This first update of THLH after my break is specially dedicated to @diyathediva , who was actually the reason for me to decide to continue with this story only after my break. Thank you so much :) <3

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Next day (Monday)

A sleepy Ayan made his way to his Khushi didi's room, rubbing his eyes with one hand while the other was knocking Khushi's room door. 

Khushi took few seconds as she hurriedly opened the door wondering who was knocking the door so urgently early in the morning, did something wrong happened in Raizada household, was she delaying in getting ready and everyone is already waiting for her to have breakfast or was Arnav in hurry to leave for his office today? 

All her theories were proven wrong when she opened the door to witness a cute sleepy Ayan asking for his brother to her and complaining that he didn't sleep in his room yesterday. 

"Khushi didi.. aap ne bhai ko dekha? He didn't sleep in our room yesterday. You know our alarm kept ringing and he didn't wake me up as usual, that's when I found it suspicious and then I opened my eyes and looked at his bed and he wasn't there.. and his bed was still neatly made, which means he didn't sleep in his bed yesterday. I searched for him but didn't find him anywhere in the house, maybe he didn't slept home yesterday.." 

"No, he was home only yesterday," she replied with conviction, "Did you check on Ratna aunty's room? Last time I saw him.. he was on his way to her room only."

Ayan nodded sideways, "No, I didn't check Ma's room," he replied while grabbing her hand and dragging her with him to Ratna's room, "Let's go and check if he's there or not.. agar voh wahan nahi hai.. toh kisi ne mere bhai ko kidnap kiya hai (if he's not there, then someone kidnapped my brother)."

"Shubh shubh bolo Ayan.. aisi baat nahi karte (Say positive things Ayan.. you shouldn't talk like this)," Khushi immediately chided him with a slight frown adorning her forehead.

Instead of sulking or getting offended with her scolding, Ayan smiled stealthily thinking to himself, "Aha! So you care for bhai too Khushi didi.. how cute!"

They reached Ratna's room and waited for her to open the door, but they got surprised as much as relieved to see it was Arnav who opened the door for them, his hair was messy, his eyes were a little bit puffy and sleepy and a frown adorning his forehead as if he was annoyed by them for disturbing his sleep. 

Khushi couldn't stop herself from gazing at him from top to bottom, with special attention to his sharp face features during her staring session, "He's so handsome," came the subconscious voice of her mind, "Chup Khushi! Kya soch rahi ho tum? (Shut up Khushi.. What are you thinking?).. Arnav ji is your friend," she immediately lowered her eyes, mentally chiding herself for having such thoughts about her friend.

Arnav, on the other hand, the moment his eyes got a clear vision of the people in front of him, especially of the girl dressed in a white and royal blue combination salwar kurti with her open and uncombed hair, he felt a mix of emotions deep inside his heart, he felt something strange while staring at Khushi.. he didn't know what he was going through that moment, but the fact that he was staring at the girl he claims to love after letting the most important person to him, his world, his Ma know about her (Khushi) yesterday.. hits different now. He considered his mother as his whole world, and after letting his mother know about his feelings for Khushi, he was feeling kind of awkward to even face Khushi, it literally made him feel as if the whole world knows about his little secret he had been hiding until now. He was feeling exposed and self-conscious and to avoid these feelings, he shifted his attention to his Ayan as he leaned his shoulder on the door frame trying to act normal and unaffected by Khushi's presence, before he asked to Ayan, "What happened? Is everything okay?"

"Bhai you were here in Ma's room? You slept in Ma's room last night!" instead of replying to him, Ayan asked more like exclaimed to himself in shock that his brother spend the night in their mother's room and didn't even inform him about this.

Arnav nodded in yes as if it was no big deal. 

Ayan frowned, "Why did Ma allow a grown up man like you sleep on her bed when she always refuse me to sleep on her bed saying that I'm no baby anymore to sleep with her?"

Arnav cleared his throat, giving a murderous glare at his brother, for embarrassing him in front of Khushi by asking that question and indeed making him feel like a baby who needs to sleep with his mother till now. 

Ayan chuckled the moment he realized what kind of impression Khushi would have of his brother now, but after receiving murderous glares from his brother, he controlled himself by smiling sheepishly at him and then raised his hand to cover his mouth before he burst out laughing at him. 

"It's because she loves me more than you," Arnav replied, trying to act cool to cover up for the embarrassing situation his brother made him go through. 

Khushi looked down, pressing her lips tightly together in attempt to stop herself from smiling after hearing this Chote and Chiku's conversation. It was funny the way Ayan made fun of him for sleeping in his mother's bedroom even after being a grown-up man, but it was also this relationship he shares with his mother that made her look at him as a man with a warm and endearing personality.

Before Ayan could open his mouth and make him look like a fool in front of Khushi again, Arnav dragged him inside the room and closed the door in hurry. 

