A/N : Hello peeps! So we have reached exactly mid-way of the journey! This fiction finally has 30 chapters and an Epilogue - so I'd say you made half way through!

So how was the journey so far? Do tell me :)

Coming to this chapter, there is a bit of subtle comedy and some drama in here - not to mention Parth plays a key role here too! ;)

Some part of it has MATURED CONTENT, so kindly read at your own discretion!

I wont rant more and hold you from reading the actual chapter, which is quite long this time around!

Happy Reading!

Much love,

A.

*****************************************************

It was the night before the engagement, Nivi and Anupam had arranged for dinner at Anupam's place for the gang; it was a big day for Anurag , he was going to finally see Prerna after one whole week, the last time he saw her, they fought and she broke their 'thing', he was devastated and angry and she was hurt and upset – but today was different, he was calm, happy and deeply in love with Prerna, he was excited to see her in this new light – true Mishka would be there too, and he'd have to act quite a bit – but at least he'd get to see her, talk to her and most importantly see her reactions first hand. He hoped he'd be able to properly mask his real feelings when he'd see Prerna's reaction – it was important Anupam had said, him holding back was of utmost importance to the plan.

Prerna was getting ready for the dinner; she was finally going to see Anurag today, she'd finally see that her plan worked, Anurag had given love a chance, Mishka a chance – she smiled at the mirror thinking this – but she noticed her smile didn't look genuine, what was bothering her? Why was she not happy for him? Anurag had met her as a damaged man, walking towards the kind of darkness she has always been in, she had saved him, healed him and sent him back on the path of love; she should be happy right? Was she missing their 'thing'?  Whatever, even if she did, it wasn't more important than his happiness – Prerna tried smiling again.

When she arrived at Anupam's she was taken by surprise, Nivi, Anurag and Mishka hadn't arrived, but there was someone there already, it was Parth, he grinned seeing Prerna and came ahead to hug her, she hugged him back, wasn't Parth supposed to fly in with the others' the next morning? As it turned out, he had some work in the city so he had flown in a day earlier and decided to surprise all by turning up an Anupam's dinner. Prerna was a bit uncomfortable initially because of the conversation she had had with Anupam regarding Parth the last night on her way back home, but Parth didn't seem to be imposing at all, and soon enough they were laughing and chatting and re-living their recent Goa trip; in about half an hour the doorbell rang and Nivi walked in with Anurag and Mishka in toe.

Anurag had braced himself for the past couple of hours for this moment; he was dying to see Prerna but his cue was to walk in hand in hand with Mishka, so he did. Once inside the apartment, his eyes met hers, it looked like she was waiting for him as much as he was waiting to see her – he smiled and walked towards her as Nivi went in to hug Anupam and Mishka greeted him too; she was walking towards him too, but suddenly a pair of hands held her by the waist and she stopped and looked at the source; Anurag's eyes followed the pair of hands on her waist to the slightly familiar face that followed – he was smiling at him.

"Hey Pri, I'm new here, introduce me to your friends nah – Anupam is with Nivi now, he's a goner for some time" he grinned at her, she smiled back; Anurag gritted his teeth in irritation – Prerna showed no inclination towards removing his hands from her waist. Oh now he remembered this guy, he was the creepy staring guy in red tee from Goa; so he had followed her here? Wait, and he calls her, Pri?

"Yes, of course. Parth, this is Anurag, he is Nivi's brother, and that is Mishka, his girlfriend" she said pointing towards her; "And this is Parth, he is our friend from junior college"

So he was now, Nivi's brother Anurag, nice – Anurag thought to himself. He was a fool to think Prerna had or will ever have any feelings for him – she was just not that into him. Prerna noticed Anurag's expression, suddenly it had turned dark, why she wondered, then she remembered he had mentioned he didn't like Parth right from the photo – she smiled to herself, today he'd see that Parth is a nice guy, that would change his opinion.

