I'd written this chapter quite a while back but didn't upload it because I didn't like it too much, and then I completely forgot about it. Uploading now not because I like it any better, but because I have finals week coming up and won't be able to write anything for a while :/

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The next morning, Nakuul decided to let Surbhi sleep in as he got ready to hit the gym. Practice was scheduled for the evening, and he wanted to spend time with Surbhi before that. He left her a note before leaving but when he came back to the room 2 hours later, she was still sleeping. It was only 10 am; they had plenty of time on their hands.

With a smile on his face at this turn of events that had his girlfriend in his bed like he had wished for all these weeks, he walked over to the bed and sat down beside her. She was clutching the duvet that covered her otherwise naked body, and her mouth was slightly open. Leaning in, Nakuul placed a light kiss on her forehead. He was still in his workout clothes and although he knew Surbhi would be annoyed to find him all sweaty (she did secretly find it sexy), Nakuul wasn't in the mood for taking a shower now. Maybe they could take one together, later.

Surbhi looked angelic and peaceful while sleeping and all that was fine and well, but they only had two days together and Nakuul didn't want her to spend it sleeping. Despite knowing that she would be jetlagged, not to mention tired after their rendezvous from last night, he decided to wake her up. He was a little desperate for her attention, he would admit.

"Surbhi," He called out lovingly, "Wake up, sweetheart." She only grumbled in her sleep and turned the other way. He sighed; waking up Surbhi Chandna was a task on its own. He lay down beside her and pulled her close, her back touching his chest.

"Wake up, baby," He mumbled, placing kisses on her neck. She moaned lightly before turning to face him.

"Why are you not letting me sleep?" She asked grumpily, putting her head down on his chest.

"Because," He said, placing a kiss on her chin, "you're only here for two days and I want to spend as much time with you as possible. Come on now, get ready. We'll have breakfast and go for a London tour."

"Really?" Surbhi sat up excitedly, clutching the duvet to her chest. "We can go? I thought you'd have practice and didn't ask."

Nakuul smiled and caressed her jaw.

"If I knew you were so excited, I'd have woken you up sooner. As for practice, it's scheduled for the evening, so we have enough time before that to roam around London a bit. But," He continued, "only if you hurry up."

Surbhi nodded like an obedient child.

"Yes sir," She grinned, already getting up from the bed. "Just give me half an hour and I'll be ready."

"Wait," Nakuul held her elbow. "I haven't taken a shower yet and we want to hurry up so..." He trailed off suggestively.

"Just come," Surbhi laughed, and dragged his overly eager self to the bathroom.

--

Their London tour basically consisted of lots of shopping and Surbhi making Nakuul promise her that they would come here again soon. Nakuul happily obliged; he was in a cheerful mood. After a delicious lunch at a fancy restaurant in London accompanied by some classic British tea, they headed back to the hotel. Dumping all the shopping bags on the couch, Surbhi slumped down on the bed.

"I'm so tired," She groaned. Her body was still jet-lagged and accompanied by the exhaustion of last night and all the walking they had done today, she was fatigued. Nakuul typed away on his phone and Surbhi threw a pillow at him for being distracted.

"Ow," Nakuul gave a fake groan. "Surbhi!"

"You're not giving me enough attention," She narrowed her eyes at him. He grinned.

"Sorry. Just got a text from the boys. Everyone's gathering near the pool and wanted us to join them too. But if you're too tired, we can just rest..."

"I wanna go!" Surbhi said chirpily, getting up from the bed. "I'm too tired to swim but maybe I can just relax in the jacuzzi?"

"Works," Nakuul replied, pecking her mouth.

The two quickly got changed into their swimwear. Surbhi wore a floral-printed pink one-piece with a robe on top, while Nakuul donned on a white t-shirt with blue trunks. They reached the hotel's pool area where most of their friends were already gathered. Surbhi got rid of her robe and joined Sakshi and Ziva in the jacuzzi while Nakuul discarded his t-shirt and got into the pool.

