|| Shraman Five shot: Journey || Updated Part 4 on pg 13 - Page 9

Suman couldn't stop herself from turning around and looking at him. A sad smile formed on her face. Mai hi pagal hoon jo iss shadi ko serious le rahi hoon. Wo to bestfriend bestfriend khelne mein laga hai.' She murmured under her breath.

"Khadoos!!" She uttered before leaving the room and banging the door loudly.

"Abb ise kya hua?! Weird ladki!" He rolled his eyes.

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Later that evening, they went to Tiwari killa for the pagphere rasam. Mami ji welcomed them doing aarti and all the other rituals were performed before they went up to nana ji's room.

"Nanu!" Suman caught his attention.

"Suman, Shravan! Tum log aa gaye. Main kabse tumhara intezaar kar raha tha."

They both took blessings and sat beside him on the bed.

"Suman beta tum khush ho na?"

"Ji nana ji! Aap sab ki khushi mein hi meri khushi hai." She genuinely answered him.

"Ofcourse nani ji! Itna acha pati mila hai, khush kaise nahi hogi." Suman rolled her eyes and nanu laughed.

"Nanu aap isko chodiye. Isko toh apni tareef karne se fursat nahi milti. Aap apni dawai to time se le rahe hai na?"

"Haan beta! Bas tum khush ho, main toh vaise hi theek ho jaunga." He cupped her face lovingly.

"Nanaji aap jaldi thik ho jayiye, fir hum ek zabardast chess ka match lagayenge."

"Thik hai beta! Tum bas Suman ka khayal rakhna."

"Nanu main abb bachi nahi hoon. Main apna khyal rakh sakti hun." Nanu just chuckled. Shravan rolled his eyes at her.

"Chalo Sumo abb nanaji ko rest karne dete hain. Hum kal fir ayenge nanaji."

"Aap apna dhyan rakhna nanu!"

"Tum dono bhi!" He placed his hand on their heads and blessed them again.

----

A week later

The family was out for a family friend's party. Shravan had twisted his ankle while chasing Suman in their room. The family had told him to rest and Suman had offered to stay back too.

Now, they both were sitting in the living room watching a rom-com when Shravan moaned in pain.

"Shravan zyada dard ho raha hai kya?" Her voice filled with concern. "Ruko main abhi doctor ko bulati hoon." She got up only to be pulled back on the couch.

"It's ok Sumo! It's just a sprain. You don't have to worry."

"Aise kaise I don't have to worry. Kya pata fracture ho." He chuckled at her over-concern. She couldn't believe he had the audacity to laugh. She started hitting him on his chest making him laugh more.

"Shravan Malhotra! Hasna band karo nahi to main tumhari doosri taang bhi tod dungi." He sobered up seeing her so mad.

"Acha sorry! Ab nahi hasunga. But really Sumo, it's just a sprain. Doctor ki koi zarurat nahi hai." His hand reached out to cup her face involuntarily.

After applying the ice pack, they sat on the carpet to get into a more comfortable position to watch the movie. An hour into the movie, they didn't know when they fell asleep. And that's how their family found them on entering the main door. Shravan's one arm was around Suman's shoulders and her head was placed on his chest. There was a popcorn bowl and some other snacks sitting on the coffee table. A smile formed on everyone's face seeing them like that. They had never seen Shravan and Sumo so at peace. They were either always fighting or teasing each other. This was completely new for them. Ramnath was happy to see his son happy afterall. He went ahead and called out to his son and daughter-in-law.

"Shravan! Suman!" They heard their names being called out and opened their eyes taking in their surroundings. They glanced up to see their entire family staring down at them. Sumo immediately moved away from him and he straightened up as well.

"Oh aap log kab aaye?"

"Bas abhi jab aap dono sapno ki duniya mein khoye hue the." Pushkar answered. Suman stood up feeling a little awkward to be seen in such position. The elders just shook their heads and left for their rooms leaving the kids behind.

"Vaise aap log kaunsi movie dekh rahe the Suman di?" Preeti asked excitedly.

"Yeh jawani hai deewani!"

"Bhaiya aapka ankle kaisa hai?"

"Haan Shravan tum theek ho na?" Vandy asked with concern.

"Haan ab main bilkul thik hun." He said and looked at Sumo remembering the way she was concerned for him.

"Let's go bhaiya main aapki help kar deta hoon room tak jaane mein."

"It's ok Chhote! I will manage. You must be tired as well." With that said, he got up and started limping towards the stairs. Sumo reached out and placed his right arm over her shoulder.

"Seedha seedha bol dete Sumo se help chahiye." Pushkar shouted behind their backs. They just rolled their eyes knowing well that they had to get used to Pushkar's everyday nonsense.

----

It had been one month since their marriage but they were still busy playing best friends with few awkward moments here and there. They both knew somewhere deep inside what this marriage meant to both of them but their friendship was getting in the way. They had just never imagined themselves as a married couple.

"Sumo yar jaldi bahar aao, I need to get ready too." Shravan yelled. They were getting ready for a family wedding from Shravan's family.