"Hi Anurag, come let's get some drinks" Parth greeted him and motioned for him to follow to the bar;

"One sec, Parth" Anurag replied as he turned around to pull Mishka by her waist and said, "Come baby, let's get you some drinks". As they walked past her, Anurag noticed Prerna had a surprised look on her face, he felt guilty of his actions for a fraction of a second, but then that Parth guy jumped in. "Oi Pri, what are you waiting for, finish that last sip in a shot and come now" he said and grabbed her wrist; Prerna quickly did as she was told and followed them.

Nivi watching all this from a distance looked perplexed, "What's going on Anupam, who is this guy, and why is he hitting on Pri? The plan was to get Pri jealous, not Anurag!" she hissed.

"I know baby, I know! Parth was not a part of the plan, he is a last minute accident, I didn't know he was coming; he just turned up a day early! Now I don't know how to stop him" Anupam replied back with a puppy face.

"Offo Anupam, now do something, fix it!" Nivi hissed back and went ahead to join the crowd near the bar.

Anurag noticed that Parth guy was leaving no stones unturned to impress Prerna; whether by talking about his extensive travels, or his six pack abs and exercise routine, or by discussing his favourite cars – and Prerna was also listening with a smile, this infuriated Anurag, it had been half an hour that he had come, still he and Prerna hadn't spoken a word to each other; to be fair, Prerna wasn't entertaining Parth either, but the mere fact that she was talking to him and not Anurag, bothered Anurag. What had happened to them thought Prerna morosely while half listening to Parth, why was it so complicated? Why couldn't she just talk to Anurag like she always did? Why did they suddenly require a legitimate reason to even exchange a few words? How did it reach here, she wondered quietly.

Throughout the evening, the more Parth spoke with Prerna the more close Anurag got to Mishka, stupid as it may sound, but for Anurag it felt like a competition – he had noticed with some satisfaction that his proximity to Mishka each time, caught Prerna's attention – if this was how he'd get her attention so be it, thought Anurag.

After dinner, when they were having more round of drinks and music got more up-beat, everyone started dancing; Mishka was high and kept pulling Anurag towards her, Parth was also trying to get Prerna to dance, but she refused, she had reclined to her usual corner in any party, the overlooking balcony – Anurag smiled, this was their spot – finally he was going to talk to her.

Prerna was sipping her wine and watching Anupam dancing away merrily with Nivi, she was smiling, it was not long back that he had coaxed her to come to a similar party just to meet her – how times had changed, today they were just a couple of hours away from being an engaged couple.

"Back to square one?" she heard his voice and quickly turned around, she had a smile playing up her lips, Anurag was standing there before her, and there was no Mishka in proximity, she didn't know why but it made her happy.

"Why don't you use this time, to re-work on your wretched pick-up line – I like decadence" she mimicked him and laughed, Anurag smiled. He needed to see her laugh like this, it felt like therapy.

"But it worked on you, didn't it?" he smiled with a smirk, she smiled back looking coy. She was quiet for a couple of minutes, looking around as his eyes were transfixed on her.

"Anurag, it's nice to see you like this, with Mishka" she said quietly, she didn't sound convincing.

"Really, you're liking it?" Anurag asked, trying hard to control his irritation, trust Prerna to ruin his mood.

"Why not, I mean..she's nice, you're together, happy, in love?" she said eyeing him gently, and smiling, but her smile was devoid of happiness.

"Is that a question? Are you asking if I am in love with Mishka?" Anurag asked quietly, but before she could answer, Mishka suddenly came up from nowhere and pulled Anurag towards him, he was taken by surprise and he lost balance and almost toppled over Mishka; and seizing the situation, Mishka held him by the shoulder and captured his lip with hers as Prerna stood there and watched, smitten in shock.

As Mishka sucked in Anurag's lower lips and deepened the kiss in a second, Anurag seemed to come out of the shock and pulled back, Mishka looked disappointed; Anurag's head shot towards Prerna, her face was clouded in darkness. He immediately shook his head to negate what just happened, but to his horror, he saw her smile, that closing smile – Anurag's heart sank, she was going to go behind her walls of denial all over again – how the hell did he let this happen.

