Next day morning Neil was standing in front  of Avni's room, to ask her whether she would go jogging with him. But he was hella nervous and somewhere scared that she would get angry at him for kissing her. It was his first kiss, he had never kissed Juhi, on her cheeks, yes, but not on her lips. But with Avni, somewhere he was happy that he kissed her, his first kiss was Avni, and also felt guilty for kissing her without her permission. It was true that he himself didn't knew how he ended up kissing her, but now that was past and in the present, that is right now, he is nervously standing in front of her door. Finally, gathering all the courage that he had, he knocked on her door, twice, and then called her. Now or later, things has to be set alright, or else it won't be possible to execute their plan. He considered Bebe's words, yes he would apologize and then explain things to her, and make her understand that it was an accident. That was the best thing to do now. He was having a conversation with his own self, when a sweet voice brought him back from his self talk.

Neil?

Well, here she was at last, but seeing her in front of him made him fumble with his words.

Hmm.. woh.. hmmm k... kya tumm...jogging..... chalo.....chaloge? Huff! Finally he spoke.

Give me a minute. Main abhi aaya. And she went back inside.

Thank God that she was coming, otherwise he would not have been able to talk to her at all.

Avni's pov

It's good that he called me for jogging. Nahi tho pata nahi kaise awkwardness settle kardeti. Now, at least we can talk properly.

After getting ready, Avni went downstairs and saw Neil standing at entrance, lost somewhere else. He was so much engrossed in whatever he was thinking, well he was thinking about how to explain things to her, he didn't hear her coming.

Neil?

Huh? Avni tum yahan?

Jogging nahi chal raha?

Haa...haa. chalte hai. Com let's go.

Together they started walking. This is the right time, thimkimg this Neil started,

Avni, woh kal ke liye I'm sorry. Mujhe pata hi naha chala ki main kaise tumhare upar agaya. Kareena ki vajah se I was not even able to remove myself from you. I'm really sorry for kissing you.

It's okay. She said smilingly. She had known that he was very much embarassed on yesterday's events, which was nobody's fault at all. Yes, not even Kareena's, because she must have not known that her bhaiyya was lying on top of her Di.

It's it's okay? He asked confused.

Haan.

So you're not angry at me?

Of course not. ,ujje pehle hi pata tha ki you would never do such thinks. And haan, I saw Kareena hitting you, so I understand that it was an accident.

Well, thanks a lot. Tumne sab kuch aasan kar diya. I was really tensed that you would be angry at me.

Hey jo hogaya, so hogaya, we can't change the past. And now we've reached the park. She said pointing ahead and there they had reached the park.

They both started jogging side by side. Usually they used talk about something, and Neil always initiated, but now he was like waphat to talk. Finally out of nowhere he spoke,

That was my first kiss.

Kya?

Kuch nahi. Kuch nahi. Thank God, she didn't hear it, and what was he even saying, he scolded himself mentally.

Aise nahi, woh Juhi was your girlfriend. You didn't kiss her?

Juhi was my girlfriend, yes. But she was the ine who proposed me, I really never had any feelings for her. But I  said we could date and she took it as a  yes maybe. She proposed me infront of the whole college, so I said like that so that she won't be embarrassed in front of anyone. And for me we've been together just for a week. Utne mai hi mujhe kuch acha nahi laga use, aur DD bhi aakar apne bhai ke baare me bataya. But in all these, I never kiseed her, mayne I kissed her on her cheeks once but not more.

Hmm. Mera bhi first kiss tha.

I could guess it.

How?

Well you're roaming around like a lady don and yesterday John too said that you never agreed to go on a date with him.

Hmm woh toh hai.

Tum sach mein kisi ko bhi date nahi kiya?

Nahi. Maine kisi ko bhi date nahi kiya. But I got some offers, some even proposed me, but I just gave them a last warning and uske baad the stopped.

They really stopped coming or you stopped them?

Bas ek ladke ka muh thod diya, tho baki sab stopped coming.

