AvNeil SS: Us Against the World | CHAPTER 15 UP: PG-39 (Apr 17) - Page 16

New beginnings are priceless

For there's euphoria in the unknown

What the coming days hold,

Anything is better than being forlorn.

A touch can be healing

An elixir never known before

It can complete your life O' love

Saving you from the sea storm to the shore

..

.

And elixir it was, healing every agony from his mind, when after what seemed like ages, he finally got to reel in the glory and inexplicable happiness that Avni's touch brought back into his life.

There was this strange feeling that honestly he hadn't even felt while being married to her. Not that now there marriage didn't exist, but the fact that she was unaware of their married life, and yet, they were now holding hands together, made Neil blush inwardly for some reason.

It was like, life gave him this weird but pleasant chance of romancing his own wife, but as a boyfriend and not as a husband, and he for once, was completely gratified with this too. As long as Avni was by his side, he didn't really care of the name of their relationship, for under any circumstance, it was only and only immense love that he had for her, and nothing could change that.

He stole some glances at Avni as they together walked hand-in-hand inside Chamko Caf and the sight couldn't be more endearing as he saw her look at the ground, trying hard to avoid his gaze on her, for she too was blushing like there was no tomorrow.

And for the first time ever, Neil got a true glimpse of what it would have been to date Avni Ayesha, before tying the knot.

Nobody was alienated to the fact that their marriage happened under some extremely unimaginable circumstances, wherein he didn't even know he was getting married to her and Avni wasn't even Avni that time. She was Ananya Verma.

Even before their marriage, they were at loggerheads, simply because she was all about her revenge while he was after her as a police officer whose sole agenda was to arrest the criminal. Yes, he had fallen for her during the whole process, but he was unaware of this, and came to realize this much later after their marriage.

So, now, when there didn't exist any of that former baggage, the mighty Neil Khanna finally got a sneak peak of how it all could have been, had Avni never been Ananya and he wasn't supposed to get betrothed to Rhea.

Maybe, this is exactly how their courtship would have been. Going on dates, staring at each other, and then all of this finally culminating into marriage, babies..

'Okay, stop Neil! Here Avni doesn't even remember she is your wife and you are already daydreaming about babies!''

His conscience chided him, to which he only brushed off his daydreaming thoughts and knew that one day he would definitely make these dreams come true, but for now, he was happy with the present too. After all, it is not every day you walk hand-in-hand with the feisty Avni Ayesha, NO, scratch that, Avni Neil Khanna, Neil noted in his head, too possessive about her full name, inside Chamko Caf.

Neil's reverie was broken instantly as Ali came to greet them, making him realize that they had an audience now.

DD too came in there, followed by Kareena and a male friend of hers, and they were all too happy to see Neil and Avni in one frame together, though they all knew that their dearest Avni still didn't have her memory back.

.

.

They all sat together on a table, enjoying their cups of coffee, sharing a small talk.

'Avni! Kya khayegi?''

Ali asked her with a smile, happy that her childhood bestie was recovering nicely now.

He knew that his equation with Neil probably would take a little more time to get better, but for now, he didn't feel as angry towards him as he had formerly felt, when Avni had slipped into coma. All he knew was, if he was to be blamed for bringing Juhi into their lives, resulting in Avni's tragedy, then he was also the one who had punished himself enough for his mistakes, and today if Avni was sitting here with them, looking healthy and recovering, then it was Neil who owned over 90% of that credit.

Avni was a little too lost with her thoughts on Neil that she found it difficult to even register what she wanted to eat.

But Ali seldom needed verbal communication from her, and so, flashing her his most genuine smile, he said, 'I know! Poha, right?''

At that, Avni too flashed him a wide smile, and was going to say 'yes'' when DD in his endless excitement at the suddenly restored normalcy of everything blurted out. 'Oh yes, Ali Bhai! Poha for her! After all, it is Bhab..''

Before he could even utter the word 'Bhabhi'' Neil stomped his foot on DD's under the table, making him realize what a blunder he was about to commit, while Avni looked at DD with an expression of confusion.

