Hello hello,
I haven't been on here for awhile properly now so have to catch up on lots, but my brain had a very typical trope idea that has been butchered to pieces, but couldn't resist writing it.
The usual spiel:
A) No intention to copy anyone's work, if it is similar, congratulations we've got the same thought process
B) let me know and I'll read and acknowledge
Raavi had always thought of herself to be happy and carefree. She was after all, the most beautiful and the cutest in all of Somnath, making everyone else jealous that they didn't get to be her. Yet here she was, sitting alone at the table in the canteen, watching as everyone else got asked for dates to the leaver's bash.
The one person she wanted to ask her couldn't because he was studying at a different college. But, she didn't want to have to make do with going with her best friend Asha, whose boyfriend had gone interstate to work and who was still undecided on whether she would actually go. Huffing, she decided she'd at least try and ask Dev to come with her and started towards Pandya niwas.
***
There was chaos at the house. Everyone was talking excitedly and Raavi noticed that Shiva was the centre of it all. She wondered what had happened, since she hadn't heard anything and she had a finger on the pulse of college gossip where they both went.
Stopping Krish, who was walking past with a plate of warm jalebis, she asked him what the excitement was all about,
"Arey Raavi, don't you know, Shiva was asked to the leavers bash at your college by Pooja. Apparently she's a topper and pretty hot too. Who knew that Shiva would be such a dark horse."
"Pooja…, asked Shiva out? To the leaver's bash? Today? How do I not know about this? I was in college all day."
"That I don't know Raavi, all I can tell you is we're celebrating since this is the first time Shiva has spoken about a girl. Imagine Shiva with a girl, I think Dhara bhabhi is ready to go to her house with a shaadi ka rishta, who knows when this chance will come again."
Raavi huffed in anger, even recluse Shiva had a date now. Marching up to Dev, she pulled him aside, almost biting out an order of coming to her leaver's bash with her. Dev hadn't seen Raavi that angry but decided that would be the perfect time to put forth the plan he'd thought of. Smiling he agreed, which calmed her down slightly. She turned to Shiva and cheekily spoke,
"Shivaaa! You and Pooja at the farewell bash together. So cute, but not as much as Dev and I. He's just said yes! We should totally go on a double date."
She turned to speak to Dhara, so Dev and Krish were the only ones who noticed the stoic look on Shiva's face before he put up what they'd started calling his Raavi mask. Nodding at each other, they walked towards the entrance and started discussing their next step. Dev had only involved Krish because he'd seen him and Rishita at the ice-cream parlour a few weeks ago.
"Dev, I hope you've thought this through. There is fire on one side, but what about Raavi? Do you think she feels that way about Shiva? We don't want to make things worse for our brother."
"I know Krish and that's what I'm trying to find out from Raavi, but till she sees me around she's never going to think about her feelings. We need to do something so she starts looking at Shiva more."
"Idea!! Why don't we all go out together as a friend group? Ask Rishita and Pooja to come too. Let's see who she gets more jealous of. Surely we can figure out her feelings for Shiva and you then."
"That is actually a really good idea Krish! Let's plan it for tomorrow night. Let's go in before she leaves and we can confirm at least half of us. I'll call Rishita later and ask Shiva to call Pooja."
Walking back inside, they noticed that Raavi sat next to Shiva, oblivious to their thighs almost touching, as she leant across to get a jalebi from the plate he was holding away from her.
" Ae mami ki behen ki beti, these are for me. Go get some more from the kitchen for yourself." saying that he pulled the piece out of her hand and ate it.
"Shiva, come on, just one. Please!!"
"Raavi, I was thinking, why don't we all go out for dinner tomorrow evening. I have a couple of friends who want to meet Shiva and Krish and I want to meet Pooja. If you come as well, my friends can meet you too." Dev interrupted before they started another argument.
Squealing in excitement, she agreed and hugging all three brothers, she ran out talking to herself about what she was going to wear.
Shiva sighed and messaged Pooja about dinner plans, not quite wanting to go and her affirmative reply was the figurative last nail in the coffin as he now had no reason to refuse either.