So you were  a don in college right.

Sort of.

Agar tum yahan padhai ki tho, you met Juhi here?

No. I met her when I was in India, before coming here.

Toh woh tumhare piche nahi aa gaya?

I think she knew that I knew about her previous deeds. I used to distance myself from her and after almost a month she stopped coming to the college.

Stopped? But why?

Arey kisi nate ladke ko phasane. And recently she must have known that I'm in the police force. Sonow she is trying to kill me, so that I don't arrest her.

You felt sad when she left you?

I felt sad, but not because she left me but because the first gurl to whom I gave a chance rurned out to be a cheater. Waise main ek baat poochu, was John the guy whose nose you broke?

No it was his best friend. He once tried to kiss me and I punched his face.

Neil held his nose involuntarily.

Arey I won't punch you.  In fact you are the first guy I truly trust after I am out of coma.

Really? He asmed with a lot of happiness.

Haan. She nodded her head.

He hugged her suddenly shocking her. And she too hugged him back, don't know why, but she felt like doing so.

You know, that means a lot to me. He said finally breaking the hug.

They had completed the rounds now and just did some push upa and all for sometime after which they started walking back home. While walking back, they saw a guy selling ice cream. Avneil passed each ipother a knowing look and together said

DD! And tthen started laughing loudly.

The others looked at them weirdly, so they controlled themselves, muttered a sorry and continued walking.

Tumhe kjphana banana aati hai?

Poha banana aati hai. Aur kuchbasics like cutting and chopping and all. Kyu?

You don't know to make anything else?

Mujhe cake banana aata hai. That's my favorite thing to fo in the kitchen. Tumhe kya aata hai?

Tea, maggi, hot chocolate yeh sab aata hai?

Are you mad? Maggi toh sab ko banana aata hai.

Tho mujhe bhi aata hai. And haan I know how to make chocolate cakes. Bas chocolate cake hi aata hai, kuch aur banane chale toh sab flop hota hai.

Wow that's great. So, Mr. Neil Khanna,when are you going to do the honour of treating me to your chocolate cake?

Shayad aaj hi

Aaj kaise?

Bebe ne competition announce kiya hai. So first we have got to make something, uske baad after she taste it, dhe would teach us to prepare something that we don't know. Papa ko tho bahut saare dishes banana aata hai. Sometimes he cooks better than mom.

Really, Prakash uncle knows cooking. That's interesting. Bachpan mein ek baar papa ne mere liye kuch special banaya tha. I was mad at him, so to pacify me, he made some biryani, with the help of youtube. She said remembering about her childhood. But immediately snapped out of it and continued,

Ali ko bhi aata hai cooking. You know Chamko Cafe was our childhood dream. Jab main 15 saal baad yahan aayi tho, maine socha bhi nahi tha ki shayad Ali mujhe ab bhi yaad karegi. But he always surprises me. Aur bachpan mein woh kitna mota tha. Ab toh dekho, he looks loke a stick now.

Avni, Ali abhi bhi tumhe dhoond rahe hai. He thinks that you are not dead and keeps on saying that you will surely come back to avenge your mother's death and take Aman.... Amol back from Dayawanti Mehta's clutches.

Mujhe pata hai, and he still doubts me.

You know it's very difficult for me to keep your identity secret from him when he is searching for you like mad. Previously whenever he used talk about Avni,

She looked surprised at this. So he said,

Woh hamesha se mujhe tumhare baare main bata rahi thi. An when I said about Case 123 he once again started his stories on you. You mean a lot to him. Pehle main soch raha tha ki shayad woh tumse pyaar karte ho (she gasped at this) but do din pehle usne kaha ki woh toh bas tumhara intzaar kar raha hai. He also told me about his marriage wala part, that he would marry a girl that you would select.

Avni was now sad, hearing about Ali.

Mujhse bhi nahi ho raha usse chupna sab kuch. But main majboor hun. But soon all of this will be over and I will say everything to him. He would be angry, but I know how to pacify him.

