"You are a demented man!" Annika squinted her eyes and pursed her lips in disdain.

"Excuse me!" Shivaay exclaimed! "What makes you think that! Pray tell?" He asked confused.

"You must really know that you aren't supposed to hold yourself responsible for whatever Daksh said! But nope, you enjoy going on guilt trips, don't you?" Annika rolled her eyes.

"How did you know!" Shivaay asked, a little surprised. Shivaay decided not to tell Annika that he knew, but of course OmRu would have told her, he realised.

"Like this was big secret! You may try to hide things, but your Kanji aankhen na, they tell me everything. Now Shivaay, open your mind a little bit okay? And think. Our grandparents wanted the Oberoi-Advani relationship to be established, so they wanted their children to get married. But all born were sons, now was it your fault? No! Then they planned to get their grandchildren married, was it your fault? NO! Because you weren't even born when this happened! Then there were boys born on both sides, until I was born! Was it your fault? No! You were born before Om, was it your fault? Nope! If it was Om before you, I would have probably married him!"

Both shuddered at that mere thought. "Anyway, now, neither were we in a relationship nor did I ever ask you not to be in one, right? So tell me how are you to blame for anything! I kept myself away from all the men, one being Dada Ji's promise, but also the fact that none of them felt right you know! I have had few people in my life too, but the fact being none of them became relationships has nothing to do with you!" Annika took a deep breath as she saw Shivaay ponder over every word she said. She held his arms and spoke in a softer tone this time, "Shivaay... If anything goes wrong, don't think you are always at fault, okay? Let this Shivaay Singh Oberoi be free from the whole blame game, he deserves this," Annika said as she took him in a light embrace. Shivaay sighed and hugged her back. He of course, would never know how Annika was always successful in solving the riddle that Shivaay was.

"Waise..." She pulled him out and pouted. "I didn't expect such an unromantic kiss from you!" She said making Shivaay chuckle.

"Maybe we should change that!" Shivaay said huskily as he went closer to her face. She involuntarily closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Shivaay bent down and let his lips feather touch her eyebrows one by one. She looked up with an emotion he couldn't construe, but there was a kind of certainty in her orbs. He placed a soft kiss on her cheek and he felt her shoulders arch up a little. His breath hitched as he memorized every speck of her fragrance. The air electrified once again as every part him woke up rejuvenated, as if it had been in a deep slumber. He looked at her once again, seeking permission. Her lips parted as if it was waiting to invite him in as he read all the nuances of her visage, a soft hue of scarlet had blanketed both her cheeks. He had never seen such an allure before, his heart raced as he inched closer to her lips. Their lips almost touched. Almost...

"Bhaiyaaa! Bhabhiii!"

They heard Rudra's voice and jolted back. Annika looked away as she panted for air. Her cheeks were hot and few beads of sweat fell down from her fore head. She heard Shivaay mutter a curse and looked up at him. His eyes which were emerald filled with passion were now steely grey full of frustration. When she raised her eyebrows, he mumbled to give him a minute and turned away. She had a frown as she went towards the door. She stood there for a few minutes and started her stance once she felt his presence behind her. She entwined her fingers in his, he looked up and held her hand firmly and affirmed, I will try to be your best Annika. She saw his gaze, ever so tender, as his lips curved a little, you are the best Shivaay!

Om looked at the way Gauri was animatedly talking to Rudra. Those two were conversing like long lost friends. She threw back her head and laughed, and the sound of her laughter became the symphony of his heart. Her topaz eyes gleamed with excitement for something Rudra had said, even though Om knew it was absurd, he couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy when he saw her at ease around Rudra. Sensing his piercing stare, Gauri turned and her eyes twinkled when she cast them on him. The green eyed monster now shape shifted to the Aashiq he tried to hide from the world. She too was lost in his hazel eyes, trying to find the secrets of his soul.

"Shivaay, don't you feel the chemistry?" Annika questioned him as they descended down the stairs. Confused, he looked in the direction her eyes were pointed at and was amused to see Zulfi Singh Oberoi lost in a certain chiraiya. He should have known that Om wouldn't even try to keep his gawking tad toned down from the very first day, he shook his head and turned to Annika. His eyebrows scrunched immediately as he was able to tell that she was planning to take the cupid's bow.

"Shivaa..."

"No Annika, I know what you are thinking. And NO! You aren't going to do anything. Don't meddle!" He warned her and she pouted adorably, with that his heart did melt. He cleared his throat and pretended to be stern. She mumbled incomprehensibly and he eyed her.

