Hello! Have a backlog in nano because of this stupid assignment I had to do, but this chapter helped me catch up a bit. Hope you enjoy it! :)

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Nakuul knew something was up when he saw his team members indulged in a serious, whispered conversation in the lounge of their hotel. They stopped when he arrived and cleared their throats awkwardly.

"Hey man," Yuvraj piped up. "We were just, uh, discussing the last match."

Nakuul rolled his eyes. Not the best people to plan a surprise, he thought as he took a seat on the couch. He knew what they were up to. It was his and Surbhi's first anniversary, and he had been moping around the whole day, telling everyone who would possibly listen all about how much he missed her. On top of that, it was raining outside and so their practice had been canceled, meaning he had absolutely nothing to distract him. As it was, his girlfriend herself was too busy in her shooting—they were doing an important part of the show these days and it took up considerable hours of her day, sometimes even night. They had talked till late last night though, and Nakuul had even managed to convince her to please take her top off, but that had been about it.

"Yeah, what is it about the last match that you were discussing?" Nakuul asked, trying to hide his smile as Yuvraj fumbled. He knew his friends all too well. They were planning a party for tonight—drinking and dancing, the usual—to help him celebrate his anniversary without Surbhi. He had found a number of the finest whiskey bottles in Virat's room when he had gone to hang out, and even overheard Mahi talking to the hotel manager about booking their restaurant-cum-bar for the night. But what had really given it away was the huge "Happy Anniversary" banner he had gotten a glimpse of when the staff was carrying it inside the hotel from the driveway. Don't get him wrong—Nakuul was grateful his friends were doing so much to entertain him on his anniversary, but he would really have to give them a tip or two about throwing surprise parties someday.

While he was busy listening to Yuvraj stutter his way through an answer, Nakuul's phone screen lit up, and so did his face with a wide smile. Surbhi had finally found the time to call him, after 4 whole hours, too. He picked up and walked to a corner for some privacy.

"Babe, this is not fair," He whined without any greeting. "You should take some time off to call me today, at least." He knew he was being unreasonable but couldn't help but feel a little dismayed at the lack of attention from her on this special day.

"I'm so sorry, Nakuul," Surbhi replied. The network was pretty bad today for some reason, and her voice was barely audible against what seemed like the sound of the wind. Nakuul sighed. They were probably doing outdoor shooting today. "I've just been so busy with shoot. It's crazy here today!"

Nakuul tried saying it was alright, but she continued.

"Listen, I can't talk for longer. I'll try and call you again in a few hours, okay? Love you, bye!"

"Surbhi—"

Too late, she had hung up. Letting out a heavy sigh, Nakuul went to join his friends again. Seemed like this would be a very uneventful first anniversary, keeping aside whatever it was his friends had planned for him. Whatever it was, with drinks and all, the party would be more fun for them than him, anyway.

--

Nakuul stood in front of the mirror of his room and half-heartedly set his hair. A strange feeling of sadness had engulfed him, the kind you feel when you realize that despite everyone's best efforts, your birthday would not live up to your expectations because you already knew about the 'surprise'. It was a similar case with him, the only difference being that it was his anniversary and not birthday. The most important person in this equation wasn't here, and yet he was being forced to get ready for an anniversary party. His friends had obviously tried to remain secretive and said that they were just having a 'small party to celebrate their position in the tournament's scoreboard', and he had played along and agreed to arrive at the hotel's restaurant, 8 PM sharp. He sighed and fixed the collar of his dark navy-blue shirt, bracing himself for a night of fake smiles and reiterations of saying he was okay every time sometime noticed his gloomy demeanor. His friends were trying the best they could, and he didn't want them to think that he didn't appreciate it—he really did.

True to his word, Nakuul was in front of the restaurant at 8 PM sharp. He hadn't met anyone in the corridors and assumed that everyone was already inside. Taking a deep breath, he walked ahead to have the door opened by the guard, who gave him a polite smile. Nakuul returned it, and slightly nervously in anticipation of the so-called surprise, walked in. As expected, a loud chorus of "Happy Anniversary" greeted him as he entered. All his team members and their respective partners were gathered there, along with their team coaches and managers. The large banner he had previously spotted hung in the background, and the crowd stood in front of what Nakuul assumed must be a cake. His spirits lightened up; although he had known about this surprise party, it still felt really good to have his loved ones celebrate something that meant so much to him but would otherwise be considered meager. Smiling a bright, genuine smile, he walked forward.