Standing up he moved towards the terrace, he looked at the quieting evening bustle of the street, trying to calm his swirling thoughts from the day. He had never had any intention of going to the leaver's bash and the only reason he had said yes was because she'd murmured about the dare her friends had given her on the pretext of hugging him. They'd only ever spoken a few times and he knew for a fact that she liked someone from Dev's college.
Smiling to himself he thought maybe that's where he should have gone. The water there definitely had something mixed in to make the boys more attractive. The smile left his face as he saw Dev pacing outside the house, phone to his ear and laughing at whatever he’d heard.
***
Dev was on the phone with Rishita and after explaining the plan she seemed excited at the prospect of finally having a concrete plan to bring their relationship out in the open. He spoke to her a while longer, laughing at her eagerness to meet his brothers. Disconnecting the call, he walked back in the house. Shay and Arjun, who knew about Rishita as well as Raavi, had agreed to come so as not to raise suspicion.
***
Raavi had always enjoyed being the centre of attention of all Pandya family members. If Dhara bhabhi and Gautam indulged her innocence, catering to her every whim and desire when she came to Pandya Niwas, then Dev absolutely doted on his best friend, but she had taken that affection romantically rather than the platonic relationship it was. For Krish she was the sister he never quite had, someone he could rely on for mischief and support without the bullying that his brothers did. The only unknown was Shiva’s relationship with her. Outwardly, he was always mean to her, until you looked closely, then all his actions reflected preemptive concern.
For that reason, Krish knew that the plan they had made was only likely to be successful, if and only if, Raavi noticed that Shiva and Dev were talking to Pooja and Rishita without paying any attention to her. He sat on the swing in the Aangan waiting for both Dev and Shiva to get ready so they could leave. They were picking up both Raavi and Pooja on the way to the restaurant.
Raavi was waiting excitedly at the door. She'd already told Masimaa and Masapaa that she was going out with the Pandya brothers and not to worry about her. Praffula wasn't too happy but she knew they always looked out for her so she conceded. She saw all three arriving on bikes and noticed that Pooja was already behind Shiva.
Her smile faltered as she noticed that Shiva was wearing a shirt and jeans instead of the normal track bottoms and t-shirts that his wardrobe consisted of, and Pooja had her arms around his waist. Moving her gaze to Dev, her face broke out in a smile again as she waved frantically to him. Hugging him, she sat behind him with her hand on his shoulder. Remembering what she'd just seen, she moved her hand to Dev's waist but it felt unnatural so she placed it back on his shoulder.
Arriving at the restaurant, both Raavi and Pooja gaped at the arrangements that the boys had made. It could never be said that they didn't know how to impress. Sitting under the strung lights, Raavi made out the figures of two males and a female. Introductions were soon made, hugs and handshakes exchanged and moved towards the round table.
Nodding slightly at Krish, Dev pulled out a seat for Raavi on one side and Rishita on his other. Krish sat next to Rishita so he could see everything unfold clearly, whilst Arjun and Shay wanted to watch Dev handle both girls so they sat across from him, next to Krish. Shiva indicated for Pooja to sit next to Raavi, but shaking her head in a no, she leaned over to whisper in his ear that she wanted to sit next to Shay. With a slight nod, he pulled the seat out for her and then sat between her and Raavi.
Shiva had never quite understood the saying, stuck between a rock and a hard place, after all, with determination you can always make your way out, but today he finally understood how it felt to be figuratively stuck between someone he wanted and someone he was with. Leaning to Pooja he asked why she wanted to sit next to Shay.
“He lives a few doors away from me. Remember the guy I liked, the one I was telling you about? It is him. The coincidence that he’ll be here is too hard to ignore.”
