"I knew you'd come!" Prachi hugged Shahana making the other chuckle
"who's that?" Shahana asked pointing at the unfamiliar male that Rhea was talking and laughing with as Prachi sighed and looked back at the duo and then at Shahana
"do you remember Rhea's friend in college, Gaurav? it's him!" Prachi muttered and got back to eating the rice on her plate
"I never got good vibes from him, well I'm going to my room!" Shahana said and waved at her best friend before going up the stairs, passing on her bag to a servant who carried it up for her
Prachi sighed watching her as she kept her plate aside and thought once again about Pragya as tears gathered in her eyes, she quickly closed her eyes before they increased and she soon fell asleep there
*****
Prachi sighed trying to wear the engagement dress as Shahana entered her room and smiled at her
"Looking beautiful, let me help you with that" she said and helped Prachi wear the dress properly
"I think mom's lying, she can't have heart cancer, let alone at a higher stage, speaking of which the doctor even tell me anything else other than the fact that she has heart cancer, nothing more! Was he even a doctor in the first place?!" Prachi questioned making Shahana frown at her
"Prachi, stop overthinking" Shahana muttered as she chained up the last part of the dress left
"I'm not overthinking! Dad and her often talk to each other so normally, it's as if nothing is wrong, trust me! you will notice that soon, I'll make you notice that, and Rhea! she's been avoiding me for days now! It's as if she has something to hide from me too! I don't understand them sometimes" Prachi muttered making Shahana sigh as she frowned at her friend
"Prachi, do you expect them to weep around when their daughter is about to get married soon?!" Shahana muttered as the younger shook her head
"but" Prachi was about to argue but paused as she heard the knocking on the door and Shahana went and opened it as the make-up artists started making Prachi ready as she looked at Shahana one last time as Shahana shook her head at Prachi and left
Whereas at Ranbir's house, everyone was already ready except for his mom who just put on her heels and made her way downstairs while smiling
"Let's go! We're all ready!" She said and Ranbir smiled at her
"I can't believe that you're finally getting engaged!" Pallavi said hugging Ranbir who snorted
"She's right, Ranbir has finally grown up!" Dida said and left to go sit in the car as they all left for Prachi's house
*****
Prachi looked at Ranbir as she put on a small smile, though she had wanted to enjoy their wedding, now that she was actually present right before him, she couldn't feel happiness at all, all she felt was that this was not something she wanted
Prcahi took a deep breath and slid the ring on his finger as he did the same, hesitating just as much as her as he did and the two smiled at the camera and their family members
Shahana rushed to them, screaming her heart out excitedly and hugged the two tightly making Prachi gasp and Ranbir chuckle as Aryan shook his head at her antics and walked up to them behind her
"you guys are engaged! Prachi, I never thought you'd be my sister in law this is so amazing!" Shahana squealed making the other two look around awkwardly until their eyes locked and Prachi suddenly looked at Shahana
"I'm not yet married Shahana" Prachi chuckled and Ranbir side hugged her as she looked at him strangely
"Who's that guy, your ex-boyfriend?" he asked muttering in her ear looking at Gaurav and stepping away
"ex-best friend, why does it even matter to you? just mind your own business, it's just a few months of enduring" she whispered to him making him roll his eyes as he looked somewhere else
"I'm not interested in you, don't worry, I just wanted to know why he's shooting death glares at me, does he like you by any chance?" Ranbir asked and Prachi glared at him
"Stop, really, oh my goodness, obviously he does not like me, stop asking silly questions or I'm going to murder you" She muttered and before Ranbir could say anything Pallavi came towards them
"You look so pretty!" Pallavi commented as Prachi smiled at her and thanked her
"You look really pretty too!" Prachi hugged the lady as Pallavi's heart warmed at her gesture
"I hope you two get along well, I know it's going to be hard to accept this, but I'm sure you both will learn to get through hit and love each other" Pallavi said making the two glance at each other knowing that they weren't planning on getting through it, let alone stay married for a year at least
The two smiled at her as she left as Prachi and Ranbir attended to the other guests at the party
*****
Prachi sighed looking at herself in the mirror, she was exhausted and the word was still not enough to describe it well enough, she struggled to remove her jewellery as her hair strand stuck in it
She looked at the door she had left open waiting for Shahana to come as they had decided and groaned as no one entered
"where is she?" Prachi muttered and removed her earrings as someone entered the room who she gradually predicted to be Shahana
"took you long enough, help me with the jewellery please, it's very itchy and my hair is stuck in it, it hurts like bitch" she muttered the last phrase herself as she looked down removing her heels she felt cold hands on her neck
"Girl why are your hands so cold?" she muttered and turned around and flinched at the sight of Ranbir
"what're you doing in my room!?" she almost screamed and paused noticing their proximity as her eyes locked with his and for a second she could swear he looked a little too surprised as he quickly pulled away, her glare still constant as she ignored her increasing heart beat rate
"Shahana sent me to help you, I couldn't get the documents today, I'll get them to you the next time we meet" He muttered straightening her by turning her around as she faced the mirror and looked at him through the mirror, her eyes full of hatred as she did and once again, as she looked at herself, she felt disgusted, was this how others felt when she looked at them like that?