Ali too was wide-eyed, thanking the stars for making DD stop at the right time, and the same expressions mirrored on Kareena's face too.

DD quickly tried to make modifications and succeeded too albeit with a lot of difficulty as he corrected himself, 'My.. My bhabhi from Jalandhar also loves poha! So tasty no?''

Avni didn't quite understand the context here, but flashed a small smile at DD nonetheless. If anything she remembered about this guy, it was the fact that he was a loyal colleague cum friend of Neil and had always been very warm to her, even during the times when Neil would always chase her to dig info about her, over his suspicion on her being a criminal.

.

As Ali excused himself to go prepare some poha for Avni and the rest of the group, Neil didn't leave a single moment to look at Avni, making her suddenly feel conscious of herself, as she tried to look anywhere but him.

But knowing that his penetrating gaze was completely on her, she couldn't really help but look at him at different intervals.

She suddenly felt a weird tingling sensation in her stomach as if it was somersaulting, with little butterflies fluttering inside, and for the first time ever, she felt herself asking this question, 'Is this is how you feel when you like someone?''

It was as if Neil heard her thoughts that his signature smirk suddenly reflected on his face, making Avni flush with a hue of scarlet on her cheeks as she wondered, 'Was I too loud? Did he hear what I was thinking?''

And quite coincidentally so, at the same time, Neil thought inside his head, 'I know you inside-out, my dear wifey! You might be the toughest to read, but as of now, I can guarantee you are thinking only about me!''

Well, a feeling of pride and possessiveness enveloped Neil as he kept staring at Avni, knowing too well that it was him dominating her thoughts and he felt this sudden urge, sudden need of holding her close to himself.

But he sighed knowing that it was not possible, at least not in the next one hour since they were at a public place, and as much as he wanted to spend most of the time only with her, he also knew that this normalcy, being around people, was as important for Avni's quick recovery as was his company and love for her.

And so, he thought that he would wait instead of rushing things, for when it came to her, he was ready to wait till eternity too, if it assured him that it was for her well-being.

.

.

When he noticed that DD was busy talking to Kareena and her friend, he thought to make the best use of the opportunity and deliberately dropped the spoon that he was using to stir the sugar in his latte.

And so witty was he, he made sure it dropped closer to Avni's feet, instantly alarming her, as she looked at him first before looking under the table. As if on cue, both of them bent down under the table to retrieve that spoon, and while Avni caught it in her hand first, Neil caught her hand instead, taking her by surprise as she looked at him, and all she could see was a visibly potent smirk on his face.

'Hi again!''

He whispered softly, making her conscious yet again.

She knew now that he had dropped the spoon on purpose, and the fact that they were currently under the table, wherein they could spot the feet of their friends, made her feel like she was teleported to some old days of her school and college, where her classmates used to do something similar to this.

And that reminded her, she never really had a normal childhood, school or college life, did she?

When all her friends were into boys, making date plans and relishing about their crushes, she had molded herself to become focused only about one thing and that was to avenge her mother's death and get her brother back.

She quickly brushed that thought aside, or rather, she was coaxed to, as Neil's hand softly removed a tendril of her hair that dared to come on her face, tucking it behind her hair, and she shot him a glance as she said, 'Ye tum kya kar rahe ho, Neil?''

To that, he only flashed her a smile as he replied, 'Tumhe dekh raha hoon.''

'Yaha? Aise table ke neeche?''

She questioned like a 10-year-old with feigned strictness.

'Yeah! Why? Isn't it unique? Just like you, Miss. Ajooba!''

Neil grinned, making Avni roll her eyes.

She would have retorted with something, but the next second they heard DD's voice, 'Sir! Sir! You all right? Aap neeche kya kar rahe hai?''

That made Avni alarmed as she quickly tried to get up, but Neil still had her hand in his grip, which she withdrew somehow, albeit with a lot of difficulty, before getting up and saying with a flushed expression to DD and the others, 'Umm, nothing! The spoon fell. That's all!''

Neil totally enjoyed her crimson cheeks and breathless words.