"Surbhi aunty!" Ziva threw her arms around Surbhi who happily took the little girl on her lap.

"She's such a big fan of you," Sakshi said with a smile. "She's told all her friends at school that the girl from Ishqbaaaz is her aunty!"

"Aw my cutie pie," Surbhi kissed Ziva's chubby cheeks. Turning to Sakshi, she let out a sigh. "Gosh, I wish I could stay longer. It feels so good here with you all."

"I understand how you feel," Sakshi offered considerately. "The thought that when Mahi retires, I won't be able to spend so much time with all these amazing people really saddens me. But such is life. And you Surbhi, should be happy that someday, you'll be able to accompany Nakuul to these tournaments and have such nice vacations. You both have many more years of cricket ahead of you!"

Surbhi nodded. Her words had indeed lifted her spirits.

"What's up, girls?"

Their conversation was interrupted by Anushka, who got into the jacuzzi wearing a cute white bikini with polka dots.

"Nothing, just reminiscing about the past and being hopeful about the future," Sakshi said with a wink towards Surbhi. Soon, they were joined by the other women whose partners goofed about in the pool while they themselves gossiped and sipped on martinis.

"So," Anushka turned towards Surbhi, "What did Nakuul give you as an anniversary present?"

Surbhi scrunched her nose.

"Nothing." She said grumpily. "He did buy me a lot of things when we went shopping earlier today, but nothing as an anniversary present."

"And what did you give him?" Asked Hazel. Surbhi shrugged.

"I surprised him by coming here, na? That should count as a present." The others nodded.

"I'm sure he'll give you something," Anushka offered. "These men know how to give gifts, I'll give them that. For Virat and my first dating-anniversary, he gifted me a vacation to Bali."

"Wow," Surbhi whistled, impressed. "That is so romantic. Nakuul and I can't afford a vacation right now in terms of time, but he better give me something mind-blowing. I flew all the way here for him, dammit!"

The others laughed at her cuteness, while Ziva pulled her Surbhi aunty's cheeks in delight. The boys urged their women to join them in the pool; some complied, while others chose to relax in the jacuzzi. Nakuul decided to join Surbhi himself.

"Hey sweetheart," Nakuul said to Ziva, placing a kiss on her cheeks. "How's my little zi-zi?"

She giggled and put her arms out to Nakuul, who gently took her into his lap.

"Traitor," Surbhi said to Ziva, pinching her nose.

"And how's my other sweetheart doing?" Nakuul asked Surbhi as he put an arm behind her on the platform.

"Good," She answered, leaning her head against his arm. "A little tired, but this is relaxing."

"Good," Nakuul mumbled, placing a kiss on Surbhi's cheek. It was Ziva who kissed his cheeks in reply, making him laugh.

"My first girlfriend is getting jealous of you," He told Surbhi while rubbing his nose with Ziva's. "Don't worry, zi-zi. You'll always be my no.1."

--

Nakuul and Surbhi returned to the room an hour later. After taking a quick shower, Nakuul got ready for practice.

"What am I supposed to do while you're away?" Surbhi asked him with a pout.

"You can come and watch me practice," He suggested, to which she frowned.

"As tempting as that sounds," She said sarcastically, "I'll have to say hard pass."

"Well, you can do some more shopping with one of the other girls, visit a café, take a nap..."

"You'll be back soon, right?" She asked him. He walked to where she sat down on the bed.

"3 hours, tops," He kissed her soft lips. Surbhi returned the kiss and watched him leave. After so many weeks of staying apart, these couple of hours of separation were difficult still.

--

It was only 5 hours later that Nakuul returned. Practice had gone on for longer than they had expected, and he rushed back to the room to find Surbhi sitting cross-legged on the bed while gazing through a magazine. She gave him a glance as he entered and shifted her attention back to the magazine at hand. Nakuul bit his tongue; his girl was angry.

"I'm so so so sorry," He said as he sat down beside her and put her arms around her physique. Surbhi wriggled.

