Avneet's sleep was broken by the loud chirping of birds. She yawned and opened her eyes, when the memories of the previous night flashed up on her mind.
Her cheeks were burning up, once again, and she exactly knew she was blushing. On top of that, he was holding her securely into his arms.
She careully got out of his embrace and went to the balcony to see the view.
The sunlight hadn't yet fallen on the mountains which were a bit far, they still seemed dark.
Did he mean that he likes her? Did he really confess to her last night?
Thinking about him makes her heart skip two beats.
Does she get to ask him if he can clear her confusion? But what else was there to clear? He had already said what he had to. Should she go and confess him?
Her chain of thoughts were broken when she felt a pair of hands tracing her waist to pull her closer to his chest.
"Y-you're up?" She asked to not make the situation awkward.
He placed his chin upon her crook.
"Good Morning, wifey," he greeted.
"Uh- I- I wanted t-to ask..." she stammered, once again.
"Why do you stammer? I won't bite you," he said with a light chuckle.
"D-do you really accept me as your w-wife, for the rest if y-your life?" She whispered in a soft voice.
"Come on, don't make me propose you in the morning, when my hair is messed up and I look like a porcupine," he said. "I haven't brushed my teeth either."
Avneet suddenly turned towards him and hugged him. Her eyes had teared up due to happiness. Was she really worth of his love?
"Do you want to hear it from me now?" He asked softly. "But I wanted to propose you in a grand way."
"I don't like expensive way," she said.
"Then, how may I do it, your majesty?" He asked as he caressed her hair.
"Will you take me to a boat ride? I have always wanted it," she said.
"As you wish," he said and softly kissed her hair.
They didn't want to break the hug, but stay like that.
But a legend had once said that you can never have peace if you have siblings.
There was a loud thud from the other room.
Siddharth and Avneet looked at each other and rushed to Abhishek and Vaishnavi's room. Because it was a wooden house, the sound was heard three times more than in cement or tiled floor.
"What has happened?" Siddharth yelled.
Vaishnavi opened the door with messy hair. She looked like a real porcupine.
She was laughing like no tomorrow.
"Y-your brother oh g-god!" The girl laughed. "He wanted to use the washroom when he slipped and fell. The cold tap water fell upon him."
Siddharth rushed inside, to find the older groaning in pain.
"My handsome waist," Abhishek muttered. "Is all broken now."
"How can you be so clumsy dada?" The younger scolded.
Avneet had brought a Volini, she quickly brought it and handled it to him.
Vibha was up too, to find the matter and she had an expressionless face when she got to know about the reason.
She didn't really know how to react.
After some time, they all went to Siddharth and Avneet's room to take a look at the view, as the mountain range was most prominent from their room.
With time, they had tea and breakfast, when they finally decided to roam and look around the place.
Abhishek had gathered a stick from somewhere, he walked with its support.
While descending down, no one really had a problem, but while returning back to the home stay, it was of huge difficulty, as they had to climb up. Abhishek only faked smiled with a thumbs up.
The care taker of the home stay suggested them to take a car and travel, to which they agreed. To go to the viewpoints, they couldn't walk till there.
The driver soon came and they took the road to the first viewpoint.
"Siddharth and Avneet doesn't have a single good picture!" Vaishnavi suddenly said. "I will click them some good pictures, today".
They were forced to stand with each other. They posed.
"What? Is this a pose? You're a couple dude," Vaishnavi said rolling her eyes.
"I will direct," Abhishek said. "Siddharth you keep your hand on my sister's waist, and Avneetay, you keep your hand on his tits."
Vibha was fortunately at a distance, so she couldn't hear him.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT!" Vaishnavi yelled.
"On Siddharth's chest, he meant," Vaishnavi said.
Avneet was never so awkward in her life.
They did as they were asked and with that they had clicked quite a few pictures.
They went to the closest temple then. It was a beautiful atmosphere. Mind was calmed and the soul was blessed.
(I am writing this from my experience, and you know, dear readers, that I had visited a Buddhist monk and I felt the true definition of peace that day.)
They tried the local tea and traveled a few more view points.
Except for Abhishek who was smiling through pain, others enjoyed the utmost.
There was a river but there were no boats, so Siddharth thought to fulfill his wife's wish some other day.
Due to Abhishek, they couldn't walk for long that day. Abhishek had suggested them to go for a little trek but they refused without him. They rather wanted to sit on a beautiful spot and enjoy their time.
The small, not to expensive picnic, but full of happiness was all Vibha could ask for.
Spending a day more in Lonavela, they headed back to Mumbai.
_____
As per the decision, Avneet worked in Abhishek's cafe, and she wrote her thoughts in the free time. The day Siddharth got married to Avneet was arriving soon, and he was too busy to plan for the day.
He wanted to pamper her, spoil her and propose her at the end of the day. He was confident about her answer as he could join the hints she had given him, and they way she behaves around him.
That evening, Siddharth and Avneet went to buy some essentials for the house. Generally, Vibha and Avneet does it, but this time, Vibha was fallen sick for she had been looking after their home which is getting built. The dust had made her catch a good cold. Thus Siddharth decided to assist her, as he was free.
"So, we can move into the house by June, right?" Avneet asked.
