It was around 2:45am when the last of the guests had left the venue and the elder Goenka's and Birla's had decided to retire to their respective rooms, drained out of energy from dancing all night.
Only Abhimanyu and Akshara, Parth and Shefali were left on the dance floor whilst the rest of their siblings watched them dance to a slow instrumental song from the end of the dance floor.
Abhimanyu pulled Akshara into his arms, encompassing her in his arms as he settled both his arms on her waist while she gripped his broad shoulders with her delicate fingers.
Somewhere along the night, Akshara had kicked off her heels and had been dancing bare feet. Abhimanyu gently lifted her up so her bare feet were resting on top of his, protecting them from the dirty ground.
Abhimanyu and Akshara stared into each other's eyes, as Shefali's words reeled through their minds. Jaipur. Udaipur. Mumbai. Their Tilak. Their engagement. The wedding. Everything was up in the air.
But one thing was certain. They couldn't be without each other. Abhimanyu refused to be without his Akshara. He absolutely, soul crushingly refused to be apart from her. He had spent 30 odd years of his life apart from her. And now that he finally had her, the thought of spending even one second away from her pierced through his heart.
Akshara knew and understood exactly what Abhimanyu was thinking as she gazed into his eyes. He was worried about spending their time apart. And honestly, she was worried too. But what could they even do?
Abhimanyu leaned into Akshara, touching his forehead to hers, trying to find answers to his questions as the song came to an end.
~*~
Abhimanyu, Akshara, Parth, Shefali, Neil, Saanj, Samayah, Vansh, Reem and Kairav decided to hang out by the pool, a beer in each their hands as neither of them felt tired enough for bed.
At least not yet. Not with only 1 day to go for the wedding. Abhimanyu and Akshara had been dying to get some privacy, some alone time so they could talk about their future. But they couldn't decline spending precious time with their siblings either.
Abhimanyu settled himself in a pool lounge chair, pulling Akshara to sit in his lap. Akshara glanced around worriedly at her siblings to see if she'd face any objections but no one cared. Shefali herself was sharing a chair with Parth and sitting on his lap.
Akshara leaned back against Abhimanyu's chest as he wrapped his arms around his stomach, embracing her as he nestled his nose into the crook of her neck, softly kissing the nape of her neck, hidden from anyone else's view. Akshara tilted her head to the side, giving Abhimanyu better access to her neck, feeling herself get lost in the moment.
Akshara pressed her palm against the back of Abhimanyu's hands warning him to stop what he was doing. Because his kisses did something to her —and he very well knew what it was.
But Abhimanyu didn't stop. Instead he placed kisses on the side of her neck and into her hair, teasing her, as Akshara tried her to control the silent moan bubbling in the back of her throat.
Coming back to reality, Akshara pinched the back of Abhimanyu's hands in warning, turning her face to meet his, glaring at him in silent pleading to stop the calculated assault on her senses.
She wanted him too. Needed him. But not now. Not in front of everyone at least. Abhimanyu nodded his head, accepting her plea. Akshara gave him a soft smile before turning back around to face their siblings.
"Shefali Di, I never got a chance to ask you this before and I know yours was an arranged marriage too but after the Tilak and all, did Parth Jiju ever propose to you?" Saanj asked, making Abhimanyu and Akshara's eyes perk up.
Abhimanyu and Akshara passed side glances at each other as they listened to Shefali and Parth's answers.
"Yes. He actually did. But only because I taunted him a million times before he actually did it." Shefali admitted.
"Tell us bhabhi!" Reem cheered Shefali on.
"Okay, well this was before the engagement and after the Tilak. Parth took me out to dinner and we ordered two glasses of champagne. And as I drank the champagne, at the bottom of the flute was a diamond ring. Then Parth went down on one knee and proposed to me, in the middle of the restaurant, in front of all the guests and staff." Shefali answered, reminiscing the time of Parth's proposal as she pecked him gently on the lips.
"Wow! So cute. But kind of cheesy, Jiju." Saanj commented.
"Hey! What matters is that is that I liked it. Ans I still wear the proposal ring on my ring finger rather then the engagement ring." Shefali confessed.
"Haan, and anyways, it's the thought that counts. Bhai at least tried and he put in the efforts!" Abhimanyu spoke in support of his elder brother.
Neil watched Abhimanyu partake in the conversation, suddenly feeling overwhelmed watching his elder brother, his mentor, a father figure to him, enjoying his life to the fullest whilst sitting beside the love of his life.
"Bhabhi, I want to thank you." Neil confessed, earnestly looking over at Akshara, his eyes filled to the brim with gratitude.
"Thank me? Why?" Akshara asked, furrowing her brows.
"For changing my ever so serious, "I don't believe in love and weddings are a waste of time" brother. Because ever since he's met you, I've actually seen him enjoy a wedding. He actually came up to me, asking if his sherwani looked good on him and if hsi shoes matched his outfit."
