(A/N: Many of you were very excited for this story and I'm happy to say I am back. But I think this will be like a filler chapter. I'm sorry for that. I'll update another one sometime this evening if you guys insist. Vote and comment please. Love you all.)

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I was staying back after college to refer to some books. I had a hell lot of work to do and if I went home, I couldn't study well with that big kid around. It's obvious who I meant. My immature husband.

To not worry him further, I just sent a quick text to him. Whatever's he had to complain or protest about could be dealt later on.

*Listen, have to study. Staying at college. I'll be home by 8. Love you. 😘😘*

I tapped the 'send' button and kept my phone to the side. Enough fooling around now. Let's study. I began reading the important paragraphs and began referring to a couple of other books at the same time, trying to understand as much as possible as quickly as possible. I began jotting down the important keywords and wiggled the pen I held while I read through my notes to see if they made sense.

Just then my phone pinged. What a distraction. I quickly slid it underneath the table in annoyance and read.

*Alright. Drop me a message when you're done. I'll pick you up. I love you.*

I smiled to myself and turned the phone on silent. I just glanced at the time. 5:13. Alright, almost three hours left. I should be able to complete one chapter at least. I said to myself. I placed my phone into my bag and sighed. I began jotting down the points I needed to remember through mind maps and by color coding them until I remembered everything I'd learnt about that topic, putting Manik and my personal life behind my current priority.

***

Manik was lying on the couch, with his huge Psychology textbook on his lap. He was munching on a bag of chips and simultaneously watching the World Cup on television. Every time India scored a six, he began to hoot and take a sip of his beer. Man! He was one hell of a person when it came to studying.

His friends had come over too, for combined study but it didn't look like it made much of a difference. While Alya and Dhruv were seriously studying, the rest of them were chilling. After all, they only scored by cheating in examinations.

"And Yuvraj scores a century, with a partnership of 163 runs with Virat Kohli." The commentators shouted and Manik threw his book away and hooted real loud and then went to party.

"Guys, let's chill now. We'll study tomorrow." He brought some champagne from the kitchen and fizzed it up on everyone. Eventually they all joined and ruined the house while I was glad I was at the library. After a good 3 hours of studying, I sent my man a message to pick me up.

*I'm done. Are you sure you can come?*

Though I knew he was never that busy to not be able to pick me up and stuff but I still didn't want to disturb him. Yet, before I realized, he texted back.

*I'm coming babe. Calm down. I'll be there in 5.*

I smiled and locked the phone. After a few moments, I unlocked it, went to the gallery and scrolled for his pictures.

I giggled lightly as I admired him. From those bad, ugly days to what we are now, it wasn't a long journey but not to mention the amount of drama it contained. For some reason, he took selfies from my phone too, of course he would. Every man goes through his girl's phone to see her contacts and hell, gets jealous when he sees guy's names. I found him really cute at times back then too. Now it was just that I was in love with him.

I set the check-printed shirt as my wallpaper and almost felt my heart pop outta my body whenever I saw it. It was like he was looking at me, with those intense yet subtle eyes, making me weak at my knees. I love him so much.

My attention was brought back to my surroundings as I heard his bike brake before me. He got down, kissed me lightly on my lip and I saw some people giving us looks. Ugh. So embarrassing. Manik! I was flushing at his PDA and I hit him playfully.

"What? I missed you, okay?" He frowned as he leaned closer to me and I took a clear glance at the surroundings we were in. Hundreds of people were looking at us and I couldn't blame them. We were at the college gate for heaven's sake and not to mention, he was a student here too.

"You're clearly drunk." I pushed him away to avoid the situation from getting worse. Manik frowned again.

"Come on Nandini... Stop nagging. Okay hop on, we'll talk about it later." I got on the bike and so did he and seconds later, we were off. I glanced at Manik through the mirror and he looked grumpy. I wrapped one of my arms around his neck and the other was from under his arm, on his shoulder. I cozied into him but he didn't nudge.

"Gussa ho?" I rested my head on his back and I inhaled his cologne. This man smells like heaven. I smell confidence.

"Nahi hun main gussa." He growled and I frowned.

"Toh phir smile kyun nahi kar rahe ho?" I poked his cheek playfully and he looked annoyed.

"Smile karna nahi aata mujhe. I only know how to frown." I huffed and sighed.

"Manik! Fine. Baat nahi karni hai toh mat karo. Main bhi force nahi kar rahi hun." I undid my hands from his body and kept it to myself. Manik stopped the bike at the signal and looked at me through the mirror.

He grabbed my hands and wrapped them around his neck again.

"Even if you're angry, never let me go. Always be there for me. Never give up on me, Nandini." He sighed and I felt my heart drop. Was he sad?

