Hey guys, I'm so happy that you all liked the twist!! Well let's see how long they can actually manage to keep this secret!!

Chapter Twenty Two

Raj had not stopped smiling since he came back from the academy and Navin and Tanu were beginning to become suspicious

"Where exactly did you go today?" Navin asked him curiously.

"I told you, to buy clothes with Aalekh." Raj replied, trying to be less cheerful and failing terribly.

"You look awfully happy about buying clothes," Navin continues suspiciously, "Are you sure you're not planning something?"

Luckily Raj could answer this question honestly because he really wasn't planning something.

The plan had already been executed perfectly.

"Navin, I'm just happy today." Raj told him, and then realizing that he was meant to be very unhappy at the moment, thought he had better come up with an excuse. "I talked to Naina and she really liked the present I got her for her birthday." He added.

Navin looked relieved, as if he'd been worrying about Raj's sudden change of attitude.

"So what did you get her?" he asked.

"That my friend… is none of your business." Raj said with a grin.

"It is so," Navin replied, looking annoyed. "She's my sister and I need to know these things."

"Well she's my…. Girlfriend and I need to hide these things from her brother."

Navin glared at Raj, unable to believe that he actually wouldn't tell him what he got Nain for her birthday.

"Well maybe now that you're not getting married to my sister I'll withdraw my permission for you to be her boyfriend." He told Raj, looking quite annoyed.

"Well it's a bit too late for you to do that now." Raj told him, "And anyway, if I'm not getting married to her then it's your fault. You and Tanu are meant to be coming up with a solution for us. Otherwise you should remember my threat."

And despite the fact that they were best friends, Navin knew that Raj was serious. He really wouldn't let Navin and Tanu get married until Raj and Naina's problems were fixed.

"Raj, it's not easy to come up with a plan to get your parents to agree to your marriage," Tanu told him.

"Why not? You didn't have any difficulties coming up with a plan to make us fall in love!" Raj exclaims, "Now come up with another one soon so that we can all get married on schedule."

And he walked off, leaving them both pondering over their options.

**

Almost a week later Neelu strolled into the academy in the afternoon, knowing that she wasn't supposed to be there but that she could probably get away with it since Brigadier Chandook and her father were friends.

"Oh god, what do you want?" Yudi asked her as soon as she walked into the canteen, and came over to where he was sitting with Shalini, Raj and Aalekh. "Because if it's money then you are seriously mistaken if you think I'm going to give you some."

"Chill bro," Neelu told him, giving a small smile as her eyes met Aalekh's over Yudi's head. "I'm here to see somebody else."

"Oh really, who?" Yudi asked her.

"Raj." Neelu announced, and motioned for him to come and join her. "Would you come outside with me for a minute?"

"Sure Neelu," Raj told her and followed her out as Yudi stared after them. Aalekh's expression didn't change, as he knew exactly what was going on, but Yudi of course did not have a clue.

"This is so not happening!" Yudi exclaimed and got up to follow them.

"Yudi you can't…" Shalini started to say, but it was too late, he was already gone.

Meanwhile outside in the grounds Neelu handed the envelope to Raj that she had come to give him.

"There's some really good ones," she told him, "You two look so cute together, I can't believe that you actually managed to pull it off successfully."

"I can't believe it either," Raj told her, grinning, "And they haven't even figured it out yet. Which means that I'd better hide these photos as soon as possible."

He had the marriage certificate kept safe in a plastic folder right at the back of his closet under a bunch of clothes. He planned to put the photos there with it as soon as possible. Raj quickly slipped the photos into his jacket pocket before anybody could see him with them.

"So how is our dulha anyway?" Neelu asked him, "Are you coping okay?"

"Well I'm missing my dulhan very much," he told her with a grin, "But we've talked on the phone every day since then, I'm trying to convince her to find some way to come to Ambala so that we can actually spend some time together."

"Well she can always stay at my place." Neelu told him, "Mum and Dad don't need to know who she actually is, I'll just tell them that she's a friend from college."

"That would be great, Neelu." Raj told her, "Are you coming back inside?"

"No, I'd better leave or Yudi will get suspicious," Neelu tells him, "And I don't need any more drama in my life right now. Tell Aalekh that I'll be waiting for him at the usual spot outside the academy after lights out."

"I will," Raj promises, and Neelu gives him a quick hug before she heads towards the gates of the academy.

Raj turns to walk back to the canteen, but before he can get there, his path is blocked by Yudi.

"Dude… what is going on?" he asks him.

"Nothing, Neelu and I just had something to discuss." Raj answers very calmly, sure that Yudi hadn't been close by enough to actually hear anything.

"And what was that?" Yudi asks him, "What could you possibly have to discuss with my sister?"

"Many things," Raj replies, "None of which I'm going to tell you about."

And he walks off, leaving Yudi stunned.

**

"Oh for god sakes Yudi, stop staring at me. I am not having an affair with your sister!!" Raj exclaimed a little too loudly at dinner that night, quite fed up with the way Yudi had been behaving. "Honestly, we had something to discuss, we discussed it and then she left. We are not having a relationship of any type!"

"Then why did she hug you?" Yudi asks suspiciously, and Navin looks up from his dinner, suddenly thinking that it's important that he listens to this conversation.

"Because we're friends and she felt like hugging me!" Raj exclaims, "Tanu has hugged me before too, that doesn't mean that she and I are having a relationship!"

Tanu nods, "Very true." She remarks, trying to back Raj up. Navin begins to relax, realizing that once again Yudi is overreacting about something.

"You really don't have much faith in me, do you?" Raj asks Yudi, "This is the second time you've thought I'm going out with your sister. Why don't you accuse someone else for a change?"

