Kriya looked down at the spaghetti strapped blue dress with a low back. "Taani, why do you want me to wear this? It's cold outside!"

"Yes, but we won't be outside. So just go and put it on!"

"But why?"

Taani brushed her question away. "Just go." She pushed her in the washroom and then grinned. Minutes later, Swayam walked in the room and closed the door behind him. He relaxed.

"Taani?" Kriya's voice came from inside the washroom. Swayam looked around. Taani wasn't in there. He realized it was a set up. It made sense to him as to why Taani kept insisting he go to his room – when he had been peacefully sitting in the lounge of the hotel.

Kriya walked out of the washroom, her hands above her and reaching behind to tie it around her neck, but struggling. She was unaware of his presence. Glancing at her, he was mesmerized. Her beauty caught his breath. She looked up just then to see it wasn't Taani in the room anymore but Swayam.

"I thought Taani was..."

"Need help?"

She was about to refuse but then dropped the idea. Taani wasn't there and she had to tie it. Hence she nodded and let him disclose the distance between them before she turned around. Her back faced him, leaving him more stunned. He hadn't expected it to be low back. Forcing his eyes to look away, he quickly tied the dress.

Then he turned her by her shoulders and politely questioned. "Kriya, what are you wearing?"

She sighed. "I don't like it either. Taani forced me to and wouldn't tell why." She was fidgeting with her fingers.

"You look beautiful." He assured her when he noticed she was nervous. "I just asked because... anyway, stop worrying about how you look." When she looked up at him, he smiled, an action to let her know he wasn't lying and meant it.

"I better go find Taani."

She went around Swayam towards the door when it opened and Taani stepped in and gaped seeing Kriya. "You look awesome! Right Swayam?" She added intentionally. He nodded and pressed his lips together in a smile.

"Now will you please tell me why I'm wearing this?"

"I'll rather show you. Come on." She looked behind Kriya's shoulder at Swayam. "Coming?"

Swayam nodded. "Right behind you." They left and he quickly changed to join them in the lobby.

××××××××××××

Swayam handed her a jacket when he saw her. She put it on, both of them well aware of the fact that if she went out without one on, her nose would be running for days. They proceeded towards the car they had rented. It was a group of 7 along with Swayam and Kriya. Two cars - both 5 seated.

"It's a club." Kriya murmured when they stopped.

Taani grinned. "Yup!"

"I don't like clubs. They're too loud and crowded." Kriya grumbled. Places as such used to give her headaches. Since a kid, she was an introvert. She preferred quite places.

"That's why they're called clubs. Now let's go."

She pulled her in with the girls and Swayam followed with the boys.

"We're inside. You can take that jacket off now." Taani pointed out, much to Kriya's displeasure, she had to remove it.

"Help me!" Kriya mouthed to Swayam when Taani pulled her towards the dance floor. Swayam simply grinned and mouthed back. Have fun! She gave a pleading glare but he simply laughed it off.

He saw Taani getting Kriya to dance and loosen up. Eventually, a laugh spread on her face seeing the silliness on Taani's face and gave in to her wish. She was having real fun which she never thought even existed. She realized in that moment how uptight she had been with her life. The constant changes had made her halt in life as she only focused on things that came her way without putting her soul into it.

She looked back at Swayam who sat by the bar, watching her. She motioned for him to come and join but he shook his head. Her face begged and he finally walked down towards her. "You're having fun."

She nodded as she spoke up to have her voice heard. "It's about time you should too." She held his hand and brought him closer, asking him to dance with her.

"Tell me something." She spoke up again when they walked out of the dance floor, calling a break. "How come you weren't jealous? Seeing me dance with others."

"Why should I be jealous? Like you danced with me, you danced with others."

"Yes. But aren't husbands supposed to be possessive, jealous types?" She questioned.

He held the smile off his voice. "We're friends. Do you want me to behave as your husband instead?"

She was left speechless. Her topic had trapped her itself. She was trying to find out about his feelings when he had turned the tables around in a blink. He knew his words had the effect on her. To not have her feel awkward, he got up. "I love this song. Come." He pulled her up and led her to the floor again while she followed as if enchanted.

She wasn't aware of her surroundings. His questioned kept replaying at the back of her mind. She knew what she had to do once they got back from this trip, but she was now second-guessing herself. She was understanding why Rey had asked her multiple times if that is what she really wanted.