"Manik, tum teek ho? Kuch hua kya?"

"You don't love me anymore. When I kiss you, you back off. When I come close to you, you push me away. Only when I am angry, you hug me and hold me and try to console me." He frowned and I felt extremely sad and got a little defensive too, to prove my point.

"Really Manik? Like seriously you think so? I am not used to this PDA, okay? There are some things called 'private moments' and it's weird when you do some things in public, that too in front of people we know."

"Get used to it then. You're the college head's daughter-in-law. Nobody thinks anything about you, alright? Nobody has the right to judge you in the campus. Do you get me?" I crossed my arms helplessly and glared at him.

"What do you mean 'get used to it'? It's not so easy. I wasn't born with a silver spoon. I never received so much attention." I rolled my eyes and the bike came to a halt. I got off and he parked it and we walked into the apartment. We walked towards the elevator.

"You know you receive it because you deserve it. Who am I to you by the way? Your husband. I have the right to kiss you, to touch you, any place I want without anybody's consent." He said, pulling me closer to him as the elevator closed.

"Manik, I know but..." I was cut in between with Manik's stupid conclusions.

"That's it. You're mine. I am proud to show that you're mine to everyone. If you're embarrassed of me, then I..." I put my palm on hid mouth to stop words from coming out.

"Come on Manik, you know I love you. Just in college, I'm telling you to control na? Please samjho. Manik, please na?" I tried to convince him and he just sighed. The door opened at the fifth floor and we walked out. He unlocked the door and pulled me onto him as soon as we entered.

"I know I am stupid at times. I get too insecure of you not because I don't trust you but because I know there are so many men out there who can treat you better than me." He gripped my waist and I cupped his cheeks. I shook my head slowly to assure him.

"Shut up, Manik. You are the best husband I can ever have. As long as you're in my life, you don't have to worry about losing me. I'll always be yours." I kissed him hard and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I'm sorry." He whispered and kissed me.

"I love you."

"I know. I love you so much." He carried me and we headed to clean the house.

To be continued...

***

Part-2:
A week later, our semester exams begun. Manik and I would sit up the whole night to study and poor Manik would hyperventilate when he saw the books. I tried to help him a little but Social Studies was just not my thing. He would end up sleepless and tensed and I was a little worried.

Not to mention how hard it was for me to convince him to not get cozy with me. We literally had an agreement for 'no touching, no kissing' for a week and return, he could do whatever he wanted the next week. Yet, he was so hard to deal with. He would always hold me when he was down and stick around like a little puppy when he wanted my attention.

Nevertheless, our exam preparations were stressful so we really needed that little coziness here and there. I didn't expect Manik to be real serious about his studies but then he did surprise me, at least by cramming in the last minute. His friends' statuses were also almost the same yet they still met, had fun together and studied together too.

Sometimes I envied his friends. Not that Manik didn't care much about me, but rather that he was extremely adorable around them. The way he protects them is really something that attracts me. Come on, accept it girls, everyone of us have a particular characteristic we like a lot about our man. His protectiveness and possessiveness attracts me. It's only around me that he behaves all immature and needy for attention.

I wouldn't blame him though. He never had siblings and these moments with me were the only things that gave him some company. Yet, I wouldn't deny how pampered he was, being the only child in the house, that too a son and hence, constantly nagged for attention.

It was my Chemistry paper the next day and I was kinda done with revision. On the other hand, Manik was just cribbing.

"Nanduuuu... I want you to sit next to me. Why are you going so far away? Hold my hand and sit here, come." He scowled looking at how far away I was from him. I lifted my head to look and him and shook my head nervously.

"No no no no. Manik, I know what that 'sitting together' will lead to. I'm doing nothing of that sort. Study now." I advised and continued studying. He groaned in annoyance.

"Fine. Don't sit. Don't love me. I'll go to Mukti's house. Or Alya's." As soon as I heard Alya, he knew I had all his attention. My head sprung up.

"Wait... Why? No, you're not going anywhere. Sit and study here." I commanded and he cringed in eyebrows in frustration.

"I can't study alone. I'll go to Alya's place. Her mother will make amazing delicacies for me and I'll..." He dragged on to make me jealous and I hopped outta my seat.

"No. Manik, no." I stood in front of him with my hands on either sides of my body. He gave me a quick glance and his hands were placed over mine, on my waist. He pulled me closer and I fell, holding his shoulders for balance.

"Kyun?" He asked in a controlled tone. I huffed.

"Because I don't like her. I don't want you to hangout with her alone." I grunted and he made a cute pout.

"I don't wanna be alone. Won't you think about me?" He grimaced and I rolled my eyes. Such a difficult man!

"You're not alone, Manik. I exist here." I stated my presence and he let go immediately.

