"Alpaca!" He shouted once again. He should not have attended that call when he was out with his cat. That little white furry ball was one enthusiastic cat he had seen in his entire life. He didn't realize when it slipped out of its collar and vanished.

He was running and looking around on the pavement and saw a similar cat at the far end. He squinted his eyes and could see a girl bent down, petting the cat. He jogged towards them and heaved a sigh of relief. It was definitely his Alpaca.

"Ah here you are." He stood in front of them and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thank you." He said to the girl. He couldn't see her face as it was covered with her hair. Her white sundress was the exact shade of Alpaca's fur. That shameless buddy of his was sitting in her lap. What a girl magnet it was!

"Come buddy." He called his cat but he snuggled more into the lap of the young lady.

When Alpaca didn't move, he shook his head and sat at the level of the girl. Her face was still not visible. Her hair was in a long bob and completely on her face as she was kissing the cat and petting it.

"Looks like he likes you. He's not very friendly though. Alpaca come buddy we gotta go home." He said in a low voice, small formal smile on his face.

Her hand stopped when she heard the name. She couldn't look up. Never in a million years. What were the odds? She then giggled. He saw her body shaking with chuckle. He was reminded of someone. The funsies of the name were never ending.

"It didn't disappoint its mom." She finally said. If Avi could see, he would have seen how big her smile was.

"Excuse me?" He asked. He didn't know what she meant.

She tucked her hair behind her ears and looked at him, smiling through her tears.

Avi touched his face to see if he had any fever. His face was as cold as it could get on a summer evening in London. He was feeling okay. Then why was he seeing her?

"Don't tell me you forgot me?" She said pretending to be angry but who was she kidding? It would not be on him if he forgot her.

"Are you for real?" He tried to touch her face but he didn't. He didn't know if he should.

"Don't worry it's really me. I'm not a ghost." She let out a laugh.

Avi was not able to comprehend. Was he seeing a dream? A beautiful one at that. Alpaca skipped out of her lap and was trying to climb on Avi now. He stood up while she was still sitting down on the side of the pavement.

"Give me your hand." She said as she forwarded her hand for him to hold and he did, without wasting any time. She took his help to stand up and was still hold his hand. Her legs were numb because of sitting in a criss-cross position for too long.

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Now they were sitting in a park with Alpaca sleeping between both of them. Avi was looking forward towards nothing in particular and she was looking at him. He still looked the same, though the boyish charm was taken over by manly changes in these four years. He still had a lean body. His dimples were not visible but one could make he had dimples just by looking at his cheeks. He was still as charming as ever. Both of them said nothing for a long time.

"Care to explain?" He said without looking at her. He had given it a thought and was still not able to figure out the whole situation. It still felt like one of his episodes of hallucinations.

"I wrote that letter and gave it to my mother along with the address of your father's office because that's all I could get my hands on." She tried to remember what happened years ago. Though her memories were hazy from that time, he was a profound one in them.

"I told her to post it if I cannot make it out of that OT." She looked at him. He still wasn't looking at her. It was still painful for him to remember all of that.

"She asked me if it was a love confession to a boy. I thought it was joke she was trying to crack. And I said yes. I wanted to go along that. Anything that could keep our thoughts away from the impending doom that was awaiting."

Avi looked at her.

"Well, surgery was partially successful. What a joke that doctor pulled on me. He didn't tell me about that situation that I could possibly land in. If only he had told me about that possibility. I thought it was very black and white situation." She giggled.

Avi was still silent. He wanted her to complete her part of the story.

"I was initially in coma for few days and then paralyzed for a few years, hardly able to form a proper sentence." Her eyes were glassy. Those were hards times on her.

"My mom took the joke seriously though. She posted the letter thinking the boy will contact after a confession. My mother is sucker for romance I tell you." She laughed.

"And I couldn't say anything because well, I was paralyzed." She was trying to pass it as a joke but he didn't even smile. He was in regret. Even if it was a news of death he should have tried to contact her family, share their pain. He felt like a failed person. But the loss was so huge, he forgot how numb he went after that.