Kaise?

S.O.R.E she spelled.

He looked puzzled

Bachpan main he used to apologize like this.

Oh. And abhi andar chalo. Bebe wit kar rahi hongi.

Won't you drop Kareena today?

No I'm angry at her. Woh samajh chuki hongi ab tak. Now let's see how she pacifies me.(In his mind: And I don't want you to meet that John again.)

Lekin...

Lekin wekin kuch nahi. I will ignore her for today, and she has her own ways to make me talk to her again.

You are ao much confident?

Haa. She can't stand without talking to me and I too dollow the same when we are with each other.

Agar usse zyada pareshan kiya tho I will hit you.

You are taking her side?

Haan

But why? I'm your friend.

Haan yahi tho. You are my friend but she is my best friend.

Nah she is bestest friend's sister.

No.

Yes.

Ok ok. Ab andar chale.

Haan.

And they enterd inside.  Bebe was happy to see that they solved their own problems. She asked them to come down for breakfast.
Neil didn't see Kareena till now, so he asked,

Bebe, Kareena kaha gayi? Abhi tak utha nahi kya?

Use thodi bhukar tha. I think she is scared of your reaction to yesterday's events.

Yeh ladki bhi naa. Bina kuch wajah hi tension leti ho aur bimaar padti hai. Kya karu main iss ka?

He went upstairs.

Woh dikhati nahi hai, par bahut pyaar karta hai Kareena se. Aur tumhe shayad ab tak iska gusse ka pata nahi hoga. Koi bhi control nahi kar saktha iska gusse ko. Pata nahi DD kaise seh raha hai isko.
Bebe said to Avni and went to the kitchen. Avni was first confused, but then she shrugged it off and went upstairs to freshen up first. She thought that she would check on Kareena later.

Neil directly went to his room first, freshened up and then went to Kareena's room. She was sleeping and was snuggling close to the duvet. He went near her and kept his head on her forehead. It was burning.

Yeh kya haal banake rakhi hai isne khud ka. Ab tak main tumse naraz nahi tha, par ab bahut hi naraz hun.

And he started searching for a thermometer. At the same time Avni entered there and saw Neil frustrated.

Ab kaisi hai woh?

Hearing her sound he snapped his head in her direction and seeing her there he felt happy inside, but he didn't show it on his face.

Tez bhukar hai ise. Main bas thermometer dhoond raha tha. He explained.

She came near her and kept her hand on her forehead, checkoping her fever. Then she kept her hand on her neck and after sometime said,

Noon tak bhukar chali jaayengi. You don't worry much. Main clotha aur pani leke aati hun, tum tab tak tablets dhoodo. She ordered and left from there.

Neil's pov
Yeh kya ho raha hai mujhe, why can't I be anger in front ogpf her and how did she know that her fever will go soon. Abhi mujhe jake tablets dhoondna honga. Nahi toh woh aate hi gussa ho jaunga.

He started searching for tablets and soon found them in one of the drawers. He took them out and turned around to see Avni entering with a cloth and a bowl of water in her hands. She went to her and slowly patted her cheeks. But she was not oponing her eyes. But she started muttering things audible to Avni and also to Neil, who came there hearing small sounds.

Bhaiyya... I'm. I'm sorry.... so...sorry bhaiyya.... aap mu...mujhse...gussa.. mat ho jaiye naa....please bhaiyya

She continued muttering, while Neil felt bad for her. He immediately went and sat near her started caressing her head lovingly and soon Kareena woke up. She saw Neil sitting there looking worried and out of fear she asked in a scared tone

Aa...aap mujhse gussa.. nahi hai kya?

Shh.. Kareena. Calm down. Main tumse gussa tha but ab nahi hoon. Aur yeh kya haal banayi hai tumne apne aap kai, ha?

Woh bhaiyya,  main dar gaya tha ki aap mujhse gussa honge.

Aage se aisa kiya tho main zaroor tumse naraz honge.

Ab yeh dawai khao tum. Avni said giving her the tablet.