Akshara turned around to look at Abhimanyu with wide eyes, silently questioning him about the validity of Neil's claims.
"And see, now he's staring at me, all angry; just looking forward to kicking my ass for revealing all this information to you." Neil added, earning a round of laughter from everyone sitting around them.
Akshara looked over at Abhimanyu's face, biting her lower lip, trying not to laugh at how adorable he looked whilst he was being put on the spot.
"Do you know bhabhi, whenever bhai gets angry but he's aware he's getting angry at a stupid reason, he won't yell or scream, he will just stay silent and fold his arms, frowning and acting all grumpy. He won't talk to you or anything so you'll have to make the efforts to find out what's bothering him." Neil informed her, earning a round of agreements from Parth, Samayah and Reem.
"Neil, shut up!" Abbimanyu scowled, agitated as he flung an empty beer can at Neil's head.
"Exactly! Just like that. Do you see the scowl on his face! That!" Neil exclaimed.
"Oh, really? Thanks for telling me Neil. I'll make sure to remember that for the future." Akshara replied, giggling at Abhimanyu's antics.
"On the topic of moodiness, let me tell you, when Akshara is angry, mad or in a bad mood, there are only 3 things that can calm her down." Kairav began to inform them, especially Abhimanyu.
"Bhaiya, please! No!" Akshara winced at Kairav's incoming disclosure.
Abhimanyu's eyes lit up at Akshara's panic. "Please Kairav, tell us." He urged, earning a glare from Akshara.
"First is ice cream. And not just any ice cream. It has to be the one from Mehta Ice Cream parlour's Cookie Dough, Brownie and Fudge mix. One time, she was a one 11-12 and I made the mistake of getting her the wrong type of ice cream, and oh boy, the tantrums this girl partook in. First of all, she was mad and second of all, she got even madder because of the wrong flavored ice cream."
"Bhaiya!" A powerless Akshara exclaimed, thinking the cold pool water looked real good right about now to drown in.
"And second is her Mishti."
"Mishti?" Abhimanyu questioned, raising his eyebrow.
"Yes. Her small teddy bear that she's had since she was about 5 years old. And I guarantee you, she would have even brought the teddy bear here. It's her number one source of comfort whenever she's upset."
Abhimanyu pondered his time in Akshara's room and realized he'd never come across a teddy bear of any sort.
"And the third thing?" Abhimanyu asked, turning hsi attention back to Kairav.
"Music. Her guitar. Be it day or night, 3am or 3pm. Whenever she is mad or angry and isn't able to express her feelings, music is her number one go to. There have been times when she's stayed up till the crack of dawn playing music. Akshu plays music when she's unable to express her feelings of what's making her angry or upset, just like our mom used to express herself through her dance." Kairav explained, a small shadow of sadness looming over his face.
Abhimanyu gently rubbed Akshara's hands, rubbing his cheek on the side of her head, tucking him into her, as he felt her body grow tense at the mention of her mother.
"But bhai toh hates music. So bhabhi, you know, whenever he makes you angry or annoys you and you guys fight, play your music as loud as you want. That's the perfect payback, I'm telling you." Neil suggested, breaking the gloominess in the atmosphere.
"Oh really, Neil? We aren't even married yet and you're already on her team? And that too, thinking as far ahead as making us fight and argue with each other?"
"I mean, with the kind of guy you are, Bhabhi is a trooper for putting up with you for an entire life time."
And seven more, Abhimanyu added, silently. "Bhabhi ke chamche." Abhimanyu teased, earning a giggle from Akshara.
"Don't worry, Neil. We'll annoy him with music together." Akshara retaliated, trying to suppress her laughter.
"Perfect. I am terrible at singing, so this works out absolutely perfectly." Neil retorted, giving Akshara a high five whilst Abhimanyu pretended to sulk at the bhabhi-devar team up.
As the night went on, the siblings talked some more, going over their childhood memories, sharing some inside jokes and most of all, just enjoying the bonding session.
And before they knew it, all the younger Birlas and Goenkas fell asleep on the pool lounge chairs and some on the ground as their talks went onto break of the dawn.
Shefali and Parth fell asleep cuddling in one chair while Reem, Kairav, Vansh, Samayah, Saanj and Neil spread themselves out over the rest of the pool lounge chairs.
It was just an hour or so before sunrise that their aching bodies called it quits; desperate for some peace and sleep.
Akshara snuggled into Abhimanyu's large arms, leaning into him as he engulfed him into a big warm hug, as he settled back into the lounge chair.
Another night where they weren't sleeping apart and instead slept wrapped tightly in each other's arms.
He could only wonder how they'd be able to manage their time apart. Yeah, they really needed to talk, about this, about them, about everything.
He placed a soft kiss to Akshara's temple before closing his eyes, not letting the worry of a tomorrow without her ruin his peace of a today with her.
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Let the countdown begin guys, about 5 more chapters to go. I don't know why I'm feeling so nostalgic.