He somehow always felt proud whenever she showcased some signs of being affected by him, and that too so visibly.

'Here, everyone! Hot-hot poha for you all!''

Ali came with a huge tray with some plates of poha, the smell of which instantly spread in the air, making a wide small curve on Avni's lips.

Neil thanked this moment and wasted not another second as he quickly captured Avni's smile on his cell phone, and made it his new wallpaper right away.

While all of them got busy devouring the poha, Avni's cell phone started ringing, making her look at her screen.

Neil noticed her expressions as she frowned before cutting the call.

She tried to concentrate on her plate that she was sharing with Kareena, when again her phone rang, and she let out a frustrated sigh, before cutting the call for one more time, and Neil didn't need rocket science to know that it was surely Vishal on the phone.

The thought of that guy hardened his jaw as he clenched his fists underneath the table so that nobody could see the insane amount of rage pumping inside him.

He never knew his possessiveness for Avni could reach this extent. He had always been protective about her, but ever since the tragedy happened, his protectiveness and possessiveness over Avni had increased multifold, for all he felt like doing was never letting her go out of his sight even for a fraction of second.

He noticed that Avni's cell was now beeping consecutively for three times in a row, indicating incoming messages, which Avni chose to royally ignore. But Neil had had it already.

For the first time ever, he acted too much on impulse without giving it much thought as he grabbed Avni's cell from her side of the table, went to her call log, and instantly dialed the last number on the list of missed calls.

Seeing Avni's number flash on his phone screen, Vishal would have been on cloud nine as it was indicated by his beyond elated. 'Hello Avni!'' but that happiness was short-lived as the next thing he heard was a man's husky voice, gritting through his teeth, 'Don't you dare intrude in Avni's life ever again, you get that? I am her boyfriend and she doesn't want to speak to you!''

While saying the last line, flashes of Vishal trying to fore himself on Avni from that party night resurfaced in his mind, making him feel like punching someone or something, but he kept his calm nonetheless as he noticed pairs of surprised eyes in front of him, in the form of Ali, DD, Kareena, and most importantly, Avni.

As he hung up, he knew perhaps he had overreacted and he had never been this impulsive before. But who was he kidding? Ever since Avni came into his life, almost everything about him had changed and how.

He studied Avni's expressions closely and to his relief, she didn't look offended by the way he exercised his rights on her by shooing away that piece of dirt Vishal.

She rather just gave him a nod of understanding, before concentrating on her poha once again.

DD asked through his eyes if everything was okay, to which Neil only hinted that he would brief him later.

They all again got busy with their food, followed by some small talk, when a couple of kids started running towards their table from a little distance, asking for their football that had reached the caf area accidentally.

Neil was the first one to get up and get the ball to the kids, but not by his hands. He chose to display some of his own sporty skills as he kicked the football towards the open area, a little away from the caf premise, leaving everyone amazed, including the kids.

In no time, the kids asked him to play a bit with them, which he first refused politely, but when DD and Ali too insisted, he chose to go ahead, and was followed by DD and Ali too.

.

.

Avni watched with bated breath as at that time itself it started pouring, making the kids all the more joyous, but her eyes were set on only one figure, and that was of an enthusiastic Neil who became a kid himself with these kids, kicking the ball, enjoying the cod breezes.

She knew her breath was caught somewhere, as he noticed how well-built he was. Tall, athletic, so flexible, and that made her blush profusely, when she realized she was actually openly checking him out.

She smiled to herself before looking at them playing again, when her heart skipped a beat and as if like a movie scene, a flash unfurled before her eyes, where she could visualize a shirtless Neil playing football with a bunch of kids under a heavily raining sky, after he was done repairing his bike, and what made her feel the jolt even intently was the fact that now she could see herself watching him play like that, from behind him, in a blue attire.

And as soon as that episode was over, Avni started panting, running her fingers through her hair, as she grabbed the glass of water next to her and gulped it down at one go, before her mind said only one thing,

'What if Neil is the only missing piece of puzzle that she has been looking for, all this while?''

**