" You're here to meet Eshanya?" Her mother scanned him from top to toe, he was dressed to impress, with his messy tousled hair styled well.

She glanced at her husband, who gave a slight nod, impressed by him too.

Yashasvi, although, no matter how hard they tried being subtle, was well aware what was about to happen.

Eshanya never spoke about her parents, so he never knew what were they like, but from her kinesics, each time someone spoke about them, it made her uneasy and she'd brush off the topic quite quickly.

" So...what did you see in Eshanya?"

" I don't think I have words descriptive enough in my dictionary to talk about that Ma'am."

" What do you mean?"

" Ain't it obvious? He means he sees so many things in her, that words fall short when it comes to talking about it." Eeshan snorted as he extended his hand, giving him a polite, welcoming smile.

And Yashasvi knew he was probably the only sane person among the three.

If the parents were so weirdly wired, how did the children not turn out to be the same?

" Hi, I'm Eeshan!"

" Hi Eeshan, I've heard quite a lot about you from Eshanya, It's nice to finally meet you!"

" It's nice finally meeting you too!"

" Where...where is she?"

" She's upstairs, she'll be down soon. We...would like to talk to you Yashasvi."

" Yes sure, please go ahead."

" Are you sure about dating Eshanya?"

" Here we go again." Eeshan scoffed, shaking his head as he sat down.

" I am." Yashasvi answered calmly.

" No I mean...think about it. She's not as easy as she seems."

" For her to be easy, one needs to go easy on her. When have you done that? Stop trying to ruin her life." Eeshan gritted out to his parents.

" We're ruining her life? We?"

" Ruining? Oh no, Mom and Dad, you have already ruined her life. And now that she's willing to be happy even with those ruined remnants, you want to destroy those as well?"

Yashasvi's gaze flickered across the living room, the family drama was now getting awkward.

" This is for her own good! Look Yashasvi, Eshanya isn't easy to deal with. She has high expectations and she can be quite stubborn and aggressive at—"

" I can meet her expectations Sir. It's no big deal for me. And her stubbornness and aggressiveness? That's something I love about her. It really confuses me as to how, instead of warning me that I shouldn't be hurting her, you're telling me how flawed she is."

" Because she is! She has flaws, she isn't perfect—"

" No one is born perfect Sir. Everyone has their own flaws. If Lord Krishna, despite being God, was made fun of for being dark skinned, what are we? Mere humans. We have to strive for perfection, but no matter how hard we try, there's still room for more. You tell me, are you perfect? Are you flawless? I don't think so. There must be something you're bad at."

Her parents flushed red with embarrassment.

" You know Sir, growing up, I didn't have a very luxurious life. There were so many things I didn't get, but now, looking at you, and looking back, I realise, I got the biggest luxury in life a child could get—love. A Mother and Father's love. Eshanya got all the riches in life, but never received love, what a pity!" Shaking his head, he got up and turned towards Eeshan.

" Can I meet Eshanya please?"

" Yeah, um, I'll take you to her room."

" Thank you."

As they reached upstairs, Eeshan let out a sigh.

" Still locked." He muttered.

" What happened?"

" She...she broke down mid lunch, and then locked herself up. I..I want to thank you. For taking a stand for my Di. No one apart from our grandparents did it so far, no one had the guts to. But you did. And that tells how bad you love her, Di...Di, Di hasn't had it easy. Many people think she has, but the truth is, she hasn't. I know she might seem bubbly, prideful, strong, but she hides that vulnerable side of hers, of that little girl, who craves for love and attention too."

Yashasvi's heart squeezed at the way
Eeshan looked so heartbroken.
" Please take care of my Di, she's more herself around you. She feels safe with you, she might not say it, but I know it."

Unable to form any words, he simply nodded.

Eeshan probably was unaware of the one year contract, it was evident from the way he spoke.

" Di..."

" Shaan please leave."

" Someone's here to meet you."

" I don't want to meet anyone!"

He flinched at her tone, but Eeshan only sighed.

" The code's 2928. Just type it in. I don't have a spare card key, she keeps all spares with herself."

" I thought this wouldn't unlock without a card key?" Yashasvi asked, baffled as he stared at the lock which lit up.

" It doesn't normally, but she got it done."

Nodding, he typed the code and Eeshan left.

He walked into the dimly lit room, with her figure down on the ground, beside the bed, her knees drawn to her chest.