She couldn't spare a look at him this time because she knew he was looking at her. She stood up from the bench and straightened her dress, removing the crease formed.

"See you then." She said and bent to caress the sleepy fur baby and pressed her lips into a small smile when she looked at him.

Avi kept looking at her retreating back. He wanted to say something to stop her but didn't know what can he really say.

"Vrishti!" He called her.

She stopped in her tracks.

He ran up to her and stopped right in front of her.

"Give me your contact number." He said as he picked out his phone from his pocket.

◇◇◇

"So?"

Though she got up to leave, they stood in the middle of the park again after exchanging their numbers, not willing to leave just yet. That brief moment wasn't enough.

"So?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, here for my masters." He rubbed the back of his head.

"What about your father's company?"

"After I graduated, I took that up. Worked there for all these years. I was really hoping to do masters. Dad encouraged me for it so here I am, trying to manage a new branch along with a masters. Still a multitasker." He said that with a grin.

"What about you?"

"My favourite cousin who is getting married soon wanted me here and she couldn't take no for an answer." She chuckled.

"I'm glad." He said that under his breath.

"Anyone special in life?" Vrishti looked everywhere but him when she asked that, hoping against hope that he was still single. But she also knew the difference of four years between them and if he had found someone to love, she was going to be happy about it.

"Yeah." He said. She could see his neck getting pink. Classic Avi. She was happy for him. Her pain in the heart was to be tackled later.

"Congratulations. One lucky girl." She forwarded her hand for a handshake out of awkwardness and bit of numbness.

"What can I say? I'm the lucky one actually." He took her hand to shake as he looked at his feet, neck getting darker shade of pink. He was so in love, she could see it.

"You want to see her?" He asked, excitement clearly visible in his eyes. She wanted to say no to that. But she was not going to.

"Of course." She tried to match his enthusiasm.

He took out his wallet and glanced at the picture in it. So he was an old school picture-of-lover-in-the-wallet kind of guy? She fell in love with him a little more, in that moment.

"The love of my life." He forwarded the wallet towards her. She took a quick glimpse before giving it back to him. A moment of realization came to her. She snatched the wallet out of his hand and inspected the photo. It was the same Polaroid she had left for him along with the letter. She focused her gaze on him, shocked.

He rubbed the back of his head and covered the distance between them in a total of two steps and pulled her towards himself holding her from her waist. He stared at her big kohl filled eyes, the sunlight made them look like drops of honey. Without wasting another second, he pulled her closer (if that was possible) and covered the distance between their lips. Her lip gloss tasted of strawberries and vanilla. He had been wondering what it tasted like for a while. At first she was stunned and then she melted into it. Her hand softly clutching his hair.

"Uh. I forgot to ask, if you have someone in your life?" He parted first and let some air pass between them. The thought was scary but he needed a clarity.

She sighed and grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him towards herself, tiptoeing to reach for his lips. She missed him. Her lip gloss was all over his mouth but he didn't care. Her grip on his collar loosened as she snaked her arm on his neck.

Alpaca was running in circles around them, enthusiastic about this whole ordeal.

"I think we should clean this up." Vrishti pointed at the sheer pink gloss on their face.

"Yeah we should." He leaned towards her to steal another kiss but she put a tissue paper that she took out from the pockets of her dress on his lips while she cleaned hers with another.

"Is it clean now?" He asked. She put her finger on his chin to move his face and see if any trace of what they did was left. She was still checking when he leaned in and pecked on her lips. It was a quick and fluterry touch. She frowned at him.

"What?" He pursed his lips leaving her grinning.

He bent down and placed a peck on her cheek. It was like he was trying to make sure she was real.

She held his face and pressed her lips on his again. She let him take a fill of her, an attempt to make up for the lost years.

"So I'm your forever crush?" He was reminded of the good parts of that letter as he rested his forehead on hers, playfully moving his hand up her waist.

"Yes." She accepted without any hesitation, her hand travelling down his nape.