As they continued whispering, anyone looking at them at the moment would have thought of sweet nothings being exchanged, going by the blush on Pooja’s face.And noticed it was, by three pairs of eyes; Krish watched delighted that he wouldn’t need to steer the conversation for Pooja and Shiva to talk to each other and then his gaze settling on Raavi, he observed that she looked uncomfortable with the way Shiva was close to Pooja. She’d moved in closer to listen to what they were talking about. Krish also noticed that Shay mirrored Raavi’s look on the other side. This was getting interesting, he thought with glee.
They ordered some food and drinks and started chatting to each other. Dev shared a look with Krish and tilted his head to Raavi then turned to speak to Rishita. Krish got Shay and Arjun talking about a game, which turned out to be one they all played. With everyone else chattering away, Shiva was left to converse with both the girls sitting beside him. Picking his battles, he turned to face Pooja and talked about some mutual friends and the happenings in College.
Raavi looked around the table almost lost and slightly annoyed. It was starting to feel like déjà vu from the previous day where she was a lone soul in this otherwise busy world. She tried to join in the conversation with Krish, despite the intensity of the discussion over a game, it was difficult to stay involved from across the table and in a topic that had never appealed to her.
She turned to Shiva again and a forlorn look crossed her face. She wanted to talk to him. He always managed to make her smile despite always arguing with her. She had been feeling restless watching him with Pooja for the past couple of hours, but she didn’t know why. She was about to start talking to them when she noticed that Shiva’s hand was still lightly placed on hers.
Turning her head she looked at Dev, who was listening to Rishita with rapt attention not even noticing that Dev’s hand mimicked Shiva’s. Turning back, she glanced at Shiva, then took her phone out of her pockets and played with it. Her gaze kept shifting between Dev and Shiva wondering what was wrong with both the brothers, had they really gotten so involved in talking to the other girls, that they forgot about her?
Krish watched sneakily and noticed that Dev’s attention on Rishita did not seem to bother her as much as Shiva not paying her any heed. She therefore had the biggest sigh of relief when the food and drink arrived. In her element now, she served both the men seated besides her with their favorite and playing the part of a perfect hostess spoke to everyone around the table.
“Wow Raavi, you sure know what Dev likes and dislikes. You take such good care of him. He’s lucky to have you in his life.” Shay cheekily spoke up.
Looking pleased, she spoke, “Of course I do. I love him.”
“But then, why do you know Shiva’s likes and dislikes? Dev was telling us that the two of you are always arguing? Why do you care about him so much?”
At a loss of words and with everyone looking at her, she started feeling uncomfortable, thinking of a response. Before she could reply, Shiva spoke up,
“She comes home everyday to eat free food. Her masi doesn’t feed her so she’s learnt what we all like. Leave it. Why don’t you enjoy your food? Pooja did you want anything from this side?”
“No I’m okay, but Shay, could you please pass the water?”
Shay gave her a shy smile and passed her the water, then blushing as their hands touched, he quickly pulled away and started eating. Raavi just stared at Shiva, he normally would never have said anything for her, but today he did. She didn’t know what exactly was happening, but a warm feeling passed through her.
Turning up the music after dinner, Krish suggested dancing a while before ordering dessert. Dancing together Dev moved towards Krish and started speaking to him,
“Krish, I think what we thought was right. Raavi definitely has feelings for Shiva. Did you notice how she didn't even care that I was holding Rishita’s hand? She was more worried about Shiva’s hand, and to think she loves me” Dev sighed dramatically, earning a light smack to his arm from Rishita who was listening to the conversation.
“Dev, don’t be mean. She seems so sweet. There is nothing we can do if she’s naive. We have to show her who her heart truly belongs to. She isn’t truly jealous yet. Let’s all slow dance and maybe then she’ll realise a bit more?”
“Great idea Rishita, from now on you’re in my team. These useless brothers of mine will never appreciate a plotting mind.” Krish hi fived her.
Rishita pulled Dev away as a slow song came up, while Arjun noticing what was happening asked Raavi to dance and the pleading look from Pooja saw Shiva putting his hand forward for her to dance. Arjun heard Raavi softly swearing, as she watched Shiva and Pooja dancing over his shoulder, and had to look away to hide a smile, indicating with a thumbs up to Rishita and Dev that the plan was working.
