(thank you for all the birthday wishes although it was Roop's birthday not mine, also, Happy holi 💕🌈 I hope tum bhang pii kar soye nahi hoge abtak )
•••
She linked her arms with both of theirs throughout the movie in case one of them ditched her in the middle of the movie.
"I'm holding my pee for the last forty minutes, will you leave my hand now?" Mihir asked impatiently as the credits rolled.
She quickly left their arms, getting up to stretch her body while Mihir made a run for the bathroom.
"I have a message to deliver." Rahil cleared his throat, "There's something for you in the closet, you have one hour to get ready, you had two but Mihir played the movie so yeah." He told her.
"Closet me baithe hain wo?" She asked in confusion.
(Is he sitting in the closet?)
He opened his mouth to say something but closed it, "Ah, no, see it yourself." He replied.
"Okay." She said, walking towards the closet when he stopped her.
"Let me take Mihir with me or he won't stop bugging you, no one included him in the secret." He let her know, she nodded in understanding.
Two minutes later, Mihir came out, holding the bottle of Amrit's aftershave in his hand.
"I'm stealing this, don't tell bhai." He said, showing it to her.
She snatched it back, "You're not, jaao ab."
(Now leave.)
"Merese koi pyaar nahi karta." He mumbled sadly.
(No one loves me.)
"Nice realisation but a little too late." Rahil commented, grabbing him by his shirt and taking him out of the room, nodding at Roop.
Locking the door, she ran to the closet, excitement filling her veins as she anticipated different things she could find in there but her excited grin turned into a frown when she found nothing.
Walking further inside, she saw a note on the ottoman that read, 'Left corner, bottommost shelf.'
Keeping the note aside, she pulled out the huge box from the shelf, throwing away the lid only to find another note, this one seemed bigger than the previous one on top of something wrapped.
'My Ruh,
I know you must be a̶n̶g̶r̶y̶ furious at me for not being the first person to wish you, I apologise, although I must be the last person wishing you, Happiest Birthday to you, I hope this year will be filled with just happiness and happiness only, I will try to make sure of that, I've planned something for my birthday girl so here I am, writing this note because I knew if I spent the day with you, I would've spilt everything. There's just something about your eyes, they're h̶y̶p̶o̶ hypnotizing. Remember you said you were feeling like a princess that day? I got my princess a dress, wear it, Rahil will pick you up.
I'll be waiting.
Only yours,
Amrood.'
Smiling widely, she kissed the note, keeping it safely in her locker along with the previous one before seeing the dress.
She held it out of the box, the gown flared all over the place the moment it was out of the box, she kept it back, feeling scared that she might ruin it. Her eyes roamed all over the gown, her fingers touching the tulle softly, caressing the crystals weaved into the fabric.
She noticed a small box inside, containing matching sandals, the heeled ones, blinking fast to shoo away the tears, she got rid of her clothes but couldn't bring herself to wear the dress.
Ten minutes later, she found herself sitting on the floor as she dialled his number.
"Hii." She sniffled as he answered the call.
"Happy Birthday my- Are you crying?" He asked worriedly.
"I don't want to ruin the dress." She said, looking at the dress, and playing with a crystal.
"Ruh..." He sighed, "You'll make the dress prettier by wearing it, wear it, please? For me?"
"What if...I didn't fit in the dress?" She asked.
"Then I'll probably scold the designer for not making it to your size and then I'll get you a new one, you know I'm dying to see you right? Wear the dress darlin', there's only a little more patience left in me and stop crying, I may start crying too."
"Pakka?" She wiped her nose with the disregarded clothes. (Sure?)
"Pakka." He answered firmly, "Now get ready, I'm waiting for my birthday girl." He said, hanging up.
(Sure.)
...
She twirled around in her dress, watching it flow around her effortlessly as she waited for Rahil. For the second time in her life, she felt like a princess and this time too, Amrit was the reason.
Rahil, who was texting someone looked up as he walked towards her only to pause, "Wow."
She looked at him shyly, "How do I look?"
"Like a princess. You're looking so pretty." He said, "Bhai asked me to do this." He added before taking out a kohl pot from his pocket and applying a dot behind her ears.
"Where are we going?" She asked but he didn't seem to hear since he was frowning upon something.
"Idhar bhi laga deta hoon." Rahil said to himself before applying a dot behind the other ear too, "Let's go now, warna bhai ne phone se nikal kar maarna hai." He shook his head as he felt his phone buzzing for the umpteenth time.