"Sadu Singh Oberoi" She frowned and walked down before he could even say a word. She went and sat next to Mallika, before he could follow her, few of the guests came over to congratulate him. He stood there obliged to give pleasantries while Annika was telling something to Mallika in her ears. Mallika grinned and showed her a thumbs up. The two of them turned to him and stuck their tongue out. He tried not to look baffled, may god save his little brother!

"Bhaiya!" Rudra ran to him and hugged Shivaay as he saw him approaching them. "You are finally off the eligible bachelors list" He guffawed making Shivaay scowl. Shivaay was finally able to sit down, man he was exhausted. Annika moved a little closer to him, making him smile. It was almost like, well Shivaay didn't know how to put it in words, but it felt really nice; it felt really... right!

"Shivaay, let's leave RiKara okay? But you have to accept that RuVya have some serious chemistry, like oxidation reaction on point! Like his ions are attracted to her! Okay Shivaay, don't look at me like that. I swear I'm not crazy!" Annika muttered the last line when she saw her fiance staring blankly at her.

"Now what are RiKara and RuVya? Care to explain?" Shivaay raised his eyebrows when Mallika joined.

"I told you Anni, Shivaay is dumb! They are couple names you!" Mallika rolled her eyes and Siddharth chided,

"Shivaay has better jobs than to figure out couple names, alright?" Shivaay felt their brotherhood growing stronger courtesy these two ladies, he had new found respect for his business rival for dealing with them. "Okay, Gauri and Om seem to be affected by each other, but look at Rudra and Bhavya! I see nothing but animosity!" Siddharth said and Shivaay joined,

"We all know those two aren't in good terms, so Annika..." He saw Annika and Mallika glaring at the two of them.

"Are you both blind by any chance? There is crackling chemistry there! Those two only talk about each other!" Annika did not understand how men can be so dimwitted.

"Correction, they complain!" Shivaay said and turned to Siddharth, "Bro, how have you been dealing with all this alone?" Siddharth shook his head and replied,

"You are also going to be stuck with a crazy wife Shivaay my man, but I am here for you!" And pulled him into a hug, making Annika and Mallika shake their heads, MEN!

Well, honestly, Omkara was embarrassed. Gauri left the moment Annika came down and started singing 'Tere chehre se nazar nahi hatt thi." He looked around and thanked the stars the older members of the family wasn't there. He wanted to hide away from the smirks he got from those who were there, and Shivaay and Siddharth were looking at him sympathy. How did these people manage to know this! But his brain mocked him that he didn't once try to hide it for them to not know, which of course he chose to ignore. He just growled and left from there.

"Bhavya, get me some orange juice. Without the pulp!" Rudra ordered and Bhavya of course obliged. Did she have any choice? Honestly, Rudra was being really sweet the whole time, he did not order her around and she actually started to like him. But now, he had just plainly ordered and she cursed the whole slave clause. She looked around and spotted Shivaay and Annika talking to few guests. It was very heartening to see them honestly, if she hadn't known better, she herself would have thought that they were a couple in love. They seemed so perfect together. And she then saw Gauri trying to avoid Om, and she let out a chuckle. They had looked away immediately after their eyes met. Even if they both stood in the farthest corner, they seemed to have their eyes only for each other. She took the glass of juice to Rudra and was surprised to see him give it to the lady he was talking to. He turned to her and muttered a thank you, and introduced her to the couple beside him and immediately started praising Bhavya's athletic skills to them, maybe he wasn't bad after all...

It sure was an eventful day for Shivaay, it was way past mid night. He texted Annika a 'Good night' and sat back on the very recliner they had sat down a few days ago. The Annika that he thought she was and the Annika that he now thinks she is are very different. The first day, he felt she was a slightly better workaholic person that he is, the second day when she had come back in a hurry from Dubai he was blown away about how amazingly she managed to be there when she was needed despite being busy. Every time he decided that this was Annika, something about her would surprise him again. He had expected a calm and composed girl, but darn she was adorably crazy too! Being a man who was quite good at judging a person, Shivaay was unable to interpret his own fiancee. But he did know one thing, she deserved everything and he would give her that. He would make sure to even move the moon if that is what she wanted. Shivaay Singh Oberoi had always been assessing whether someone deserved his attention before even having a small talk. For the first time in his life, he wanted to become someone who worthy enough to someone else's. He also wondered how he became comfortable around Annika in such a short span of time, because it was no secret that Shivaay was close only to his family. Her chortle, her personality everything was alien to him, yet somewhere it felt familiar, it felt right. With a jolt, Shivaay stood up, not regarding the time he made a call. He decided that he would give his Annika everything she deserved!