Part 1
"Annika Bhabhi!" Omkara called.
"Arrey tum kaha ho Bhabhi?"
"Bhaiya, tumne babhi ko kahi dekha?"
"Woh.. shayad cupboard mein hai" Shivaay mumbled, clearly annoyed.
His left and right hand, aka Rudra and Omkara had burst through his bedroom door in search for their Bhabhi. On another day he would be happy to see their bonding. He knew very well how fond they were of his Annika.. uhh *their Annika Bhabhi, he mentally corrected himself. But today he was just irritated. He himself did not know where she was. She had been avoiding him since the entire jungle wala episode. Then slowly, after they were forced to work together to reveal Swetlana's, Tia's and Rumi's truth, her so called "ghanti" had stopped messing with her and she could talk to him, even look at him. She was still a little more reserved, but solving the mystery together had done a good job at restoring her Paanika behavior with him. Some progress was better than none, right?
It was all well until last night. His cheeks subconsciously warmed as he recalled what happened and without even realizing it, his lips twitched up to his right in a small glimpse of a smile.
"Arrey bhaiya? Woh toh cupboard mein nahi hai! Lekin shayad ... Your cheeks should be in here." Rudra said, gesturing as he held the cupboard door open.
"Om dekho na, yeh kaise blush kar rahe hai" He teased again.
Shivaay snapped out of his thoughts and stood up.
"Rudra, you're right. He's blushing as if he wasn't the one who was troubling Annika Bhabhi about blushing."
"What nonsense! I am not blushing! Rubbish" Shivaay raised his voice and folded his arms on his chest and stared at the both sternly.
"Wait, how did you know?"
"Soumya ne hume bataaya tha"
"It's okay Bhaiya, yeh sab toh hota hai, pyaar mein.." Rudra said and softly trailed off and Om touched his shoulder and signaled him.
"Tummm!" Shivaay glared and pointed at Rudra.
He relaxed his shoulders and then let it go.
"Waise, I don't know where Annika is. Since morning I haven't seen her"
"What? Kyun?" Om looked truly concerned.
"Oh please Bhaiya please tell me you didn't get angry on her again. Like really, is there anything wrong left for you to do to her? Rudra whined.
"Chup! Maine kuch nahi kiya... in fact... I did something right last night, well, at least I thought I did. Pata nahi kya ho raha hai. She is avoiding me again"
"Kal raat?" Both Rudra and Om raised their eyebrows and smirked.
"Woh.. actually, kya hai na ki..." Shivaay fumbled.
"Wah SSO phir se blush kar rahe hai. I can't wait to find Bhabhi and tell her!"
"Tum dono! Bas!" Shivaay shouted.
"Theek hai theek hai. But we still need to find her"
"Why are you looking for her anyways? She's probably somewhere teaching Soumya how to throw you in the pool Rudra!"
Rudra zoned out, thinking of Sumo pushing him the pool and then immediately snapped out of his imagination.
"Bhaiya please don't say those kinds of things. I feel so michmichi" He grinned .
"Okay Rudra enough. Actually we have a surprise for you both. That's why we were looking for you guys." Om informed him.
"Surprise? What surprise?" Shivaay asked looking confused.
"Well if we tell you, how will it be a surprise?" Rudra said.
Shivaay sighed and then sat back down on the sofa.
Om signed Rudra and they both went to sit on either sides of him.
"Bhaiya tum aur Bhabhi ki beech ... sab theek hai na?" Om asked.
" And what happened last night? Do you think it's because of that she's avoiding you? Rudra continued.
"Kal raat..." Shivaay started and then trailed off.
"Haan, kal raat?" Rudra asked grinning.
"Chup!" Shivaay shut him up.
"Bhaiya seriously if it's something you can tell us, toh kaho naa. We can try to help. In fact our surprise will help too"
"Kal raat jo hua... shayad kuch nahi lekin meri liya bahut baare baat hai. I thought she would be happy too."
And then he proceeded to unleash last night's episode.
---------------------Flashback-------------------------
Shivaay was turning off his laptop, with intentions of jumping into bed and getting a good night's sleep as he was so exhausted, when he saw Annika come out of the bathroom.
He looked at her and she smiled lightly before taking out the blanket from the cupboard and as he got up from the sofa to keep his laptop on the table and sat on the bed, she put her pillow there and was about to lie down.
"Annika"
"Haan?"
"Um... tum wahan..."
"Haan? Main hamesha yahan sote hoon hain na?
"Actually, I know, but..."
"But?"
"Yahan aao na" he said softly, looking directly her then looking down at his feet on the ground.