Alpaca jumped on Avi and moved up to sit on his shoulder.

"This baby wants to go home."

Alpaca rested its paws on Vrishti's shoulder and licked her face.

"Buddy, she's my girl." Avi frowned making her laugh. She picked it in her hand and placed a few kisses on its pristine soft fur.

"How unfair is this." He stomped his leg and pretended to be upset.

She signaled him to come near her. Her mischievous look meant his acting may gain him a kiss or two and he inclined towards her. She lightly slapped him on his cheek. He knew he was tricked.

"How mean!"

"Okay sorry. Come." She pretended to kiss him again and he earned another pat on his cheek. This was the second time he was tricked by her, he was such a gone case. She suppressed her laughter seeing him in disbelief.

"You are totally a mean-" He was cut short by her lips on his. Her smooth almost like a melted butter lips on his left him wide eyed. He looked at her going for a deeper more passionate exploration this time and he was all in for it. He liked how his nose touched hers. Her grip on his shirt was still tight. She was pulling him towards herself and there was no resistance on his part. If anything, he moved closer to her, as close as he could. Atmosphere had air everywhere but between them. There existed only love and nothing else, not even air. She could taste the peppermint he had chewed on hours ago. The fisted bunch on his shirt was going to leave creases. He loved him a creased shirt.

"That's it! You are not coming near me." He panted heavily as he rubbed his chest. He will never have enough of this.

"Why?" She looked at him annoyed.

"I still want to kiss you." She said with a pout.

He picked Alpaca up and dragged her out of the park.

"Are you pretending to not hear me now? I want to kiss you." She whined as he tucked at her hand and went out of the park, towards his car.

"Aviiii." She thought to take his name with extra cuteness in hopes to get from him what she wanted.

Avi was just holding himself from pulling her cheeks on all the cuteness oozing out of her.

"Kiss or I'm not going to talk to you for a...for a week." She pulled out her best card. She knew that will work. Avi ignored her and helped Alpaca climb at the backseat in his car while she looked at him in denial. Did he not care now? Or was he okay with her not talking for a whole week?

"Come I'll drop you home." He ruffled her hair.

She huffed at him and went to sit on the passenger seat leaving the door open. She was angry.

He went to lock it for her, shaking his head at her silliness.

"Seat belt." He told her to put on the seat belt. She turned her face the opposite way, indicating she was already on her words. She was going to ignore him.

He held her face softly and made her look at him. Slowly tracing her lips with his thumb, he neared her, accidentally hitting the button that made the seat she was sitting on recline. Her head was resting on his palm and he was looking at her intently, softly brushing her lips with his. He was half out of the car and half over her. It was an awkward placement but he wasn't going to complain, never in a million years. She held his face in her tiny palm and stared at his eyes. They were fixed at her and there was nothing but pure love and desperate longing for her in them. She was not ready to let go of his feathery lips but they could only go so long without breathing. She gazed at him, mischievous grin not leaving her face. She pressed his head more towards her and when they were inches apart, she lifted her head to lure him in for another kiss and lured he was. Who was going to say no to her? Not him. He loved the fact that she wanted him as much as he did. He didn't know she wanted him more. She had loved him all her life (almost). And now that she knew he felt the same way, this was all the love of all those years pouring in. She didn't care if she came out as desperate. She was desperate for him, and somehow he made it seem like an okay thing.

"We should get a room." He gave her a sly smile.

"You should drop me home." She lightly patted his cheek as she pull her mouth away from him, gasping for air.

He helped her put the seat straight and put on the seat belt for her and turned around to go sit on the driver's seat and drove towards the address she provided him with. She looked at him sheepishly as she moved to peck on his dimple. This was straight out of her dreams.

Alpaca was snuggled in the warm blanket sprawled over the back seat and was taking a big fat nap. It was getting cold outside but right now, in that car, everyone felt warm, as they navigated their way to her cousin's house, now without stealing glances at each other. Love was not forgotten on them.

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A/N: Here comes the official end to this story. Thoughts?