself to get some snacks out. It was indeed awkward. But she knew if she began to question and check on their relationship, they wouldn't like it. The new generation, the couples and relationships these days were way too modern as compared to the way they used to be when she was young.

However, she had met the boy and his family the last time she visited them and was amazed to know how nice they were to her niece.

"Satri akal Chachi! Kiven ho?" Shehnaaz joined them in the kitchen and greeted her aunt with a hug.

"Thik hu. Chal chai leke aa." Harjot replied, gesturing to her niece to take the tray of cups from Sidharth.

"Achanak se subha subha aaye aap? Phone kar dete, mai lene aa jati!?" Shehnaaz asked, taking a seat next to her aunt.

"Jaise tu subha uth jayegi?" Harjot joked and even Sidharth laughed.

"Khair, Amrit ko lagaya tha phone, wo toh ghar pe hi nahi hai." She said and it confused the rest of the two.

"Amrit se baat hoti hai teri?" She asked.

"Nahi Chachi. Wo office me busy rehti hai na, ghar aate aate thak jati hai. Kya baat hai?" Shehnaaz replied.

"Menu lagda hai Amrit na bigad gayi hai bilkul. Ek phone lagao wo bhi time pe nahi uthati, khane peene ka hisab nahi hai kudi ka. Maine usko pehle hi bata diya tha ke mai aane wali hu lekin wo mujhe station pe lene hi nahi aayi! Uske ghar gayi toh tala laga hua hai." Harjot replied, sharing about whatever had been worrying her in the past few days.

"Tu dhyan nahi rakhti apni behen ka? Kaha hogi abhi wo?" She further asked whereas Sidharth rolled her eyes at her. Look who's talking?! He thought.

"Aap tension na lo, wo gayi hogi apni dost ke sath. Aa jayegi. Kal raat unse instagram pe ek picture dali thi, party me thi wo." Shehnaaz answered.

"Kaise tension na lu? Ghar se itni dur usko party karne ke liye thodi na bheja hai!" Harjot mentioned, disappointingly.

"Tu samjhana usko! Teri baat sunegi, mujhe toh wo seriously leti hi nahi aaj kal." Harjot suggested. Sidharth gestured to Shehnaaz with his head, to let her aunt know about it, keeping Harjot in the dark would only make it difficult.

"Chachi.. wo.." Shehnaaz began. "Meri baat nahi hoti Amrit se." She continued.

"Kab se nahi hui?" Harjot asked, surprised.

"Kafi time ho gaya, jabhi aap se mili tab hi last baat hui thi." Shehnaaz answered, sighing away.

"Chachi baat ye hai ki.. ab mai aur Amrit pehle jaise nahi hai. Na hum phone pe baat karte hai aur na hi message karte hai ek dusre ko. She's made it pretty clear that I shouldn't be interfering in her life." She added.

"Wh-what? Why would she do that? Wo tujhe apni badi behen manti hai, she loves you! I understand she can be stubborn at times but-" Harjot was surprised and unable to accept what she had been told.

"She's mad at me.. mai uss din shaadi se bhagi aur Chachu ko heart attack aaya. M-meri wajah se." Shehnaaz said, as she ducked her head to find Sidharth's hand slowly holding hers. She looked up and revealed how Amrit had returned home late once and the two sisters got into an ugly verbal argument where she had to leave her place in the end in the middle of the night.

"Waheguru! Itna sab ho chuka hai, na usne bataya aur na tune! Rabba!" Harjot held her head in her hands.

"Aunty beheno me ladai hoti rehti hai, meri bhi behene hai toh maine dekha hai. You might not like me for interfering here but Shehnaaz did everything an elder sister would have done, I've seen it myself. Even after their argument the other night, she tried to patch things up with Amrit." Sidharth mentioned, keeping his point.

Harjot was taken aback by the revelation, unable to justify her daughter's actions and to believe it, she chose not to reply. The atmosphere was so tense that everybody had their breakfast in silence and went ahead with the day. Harjot was checking her phone from time to time to see if her daughter had replied, she was both mad at her daughter and worried about her but she didn't want to bother her niece about it.

"Iss Amrit ki bacchi ko mai sudhar ke rahungi, tum dono apna mood thik rakho. Chalo, utho. Kaam pe nahi jana kya?" She asked, lightening their mood.

"Aap aram se rehna Chachi. Mai shaamko jaldi aungi." Shehnaaz nodded.

"Han thik hai. Sidharth sunn!" Harjot turned to the guy.

"Ji aunty?" He asked.

"Ghar jaldi aana. Dinner by me tonight." She told him.

"Aunty, dinner is on me hota hai." He corrected her.

"Mere upar thode na hoga dinner?!" She rolled her eyes at him.

"Right. Right, absolutely." He chuckled, taking his leave followed by Shehnaaz.

"Chachi kitni upset ho gayi thi. Amrit ne aisa kyu kiya? Time pe lene aa jati Chachi ko toh itna hota hi nahi na!" Shehnaaz was talking to herself, once they were in the car.

"Jaise aunty ko ye sab kabhi pata hi nahi chalta?! Amrit jaisi bhi hai, unki beti hai and she deserves to know what all her daughter did." He replied.

"Hmm. I just feel bad for her." She commented.

"Come here." He enveloped his arm around her, hugging her shortly and dropping a kiss on her head. She had always been like this, worrying and feeling sorry about people around her. Even if they would have been against her once, it was a tricky nature once could have. As much as it depicted her virtuous innocence, compassionate and warm-hearted nature, the easier were her chances to get manipulated. Well, he was there to protect her from such people.

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Hello people.. I'm up with another chapter.. finally.. apologies again for my irregularity.. my college can be blamed.. ok sorry no excuses..

How's it? Had to reveal Amrits face day no?!

Apart from that what was the thing you liked the most about it?

A) Shehnaaz finally speaking up against Amrit in front of her Chachi.. character development.. isn't it?
B) Sidharth took a stand for her!🤌
C) Chachi joking around? Even though nobody likes her.. maine ye option rakha hai.. formality lol