"Kya?" Annika asked, thinking she didn't hear correctly.
He pat the pillow next to him on the bed and said " Tumne kaha tha na, ki yeh tumharabhi ghar hai, tumhara room hai, pati hai aur tumhara bed.. so... tum yaha aao.. if you want..."
"Matlab?"
"Exactly what I said. Tum yaha aao, aur so jao"
"Uhh it's okay." Annika said nervously looking down. Her heart was racing, What was he trying to do.
"Annika.. dekho. I'm not going to force you. Lekin hum.. pati patni toh hai. We're not strangers anymore. We have been through a lot together. You saved me and this family so many times, and I know I have done many wrong things to you but I did some right things too. I am trying to right my wrongs, especially with you and I think right now I'm doing something right as well. You are my wife, and we're not strangers and tumiss bed pe haq hota hai. Tum sahi thi. Yeh sirf meri bed nahi, par tumhara bhi hai."
Annika was looking on at him, stunned. She never expected him to speak like this, nor did she expect him to initiate something like this. She trusted him but she was afraid of getting even closer and more accustomed to him. But she didn't know how to turn him down without hurting him. As he had said, he was doing something right and how could she disappoint him. She should encourage him. More than anything she wanted to lay next to him, his arms around her again like that night after the party. And this time not drunk but what to do.
Shivaay cleared his throat.
"Agar tum nahi chate .. toh theek hai. Par mein sofa mein so sakta hoon aur tum yahan."
He got up from the bed and approached her.
Annika's mind battled with her heart for a couple moments and then without realizing what she was going to say she began to speak.
"Woh.. it's okay. Tum bed pe so sakta..."
"No it's fine. Main yahan iss sofa..." He said gesturing with his hand.
She sighed and cut him off by holding his hand.
He looked at her and she gazed into his eyes. Only his eyes could enchant her like this.
"Mera bed nahi, hamara bed hai." She said before letting his hand go and walking towards the bed.
Shivaay smiled just a whisper of a smile and went to his side of the bed.
She was sitting on her side awkwardly, with her feet dangling off the bed.
He lay down and pulled the blanket up and looked at her suggestively.
"It's late, you should get some sleep too."
And with that she climbed in as he pulled the blanket over them both. She turned to her side, her face away from him while he lay facing her. Even from the back she was gorgeous, he thought. He wished he could run his fingertips through those long smooth shiny black tresses but he held back. Soon after, they both fell into a slumber.
Surprisingly, the next morning Annika woke up first. Sun rays had now started beaming in through room and her eyes slowly flickered open.All she saw was white. Sleepily, she tried to move but she found that she couldn't.
"Kahi mein janat... Nahi nahi Annika!" she told herself as she tried to blink her eyes and wake up fully.
She tried to move again but she felt as if something was holding her down. It was then she understood what was happening.
She was tightly locked in Shivaay's embrace, her head on his chest, one arm around her waist, the other sort of around her neck. Her arms were also laced around him and her head was tucked into his shoulder.
He held her so tight and so close to him, she could feel his heartbeat, the steady rise and fall of his chest.
She wiggled around a little and adjusted herself so she could see his face properly.
He looked so innocent like a child, his face looked so relaxed and a slight smile of contentment was there. SSO looked more like Shivaay. Shivaay who loved his family, who would go to the ends of the Earth for the people he loved. He looked so peaceful and it touched her that even in his sleep he held her tightly, as if he never wanted to let go, but also had her in a relaxed embrace as if he was sure she'd never leave. She thanked her lucky stars he was not awake to see the blush that had crept onto her face. His eyelashes, now actually looking at them, were actually amazingly beautiful and thick, she thought. Annika's hand subconciously reached up to run her fingers gently through his soft dark hair and moved a lock that was falling onto his eye and her fingers wandered down to caress his cheeks. She closed her eyes at this touch. A happy sigh escaped his lips, almost as if he can sense me. She couldn't help but smile. Is this what happiness feels like? Maybe I am really in heaven. She thought to her self.
"I really do l..." She dreamily began saying but then she caught herself. She realized what was happening and stopped herself in time.
"Raita sach me phail gaya" She mumbled angrily and as gently and quietly as she could, she got out of his embrace and out of bed.
She showered and thought to avoid him for the rest of the day to get her head thinking straight again.
----------Flashback ends-----------------------
"Aur phir maine Annika ko nahi dekha."
"That's weird" Om said matter of factly.
"But bhaiya what's more weird is that.. woh... tum dono... uhh" Rudra blushed as he spoke.
"Hum dono kya?"
"Woh... I just... we didn't know you guys slept separately."
