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They found Anjali and Rahul sitting at a table in the far corner of the room. Rahul had reserved that table on Anjali's insistence because he three of them used to sit there whenever they came here.

Anjali and Rahul were lost talking to each other.

"Rahul, never in my dreams thought that you would be in love with me"

"Anji, I told you, I fell for you years ago"

"I still can't believe that Rahul." She was honest, telling him about her thoughts.

"You were right, but I would have fallen for Khushi, I think our parents expected that too, but back itself I understood that they are in love, perfect for each other, and you had captured my interest, and you fitted perfectly."

"Oh you are talking about the fourteen year old me? You were sixteen no? Kind of creepy." 

Anjali laughed before she continued. Rahul gave her an unsure laugh as well in response.

"And for your kind information, Bhai was never in love with Khushi, it was she who loved him. Trust me."

"No Anji, that is where you went wrong, Arnav loved Khushi, probably even before her, and still loves Khushi. I can bet my life on that."

"How can you say that Rahul? And if Bhai loved Khushi why would he have brought Lavanya to marry him?"

"I don't know all that Anji, I don't know why he did what he did. Seriously, that is beyond me, But, one thing I am sure about is that I had seen love for Khushi in the eighteen year old Arnav's eyes back then and I know for a fact it is true even today."

Anjali was shocked to hear that. How had she not understood the two people closest to her heart. Did Rahul know Arnav and Khushi better than her? Was she so self obsessed that she failed to understand the two closest people around he. And if they both had feelings for each other, how did they themselves fail to notice it?

"Hey guys, what is going on?" Khushi asked as she and Arnav reached the table, interrupting their conversation

"Nothing serious we were talking about the old days." Rahul said and Anjali simply agreed.

"Shall we order then?" Arnav said as he picked up the menu card. He was eager to get this over with and go back home.

"Arnav, what is the hurry? We have all the time in the world. We should talk, enjoy ourselves, rather than just eat and leave. For god sake we are out to have fun." Khushi said and Arnav had to agree.

"Nice music going on right?" Rahul asked.

"Dance?" Khushi seemed excited

"We should " Rahul said while Anjali turned to her brother

"Bhai, you can't say no, we should dance"

Arnav got up and led Khushi to the dance floor. Rahul did the same with Anjali and Arnav could not protest because of Khushi. The song Teri Meri from Bodyguard was playing and they shared a passionate dance.

Khushi was lost in her husband's chocolate brown eyes, remembering the days from the past they had spent together. She got images of him running behind her hoping to catch her and finally both of them ending up on the bed fighting with each other.

Both pairs had a long passionate dance lost in each other's eyes. They came out of the trance when they heard applause for them from the others sitting there. Both the pairs went back to their respective seats.

"Shall we order now?" Anji asked.

"Yeah" Khushi agreed and Rahul called for the waiter. They ordered their favourite dishes and waited.

"I'm so happy today Khushi." Anjali said with a big smile plastered on her face.

"Why Anji?" Khushi winked as she asked the question and Anjali understood completely.

"Because we stepped out of the house and spent some time together enjoying the maximum. Can you disagree to that Khushi? And you Bhai?"

"I can't deny it Anji and I think even your bhai can't, can you Arnav?"

"I guess you expect me to say No." he muttered.

The food arrived and they enjoyed the food.

"Dessert?" Rahul asked as he saw the waiter approaching their table.

"Ice creams" Anji said and Khushi nodded.

"Two chocolate and Two strawberry ice creams"

"You knew our choice?" Anji asked astonished.

"Yeah, how could I forget after all those summer vacations?"

"Wow, I'm impressed"

"Why Anji why are you so impressed?" Arnav was losing his temper with Rahul's talk. Khushi kept her hand over his to calm him down and she smiled when she was able to do that.
After settling the bill the four of them came out of the restaurant.

"I would like to go for a walk Arnav, do you want to join me?" Khushi asked hoping that he would say yes.

"Yeah Khushi and you Anji?"

"Arnav one of us have to be with Rahul right, after all he brought us out tonight for dinner."

"Ok. Anji you be with him, we will be back soon." Khushi said as she pulled Arnav away. Khushi did not give Arnav a chance to respond. If she had, probably Khushi would be hanging out with Anjali and Arnav and Rahul would be standing there, waiting for the girls to come back after their walk. Or probably, Rahul would find a way to avoid Arnav and decide to join them.

As Anjali saw them leave she turned to Rahul.