"Because nobody else has made me suspicious." Yudi tells him, "So far Neelu hasn't come to the academy to see anyone except you, and she's done it twice so far now."

Yes, well that was because she always met Aalekh outside of the academy, Raj couldn't help but think and he looked at his friend as if for support.

Aalekh pointedly looked away, there was no way he was revealing the truth. If Yudi reacted like this when he thought Raj was having a relationship with Neelu, how would he react when he found out the truth?

"Well it had better not be true or you will be in big trouble." Yudi tells him, "Every brother at KMA will know never to introduce their sister to Rajveer Singh Shekawat."

Raj could see that Yudi really wasn't convinced yet."

**

Raj remembered when it was Navin glaring at him all the time, now it was Yudi. It seemed like it was his destiny to constantly be glared at for as long as he was at KMA.

"Can I just tell him the truth about you and Neelu?" Raj asked Aalekh desperately when they were alone, "Please? He's got to find out some time!"

"Of course you can," Aalekh told him, and Raj began to celebrate, until…

"As long as you want me to tell the truth about your marriage with Naina to Navin and Tanu."

"That, is blackmail." Raj told him.

"Of course it is," Aalekh replied, "And don't think that I won't actually do it."

Well if he had to choose between the two of them as to who should be angry at him, Raj would definitely choose Yudi.

After all, it would be a lot harder for Yudi to kill him with a pillow in his sleep.

**

Making sure that nobody is around, Raj makes his daily call to Naina. Whereas before he would call her every few days, now he can't stand to go even a day without talking to her.

He misses her so much, and it's even worse now he knows they have every right to be together but can't.

He wants to shout out to anyone listening that she's his wife, but knows that this would probably be the worst possible action that he could take.

"Well mere piyari biwi, how was your college today?" he asks her after she picks up the phone.

"College was fine," Naina tells him, "I spent most of it day dreaming anyway and then couldn't even tell anyone why I was so distracted. You're so lucky that you've at least got four people there that know you're married, I have no one to discuss it with."

"I know," Raj tells her, "But there's only a couple of months left until I graduate from the academy, and then there's nothing to stop us."

"So have you come up with a plan yet?" Naina asks hopefully, "We need something really big… of epic proportions…"

"No, no plan on this end." Raj says, "Nobody has been able to think of anything yet that would actually work. What about you?"

"I came up with the last plan, it's your turn to come up with this one." Naina tells him.

Raj laughs, "Oh, so we have turns now?" he asks her.

"Well we do when I feel like it." Naina informs him, and he can almost hear the smile in her voice.

"So have I told you that I really miss you?" Raj asks.

"I think you've told me that every day since I left after the wedding," Naina replies, giggling slightly.

"Oh, well maybe I should stop then." Raj tells her jokingly.

"Don't you dare!" Naina tells him, "It's my right to hear that you miss me, and I intend to enjoy it fully."

"Well I haven't told you the latest news yet," Raj says, "Yudi thinks that I'm having an affair with Neelu."

Naina laughs at this, "You mean he still hasn't figured out the truth about her and Aalekh?"

"No, and he probably never will either. Those two are very good at hiding their relationship, and Aalekh has threatened to tell Navin the truth about us if I expose them."

"So why does Yudi think you're having an affair with Neelu?" Naina asks curiously, "Should I be jealous about this?"

"Definitely not," Raj tells her, "Neelu came to the academy to give me our wedding photos. She hugged me before she left and unfortunately Yudi was suspicious and spying on us."

"Oh wow, the wedding photos!" Naina exclaims, immediately forgetting about everything else in the sentence, "I can't wait to see them!"

"Well do you want me to make copies and send them to you?" Raj asks, "I could send them to one of your friends' addresses or to a PO Box."

"There's no need for that," Naina announces a little smugly, "Because very soon I will be coming there to see them myself."

"What???" Raj exclaims so loudly and happily that the orderly hurrying down the corridor almost drops Brigadier Chandook's chai. "When are you coming? And how?"

"Well I'm coming in two weeks," Naina tells him, "And as for how, I have been doing my best depressed Meena Kumari act in the house for quite awhile now and Ma and Baba are so sick of it, they're ready to do anything to improve my mood. And so I convinced them that I needed to travel to Ambala so that we could 'discuss our future'."

"Naina, you are the absolute best!" Raj wishes she was there right now so that he could kiss her for this action. "This is why I love you so much, you always work out ways to make things happen."

"Well what did you think?" Naina asks mischievously. "Nobody can keep Naina Singh Ahluwalia away from her secret husband."

Raj laughs, "Shouldn't that be Naina Singh Shekawat?" he asks her.

"Not yet," Naina says, "We haven't officially changed my name yet. After all, if letters from my college began to arrive at home with my new surname…"

"Then we would both be in very big trouble." Raj finishes for her.

"Exactly."

"So obviously you'll be seeing Navin and Tanisha while you're here as well," Raj says, "How should we be acting while we're in front of them?"

"Well I really have perfected my Meena Kumari expressions over the past month," Naina muses, "So maybe we should go for tragically romantic, you know, like 'we love each other so much but we're depressed because we can't be together'."

"Well we've never done that before," Raj admits, "So it will be something new."

"Get to work on your facial expressions," Naina advises him, "Trust me, it takes lots of practice."

"Are you sure you can't come earlier than in two weeks?" Raj asks, "You know, like maybe next weekend?"

"Two weeks is not that far away, Raj." Naina tells him, "It's going to be difficult but we'll make it."

"I love you," he tells her.

"And I love you too!" Naina exclaims, "Just remember, I'm Meena Kumari and you're Dilip Kumar!"

Then she hangs up the phone and Raj is left pondering.

Dilip Kumar…

He really needs to go and rent some old movies.