" Eshanya?" His voice softened to a volume that had him surprised.

" Hey...Anya..." he murmured, sitting cross legged before her and she looked up.

Her tear stricken cheeks shattered his heart into shards.

" C'mon. There's somewhere we need to be."

" Where?"

" Just somewhere you'll like. C'mon."

" Now?"

" Yeah."

" I don't want to go anywhere right now." She murmured.

" Please, I promise you'll love it there." He couldn't believe he was urging her, and being civil with her.

After a while, she hesitantly gave in.

Fixing her hair, she walked down with him, and her parents stood up when they saw the two.

However, Yashasvi refused to let her stay for a second longer as he pulled her along and the door shut behind them.

Getting into the car, she buckled herself, her gaze flickering out of the window as he started the car.

She wrung her fingers together, and Yashasvi knew she'd something going on in her mind.

Sighing, he turned the stereo on, hoping skme music would lighten her mood.

But she said nothing.

She continued to look out of the window as he stole occasional glances at her.

Her silence was ripping him apart from within.

It was something he wasn't used to.

The song changed from Iktara to Chiraiyya and he scrunched his nose at it, for him, it was a sad, dull song, and he sheerly disliked such songs

But as his hand rose up to change the song again, she stopped him.

" Don't. Let it be."

He smiled slightly, happy that she was at least listening and nodded.

" You like sad songs?"

" I like all kinds of songs. You cannot ask a musician or a singer what kind of songs do they dislike, it's pointless."

" What kind of songs do you dislike Singhania?" Yashasvi made an attempt to get her to talk as she turned towards him with narrowed eyes and shifted her gaze out of the window after a while.

" You can stare. I know I'm good looking."

" You're such a narcissist I swear." She rolled her eyes.

" What? I am good looking!"

" Gali ka kutta behtar dikhta hai tumse!" She retorted, beginning to sound playful and Yashasvi's heart filled with joy at the hope of her being herself again.

" Haw! Aise koi bolta hai bhala apne hi boyfriend ke baare mein? Tch tch tch, kitni buri baat hai!"

" Tum mujhe annoying aur loud bolte ho uska kya?"

" Ab jaisi ho vaisi hi bolunga na!"

" Toh mai bhi jaise ho vaise hi bolungi na!"

" Ladkiya marti hai mujhpe! Zara jaake mere fan edits dekhlo, samajh jaaogi!"

" Mai unn ladkiyo mein se nahi hoon! Aur ji nahi, shukriya, mujhe raat mein bure sapne dekhne ka koi shauk nahi hai!"

" Dekho, aise bolna buri baat hoti hai, aur agar gali ka kutta mujhse behtar dikhta toh uske saath ek saal ka contract kyun nahi banaya?"

" Agar woh bol paata toh zaroor bana leti. Par ab kya kare, tum hi mere best option ho!" She sighed dramatically and a small smile bloomed on his lips,

Ah, there's the girl I recognize! He thought as they broke into a comfortable silence this time.

They reached their destination another half-an-hour later.

And Eshanya stepped out to see a beautiful farm house.

" C'mon." He patted her arm, urging her to move forward as he came back after parking the car.

" What's there here?" She asked curiously, already liking the place.

" You'll know."

" Maar vaar nahi daaloge na? Kidnap karne laaye ho? Hey Bhagwan! Yeh kaisi dhokebaazi hai! Aisa koi kar sakta hai mujh jaisi pyaari, khubsoorat ladki ke saath?" She sighed dramatically and he shook his head.

" Oh hello Miss Aafat, mujhe tumhe kidnap karne ka koi shauk nahi hai, na karwane ka hai. Agar tum kal kidnap ho gayi, toh itni bakbak karogi, ki kidnappers ransom maangne ke wajah tumhe hi aadhe ghante mein wapas bhej denge aur kahenge, Aap rakh lo, hume nahi chahiye koi paisa."

Letting out a whine, she shot him an offended glare as she stomped her foot and walked away ahead.

Smiling, he shook his head and ran after her,

" It's this way! Not that way!" She turned around and sighed, following him.

As they finally stopped outside the house, a litter of puppies came rushing towards them, and she let out a loud squeal, followed by a giggle.

Kneeling down, she began blabbering to them, petting them as they surrounded her.

And a sigh of relief escaped his lips.

She was happy again, and he was glad about it.