She looked at Neil, but he was looking at her with a stern face. She immediately took the tablet and drank the water that Neil gave her.

Bhukar chale jaane thak you will rest here and no going to college today.

Par dii

No means no. Neil said sternly.

Par bhai aaj mujhe project ka topic milnewali thi aur mujhe jaana zaroori hai.

Well if you're fine till 10, then you can go. Main khana leke aati hun. You will wat it and then sleep. Agar tumhar abhukar nahi gaya tho tum college nahi jaogw. Clear. Avni tried to sound stern and suddenly seeing her Ananya Verma mode on Neil dragged her out and took her to his room. On the way he aked Bebeto bring breakfast for Kareena.

Avni woh kya tha?

I'm sorrupy Neil. Main aage se Kareena se aise baat nahi karenge. She told him thinking that he was angry on her for talking to Kareena like that.

Avni main uske baare main nahi puch raha. You were turning into Ananya Verma there, and that is not at all good. Avni, first understand that you no longer need to be Ananya Verma again. Woh facade bas kuch aur hi din rahega. Right now, here, you are Avni, Avni Aayesha Ashish Mehta, and ha jab bhi tum humare paas ho,humari yani ki mere parents tumhare mom dad DD Bebe Kareena, toh tum Avni hi nbankar rahengi. No Ananya Verma. Ok. And ek aur baat batana bhul gaya, Riya ke against evidence mil gaye hai. Ab bas Diksha ke against koi evidence milega toh hum use pura family ke aath areest kar denge.

Lekin Ketan....

Avni uska baat, sir will handle. Now you have to concentrate on how to make Riya get jealous and make Dayawanti insecure. Sir wants them to suffer before he arrest them. Physical torture is not possible, isliye he is asking to make them stressed and haan before you raise your eyebrows, that's not the only reason, we habe to distract them so that they don't get a whiff of what's coming ahead.

Thank you Neil, tum mere liye itna kuch kar raha hai, apna family se dur rehkar, I really owe you something.

How about going for a coffee nahi nahi tea with me today and we call it a date? He asked her winking while sjphe just blushed looking down.

Can i take that red hue spread on you cheeks as a yes Miss.Mehta. avni blushed hard at this and heecked her cheeks and left the room immediately, leaving her to deal with her own emotions.

Avni's pov

Yeh Neil... kya karun main iska. He just makes me feel so special and loved everyday. I'm confused and he really asked me out on a date today. Kya karun main. And why did I blush in front of him, you fool Avni.

Arey baby zyaada mat socho ha aur aaj sham ko ready rehna. Ek aur baat don't you dare scold Neilu ki Avi, cause I like her so much.

She just shivered hearing his husky voice so close to her and closed her eyes. He was speaking to her being very close to her ears and he just kissed her just below her ear and left from there saying,

Bebe breakfast ke liye bula rahi hai. Hide your blush and come down soon baby.

After composing herself, she went down to have breakfast. Neil was now sitting at the two-seater couch and Bebe was standing near him. She did not have any other option other than sitting with him. She was still dhocked at the stunt she pulled kut minutes ago and was trying her best to avoid meeting his eyes, while he was smirking mentally, seeing her avoiding his gaze, well if he smirked externally then Bebe would surely understand that something's cooking between them and right now he just don't want any one else to know this otner than he himself and of course her.

She silently sat beside him and Bebe started feeding them. Neil slowly slid his hands around her waist without Bebe's notice and she immediately choked on her food.

Kya hua puttar. Tum teekh ho? Bebe asks worried, patting her head.

Neil immeadiately took the glass of water kept on the table and made her drink it. He was now feelingsorry for the stunt he pulled. After she stopped coughing Bebe fed them two more times and left to the kitchen.

I'm so sorry, baby. Mujhe pata nahi tha ki you will choke yourself. Please forgive me. He asked as soon as he felt that Bebe will no longer hear their conversation.

But she just blushed once again making his heart flutter. She got up pretty soon and went away to wash her face and he too followed her.