"Hey are you sure about bhai loving Khushi?"

"Yeah Anji, I've seen that in his eyes."

"Then why would he hide it? Why would he bring Lavanya into the picture?"

"I think only he can answer those particular questions."

"Ok"

"Hey now, we have the time to ourselves, let us talk about us."

"What about us Rahul?"

Without giving a reply to that question Rahul leaned over and captured her lips with his. Anjali gave in completely to the kiss. This was a new feeling for her. After what felt like eternity, they parted for air. She hugged him and he hugged her back tightly.

"Anji, what if.." Rahul started and trailed off.

"What if?" she urged him to complete his question.

"What if your bhai doesn't agree to our relationship?" Anjali laughed for a bit thinking about how she had this doubt earlier.

"Why do we both have this doubt from time to time?  Anyway, you need not worry on that now Rahul. Once he is okay, Khushi and I can handle him. He will have to give in to our wishes."

"And if he doesn't heed you both?"

"That won't happen. That hasn't happened in the past twenty years, there is no chance of that happening now"

"So confident?"

"Actually I know my bhai loves me and he won't go against any of my wishes. He always supports what is best for me."

"So, You think I am the best for you?" He teased.

"I Know." she said with a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"And I am what you wish for?" He continued and she could not help blush at that.

He gave her a sideway hug as they walked to the car  as he said, "We should wait for them in the car, there is a possibility of rain."

"Ok" 

Arnav and Khushi meanwhile walked towards the garden.

"Khushi, what happened?"

"What? Nothing Arnav. Why do you ask that?"

"I feel that you are hiding something from me"

"Me?" she was shocked at his question.

"Not only you, even Anji." He expressed his doubts to her.

Now Khushi got what he was talking about. She knew they needed to be more creative if Anjali and Rahul needed to spend time together. 

"No Arnav, do you think we will hide something from you? When have we done that?"

"Actually I never thought that but when you told me about Rahul apologizing to you years back, I mean, you both never told me about that."

"Arnav, you are so silly. That was almost eleven years back. It wasn't even important. We didn't want to ruin your mood by bringing up his name. and then over the years, we just forgot about it. Don't worry, we won't hide anything important from you. We won't have any secrets within us." She promised. She'd obviously tell him about Anjali and Rahul once he was okay.

"Thank you Khushi."

"What if I get to know anything of that sort from you then? That you have hidden something from me, us?"

"Then you can punish me"

"Really?"

"Really" he confirmed.

"How sweet of you Arnav"

She hugged him, hiding her face in his chest and he hugged her back.

"We should go now, they would be waiting for us."

"Yeah right"

Arnav and Khushi saw Rahul and Anjali already seated in the car. As soon as the couple entered, Rahul started the car. They drove back to RM silently.

"Bye all, meet you soon, Good night" Rahul said as he dropped the three in front of Raizada house and drove to the Gupta's place.

"I'm so tired Khushi, I'm going to our room" he said looking at her.

"Okay Arnav I'll be there soon"

"Okay" he said and went upstairs.

Anjali and Khushi settled down on the couch. HP brought water for the two ladies.

"Hey Anji tell me what did you do when we were out?"

"Nothing Khushi we just talked." Khushi saw the blush on her face and understood there was more than talking involved. She decided not to press the topic.

"I hope your brother recovers soon, so that we can have a big fat wedding for the two of you." Anjali blushed.

"Bhabhi..."

"Anji, just so you know and won't be surprised, I'm going to wear a saree tomorrow" Khushi informed her.

At Anjali's curious expression, Khushi told her how Arnav expressed his interest in seeing Khushi wear a saree.

"What? Khushi is he really unwell?"

"Even I have a doubt on that Anji, but the doctor said so. So we have to believe him?"

"Yeah, but how come he said that?"

"Who doctor?" Khushi raised her head from the glass to look at Anjali.

"No Khushi, your husband"

"I don't know. He simply asked me why don't you wear a saree and I told I'll wear one tomorrow."

"You will look super cute. I love it when you wear a saree."

"I love it too." Khushi said and Anjali raised an eyebrow at her.

"I was half expecting you to say thank you to me." Khushi laughed before taking a glance at the clock.

"Hey its late I think we should sleep now"

"Yeah, bye good night and sweet dreams." Anjali said as they both moved towards their respective rooms.

Khushi went upstairs. Arnav was already asleep and hadn't even changed.

"Hey Arnav, get up and change first then you can sleep." She went beside him and patted his shoulder.