She considered their emotional bonding. Emotionally, we've long past friend zone. I know both of us care for each other beyond that line. I cannot imagine my life without him. And... well, physically... She had never considered. They did share the same bed. But the boundary had always remained. Nothing was in that sense.

He snapped his fingers in front of her, blinking her out of her thoughts. "Lost somewhere?" She tightly shook her head, knowing it was a lie and danced along to the soft number. Mid-way, she rested her head on his chest, the thoughts within her clouding her vision as they seemed too heavy to bear the weight alone.

"Swayam, can we walk back to the hotel please?" An hour must have passed and it was closing to be mid-night. Yet, it seemed as if the night had just begun for everyone else at the club.

"It'll be one long walk." He warned her.

"It's nice outside. Here, I feel chocked." Hearing her reasoning, he nodded. "Wait outside. I'll just go tell others so they know." She acted upon his instruction.

××××××××××××

Outside, she looked up at the clouded sky. The stars were all hidden and the moon could barely be spotted. She wanted the chill of the wind to touch her bare skin. It made her feel alive. She also knew the consequences and hence, put the jacket around her without actually putting her hands in the sleeve. It was worn as a blanket.

A person bumped into her, leaving a scratch mark by her wrist. "I'm sorry." He said. She mistook him to be just drunk and smiled, letting it go. Behind her, the person smirked. She felt eyes watching her. She turned around to see no one was there.

"Chale?" Swayam came up from the other side, taking her by surprise. She slightly jumped her and her heart seemed to have skipped a beat.

Kriya nodded getting her breath back to normal. "Everything alright?" Swayam questioned when it was the third time she had stopped walking and turned around to look behind them.

"I don't know. I keep on feeling like someone is following."

He looked behind at the empty walkway. "It's nothing." He consoled her, putting his arms around her waist and leading her to keep walking. Kriya's instincts were right. It was the same person who bumped into her minutes before. He smirked as he thought.

This is not the end but only the beginning. You should have been careful messing with Sharon. Now, your real nightmare begins.

××××××××××××

Swayam and Kriya were walking back to their hotel room, just talking about the places they visited since morning. Kriya was going through the camera roll looking at the pictures when her phone rang. It was Aashi. After passing greetings, Aashi asked about Swayam. Kriya nodded and handed over the cell to him. "Hey Aashi."

As they walked, Aashi told him about the newest improvement in Sharon's case and he breathed out a sigh of relief when she said, "The cops turned over the evidence to the district attorney and they've filed the charges. The preliminary hearing will be in a week, but we have enough already. Sharon would be better off taking our deal of life in prison rather than let it go to court and risk capital punishment."

It seemed a huge burden was off his shoulders, knowing things were going the way he had hoped. Life could finally move on peacefully. "Thank you, Aashi. You have no idea."

"I know. Oh, and the new intern year begins. We're already being flooded with applications from recent graduates."

"Just keep them aside for now. I'll look into it when I get back." He instructed her and before Aashi could say another thing, Kriya snatched the cell away.

"Alright Ms. Secretary, I've already allowed enough work when the deal was no work at all during the trip. You can discuss the rest later. Bye now." Aashi laughed and ended the phone call. Kriya put it away in her pocked. "By the way, you've lost your bet as you just indulged in office work."

"I was just answering a question!" He grew defensive.

"Eh." She raised her finger to quiet him. "Deal is a deal and a bet is a bet. You can't go searching for loop-holes. You've lost and that's all I know."

"Then you should have never given the phone to me."

She turned to face him. "Swayam, if I want to win the bet, of course I'm going to give it to you. You should have been smart enough to not take it." She grinned when he had no rebuttal and opened the door. He followed after two seconds, finally accepting his defeat.

"What do I have to do?"

"You'll know soon."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Swayam asked her as they were a block away from the hotel. She chuckled.

"Is it that obvious?" He had to nod for it was. She bowed her head and came to a stop. "I was just thinking. About us, you know? I had thought the world would change but nothing between us would." She laughed at her own childish thought. No two people can go through what they have, and not have that affect their relationship.

He slipped his hand in her before she looked up at him. "Time doesn't wait for anyone. It's its own master. It changes at its own pace. We're merely its puppets."

She nodded as they resumed walking. "You're right, I know. Look at all the things that have changed between us. When we first met, you used to be my escape."

