As Riddhima stretched and opened her eyes, she smiled seeing Armaan's face. "Hi," she greeted him, "Good morning." Then her brows narrowed seeing he was sitting by the end of the bed, on the floor, on his knees gazing at her. Turning on her side and snuggling into the pillow while pulling the blanket to her chest, she asked closing her eyes. "What are you doing on the floor?"

"Marry me?"

Her eyes flew open hearing the unexpected words. For a second, she only stared in astonishment. It was too early in the morning for this. Was he really asking that when she looked a mess and had just woken up? She forced herself to sit up. "Wh-what?"

He laughed and jumped over the bed, getting on her other side and laying down. "Relax, basket. When I propose, it'd be a hell lot more romantic than that. I was just practicing."

She glared at him, ready to burst out in a rant for he had stopped her heart for a second there. "Practicing?!!"

He hummed, "Yeah. Obviously, you need it more than I do. Else, if you froze like that when I actually ask, I fear I would die of anticipation first."

She picked a pillow and started hitting him, "You idiot! You want to practice? Go do it in front of a mirror. Not in front of me first thing in the morning on your knees looking at me like that. Are you laughing? Stop laughing. It's not funny."

He finally grabbed the pillow and pulled it aside, jerking her body to him as well for she wanted to continue hitting him, "Oh, but it is funny, Basket. You'd think that when the guy you've always loved asks you to marry him, the first reaction would be to say yes, not freeze."

"I hate you." She muttered and pushed against his chest to sit up.

He, however, protested and caged her in his arms holding her on top of him. "I love you, one two and thousand times more."

The anger in her eyes vanished and they softened gazing into his eyes filled with love and adoration for her. No matter how many times he's said those three words since the first time he said it, it could never be enough. Even when he said it multiple times in a day and every time she responded to it, it always felt new to her every time. It felt as if she was hearing them for the first time.

She sighed and closed the distance between them in a quick kiss. She spoke against his lips, 'Give me a warning next time, please?"

Chuckling, he kissed her again, arms uncrossing behind her back and resting on her bare waist - thanks to her sports bra. Her stomach pulled in involuntary at being ticklish and she smiled against his lips, kissing him once more before pulling up to put some distance between their chests.

She asked to ensure they had time. "Do you have to be anywhere today?"

He shook his head, moving one hand off her skin to her chin. He wasn't done kissing her. "Nope," he answered between pecks and nibbles, "All yours today."

She almost arched back to him, losing herself in their make-out session and the soft moans. It was only when little Armaan marked its presence known that she realized where she had been going with her line of questioning. She pulled back again, panting and fighting the lust in his eyes.

"Basket, don't even..." He got ready to warn her to not even think of leaving.

She cut off his protest with a quick kiss and then looked into his eyes with sure mischief in them, "Join me for a shower?"

His gaze fixed on her, unsure if she was simply teasing him or being very serious. She shuffled out of bed and walking backwards towards the bathroom, beckoned him with her index finger.

He got his answer. She was very much serious.

Her hand reached behind her to get the door knob when his hand stopped her. A low gasp escaped her lips when his body covered hers, her back against the door. His other hand came to her waist and he took another step closer, if that were even possible. She closed her eyes with their hips aligned against each other's and embraced the shiver that it sent through her body.

His lips trailed a hot path from her jaw to her ear. "Only if you promise to come with me somewhere afterwards."

"Wh-where?" She asked for he had just said he had no plans.

His teeth bit her ear lobe and all she could do was let her eyes roll to the back. He was teasing her, making her lose senses. "Promise." He was using their intimate proximity to his advantage but he needed this, needed her to promise so she wouldn't back out later.

She had no option. By now, she could not think and the word escaped her lips in a breathy moan before she could have stopped herself. "Armaan, please." Being so close to him yet not enough with these clothes standing in the way felt like torture to her.

He repeated, quite in control of his actions - though not south. His body was protesting but he very well did not mind prolonging it. "Promise, Riddhima."

She groaned in frustration, more so when his free hand moved from her waist to her breasts, thumb grazing over the material of her sports bra. Her nipples were already hard and she moaned at the sudden loss of them. This foreplay of his had her in all sorts of twists. "Yes. God. Yes, Armaan, just..."