It was such a touchy topic to discuss with his brothers he blushed too.
"Okay stop blushing. You're our bhaiya, Annika is like our Didi. But we're your friends too. Now let's see how we can solve this."
"Om is right."
"You both have gotten really big." Shivaay smiled a little.
"Haan. So bhaiya, why do you think she's avoiding you?"
"I don't know. I mean I thought last night, she'd like that. I thought she'd feel I accept her. Lekin woh itni complicated hai ki... na jaana unke dimaag mein kya chal rahe hai"
"But if she didn't want to, she would've just stayed on the sofa. I mean come on, it's Annika Bhabhi, if she doesn't want something she would not do it. In fact she would show you so much attitude.. woh kya word hai, jo Annika Bhabhi used?" Om said
"Tadi"
"Haan."
"I think she didn't have a problem. Maybe it's something else" Rudra said.
"But since last night I haven't seen her. So what else can it be?"
"Main bataaon!" a chirpy voice said.
The three brothers turned their heads to see Sahil standing by the door.
"Sahil tum?
"Haan main! Mujhe sab pata hain"
"Idhar aao" Shivaay said calling him.
He lifted him onto his lap and asked, "Have you seen your Annika Di?"
"Haan, she took me to the park aur mujhe ice cream mili. We now came back but she said that she'd go talk to Soumya. But I know that woh sirf excuse that. She is ignoring you SSO."
"Haan par kyun?"
" I think she's scared. Mein bahut choti hoon par maine aapka conversation suna tha. Main sab ki dadaji jaise baat karte hoon na toh main sab jaanti hoon. A month ago when you were ill in the jungle, Di told me she was so scared. She said she cared too much and she didn't have the strength to. She's scared she'd get habitual to you aur phir aap unse nahi accept karogi. Aur waise bhi divorce hone waali thi. Maine use samjaya ki koshish thi lekin ...
"Wait. She's scared I don't accept her?"
Sahil grinned inwardly as he saw SSO's expression. He knew he left out probably the most important part of Annika Di's chat with him (that she loves him) that night but he was still SSO. Bahut akdu aur batameez hai. So he was not going to give it away so easily.
"Haan. You only said na, ki family, khoon, kandan, aur class are all that matters? She said that because of that you will never accept her. And she needs to stay away from you.In any case she had to get used to it because next four months toh divorce ..."
"Kya?" Shivaay shouted and stood up suddenly.
" Yeh ladki impossible hai. That's why she avoided me then? Divorce my foot. I didn't even sign those damn papaers!"
"Kya? Bhaiya tum.."
Rudra and Om stood up with questioning eyes.
"Mainee nahi sign kiya. Lekin iss Paanika thinks that I WON'T ACCEPT HER!"
"But bhaiya, you always say that so if she believed it so what? It's not her fault"
"But after all we have been through.. .. " he sighed.
"But then, why she is avoiding me now?"
"Maybe she got back normal and then last night she got scared again when she realized she got close to you and that's why.." Sahil said.
All three turned to look at him.
"Sahil tum genius hoon!!!!" Rudra squealed and high fived him.
"Woh toh main hoon!" Sahil said rightfully.
"So bhaiya, aab pata chal gaya na? Toh please solve this matter!"
"But what do I do?"
"SSo app itni bewakoof hain! Aapki dil ki baat Di se bataaon aur phir happy ending!"
"Dil ki baat?" Shivaay was appauled and embarrassed all in one.
He turn away and gulped hard.
"Oh come on bhaiya, even Sahil who's so small knows this, how much longer will you hide it?"
"Rudra is right. And I don't think it can get worse from here. Telling her will make things better. And Listen to me. I know you never believed in love or all this. I know you're a little afraid too. But Bhabhi has done so much for you. And clearly she is so affected by you. I don't think she feels differently for you. She probably feels the same way"
"Okay Shakespear calm down" Shivaay snapped.
"Bhaiya.."Om said.
Just then they hear Annika calling Sahil and he leaves them to it.
"Look, we have our surprise to show you. Why don't we show you both this surprise, and then you talk to Bhabhi?" Rudra said.
"But why after the surprise?"
"Because, this surprise is no ordinary surprise. After this surprise, you both will be speechless. But I promise it will help to gap the distance between you two." Om states.
"But what is this surprise?"
"Something you'd never thought it would be" Rudra smirked.
"Not another love letter right?" Shivaay said annoyed.
"Nahi, bilkul nahi."
"Theek hai."
"Tonight, 8 baje, Surprise time, in this room."
"Don't make me regret trusting you both"
"Trust me, you won't"
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