"Practice had to be extended because we were trying out a new fielding strategy," He explained, "And amidst all that, I lost track of time and forgot to text you." Seeing no reaction from Surbhi, he shook her and placed his chin on her shoulder.

"Sorry na, baby?" He said softly. Surbhi sighed and flipped the magazine close.

"I don't want to be angry because I understand," She said, turning to face him, "But I can't help but feel upset. I've come all the way from Mumbai and we're barely getting to spend some time alone. And on top of that you..." She trailed off.

"I what?" Nakuul urged.

"You haven't given me an anniversary gift," Surbhi admitted softly, looking down.

"Ah, so that's why Miss Chandna is upset," He grinned, pulling her onto his lap. He tried kissing her, but she moved her face away.

"Well, shouldn't I be?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Of course, you have every right to be," Nakuul said with mock seriousness. "In fact, you should give me some punishment for taking so long."

"Stop joking," Surbhi hit his chest. "I'm serious."

"So am I," He kissed behind her ear. "I actually thought of giving you a nice little surprise during dinner, but if you want, I'll give you the gift right now."

"You mean you have it?" Surbhi exclaimed, surprised. Nakuul nodded.

"Yep. I've had it for a couple of days now, actually. Do you want it right now?"

Surbhi nodded eagerly. Nakuul was about to get up when she pulled him back.

"Actually wait," She bit her lip, "Give it to me during dinner only, like you had planned. And I'm sorry for ruining it," She apologized with a pout.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Nakuul said, kissing the corner of her lips. "After the surprise you've given me, this would be nothing anyway."

"No, still," Surbhi buried her face into his neck, "I want you to do exactly what you were planning to do. Forget this conversation ever happened."

"Yes, ma'am," Nakuul replied. "For now, I was planning to make sweet, passionate love to you. Should I do that also?"

"First go take a shower, mister," Surbhi frowned. "You stink."

"You love it," Nakuul rubbed his nose with hers, making her shriek and shoo him away.

--

Nakuul's surprise for Surbhi was a romantic candlelight dinner at the rooftop of the hotel, where he had a corner reserved for them. She was eagerly waiting for her anniversary present but he was leisurely talking all things romantic and enjoying the meal. It was during dessert that Surbhi had had enough.

"Okay enough now," She remarked, crossing her arms with a scowl. "Just give me the present already."

Nakuul chuckled. It had been fun to see her bouncing up and down in her seat all this while. He took out a rectangular box out of his pocket and sat down on his knees beside her. She looked visibly surprised.

"Don't draw conjectures just now," He warned her, "I'm not proposing." Surbhi laughed even as she internally sighed. Opening the blue velvet box, he revealed to her a beautiful bracelet with a sapphire-heart in the middle. It was pure diamond and brilliantly reflecting lights. Surbhi gasped--it was beautiful.

"If you look closely," Nakuul started, shifting a little closer, "It has our names written inside the heart. Very small, but at least we both know that it's there."

"Nakuul," Surbhi said as her eyes moistened a little, "This is absolutely gorgeous! And you had it custom made?"

"Yep," He replied proudly. "One of the first things I did after coming to England was order this. Thankfully, it arrived a couple of days before our anniversary."

Saying so, he took the bracelet out and carefully clasped it around her slim wrist. It looked elegant over her soft, caramel skin. As a thank you, Surbhi leaned down and gave him a soft kiss.

"Now I feel stupid for not getting you a gift," She said with a pout. Nakuul was about to tell her that her surprise visit was the best gift ever, before she continued— "but I do have something planned for when you come back to Mumbai."

Nakuul grinned. That sounded promising. Getting up, he walked back to his chair and they enjoyed their dessert, more eager to have their personal dessert in the room later.

--

I didn't realize how this chapter became so long without even managing to cover half of what I had intended to show. Wanted to wrap up the world cup in this part but I guess it'll take one more chapter, at least. 

Please leave your votes and comments, they will really motivate me amidst all the academic pressure 🙈