He put both of them out of their misery the second he heard the word he needed to hear and gave her an open mouth kiss, delving his tongue into her mouth and pushing the bathroom door inside. She stumbled back suddenly for the door had been keeping her weight. His hands kept her steady as they walked backwards, hands discarding each other's clothes and baring skin against skin as they reached the glass cubicle.

She gasped when the cold water suddenly nipped at her skin but it was very quickly counteracted with his burning touch at every inch of her skin bringing her to the brink of pleasure. He finally shifted her to the glass behind her, her legs wrapped around him. "I'm sorry if it hurts." He said kissing down her throat even as her fingers tugged the end of his hair urging him on. "I'll try to be gentle."

"It's fine, Armaan." She didn't care in the moment if it was a bit rough. All their other times had been in bed, always slow and sensual. Passionate. Right now, however, their bodies were giving in more to lust than love.

After he thrust inside of her and she had a moment to get comfortable, she nodded. It wasn't the softest against the wall but the pleasure trumped over the pain and she lost herself to that feeling, lost herself of all thoughts, lost herself to Armaan as she had her whole life - it just meant a very different thing right now making love to him than just being in love with him from afar.

===

Riddhima looked at Armaan as soon as Nikita put her name and dance in the same sentence. She wanted the first dance to be with him, but she didn't know how to just come out and say it since no one here knew yet that they were together. Now that she thought about it... it had been only one day and with the overload of people around them, it hadn't felt as if they were together. It had felt as if things were still normal between them; as if they were still just friends.

Khushi was quick to speak, "Armaan, since the two of you are going to star together in your music video, let's see your chemistry on the dance floor."

Everyone was quick to agree, with Muskaan especially pushing them together knowing more of these two from their school days like Khushi. It was an excuse, but oh well. Armaan didn't mind as long as he got to dance with her. For this moment, his love for his sister grew. She had done something for once that would come in his favor. Armaan forwarded his hand, standing up from the table, "Shall we?"

Riddhima smiled and slipped her hand in. As they walked to the dance floor, she asked. "Do you think Khushi knows?"

"Always hard to tell what she knows." He brought his hand to rest on his shoulder as he held the other and placed on of his own on her waist.

Khushi, knowing their all-time favorite, had the manager to put in the song. Pehla Nasha. Riddhima had her answer. "She knows."

As the tunes of the song play, even Armaan was convinced. How could he think his sister wouldn't know if he didn't tell her?

She whispered to Armaan as they swayed, "Do you think Khushi will ever be able to forget?"

Armaan understood she was talking about Arnav. He sighed, "I hope so. I hope Arnav is the right guy for her." Silence followed, before he spoke up again, "I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if he hurt her again."

She gulped down. She knew the feeling. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself either. She only took a step closer to him and in the dark, very comfortably rested her chin on his shoulder as they continued swaying from the typical left to right. It was almost like they were hugging. She was only hiding her tears. He didn't stop her from crying either. He rested their hands over his chest, caressing the back of her hand to comfort her.

Amidst it all, she remembered she hadn't told him about Abhi. "Sid's dad has cancer." She said as soon as she remembered.

He stopped swaying for a quick second, taking in the news. He wasn't as close to Sid as he was to Rahul, but they were still very good friends. Riddhima didn't need to say any more for him to catch on as to why Abhi was here, and why earlier in the day she had hugged him.

He felt stupid for being jealous. If anything, he knew how well Riddhima took care of her friendships.

He took in a deep breath and exhaled it, eyes darting towards Sid who was saying something to Nikita that had her scowling at him. This boy. So much he was going through but he kept outer appearances.

Gathering her composure, she leaned back to be able to see his face again. "Thank for you today, Armaan. Even though the movie was a fail..." She trailed off as they both chuckled, Armaan catching on to the meaning behind her words. She hadn't celebrated her birthday in almost 4 years. It felt relieving to not hold on to resenting feelings.

Kripa was dancing with Arnav, Muskaan with Rahul, and Khushi sat at the table with Abhimanyu. Nikita gave up on Sid and tapped Armaan. "One dance?"

Riddhima smiled and nodded, letting the two of them dance. She went and sat with Khushi. They didn't speak a word to each other, but just having the other's presence was merely enough for them to feel happy. To feel like everything was alright. It was the comfortable silence between the two best friends who stuck with each other through good and the bad, thick and the thin, the worse and the best.