"Yes, it is almost done," Siddharth replied.
Their conversation was interrupted when suddenly a guy approached to them and blocked their way.
"Oh, Avneet?" he asked.
"What are you doing here, Sam?" Avneet asked back with irritation.
"Who is this young man beside you?" Sam asked her, once again.
"I am her-" Siddharth couldn't complete his sentence, as they guy interrupted.
"Well, she is mine," he said. "You can fuck off bro!"
Siddharth didn't know if he should punch his face, beat him to death or laugh at his stupidity.
"Wha- How so? I can clearly rejected you Sam," Avneet said with a glare. "Don't you dare to melt your nose in us."
"You had forgotten everything after that night?" Sam asked with a smirk.
"Stop your nonsense," Avneet said with a frown in her brows. She looked at Siddharth with helpless eyes. "He was my college mate, I haven't done anything as he is claiming, please belief me..."
Just when their relationship seemed stable, the evil stepped in.
"Do you remember, when she slept with you?" Siddharth asked to Sam.
"I remember the exact date," Sam said. "It was 05th April,"
The tension in the air was broken by Siddharth's laughter.
"Dude, at that time, we were in Hyderabad, to celebrate my sister's birthday," Siddharth said. "Anything else?"
"Well, she has a mole in her left tit," Sam said. "We can check it right now in my house."
Siddharth's gaze darkened.
"Well, you have a small dick, which requires a spectacle of minus power to see," Siddharth said. "If you don't belief, we can check it out in the prison."
"Who are you dude? She is my girlfriend-"
"She is my wife!"
"W-wife? Oh, turns out she is a slu- "
Siddharth punched him so hard, that the world appeared colorless to him and he knew, he was getting unconscious. But Siddharth grabbed his head and twisted his hair in his fist.
"Before you talk bad, let me take care of it!" Siddharth said and slammed his head to the electric pole. The crowd had gathered seeing the nuisance. Before it could turn into a big news, Avneet pulled Siddharth out of the crowd.
Sam was a resident of the lane and the neighbours knew about his character. This wasn't the first time they were witnessing him getting beaten up.
Avneet dragged Siddharth to the narrow alley.
"Have you gone mad? Your hands are bleeding!" she said with teary eyes.
Siddharth yanked his hand away from her.
"Who was he?" he asked with his deep tone.
"H-he was my college mate a-and..."
"I didn't ask that. Why is he behind you?" Siddharth questioned.
"H-he proposed my in my second year. I had r-rejected him and since then he had been chasing me," she said.
"So why didn't you tell me?" Siddharth asked.
"W-when you came back to Mumbai, he had disappeared from my sight, s-s- I thought..." She took a breathe with a pause.
Siddharth didn't question her anymore. The silence had surrounded them.
"I- haven't done anything as he says, I promise I didn't," Avneet said. "I can give you the swear of god."
"I don't need your swear, Avneet!" he said. "I know you didn't tell me about this bastard because you knew that I will be ending him, once I get to know about it."
"I w-will always share the things with you," she said. "Please give me a chance."
"I am sorry," she said with a broken voice when she got no reply from him. She was afraid of losing him.
"I want to-"
"Y-your knuckles are bleeding, can we p-please talk about it in home?" Avneet said.
He nodded and walked, until their home had arrived.
__________
After applying the medicine in his hand, she wrapped a piece of clean cloth around his fingers. She was constantly chanting god's name, for she was finding the silence in him negative. She didn't want to stay away from him, she cannot really live without him.
"I- I will get you some t-tea-"
"Sit beside me," he said, which sent a shiver run down her spine. She obediently followed his words, maintaining a distance between them.
He didn't like the gap, instead this increased his anger. He asked her to get up and pulled her onto his lap.
"I want to make it clear," he said.
Despite the fact that he was holding her by her waist, her heart beat for she was expecting a negative sentence.
"I don't like it when you take the blame on yourself," he said. "Learn to fight. When something is not your fault, why are you apologizing!"
"Y-you aren't angry-"
"I am indeed angry because you are taking the blame on yourself when it is clearly his fault," Siddharth said. "Why did you tell me to give you a chance when you have done nothing wrong, huh?"
She looked at him with fond eyes. So, he didn't misunderstand her?
"And I will be upset if you don't share things to me, even if it is a small or a big matter," he said.
Avneet nodded her head.
He had scolded her enough, he was satisfied. He didn't want his wife to be weak. He slightly smiled at her.
"Thank you so much! I lo-"
Her cheeks were painted crimson red when she had almost confessed her feelings to him.
He raised his brow with a tint of amusement and happiness.
"Complete?" he smirked.
The best option was to run away. But for that she needed to distract him.
"Oh no, there is a spider," she acted.
"First you tell me, then I will spare it a glance," he said knowing it pretty well that there was no such insect behind him but an excuse of her to run away out of embarrassment.
"You're just mine," he suddenly said. "No one gets to claim you."
With that, he locked his lips with hers. He pushed her to the bed and hovered over her. He didn't like it when Sam spoke about her body. She was only for him. And he was for hers.
He didn't care how rough the kiss went, until she ran out of breathe. He pecked her lips one last time and got up from the bed.
"And oh, the girl I like," he said. "I just kissed her for the third time."
________