"Prerna, actually..Mishka.." he began, as Mishka kept pulling him towards her, and he kept pushing her away.

"Well that definitely answers my question, all the best Anurag" she said softly and walked away from the balcony, leaving Anurag with a drunk Mishka. He turned helplessly to look at Nivi, she looked scandalised, Anupam looked livid, only Parth looked amused, he in fact cheered, "Good going guys!"

Prerna walked to Anupam, "Anupam, its very late now, I think I should leave" she said quietly. "Yes of course, let me drop you" he said, of all possible outcomes he had thought, this was not one, he was beyond shocked.

"No, no. Why will you leave home, stay with Nivi, I got my car, I will drive back; I'm almost sober" she tried to smile.

"Why will you go alone at this hour? I will go with you, maybe even crash at yours for the night, you know, to give this couple some privacy?" spoke Parth as he winked at Prerna.

"Don't worry Parth, Calcutta is a safe city that way, and Prerna is fine, she can drive home; as for you, you are our guest, please come with me, you can crash at my place" offered Anurag, the idea of Parth spending the night with Prerna burned deep hollows insides him. Prerna's head shot up at this, she didn't know from where this anger came as he heard Anurag's voice, but it came and more to counter him than anything else, she spoke this time.

"That's all right Anurag, Parth is my friend, he can crash at my place for the night, you take care of dear Mish, here" saying that she held Parth by the wrist and literally pulled him out of Anupam's apartment with her – a confused Parth followed her out without a question, as a livid, desperate, horrified Anurag stared after them.

"Bhai, just drop Mishka and go home, we will take care of this tomorrow" Nivi told Anurag soon after, he followed without a question. As Anurag and Mishka left, Nivi and Anupam looked at each other, their dinner was nothing short of a nightmare.

***

Prerna was driving quietly, Parth sat silently observing her. He had known her for years, and he had seen her change from the lively, bubbly and optimistic teen Prerna to this strong, sorted, focused woman, he knew about her infamous relationship with some older guy at work and how it had wrecked her – but this was a new person he was seeing – a third version of hers' – he didn't know this version.

"Pri?"

"Hmm?"

"Do I even want to know?"

"Nope Parth, you don't" she replied instantly, she was thankful Parth was sharp that way.

"Do I fit in somewhere?" he asked clearly.

"No Parth, I'm sorry" Prerna answered clearly.

"No problem, as long as we are clear" he said and Prerna smiled.

"Pri, will you be okay on your own, tonight?" he asked again.

"Of course, that's my default setting" she laughed humourlessly; Parth smiled.

"Then can you drop me at a hotel on the way?" he requested, Prerna looked surprised.

"Parth come on, you can stay the night with me"

"I know, but I think you and Anurag have a lot of misunderstandings to clear, I'd rather not be on the way – plus I need a goodnight's sleep to look dashing for all the single women I will meet tomorrow" he laughed good naturedly. Prerna laughed, he appreciated Parth's understanding offer, but there really was nothing left to discuss between her and Anurag anyway she thought.

***

Anurag had dropped a very drunk Mishka home, he was driving towards his home, but his mind was creating convulsive images of Prerna with Parth; they were at her place, together; he was freaking out. He remembered her face from the time of Mishka's kiss, he shuddered; he knew she wasn't okay. He remembered her last words, she was closing him out again – one more time, and this time Parth was there, that guy would surely take advantage of her vulnerability he thought savagely. No, Anurag couldn't go home – he had decided – come what may, even if he had to gate crash or walk in on something extremely unpleasant, he'd not stop – if that meant embarrassing himself before that Parth scum, he was game – but he had to see Prerna, meet her, explain things to her, he'll tell her if necessary how he feels – but he couldn't just let her slip away just like this. He knew Nivi and Anupam wouldn't approve of this, this wasn't a part of the plan – but he didn't care – right now he needed to see Prerna and make her okay – even if that was at the cost of sacrificing his love. He realised Prerna was set at a higher pedestal in his life than love.