She felt tears gathering in her eyes as she quickly looked down and pulled Ranbir's hand away from her, "thanks for your help but I don't need it" she muttered and gestured for him to leave as he rolled his eyes
"You should be more thankful to people who help you" he muttered enraging her as she pursed her lips making him smirk at his supposed to be a victory
"I'm not going to be thankful to someone who forcefully helped me because he has no other option, I'm not obliged to you, get out" she muttered, pushing him out of the room and closing the door and calling Shahana as she didn't answer the phone leaving a frustrated Prachi behind who successfully managed to get out of the uncomfortable dress
*****
Prachi hadn't realised how the two weeks passed while she enjoyed herself with her friends, and it was nothing less than heaven, she was too happy and wasn't ready for the marriage, her parents and Ranbir's parents had met up to decide the date of the wedding which was exactly two weeks after the engagement
Prachi looked at her father who walked up to her, no one else was in the room, Rhea and Pragya were sleeping and the servants had left, Shahana was sleeping in her room as well
"You're going to get married now" he muttered smiling silently as she finished drinking water
"Without my complete consent" she muttered making him frown as he made her look at her and smiled at her
"Trust me, your mom and I also had an arranged marriage, but you can see the love within us" he said making her sigh
"How are you so sure that we would work out as you two did?" Prachi asked hiding her tears as he patted her shoulder side hugging her while she nodded to herself
"You will! just trust me"
"What did you see in us that you thought we would work out together?" Prachi muttered, now looking straight at him
"don't worry, I promise you-" he started but she cut him off
"But dad! I'm not Pragya Arora, and he isn't Abhishek Mehra! just because you both fell in love doesn't mean that we will too!" Prachi cried out loud as she fell on her knees, pulling down the glass of water with her as a glass shard entered her hand, bruising her, Abhi rushed to her taking her hand in his as he quickly went to grab the first aid box, bandaging her wound
"Are you alright?" he asked and she shook her head
"it is a lie, isn't it? mom's heart cancer? she's fine! nothing is wrong with her, everything is fine!" Prachi muttered once again, now a crying mess
"Prachi you're going to get married tomorrow" Abhi muttered as the two heard footsteps and Pragya walked out, Prachi did notice, but that just enraged her
"Mom? even you didn't think of telling me that you were fine and that nothing was wrong with you?! had I genuinely believed that it would've hurt me so much!" Prachi cried violently while screaming as Pragya looked at her, she had never seen Prachi as such a mess
"if you really wanted me to agree to this bloody marriage that desperately then you could've just told me so!" Prachi said as Pragya walked up to her and was about to slap her, however, Abhi held her hand and shook his head, pausing her and looking back at Prachi
"Prachi, I'm sorry, but sweety, I can only tell you this is for your good!" Abhi said before holding Pragya's hand and dragging her back to their room while she looked at Prachi, disappointed
Prachi looked at her phone which was ringing and wiped her tears away as she checked the caller ID
Ranbir Kohli
She picked up the call after clearing her throat and pressed it through her ear as the lights of the house turned off, letting the darkness cover over her
"Hello?" she asked and she heard a cough from the other side
"Come outside, you need to sign the papers today itself, they should be signed before we get married" Ranbir muttered and hung up as she sighed and looked at her reflection in the TV before walking out of the house as she opened the huge door
"where are you?" she asked and he called her from her left near his car as she walked up to it and sat down on the passenger seats, turning on the lights
"Are you really going to read the entire document again?" he asked and she nodded while getting the pen, thankfully the car light was bright enough for her to read but not enough for him to see her as she looked down at the papers
Ranbir decided to take a nap since she would probably require a lot of time to read everything, after about ten minutes, Prachi was done reading the document and took the pen from his pocket and signed it, keeping the pen back in place as she looked at Ranbir
"Why should I wake him up?" she muttered and got out of the car, closing the door behind her and left as she realised she forgot her phone in his car as she ran back to his car, opening the door and taking her phone as he woke up from the sudden noise making her look at him
"were you crying?" he asked as he woke up from his light slumber and looked at her
"no" she muttered, closing the door and leaving hastily as she opened the door and got in to face Shahana as she flinched
"where were you?" Shahana asked as Prachi calmed herself down and sighed before answering
"I wanted to go out for a walk" She muttered as Shahana nodded, still not convinced enough
"Why were you awake?" she asked and Shahana stammered to speak further as Prachi smirked
"Well, I'm sleeping, bye!" she walked back to her room and closed the door behind her and breathed out a sigh of relief
"phew, that was a close one" She muttered and rolled her eyes making her way to her bed and snuggling in the sheets
*****
Prachi woke up to the busy day as Shahana woke her up, shaking her vigorously
"Come on! get up! you need to get ready, you're going to be married in a few hours!" Shahana said and went back as Prachi got up, not wasting time knowing very well that she would gradually start panicking if Shahana panicked
she had got back from the salon after having her body prepped, and returned when it was 3 pm
Rhea had brought her wedding outfit and helped her put it on with much difficulty, she hadn't put on the jewellery as she was going to put it on after the make-up was done
"Well, that's about it for now, don't do any work!" Rhea scolded Prachi who nodded and looked at her hands
"Your mehendi is so dark girl, I thought you washed it off early" Rhea muttered making Prachi purse her lips
"I did wash it early, it's originally made so it's just better" Prachi murmured and looked at Rhea
"why does it matter?" She muttered and Rhea nodded
"I can't believe you're getting married, I thought nobody would marry you" Rhea muttered making PRachi hit her on her shoulder as she groaned
"Jeez! have some mercy you violent woman!" Prachi chuckled slightly and Rhea smiled
"see, there you go! it's been days since you genuinely smiled" the younger hugged her and the two looked at themselves in the mirror
"we look so much alike!"