She was about to turn around after washing her face when Neil pinned her to the wall.

Avni, I know that you too feel for me just like I do, just by seeing your blush. And you look beautiful while blusheng. He pecked her cheeks and realeased her. She came to her senses and immediately left that place hoping that nobody saw them together.

Kareena was coming down, as her fever has subsided now and she was going to the college now. She had planned to escape without anyone's notice, but now Avni was in the living room and she was sure that she cannot escape.

Hello Avni dii. Bhaiyya kaha hai?

I'm right here aur tum kaha jaa rahi ho? He asks in a stern tone.

Bhaiyya mujhe ab bhukar nahi hai toh socha ki college jaun. Aaj bahut hi important di hai.

Wait first let me check, then you can go. Neil then went to her and kept his hand on her forehead. She was right, the fever was gone, but still he was scared to send her when she was ill.

Tumne naashta kiya? He asked once more in his stern tone.

Haa. Aur main driver uncle ko bulaya hai. Bebe ne kaha tha ki aap dono se kuch kaam hai use.Ab main chalti hun. Bye bhaiyya, bye Di.
She immediately left the place.

Avni aaj humara cooking classes hai, chalo jaldi kitchen main. And he dragged her to the kitchen.

Aa gaya tum dono. Ab chalo. Sanse pehle tum dono cake banaoge. Neil ko bhi aata hai and usne bataya ki tumhe bhi cake banana aati hai Avni. I will taste it and announce the winner later after your cooking class. Now jaldi shuru ho jao. Sara samaan wahan pe rakha hai.

Bebe wait one minute. No masti rule cancel? Neil asked happily.

Agar main woh rule bolunga bhi toh, tum use thod deta hai. Toh bolke kyaa fayda. Ab jaldi shuru ho jaao. Your time starts now.

Avneil both went to the kitchen counter and took the required ingredients.  Then they headed toward seperate counters to prepare their cakes.

Neil was saying the truth after all as he saw him busy in melting chocolate for his cake. She had planned to make pineapple cake and she was cutting pineapples. Neela Maa had taught her to make this cake especilally on he fifteenth b'day. She was making the batter now and after adding some flavour to the batter, she pouted it on a cake tin and arranged her previously cut pineapple between them. She was busy in her work, while Neil was a mess by now. He had accidentally tipurned the whisk on after whipping his cake and the batter left on the whisk was now smeared on his hair and face. He looked at Avni and saw that her face was clean and then looked at Bebe who was busy in her phone. Soon he smirked and went towards the sink which was near Avni. Bebe was looking at the phone motpre interestingly now as she was busy recordind their video and seeing the smirk on his face she was shure that Neil was upto some mischief. But still didn't stop him ad pretended to be very much busy.

He went to the sink and washed his face . It was sticky, so he washed his face again and dried with his towel. Then he looked at Avni, who was so much busy in making her cake that she didn't notice Neil coming her way and also didn't hear the the sound of water. He smirked looking at her and once again looked at Bebe.  Her eyes were still glued to the phone, but he didn't notice how dhe was holding the phone. He without making any noise went towards his counter, poured his cake batter into a tin and added his all time favourite choco chips and after inserting some chunks of chocolate on the right place, he turned towards Avni. He slowly went near her in the pretext of going near the oven and with his free hand applied the batter on her nose.

Neil!! She shrieked upon seeing him so close.

Oh no! Avni tumhare naak pekich lagi hui hai. Main toh bas dekhne aaya tha.

Kaha?

Yahan. And he smeared more batter on her nose. But she didn't understand his intentions first. But when she understood, she got angry.

Neil! She said warning him.

Arey Avni abhi tak toh tumhare naak pe kuch kala tha, lekin ab to tu,hare cheeks pe bhi kuch lagi hui hai, laal laal dikh raha hai. Kuch allergy hai kya tumhe? He asked teasing her.