Khushi, who was expecting Arnav to smile at her, wish her a good morning or say anything to her, looked up at the door being shut on her face feeling weird and maybe a little disappointed too. She wasn't used to receiving this kind of treatment from Arnav, but she just shrugged it off and turned to go back to her room when she heard the door opening sound, she instantly turned back with a hopeful smile to check if it was Arnav who came back to talk to her but turned out it was Ayan who came to thank her for helping him find his brother. 

She smiled a little, shaking her head slightly as if saying he need not to thank her for such a small thing and she left from there. She went back to her room and noticed her reflection on the mirror, she tsked to herself after realizing she didn't even brush her hair yet. Rushing to grab the hair brush on her dressing table, she started brushing the tips of her hair while lost in her thoughts with a slight frown adorning, "Why didn't he talk with me today? Not even a simple good morning.. let alone wishing me, he didn't even smile at me. Maybe I did something wrong that made him upset with me.. but what? I even accepted to talk with Babu ji about my marriage issue and he was so happy because of this. Then what happened to now?" she kept the hair brush back to its place as she walked to sit on her bed pouting sadly, "Kya is tarah ki banti hai toota taara wali dosti?  (Is this how you make friendship?).. One day you become friends with someone and next day you completely ignore that person!"

She suddenly stopped complaining and hit her forehead, chiding herself, "Offo.. stop it Khushi.. you're overreacting.. Arnav ji had just woken up, maybe he was still sleepy and didn't even realize he didn't wish you.. it's okay.. he's not ignoring you.. he will definitely talk with you." 

In order to stop her mind from overthinking, she got up again and started to gather all her books scattered around her study table to stuff them into her bag.

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Ratna's room

Ayan and Arnav were seated in a crossed leg yoga pose on Ratna's bed, talking to each other about last night. 

"I told Ma everything about my feelings for Khushi," Arnav confessed to his brother. 

Ayan looked at him wide-eyed and shouted, "Wait.. what? You told Ma that you love Khushi didi?"

Arnav glared at him, raising his index-finger to his brother gesturing him to speak in low tone, "Abey chup! Shh! Only Ma knows about this...don't yell like that and expose me in front of the entire family right now."

Ayan bit his tongue, looking at him brother sheepishly, "Sorry sorry bhai! I got carried away by emotions," and when he saw Arnav's expressions were back to normal, he immediately jumped to sit even closer to his bhai with his curious eyes looking for answers, "So what happened next? Ma ne kya kaha? (What did Ma say?)"

"Ma said I need to give it time to be sure of Khushi's feelings for me and that she would willing to fight for our love against all odds like me, only then all this planning for our future would make sense," Arnav replied.

Ayan nodded his head agreeing with his mother's logic, he calmly leaned against the bed headboard now, "Sahi kaha Ma ne! (Ma is right)."

"Sahi kaha Ma haina?" Arnav looked at him with a sarcastic smile, "Ayan you were the first person that I shared my feelings with and you made me feel as if I was on heaven after falling in love with Khushi, then I shared this with Aman and he pulled me from heaven to earth after warning me about the cons of falling for girl like Khushi, then I told this to Ma and she dragged me from earth straight to graveyard by scolding me for following Devdas's footsteps in my love life. And only now, you're telling me that Ma is right.. couldn't you say this earlier to me? I would have escaped from making a fool out of myself in front of Ma. Do you know how I became embarrassed when she was questioning me about my feelings last night?" he narrowed his eyes at the end to his brother.

Ayan shrugged with an innocent look, "But how would I know about these love matters? I don't have any experience in this.. only by watching romantic movies, I guessed your love story is going to be like DDLJ, but I'm not mature and wise yet like Ma and Aman bhai to give you proper advices in this matter. In fact, it's you.. my elder brother who should offer few pieces of advices to me as I already told you I'm interested in my classmate Sheena!"

Arnav slapped his cheek lightly in response, "Shut up.. it's not your time to make girlfriends, concentrate on your studies." 

"You too concentrate on your office work and not on Khushi didi!" came an immediate reply from Ayan who quickly stood up on the bed and took a pillow as his weapon to fight and protect himself from his brother, who also grabbed another pillow to attack on him as they engaged themselves in a pillow fight on their mother's bed. 

Ratna walked out of the bathroom and was shocked to see her two sons turned her bed into a battling ground. She sighed hard as she approached them, resting her hands against her hips, and sternly staring at them, "Stop it you two.. stop making a mess out of my room.. jab dekho bacho ki tarah ladte rehte ho tum dono (you two are always fighting like kids)."

As soon as they heard their mother scolding them, the pillows slipped out of their hands as they stood straight beside each other on top of the bed, looking like two mischievous kids who were ashamed of their deeds. 

Ayan cried in whining tone seeing his mother, "Ma! Why did you allow Bhai to sleep in your room and not me?"

"First you tell me.. why did you lie to me that Sheetal is your Bhai's girlfriend?" Ratna raised her eyebrow, giving him an intimidating look to which Ayan hide behind his brother, whispering to Arnav to save him from their mother's wrath. 