"Don't disturb me Khushi, let me sleep."

"You can, but first change"

She pulled him up.

"No need to change Khushi, " saying this he went back to bed pulling Khushi along with him.

She tried to protest but was then lost in the calm look on his face. And she slept peacefully, with him holding her.

Anjali was the first one to wake up the next morning. It took her about thirty minutes to freshen up and get ready for the day. She had started taking up meetings with clients. She was proud of Khushi for handling everything all alone when she and Arnav was in the hospital.

She left her room to go look for Khushi and Arnav.

"Bhai, Khushi?" she called, knocking at their door. There was no response.

'I think they both won't wake up in the near future, let me check up on Rahul' she thought to herself and went to her room.

"Hey Rahul are you up?"

"Yeah Anji, just woke up" she heard from the other end of the line.

"Thank god, I thought even you might be asleep"

"You mean the other two are still asleep?" he enquired.

"Yeah"

"So that is why my sweetheart thought of calling me? I see priorities being set."

"No Rahul, actually.. you are right. But, it is not about setting..."

"Nothing to feel embarrassed on that Anji, you would be thinking of them only as first preference because you guys are so close and it should be like that always. I don't have any problem with that. In fact why should I have a problem? He is your brother and she your sister in law and I feel you guys should remain like this forever. I envy the bond you share."

"Oh Rahul, I have always felt that Khushi and I are the ones who talk like this non-stop, but you talk more than us."

"Really?" she could hear him chuckle at the other end.

"Yeah"

"What are you going to do now?

"Hey wait, I think they are up."

"Ok then, go talk to them. We don't want a pissed off Arnav around. It is already difficult to handle him otherwise. You guys annoy him, I'll have to take the wrath of it all. We'll talk later, bye." He said and Anjali laughed at how right he was.

"Bye, I love you."

"Love you too Anji."

Anjali left her room to go meet her bhai and Bhabhi in the living room. She joined them for tea.

"Morning bhai"

"Good morning Anji"

"And no morning for your sister in law?"

"Khushi? morning to you too." She said giving Khushi a hug.

"Okay accepted." Anjali told Khushi about the meetings she had lined up. Khushi knew the client and informed Anjali that she could connect virtually in case she needed her to.

"You were to wear a saree today right?" Anjali asked after a while

"Yeah, I thought of having a bathe after tea."

"I'll prepare breakfast then." Anjali said.

"No no Anji, HPji has made everything already. Arnav, why don't you go get freshened up?" He agreed that was a good idea and went back to their room.

"So darling talking to him in the morning?" Khushi asked once Arnav was out of earshot.

"I didn't have any other option." She said accusing Khushi and Arnav.

"Really?"

"Stop it Khushi. By the way, what took you both so long to wake up?"

"What do you mean?" Khushi was shocked at what Anjali was hinting at.

"You know what I mean" Anjali winked at Khushi

"Stop it you. You know it is not like that."

"Khushi remember no secrets between us"

"Anjaliii"

"Arnav is also here."

HP brought tea for the three of them. They were about to start when they heard the calling bell.

"I'll see who it is" Khushi said and went to the door.

"Good morning Rahul, come on in."

Arnav was irritated again on seeing him

"Good morning everyone"

"Good morning Rahul, tea?" Anjali offered.

"No, thank you though. I was just passing by so thought of meeting you all"

"That was nice of you." Khushi said as HP gave him a cup of tea even after he had declined.

"I think I'll go and have a bathe." Khushi said getting up from her seat, after she was done with her morning tea.

"I have to go make a call." Anjali said and mouthed 'behave' to Rahul.

Arnav and Rahul sat there, sipping the hot beverage. They had nothing to say to each other.

"I think I should leave" Rahul said

"Why, you can't talk to me?" Arnav questioned.

"Actually I thought you might not be interested in talking to me." Rahul was being honest.

"Oh. Then leave"

"Sure"

Arnav entered his room to see Khushi as she exited the washroom draped in a forest green colour saree.

"Amazing Khushi, you look gorgeous"

"Arnav, you are here already? Go down and wait. I want you to see me only after I'm completely ready."

"Is it? Well then get ready soon, I'll be waiting for you."

He turned around and left the room. Khushi moved to the mirror. She had just picked up her box of sindoor when she heard a sound. Did Arnav just scream?

She ran out to check and there he was , lying on the floor unconscious. Anjali came running and they with the help of Rahul took him to the hospital. 

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