"Thanks a lot, guys. I—"

He stopped in his tracks. His friends had moved away to create a path for him in the center of the crowd, and to his utter astonishment, at the end of this path stood Surbhi. Time seemed to stop as Nakuul only stared, trying to decide if this was a dream or reality.

"Reality hi hai, bhai," Virat quipped up, reading his thoughts. Nakuul gave him a fleeting glance before shifting his gaze back to Surbhi. She looked shy, playing with her fingers as she tried to gauge his reaction, a smile on her face. She indeed looked like a dream, wearing a white, flowery dress that flowed till the floor. Realizing that Nakuul wasn't planning to move any time soon, she walked up to him slowly and snaked her arms around his neck.

"Happy anniversary, baby," She whispered as she looked into his eyes, her own slightly moist. Letting out a shaky breath, Nakuul leaned his forehead against hers.

"You're really here," He whispered back, finally believing in this spectral reality as he held her in his arms. Surbhi nodded.

"Yep," She gave him a mischievous smile. "Surprise!"

She had barely finished her words when Nakuul pressed his lips against hers in a fierce kiss, uncaring of the people around them who had now started clapping and hooting for this adorable couple. When they finally pulled apart, breathless, Surbhi looked down shyly. Such public display of affection wasn't really their thing, but Nakuul seemed to be in a different mood today altogether. Keeping one arm around her waist, he turned to the others.

"Guys," He spoke up, "I don't know how to—"

"Thank us," Yuvraj interrupted with a wave of his hand, "Ya ya, we know. Can we get the party started now? I can't wait to have the cake!"

Laughing, everyone obliged, and the couple moved towards the table where a beautiful red velvet cake stood, waiting to be cut by the couple of the night.

--

The party was a huge success. Not just Nakuul and Surbhi, but their friends had a gala time as well. It indeed turned out to be a double celebration, one being their anniversary and other a rejoice of their winning streak in the tournament so far. After the stellar time that was full of lovely conversations, lots of dancing and some light drinking, Nakuul brought Surbhi back to his room. Instead of changing, they decided to just lay down on the bed with the lights turned off and snuggle together. He couldn't help but place numerous kisses on her face and lips, ecstatic at having her in his arms after so long. Surbhi giggled and cuddled against him.

"I still can't believe you're here," Nakuul said with a loving sigh, caressing her hair. "But wait, how did you call me if you were on the flight? It's a 10-hours long journey from Mumbai to London..."

"The flight's wifi," Surbhi offered. "The connection was terrible, but I saved my wifi quota just so I could call you in regular intervals, so you wouldn't suspect anything. Did you suspect anything?" She looked up at him, eyes large with curiosity. Nakuul pecked her lips.

"Not at all," He replied, honestly. "You all planned this elaborately, huh? All this time I was internally laughing at my friends for planning such a lousy 'surprise' party for me, but gosh, was this the best thing ever," He sighed. Surbhi laughed.

"Credits go to Virat," She said modestly. "When I called him a week ago with the idea, he was the one who came up with this whole plan of making you think you know what the surprise is so that we could work on the actual one peacefully. He knows you too well."

"That's true," Nakuul grinned. "I'm lucky to have such amazing friends. And such an amazing girlfriend, of course, who flies all the way to England to surprise me," He placed a kiss on her forehead.

"I know you would do the same for me if you could, so why not," Surbhi shrugged. "It took so much begging to Lalit sir for him to grant me a holiday, but here I am!"

"How long are you staying?" Nakuul asked, hoping she would be here for a week, at least.

"Three days," Surbhi said apologetically, biting her lower lip. "Lalit sir is convinced that if they have to show another lousy plot of how 'Annika has gone to visit Sahil' or something, TRP will decrease beyond recovery."

"Ah," Nakuul said. "Well, at least you'll be here for one match. But most importantly, you're here today. Thank you so much, my love," He said softly, playing with her elegant fingers.

"Thank you, for coming into my life," She smiled, snuggling closer into his chest. "I can't believe it's been one year of our relationship. It has, hands down, been the best year of my life."

"Mine, too," Nakuul whispered, peppering kisses on her hairline. As the night passed on, they talked about anything and everything, before finally shedding their clothes and basking in each other's love until the early-morning sun rays seeped in through the curtains and lulled them to sleep.

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I had half a heart to not have Surbhi fly to London and surprise him because it's all so clichéd, but honestly, who cares as long as we're all happy, right?