"Bhai I lied to save you.. now it's your to save me from Ma's scolding!" Ayan whispered near Arnav's ear. Arnav turned to face his mother, giving her a pleading look, "Ma we already talked about this yesterday na.. it's not Ayan's fault.. he just wanted-"

"Shut up you two!" Ratna looked at them frowning slightly with a cute sad pout adorning her lips as she gestured Arnav and Ayan to get down the bed and come near her. 

Arnav and Ayan shared a nervous look to each other before taking baby hesitating steps to reach their mother, to which Ratna sighed as she sarcastically spoke, "Aree.. stop treating me as if I'm the Lillian Salvatore in your lives, Desi Salvatore Brothers!!" 

Arnav and Ayan chuckled, they stood in front of her and were surprised when their mother pulled them into a tight warm family group hug, Ratna had her eyes moist as she caressed her two son's hair affectionately and spoke to them while in their embrace, "As your mother, it is my right to scold you two, be it out of anger, concern, love or affection or even when you two take a wrong step in your life.. but I never wanted you two to be scared of sharing anything that is in your heart to me, I never wanted my kids to treat me as a villain in their lives.."

Ratna broke the hug so she could see their faces, they were as emotional as she was, she raised her hands to cup their faces with same affection, as she continued, "Chote, the same way you shared to Chiku that you love Khushi without any fear or hesitation because he's your bestfriend.. I also want you to share with me, I don't want to miss these beautiful and big moments of my son's life because he's scared to share his feelings with me.. I want to be your best friend too..  and same goes to you Ayan."

Arnav and Ayan nodded their heads like obedient kids. 

"Ma you were always my first best friend.. and this was the first and last important thing I hide from you Ma.. from now onwards, I won't hide important things of my life from you," Arnav promised with a guilty look.

Ayan noticed his Ma and bhai were getting extremely sentimental now, so to lighten up their mood, he decided to tease them, clearing his throat, "See now we're bestfriends na.. I can share my feelings with you two now.. I already told bhai about this, but he doesn't take me seriously.. I think now only you can help me Ma.. the thing is.. I really like my classmate Sheena but I don't know how will I say this to her.."

"WHAT? Ayan this is time for you to concentrate on your studies and get good marks in your exams.. don't even bring me girlfriends home at this age otherwise I'll hit you hard with my chappals," Ratna was back in her Mother avatar in seconds, she looked at Arnav, "Chote make your brother understand-"

"Kya Ma.. bestfriends aise baat nahi karte! (Bestfriends don't talk like this to each other)," Arnav interrupted, teasing her as he winked at Ayan who quickly understood the task to rile up their mother.

"Exactly.. Ma forget it.. you're better off as Desi Villain Mother Lillian Salvatore only, you won't be able to become our buddy!" Ayan added, smirking to his brother and then making a fake pity 'Tumse na ho payega' look to his mother.

Ratna pouted, "Nahi nahi.. I will.. in fact, I'm your buddy only.. it's just my desi mother avatar will always come out if I hear any of you speak rubbish.. other than that.. buddy toh main hu tum dono ki!"

Arnav and Ayan couldn't help but laugh heartily at her explanation and hug their mother again, explaining to her that they were just pulling her leg. 

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After sometime, everyone was gathered in the dinning hall having their breakfast peacefully so they could start the usual lazy Monday with a better mood after a strong and refreshing tea or coffee. 

Arnav was sipping his favorite black coffee in silence, he didn't have courage to raise his eyes to have a look at Khushi in the presence of his mother, who now knew about his feelings for her. What he failed to notice was Khushi stealing glances at him from time to time, hoping for a small response or acknowledgment of her presence from him.

The patience in her was reaching to its limits now, and she finally decided to do something to get a reaction from this man, she took the plate filled with aloo paratha and raised it with her hand, pointing to his direction as she raised her eyebrow in a questioning look, "Arnav ji aap ko aur chahiye? Aloo ka paratha? (Do you want more? Aloo paratha?)"

And this was the first time after weeks since Khushi shifted to Raizada house, that the members of Raizada family heard her speaking more than two or three words loud and clearly, otherwise she is always shy, hesitant and meek while interacting with them. 

Every member of Raizada family curiously turned their heads to look at Khushi, who miraculously spoke more than two words today, and with the number of eyes directly focused on her, Khushi would have lowered her eyes and concentrated back on her plate shyly, but since she was adamant on making Arnav react to her, she kept staring at him intently, avoiding to look at anyone else who would make her feel conscious of her behavior now. 

Arnav finally raised his eyes to meet hers as they shared an intent long eye lock, before he nodded his head, accepting her aloo paratha offer. 

Ratna was quietly observing their interaction while thinking to herself with a small smile playing on her lips, "Abhi se she is fighting for his attention.. later on, she will definitely fight for their love!" 

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Wish I could write more, but it was getting late to update. Anyway, finally I could write something after my writer's block phase.. so I hope it's good. 

Someone will make his/her special entry in next update. Any guesses who will be the new character? ;)

Last but not the least, I want to thank all of you who've been patiently waiting for my stories update. I will be making an effort from my side to be regular with the updates.