He chuckled, "If I remember right, you were mine. You're the one after all, who pulled me out of that world I was in."

"Quit interrupting. I'm trying to say something." She teasingly snapped at him, though she didn't mind the flashback to their memories. He laughed and remained silent, staying mesmerized in their initial days of friendship. "But yeah... the depth of our... relationship... friendship."

"And we're finally here." He disrupted the conversation intentionally. The topic was left for silent talks as they stepped in the elevator and minutes later, entered their room. It was evident from their faces - both were tired. Swayam threw his jacket on the nearby chair and flopped himself down on the bed. Kriya simply removed her heels and laid down to sleep as well.

"Aren't you going to change?"

"Mhmm." She replied as she normally snuggled the blanket closer to her and closed her eyes.

"Err... Okay then." He made a note that she did that a lot lately. Yet, all he did was turn the lights off and not worry about anything. Just have a relaxing sleep.

The atmosphere had chilled and the blanket around her wasn't keeping her warm enough. The chill awoke her as she continuously kept on fidgeting. Opening her eyes, she looked at Swayam, sleeping peacefully. A sweet smile spread across her face and she rested on her elbow. Lifting her other hand, she fixed his hair back and smiled. She reached over him to the side-desk on the other side and struggled a bit to fetch the remote as she tried to not squash him and stay a bit away from him.

Finally getting her hands on it after several attempts, she laid back down on her side and raised the temperature. The heater came on as she clutching the blanket close to her, shut her eyes. "Swayam?" Kriya softly called out upon feeling Swayam's hand wrap around her waist from behind her.

When he didn't answer, she realized he'd unconsciously done that. She should have moved away, but she peacefully laid back. For her, being in his arms brought comfort and satisfaction that no bad dreams would come to her. She felt secure. She couldn't help but smile. His warmth engulfed her. She placed her hand on top of his and went back into slumber.

××××××××××××

"Taani, if you don't mind... Can I ask you a question?" Kriya asked her as they walked by the beach. It was their last day there and the next morning, they'd be on their way back home.

"Ofcourse Kriya." Taani replied.

"How does one know when they're in love?"

Taani chuckled. "You're joking me, right?" When Kriya's face remained straight, puzzled, trying to understand why she said that, Taani realized she wasn't pulling her leg. She was serious. Taani had thought Kriya should already know. But only in that moment did she come aware that the relationship between Swayam and Kriya wasn't what everyone thought. "Seeing you both, I thought it was love marriage." She stated.

Kriya shook her head. "Not really. It wasn't arranged either. We've known each other since kids and then became good friends when I was probably 15. His father and my father used to be friends. So when he came to US to study, he stayed with us."

"If it wasn't love, then why would you agree to marry your friend?" She made the question as simple as possible - for she knew there must be some story behind their marriage given the fact that it was early marriage while she was still doing her studies.

"We had a situation. And we're diverting from topic."

"Right. Sorry. So... love. Love is just a feeling, a way to express. You just know it eventually. There isn't a manual for it. But if you ask me... I'd say love is when you start thinking about them most of the time. Even a passer-by can look at you two and say you're in love. The worry and care you both have for each other is evident in your eyes and actions." She pointed at Kriya's heart. "You just need to accept it in there and express it in words. Trust me when I say this, he already does love you. Let him know you do too."

Kriya smiled. Hearing Taani's words, most of her confusion was clear. She knew the feelings for Swayam were surely love. He was all she would think about. She would want to be with him all the time. She would want to tell him everything. He was the kind of guy who kept his promises and meant every word of it. He was a guy who understood her more than anyone and held her to the utmost importance. He did not ask anything back in return. He never humiliated her and kept his distance from her, when as a husband, he didn't have to. He chose to respect her and all these qualities about him made her love him.

××××××××××××

author's note:

I apologize for the day delay. I had an exam yesterday in pharmacology, and one today in half hour on behavioral neuroscience. Naturally, I had tons of meltdowns to even remember it was Monday... Anyway, I thought I would update this before I have to go give the exam (: Wish me luck!

Looking forward to your views on this update. Any thoughts on who the guy is?

Thank you everyone for the Nominations for Fanfictions 2017. It seriously blew my mind when I saw atleast 20 new readers add the book to their reading lists!

See you next monday! <3