Prerna was standing in her balcony and smoking, it had been a disastrous evening. All she wanted to do was see Anurag after such a long time, talk to him, spend some time with him, laugh a little, feel a little bit of peace – truth be told she missed him. She had told him to cut off their physical intimacy not their whole 'thing' altogether; she needed him, she needed him much more than he knew – he kept her sane in a strange way – if their 'thing' was on, he'd have already come over at hers' by now, to be with her – now that was lost too, Anurag was just gone. She tried to be happy for him, he had found love – isn't this what she wanted? Yes, but did she want it at the cost of losing him? She wanted to say no, but the answer was yes. Yes, if love for Anurag came at this price, she was ready to pay – it was hurting, she was hurting, but it was worth it if Anurag was happy she thought – a lone tear slowly made her way down her cheek.

Suddenly her doorbell rang, her head shot up at once, could it be? She sprang towards the main door and opened it as fast as she could – he was there alright, but strangely, he had his back towards her door.

"Anurag, what are you doing?" she was confused.

"Can you not put your phone on night mode Prerna? And if you do, can you not be more attentive towards your phone at night?" he asked still looking the other way.

"Anurag, why are you turned that way?" she asked again.

"To give you two time; to dress up, and be decent – that's why I wanted to call and inform you as well, but you never seem to see your phone" he spoke through gritted teeth.

Prerna understood now, "It's okay Anurag, you can turn this side" she said quietly.

Anurag slowly turned around, and faced her; she looked at him, and he could swear he saw a shimmer of a smile there, but then it disappeared, it was replaced by disappointment – Anurag couldn't understand suddenly what had happened – but that could wait, first he had to flush out that scum bag Parth, he thought.

"Where is he?" he asked stiffly, although he noticed she was dressed normally in night clothes; that seemed to calm him a little.

"Parth is not here Anurag" she said calmly looking down; Anurag was taken aback.

"What? But he left with you, right?" he asked innocently.

"I dropped him at a hotel on the way home" she replied still not looking at him; as soon as he heard this, relief shot through him, he could breathe a little easy now.

"Oh" he said, why wasn't she looking at him he wondered, as he got into her apartment.

"Now that you have your information, do you still want to stick around?" she asked him looking at the floor.

"Prerna I didn't come for that" replied Anurag in haste

"Really?" she probed

"Okay, not just for that" he rectified, before adding, "Prerna I need to talk to you, explain what happened with Mishka, I know you don't want to know but please let me tell you for my sake?" he requested in desperation

"You don't have to, I have seen it Anurag" she replied quietly, now focusing her eyes on her own hands.

"God damn it Prerna why can't you look at me, I am trying to talk to you!" he lost his temper.

"How can I Anurag, when you have Mishka's lipstick plastered all over your mouth and face?" she gave it back with equal fervour; Anurag froze. He looked at the mirror right behind her and indeed there was a sloppy mark of lipstick stretching across his lips, nose and cheek. He quickly dug out his handkerchief to wipe it, but Prerna didn't pay heed, she continued "And you still have something to say? Like what? No I don't believe in love Prerna, Mishka and I are not close, Anurag, you were in Bombay to visit her family, for heavens' sake accept it! You love her! It's great, I am happy for you, and you don't owe me any explanation, not by any standard; honestly, I don't care!" she spat.

A lot of what she said was uncalled for, she knew it, but she was done being diplomatic every day at the court, this was her life and she had had enough, she wanted all her frustration out of her, it was too much.

"Then why are you crying Prerna?" he asked quietly, as he gently grabbed her arms.

Prerna looked at him surprised, yes, she had not realised it, but she had tears flowing out of her eyes. She was embarrassed, humiliated and awkward, that's it she decided, she didn't need any of this.