"more like the opposite!" Prachi muttered as she kissed Rhea's cheek
"See, I'm irresistible!" Rhea flipped her hair making Prachi clap sarcastically
"sure, babe!" she muttered and pulled away
"Now, I need to get to the make-up!" Prachi said and Rhea nodded before leaving to go get the jewellery, as Prachi sat down allowing the make-up artists to do their work
She was wearing a white embroidered lehenga with diamond jewellery and a little more than simple, classy makeup
"Prachi, are you ready beta?" PRgya came in and smiled as she looked at Prachi
"You look breathtaking!" Pragya said and kissed Prachi's forehead
"I'm sorry" she muttered to her daughter as Prachi hugged her
"I'm sorry too, But don't worry, Rhea will take care of you both just like me" Prachi muttered as tears gathered in her eyes and Pragya quickly stopped her
"you aren't yet married, you're going to ruin your make-up by crying, no crying for some hours at least" Pragya said and made Prachi sit down and turned on the AC
"How were you sitting in such hot weather, without the AC, take care of yourself just fine alright?" Pragya said and took out the suitcases she had packed a day before making Prachi frown as she remembered that she had to go live with the Kohli's today
"6 more months" she whispered to herself and snorted looking at herself in the mirror, chuckling humorlessly
*****
"6 more months!" Ranbir said out loud and groaned making Aryan frown
"but I don't think this was a good idea, I mean, you know that marriage is considered a sacred bond, besides, you haven't even given this a chance!" He said making Ranbir look at him
"there's no way this deserves a chance! she's the most annoying person on the earth, no way in hell I'm gonna make her my life partner!" Ranbir scoffed while looking at himself in the mirror
"So you've decided that you're never going to give this a chance?" Aryan asked now a bit annoyed by his brother's reckless actions
"She signed the papers yesterday itself, I had gone to her house at 2 am" Ranbir muttered making Aryan surprised
"she signed them?" he asked and Ranbir nodded, he closed his eyes feeling defeated
"but still, if you gave her a chance, then you can give a chance to Prachi too" Aryan said and Ranbir finally looked at him
"And end up like this once again? it took me a long time to just stop grieving over that misfortune of mine! I'm not giving another chance to anyone, I've been through enough" Ranbir said anxiously and looked at himself in the mirror once again, styling his hair as Pallavi knocked on the door
"Are you both done?" She asked and looked at Ranbir and walked up to him, patting his back and side and hugging him
"You look so different today" she said and Aryan cringed
"he looks the same mom, stop lying" he said and Pallavi glared at him placing a finger on her lips asking him to shut up and looked back a Ranbir smiling
"don't mind him, you know how he is right? let's go, we need to reach in time, Aryan, you should drive, Ranbir will get exhausted easily if he drives" Pallavi said and Aryan nodded as they all left the house
*****
Prachi walked down the stairs as her friends surrounded her whispering how good Ranbir looked making her pass them a fake smile as she walked further, knowing that these were a few moments in her life that may never return
She wanted to enjoy the moment, but somewhere deep down, she just couldn't do that at all, she cursed herself internally and looked at Ranbir as the two crossed paths, she looked down making sure she wouldn't trip over her heels or something
"You look beautiful!" Gautam commented making her smile at him she moved forward as Shahana guided her
Prachi didn't realise whatever happened next, she just followed what the priest told her, not thinking a lot about it, she got up as Ranbir did and walked around the blazing yellow flames
She didn't keep track of time as the rituals went by one after another
"The wedding is finished" the pried finally concluded making her sigh in relief as she got up along either Ranbir and glanced at her mom who smiled at the tears gathered in her eyes
*****
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