"Fine."

Well, that was easy. Did I make him sad? What if I had given him the wrong idea?

"Did you complete studying?" He pressed his lips in annoyance and glared at the book.

"Yeah, this book gets on my nerves now. I can't... sit in this place like this. I want to touch you, breathe you, hold you, make love to you..." And before he could say anything, I covered his mouth.

"That's enough now. Remember... One week. 7 days." I whispered against his lips and kissed my hand that was on his. He let out a small giggle.

"That creeps me out. It sounds like Samara from The Ring. 7 DAYS!" He grabbed me and howled into my face to scare me and I chuckled.

"Manik!" I slapped him playfully and he laughed. I struggled to get out of his grip. "Choddo mujhe..."

"Kiss me, I'll let you go." He said, looking into my eyes. I blinked at him dreamily and then broke eye-contact.

"No, thank you. I'll fight my way." I struggled again and he seemed pissed now.

"Nandini, yaar... Fine go." He just left me and I knew I had annoyed him but tell me, what could I do with a person like Manik in my life?

"Manik, just 7 days please." I pleaded and he nodded sadly.

***

I walked out of the examination hall with Navya and some other girls. I walked out of the corridor and down the stairs to see Manik coming from the other side with his best friends, laughing and giving high fives to each other. I paused as I looked at him and he casually looked at me too.

As soon as he saw me, his eyebrows raised and he waved and signaled a 'how-was-your-paper'. I smiled and showed a thumbs-up. I pointed at him and he popped his lower lip in dismay, as he showed a thumbs-down. I giggled, waved 'bye' to Navya and then walked towards Manik. Manik also escaped from his friends to come to me.

"Hi." He breathed and put his hands in his pockets, looking around. I looked at him and perhaps for the first time, he was controlling his urge to touch me.

"So Political Science tomorrow?" I tilted my head to meet his eyes. He turned and cringed his facial muscles.

"Yeah, hell with it. You? Math?"

"Yep." I said with an involuntary smile and he nodded in understanding. Just then his friends descended from the stairs too and obviously, the first one to talk to me was Cabir.

"Ooo... Hey Nandini. Casual talk eh? Perhaps for the first time?" He said with a small smirk and I gaped at Manik. He was smiling at me and then I broke eye-contact.

"What do you mean?" I asked, still looking at the floor and Cabir cleared his throat.

"What do I mean matlab ki whenever you guys meet in college, you generally attract a lot of attention for expressing your love for each other and..." I was looking at Manik for some reaction and Manik looked pretty annoyed. Before Cabir completed his sentence, Manik cut him off.

"Cabir, shut up." Cabir smirked and dismissed himself by popping in between the two of us, increasing the distance between us and Manik and I just gaped.

"Enjoy your day, lovebirds." He shouted and I felt my cheeks redden. Manik came closer to me, until I felt his uneven breath on my nose.

"Kahin bahar jaayen? Lunch ke liye?" He whispered and I smiled at him. I nodded and he held his elbow out for me. I wrapped my hands around his arm and we walked out the campus like a happy couple.

***

Manik and I were having a hearty giggle as he was acting all gentlemanly, holding the chair out for me and stuff like that.

"Good afternoon. What would you like to have, Sir?" Manik smiled at him and then leaned into me.

"Darling, what do you wanna eat?" He tried acting too cheesy which I found so unnatural but nevertheless, I let it go. I looked at the menu and spotted something interesting.

"Macaroni and Cheese?" I suggested and he smiled.

"Okay so, two Macaroni and Cheese and one personal Garden Special. For my wife." He winked at me and the waiter gave us weird looks. I smiled awkwardly at the waiter and he walked away quickly. As soon as the waiter went off, I grabbed Manik's hand.

"Manik, what was that?" I gave him a gloomy look and he smirked.

"What? You don't let me touch you only. You deserve this." He shrugged casually with a small smirk. I frowned.

"Oh yeah, you know what? My husband is my life. Nobody else has the right to touch me, not even you." I didn't realize I was shouting until I saw some people turn towards us. Shit! I'd already embarrassed myself too much today. Manik pressed his smile and I rolled my eyes at him.

"So what about my baby? Do I have any claims on it at least?" He spoke a little louder than I expected him to and the staff giggled at us. Shit! What would they have been thinking? I gaped at Manik and sat reaction-less. I didn't know what to say.

"Manik!" I called in annoyance and made weird and sad faces and I felt my phone buzz.

*I'm sorry. 😘 I love you.*

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(Seriously, I believe such questions arise in everyone's mind and many of us don't like PDA either. Sorry for the filler. I'll update one more part soon. Who's excited for the honeymoon? 😉 Vote and comment please. OKAYTHANKSBYE.)