"Anurag, please leave" she commanded in a croaky voice. Anurag didn't move an inch from where he stood. He stared at her, she had done it every single time since the start, whenever things got a bit uncomfortable she'd run away – he let her run every single time, but not today.

"I'm not going anywhere without talking to you Prerna" he said firmly, as he shut her main door behind and grabbed her arms back again.

"Anurag.." Prerna began.

"Just shut up Prerna, and listen to me" Prerna looked at Anurag in shock, he had never spoken to her in this tone.

"I don't love Mishka. Got it? Is it clear? You thought I did, you wanted me to be with her, I listened to you. I gave Mishka and me a shot because you wanted it – not me. Remember that! I agree 'love' means something to me today – thanks to you showing me the right way that night at my place, but our 'thing' also means something to me – yes maybe 'love' holds a higher pedestal but Mishka is not my 'love' Prerna! Understand that for crying out loud. I promise you Prerna when I find love in a person who loves me back, I will hold it above our 'thing' but not Mishka. If I have to compare between Mishka and our 'thing' I would always put our 'thing' on the higher level – because it means something to me, you mean something to me, just like I mean something to you. Prerna, I am not ready to lose our 'thing' for Mishka – sorry – I can't indulge you in this game any longer – not at the cost of our 'thing'" he finished breathing heavily.

Prerna stared at him quietly, there was this innate happiness that she couldn't place, a smile was creeping into her face and for the life of her, she couldn't control it.

"Anurag.." she tried to say something, but nothing came out of her mouth. Anurag looked at her face, her softened expression, he felt like someone had balmed his aching heart. He couldn't think straight at that moment, he didn't care about anything else in that moment – he used his hand to wipe his face of that darned lipstick of Mishka's one more time, before he smacked his lips on Prerna's.

[Matured content ahead; kindly skip the rest of this chapter, if you are uncomfortable]

Prerna didn't fight it, she didn't try thinking much, she just shut her mind, she needed this; she needed him and their 'thing'. Anurag kissed her hungrily, first her lips; then he pushed his tongue into her mouth, their tongues fought frivolously as Prerna kissed back with equal fervour. Anurag enjoyed the feeling of Prerna's teeth on his lips, it spoke of her need, it said she needed him, and he was always going to be there. Prerna removed his tee in one swift motion and clawed at his shoulder till her nails dug in, Anurag gasped but he didn't stop her, he was feeling the same frenzy tonight, he wanted her, right then, right there; He pulled off the top of her night wear, luckily she was not wearing her bra tonight, one work less he thought savagely as he pushed her to the main door behind her, that he just shut sometime back; Prerna looked at him in shock,

"Here, against my main door?" she giggled in amazement

"Right here" he replied exhaling his hot breathe.

He kissed her against the door and kneaded her mounds, as she scratched all over his back pulling him towards her, she kissed his ears, his neck, she bit his shoulder and pulled his hair in response to the pleasure she felt, each time his tongue touched her breast and navel. Finally he took off the rest of their clothes pulled her up against the door, Prerna locked her legs onto his thighs as he pushed through her right there; their bodies moved in rhythmic motion till they both hit climax; Prerna bent her head down and hit his shoulder, she was breathing hard, she slowly started uncoiling her legs from his thighs. Anurag held her in his arms and walked to the bedroom, he lay her down and then lay down beside her, hugging her closely. She snuggled close to him, putting her head in his chest; they both were content, and soon sleep took over them.

*************************************************************

Word Count : 3946

Well this chapter was twice the size of an average chapter actually! So in a way it was like a double update :)

It was long because it was necessary to convey all that you read in one chapter at one go - breaking the flow would reduce satisfaction of my readers!

So, did you like it?

Do keep sharing your feed-back, doses of pure affection and fire away all the questions you have! If you like the chapter, do vote for it and show some buzz around here.

And last but not the least - Thank you again for being such a crazy, loving AnuPre fam here :)