(I'll put it here too.) (Let's go now, or else bhai will come out from this phone to hit me.)
"There's not too many people right?" She asked, following him outside.
"No, don't worry, there won't be anyone you don't know." He assured her, opening the door of the car for her since he parked closer to the main entrance so she won't have to walk too much as per Amrit's constant instructions.
Helping her with the dress, he drove her to the venue, where all the family members were already present, except for Mihir, who wasn't let know of the surprise, knowing about his abilities to keep secrets.
"You know I like you more than Mihir." She said quietly as he drove.
"You do?" He asked, surprised.
"Yeah, I love Mihir but I love you a little more, you remind me of my brother, my Ruaan bhai, he passed away when he was eight but he was just like you, taking care of others without letting them know, he didn't like talking much like you, that's why I never force conversations with you...he would've been the same age as you if he was alive." She sighed, leaning on the headrest.
"He sounds like a good person." He replied, not knowing what else to say.
"He was, he was the best person I ever knew. I know he's looking down at me and I know he's happy for me...that's how he was, always happy for everyone." She smiled, "God, I'll start crying."
"And bhai will kill me for making you cry, now sober up, we're here." He told her.
"I'm nervous." She said as he stopped the car outside the hall.
"Don't be, bhai is already here." Rahil said, making her head snap towards the window, noticing Amrit walking out of the decorated doorway.
Her eyes raked over his body, taking in his black tuxedo, he opened the door for her before she could notice.
"Hii." He whispered, taking her hand in his as he pulled her to him.
"Hii." She smiled, forgetting that she was supposed to be angry at him.
"Happy birthday My Ruh." He whispered, kissing her forehead softly.
"Same to- Thankyou." She replied, flustered with the closeness. Closing the car's door, he gave her a twirl.
"You're so pretty." He whispered, stepping back to have a proper look as he watched, completely enamoured. Her cheeks flushed as he covered his mouth, his eyes filled with nothing but love for her.
"You are too." She replied, her eyes falling on the pocket square that seemed like a piece of fabric from her dress.
"Let's go inside, I have got a surprise for you." He told her, offering his arm to her.
She looked around in amazement, everything was decorated with so many flowers, more than she could ever count, and a cake in the middle of the room while their family members waited near the entrance.
Meeting with everyone, Roop turned towards the cake, "Can I cut it now?" She asked.
"Yes." Amrit nodded.
"But where's Mihir?" She asked, not finding him anywhere when Rahil entered with a frowning Mihir.
"Mai bhi kisi ko kuch nahi bataunga." He complained before his eyes fell on Roop, "Is it just me or did Rapunzel actually come out of the movie?" He asked.
(I also won't tell anything to anyone.)
"She's my Roop, shoo." Amrit said, wrapping his arms around her, Mihir turned to Amrit's mother to complain but she was busy admiring the couple.
"Cut the cake!" Avni exclaimed.
"Yes please, you know how long I've been looking at it and not getting a taste?" Jashn supported her.
"Can I?" She whispered to Amrit.
Instead of replying, he held her hands before getting down on one knee. She looked at him with widened eyes as he pulled out a ring from his pocket, different than the previous one he got for her, hearing several gasps from the family members since he didn't tell them the whole secret, he started to speak.
"It's been a year, last time I did everything with a spiteful mind, with a motive but this time? I want to do this because you deserve better than what you received, Marry me again Roop, I want you to let go of all the bad memories and make new ones with me, I want you to think about a happy memory whenever you talk about our marriage, let's take the vows again, this time with a promise to forever, will you?" He asked.
"I'll cry." She whispered, kneeling down infront of him.
"Please don't, I won't be able to control myself too." He whispered back, "I have a reputation to behold."
She laughed through the tears, "Promise me you won't hide things from me again."
"I won't."
"And you'll love me forever."
"There's not a chance I will ever stop."
"Just You and Me?"
"Only You and Me, forever." He replied, sliding the ring on her finger.
She was too nervous to notice he slid off the previous ring from her finger when they first met, shaking her head, she threw her arms around him, they tumbled to the ground but she didn't let her grip loose, hugging him closer to herself as she silently cried, this time, out of happiness.
...
Although it was a perfect time to end the book, my paranoid mind won't let me end this at chapter with 3 in the end 🤚🏻💀
Hope you liked the surprise, wasn't expecting this, were you?