After a song, she got up again. This time, she pulled Sid to the dance floor as it was the perfect song, a peppy one for him to lose himself in. He resisted at first, but she pulled the birthday card and dragged him to the center as everyone got into a huge circle and celebrated instead of the couples and slow romantic songs. By the end, he was laughing and back to being his cheerful self – even if it was just for the time being.

Abhimanyu caught Riddhima's eyes and mouthed a 'thank you' to her to which she mouthed a 'your welcome' back with a smile.

===

"What are we doing here, Armaan?" Riddhima questioned on standing in front of a shop - the place Armaan made her promise she would come to.

Walking around the car to reach her, his hand habitually slipped into her. It was second nature now - whether they were in public or just among friends. "You, love, are going to select a ring. I figured, if you are going to wear a ring your whole life, it might as well be one you will like. As much as I think I know what you'll like, I didn't want to take a chance."

She pointed out, though feeling touched that he was involving her in the process unlike the typical proposals, "You're not making this proposal a secret by doing this, you know?"

He countered with another fact, for did it really matter on whether it was kept a secret or not? "Would it really have been a secret otherwise either? I've already told you it's going to happen and even when you know I'll be proposing, you still won't know when I will. That part can still remain a surprise."

"So it's a win-win both ways, huh?"

"Exactly." He grinned back at her before tugging at their hands to enter the jewelry store. He was immediately recognized by the store employees but he didn't care for that. They had revealed it to the public already that they were together and he no longer cared for the gossips that would spread on being spotted, or the questions that would follow for confirmation that were they engaged.

===

Armaan sighed at the predicament he was in, currently squeezed in between Khushi and Riddhima on their bed. Khushi had went and gotten him, saying she was too tired to talk Riddhima to sleep, and it was extremely hard tonight as Riddhima was afraid of having nightmares with the movie she had briefly watched during the day. Khushi hadn't even given Armaan the time to pull on a shirt as he had gotten ready for bed just when she had barged in to drag him to their room.

That was hardly the predicament though. The problem was that Riddhima had snuggled up to his side and the only place he could comfortably keep his hand was around her. She wasn't the slightest uncomfortable with placing her head on his bare chest. "Basket, will you please go put on a shirt?"

After he talked her to sleep, he had decided to try to wake her up. Ofcourse it wasn't going to work. "No."

"Bro, just put your hand on her and go to sleep and let me sleep." Khushi snapped in irritation at being forced out of her dozing as well.

Armaan complained, "If I do, I won't be responsible for any wandering and...!"

Khushi hit her leg to his, stopping him abruptly. "I don't want to hear anything that isn't PG-13!"

"Then tell your best friend to not wear a sports bra to bed." He retorted right back, believing he wouldn't be to blame if he put his hand on her bare side.

Khushi groaned, sitting up and walking out of the bed. "I'm going to sleep in your room. Behave."

Armaan chortled and she clumsily walked into things in the darkness before she found the door and twisted the knob open to leave. Riddhima muttered, "Don't tell me you are afraid to touch your girlfriend."

He murmured, "You have no idea." He was pretty sure if he did touch her, he wouldn't be able to keep his hands off her.

Sighing, she shifted away from his chest to go back to her pillow. "Better?" She questioned, as if putting space between them was going to help.

"Not really."

She had no other solution to the problem if he wasn't going to touch her. She leaned up to press her lips lightly for the briefest second to his cheek, instructing. "Just sleep."

As much as she'd feel butterflies exploding, she did not mind him touching her. She wasn't a naïve person who didn't know the physical intimacy being someone's girlfriend brings along with emotional intimacy. She had honestly wondered why he hadn't kissed her yet.

She tucked the covers till her chest, hiding her arms in the warmth of the covers and dozed off to sleep while Armaan had a much harder time. And... who was the first who had claimed to have insomnia? Tonight was the complete opposite.

===

authors note:

So, Armaan. I love him. Anyone else?

Just a short note today: This is the last I have written. No more chapters in my bank :( I will put my focus on this book this weekend and hopefully beat the writers block. 

Fair warning: the book will be ending soon :'( Maybe only 4-5 more chapters... I'm sorry for the sad news but I thought to let you know ahead