"Kaise pati ho tum?" She complained while coming out of the bathroom wearing a bathrobe. She had come out drying her hair with the pink towel that had a heart in the corner with SS' engraved in it. It had been a gift from Preeti on her wedding with a bunch of other toiletries. Shravan couldn't move his gaze away from her face. His eyes moved to the heart on her towel and his heart fluttered seeing their initials engraved in there. He realized that he couldn't imagine his name engraved with someone else's name. It was as if Shravan and Sumo always belonged together. With these thoughts in his mind, he moved towards his wife who looked utterly sexy in that bathrobe. Suman looked up sensing him towering over her. Her heart thudded uncontrollably. He stepped closer thus making her step back. She kept backing off until her back hit the see through wall covering the closet area.

"Tum kaisa pati expect kar rhi thi?" He said tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Huhh?", she sounded dazed. He smirked sensing that she was as affected by him as he was by her. He moved his face close to her ear and saw her clutching onto the towel tightly.

"You were asking that kaisa pati hoon main? Maine poocha tum mujhme kaisa pati expect kar rahi thi?" He whispered softly into her ear.

"Kuch nhi!" Suman didn't like the way she started behaving when he was this close to her. He had this strange effect on her that made her heart jump and stomach flutter.

"Acha tum mujhse kuch bhi expect nhi krti?" He asked looking into her eyes.

She silently nodded her head in a no making him pull her closer thus making her gasp.

"Sumo! It's okay to have expectations from your husband. Mujhpe nahi to aur kispe hakk jataogi? Hm?" All this while his hands were pressing against her waist thus making her breath fast.

"Shravan main.."!

"Bhayia aapke kapde aa gaye iron hokar!" Pushkar exclaimed while entering through the wide open door. He stopped right in his tracks taking in the scene in front of his eyes.

Shravan looked to his right and saw Pushkar with a smirk on his face. He felt Sumo squirm in his hands and left her immediately. Sumo had gone red due to embarrassment, so she ran inside the closet and started looking for her clothes.

"Kya hai chhote?"

"You don't look happy to see your chhote, bhaiya." He laughed at his big brother's visibly annoyed expression.

"Shut up Pushkar!"

"Sorry bro! Yeh aapke aur Sumo ke kapde!" He neatly placed the clothes on the bed and turned around to leave when he eyed Sumo who was frantically searching through her clothes.

"Waise Sumo tum bhi abb yeh naatak band kar sakti ho kyunki tumhare kapde idhar bed par hain." He couldn't control his laughter anymore and left the room closing the door behind him.

Shravan looked over at Sumo and saw her turn around. Their eyes met for a brief second before he grabbed his clothes and left for the bathroom to get ready for the function. Suman used this opportunity to quickly change into the navy blue and gold lehenga choli she was wearing for the evening. She was unable to tie the dori so she just left it open for the time being and decided to later ask Preeti to tie it for her. She draped the dupatta over her back and pinned her hair into a beautiful bun.

Shravan stepped into the room wearing a designer black colored sherwani looking handsome as ever. He saw Sumo turn and stare at him with her beautiful kohl lined orbs. She looked mesmerizing in the lehenga she wore. He moved to the closet and saw her put her earrings on. She was still stealing glances at him through the mirror. Her dupatta slid from her back when she bent down to pick her other earring. That's when he saw the open dori of her blouse. Something stirred inside him on the sight of her exposed back. Her heart picked up pace when she saw him move close through the mirror. She was about to cover her back when he held her hand and put it back to the side. His hands reached out for the dori and he started tying it together. Their eyes were fixed on each other through the mirror. He decided to take advantage of the situation.

"Waise yeh rang tumpe utna bhi bura nahi lag raha." He smirked. She smiled replying back

"Tum bhi iss sherwani mein bilkul qutub minar ke bhi bade bhai lag rahe ho." She said lightening up the situation. He chuckled at her weird compliment.

"Sumo tumhe compliment dena bhi nahi aata."

"Toh tumhe mujhse compliment chahiye?" She asked in a teasing tone.

"Nahi! No need for that. Tum jaise mujhe ghoor rahi thi usse pata chal gya tha tumhare dimag mein kya chal raha hai." Oh no one dared to tease The Shravan Malhotra. He always had a comeback ready. Her mouth formed a perfect o'.

"Main wo! Main koi ghoor nahi rahi thi. Main to bass wo." He chuckled seeing her flushed face. Backing her against the dresser, he caged her in between his arms.

"It's ok Sumo! Tum mujhe jab chahe ghoor sakti ho. Afterall main tumhara pati hoon." She could see the sincerity in his eyes and thought how stupid they both were to not understand the deeper connection they both shared since their childhood.

She tried to get away from him and after observing her for few seconds, he let her. He knew all this was new for her and him as well. They had been best friends their entire life but now things were changing and they knew that. The attraction was kicking in and it was kicking in hard. Not that they won't be best friends anymore. They will always be friends first and husband and wife later.

Shravan sighed and started doing his hair which was going to take a good amount of time. Suman on the other hand headed downstairs to see if others were ready yet. There sat everyone except Vandy and Shravan.

"Yeh lo ji! Yeh pehli biwi dekhi hai jo pati se pehle tayyar ho gayi." They all laughed at Lalaji's remark. Suman smiled and sat next to Preeti.

"Han bhaiya toh Sumo ko dekhne mein busy honge, ready kaise honge." Pushkar never left a chance to tease them. He was that one friend everyone had who was fun and annoying at the same time.

Sumo just glared at him making him shut his mouth.

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Thanks in advance to whoever reads it!