Bebe was trying to control her laughter seeing this, because if she laughs they will stop their cute arguments and she won'tbe able to record it. So she stayed silent, looking forward to what avni was going to do now.

As she was whipping some cream, so she just took some clod cream on her hand and without his notice put some on his neck.

Oww Avni. That was a bad move. Wait I will show you and he was about to take some cream, but Bebe's voice stopped him.

Kya chal raha hai. She didn't wish yo stop them but also she couldn't see her kitchen sirty. So she thought of stopping them now and well she had a video of them now.

Bebe dekho na isme mere neck pe cold cream daal diya.

Bebe pehle isne meee naak pe batter lagaya tha.

Woh to hai Bebe,  but iska ye laal colour maine nahi daala.

Arey chup. Ab jaldi se apna kaam khatm kar. Tum donon ka class bhi to hai. Mujhe kuch kaam hai upar. Main kuch der baad aaunga aur tab tak your cakes must be ready.

Haan Bebe.

And they completed their work. Neil's chocolate cake was looking beautiful with the simple decoration of only chocolate syrup above it. It looked tasty too, while Avni's was no less. The intense smell of pineapple was filled in the whole kitchen and her cake was looking superb. She had just covered it with a very thin layer of white frosting and was now applying a pineapple puree on it.

Suddenly Neil realized something and asked,

Avni tumhare paas extra batter hai kya?

Kyun? Kya hua?

Woh Bebe is allergic to pineapple.  So isliye..

Batter hai mere paas, par main kya karun. Kuch toh nahi hai aur chocolate cake tumne bana di hai.

Wait a minute. He went somewhere and came inside with two jars. One was having raspberry and the other one was having blueberry.

Yeh dono Bebeka favourites hai. You add them and make a new cake.

And so with the help of Neil, she started to make another cake. Neil was cutting the berries for her and she just made a paste of some seperately. She added the cut berries into her cake and mixed it. After pouring it on a tin, she kept it in the oven and huffed.

Ab ho gaya. Thank you Neil.

Stop thanking me baby. You have every rights to demand anything from me. He said coming closer to her.

Soon he realized that they were in the kitchen and Bebe would come soon, so he thought to ignore his naughty mind for sometime. And he was very much thankful for his instinct, beceause Bebe came at the same moment.

Dono cake yaha hai, toh oven main kya hai?

Bebe woh Avni ne pineapple cake banaya tha aur aapko pineapple se allergy hai. Tho maine usse kaha ki kich aur bana lo and she made a cake out of your favourite berries.

Arey bacha. Iska zaroorat nahi thi. Ab bana liya hai toh woh jaldi khatm kar aur cake fridge mein rakh. Mujhe ek aur call karna baaki hai, main abhi aaya and she went out once again.

Neil's pov
Acha hua ki I backed out from my plan. Nahi toh Bebe pakdtha mujhe. Ab bhi thoda naughtiness nahi kar sakti. Bebe aa sakti hai and no risks should be entertained, Mr.Neil Khanna.  Nahi toh setting se pehle hi mera break up ho jayenga.

Avni's pov
How can he be so calm after talking such things. Yoy are great Mr.Khanna. Why am I praising him now? And look at him now, aise khada ho ki usne abhi mujhse kuch bhi nahi bola. Yeh kya ho raha hai Avni tujhe. Why are you thinking about him.

After sometime, the berry cake was ready and Avni decorated it beautifully by spreading the paste between the layers of the cake an dthen after a thin layer of white frosting she just made cute flower on the top with the remaining paste.

Neil was staring at her cute expressions while she was busy in  her decorating. He was sure of one thing now, he means a lot to her, a lot more then Juhi. Well Juhi never meant anything to him at all, but Avni was special, very much dpecial for him and he was now more determined than ever to punish those people who were responsible for making her create the fierce facade of Ananya Verma to protect the cute and innocent child like Avni.  He promised to himself that he would let no harm come her way. He also decided to talk to Ashish that day itself about the same. He was determined now to make her his Avni, Neilu ka Avi in his words.