Turning her around so she faced Dev now,Arjun waited for the same expletives, but she seemed content to dance with him and even smiled watching Dev and Rishita dancing. His curiosity got the better of him and he softly asked her, “Aren't you upset that Dev is dancing so close with Rishita?”
“ He’s my best friend Arjun. I had a feeling that he doesn’t love me and all I had hoped was that it wouldn’t be true; but, looking at the two of them, how can I not root for my best friend? I really hope they tell everyone in the family soon that they love each other. As for me, I’ll always be his favorite so I’m happy with that.”
“So what about Shiva? Why were you swearing at him earlier?’
“Shiva has never spoken to me nicely. He’s always fighting with me. And I love the Pandyas like my own, so I never understood why he doesn’t. Him and Pooja make such a cute couple though, don't you think so?”
Arjun shook his head not understanding the mystery of Raavi. How could someone be so ignorant of their own feelings was beyond him. Swapping with Shay, he went and narrated to Krish what she’d just said. Krish looked for something to bang his head against. She was definitely going to drive them crazy and he was giving up on ever helping his older brother get the love of his life. Shiva could get married to Pooja and they’d have a good bhabhi in the future. He’d speak to Dhara bhabhi himself and tell her it was a good idea.
Despite what people thought of Raavi, she was hyper aware of everything happening around her. It was another case that she never stopped to think before speaking, which is why people thought she was a superficial airhead, but for things that mattered the most, she always overthought all possible scenarios before saying anything. She knew her feelings for Shiva were more than she’d let on, but she couldn’t reveal that to anyone before she figured it out herself, hence the explanation that she gave Arjun was all she could come up with in the short span of time.
She had also observed that there was something fishy between Pooja and Shay. so twirling away she moved towards Shiva and held onto his hand, forcing Pooja to swap partners with her. With Shiva’s back to the couple, she watched them waiting to see whether her intuition was right.
Shay smiled and pulled Pooja close and whispered in her ear causing her to nod and giggle. Pooja moved closer and placed her head on his shoulder. Quietly noticing what she was doing Shiva asked,
“ Ae Ghadheri, what nonsense is this? Couldn’t you see I was dancing with my date? Why don’t you go dance with Dev and leave me alone?”
“Shiva look! Pooja and Shay like each other. I’m telling you, they’re perfect for each other. Dont disturb them okay. Let them dance and talk.”
Shiva pulled her closer ever so slightly and her distraction meant that he could dance with her without keeping up appearances. Raavi sighed and spoke again, "Dev loves Rishita!"
Shiva stopped dancing. "What? How did you know? I had a vague idea that he liked someone but I always thought the both of you had something going on."
"No. We've always been close, but today seeing him with Rishita, you can just tell. Also don't look now but I think your date likes Shay. Sorry Shiva. I know she's asked you to the dance, but don't be upset. There are plenty more fish in the sea."
"Ghadheri, I know she likes him. We are only going to the dance together because she got dared." Raavi smiled wide and gave Shiva a hug.
Krish, Dev and Rishita gave each other a thumbs up knowing that they got lucky with their plan. Raavi's feelings might not be where Shiva's are, but she was getting there slowly.
She is.. This Raavi is insightful to everyone else apart from herself 😂😂😂
Min...
This one was awesome!
I loved it! R u gonna continue??
Write more!
And I loved how Raavi is at least observing stuff here.
Love Dev Krish jodi too
Originally posted by: ValleyOfPeace
Min...
This one was awesome!
I loved it! R u gonna continue??
Write more!
And I loved how Raavi is at least observing stuff here.
Love Dev Krish jodi too
Mahi!!!! 😘😘
I want to.. But this took me about a week with everything in RL so I don't want to commit...however, there are a few more ideas for this so I might change it to a series🤔🤔
Min, what a cute story! Raavi is not naive in reading others body language and expressions but can’t believe she cannot realize her own feelings. It will be great to have a part 2 of this where Raavi realizes her feelings for Shiva and proposes to him😃
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