Naira stared at herself in the mirror. A netted white saree, a gift from him, her cheeks turned a subtle shade of red at the thought of him. She sprayed a perfume that she loved the smell of, apparently it was his favorite on her. She loved how that detail stayed on in her mind.
It was her little surprise for him, she had told him she was going shopping with Surekha chachi but had come right back to just see the look on his face when he sees her like this. *cue blush* She really needed to stop looking like a tomato every time he was near her or said something endearing or worse, when she simply thought of him.

She heard him trying to open the bathroom door. It seemed like he was struggling with it. Only that morning the staff had got someone to fix some issues with the door handle but it obviously didn't seem to be fixed. She decided to help him, surprise can wait. She pushed the door from outside as hard as she could and found herself in his arms almost immediately. She had wrapped her hands around him, head on his chest and eyes firm shut, it was the rapid beating of his heart that brought her back to her senses. It was right out of a romantic scene she thought. Shirtless guy in a towel, blushing girl in his arms. She was in love with him but also equally awkward at their proximity. She didn't know how to bridge this gap. He, on the other hand, seemed to give her way too much space. She almost wished he'd do something instead of waiting for her. As if he read her mind, she felt him hold her chin. Slowly, she raised her eyes to look into his, she couldn't quite place the strange look in his eyes. She kept staring as she wanted to read his eyes but it turned into an unusually long eye lock neither wanting to look away.

He tucked a fly away hair into her ears, simply because he wanted to keep her in his arms for a while longer. The way she was gazing at him, she didn't seem to mind anyway. He smelt his favorite scent wafting in the air, he moved a little closer then simply said  "ufff.. jaan lelo meri"
She smiled feeling oddly satisfied.

He kissed her lightly on the edge of her lips.  He had been getting bolder by the day. Not enough to actually kiss her on the lips though, that felt too forward. He wasn't sure she was ready for it. Her blush though made his heart beat faster. At this rate he'd have to meet a cardiologist, she was making his heart do things that only happened to him once - when he first fell in love with her.

Naira had run out of the bathroom but he knew even this version of Naira enough to know that she was just embarrassed by what happened. When he came out he noticed that she was decidedly looking away from the door & checking her phone but completely turned towards the wall. He laughed at the sight. It was so obvious that she was trying hard to not look that he couldn't stop himself any longer.

He hugged her from behind, "kya kar rahi ho meri sherni". She dropped her phone causing him to stifle a laugh. He shouldn't really laugh at her condition but he couldn't help but love this side of her as well.
"Date pe chale" he deliberately whispered into her ears. She nodded her head without thinking, her brain had completely shut off at the proximity, there was no way she could trust herself to speak and not make a complete fool of herself. He would've felt a little sorry for her if she hadn't seemed as happy as he felt.

"Toh Phir chalein" he asked lightly touching his cheek to hers.
"Par Tum ready.." she started then stopped as she turned around he was dressed in his favorite blue T-shirt.  He laughed when he realized she didn't know he had come out fully dressed.
"Tumne kya socha.. Haan? " he asked mischief brimming in his voice.
"Woh mein.. " she blushed then composed herself "tum bohot handsome lag rahe ho" she continued boldly.
He smiled at the change "ab lag rahi ho na meri sherni" feeling happy to see shades of his Naira. She soaked in the compliment but felt a little vulnerable as she wanted to be the woman he loved. She wanted to be truly herself.
"Tum jaisi bi ho meri hi Naira ho" he said noticing her change of expression. She hugged him feeling overwhelmed at the love he showered on her.
"Ab chalein?" He asked breaking the hug and offering his hand, she looped her hand into his. He smiled at the familiar gesture.

There was nothing familiar about the dinner though, he had chosen her favorite restaurant & ordered her favorite food but she had casually remarked that she didn't like the food. He was at a loss to understand this. She had in fact chosen to eat when he ordered for himself and he was left tearing up quite literally over her earlier spicy food interests. It did not  amuse him to find her laughing at him struggling to eat her spicy food. Well, just a little maybe because he was such a sucker for her in every way humanly possible. Though it bothered him a little that she was dismissive of the choice of restaurant. Patience, he told himself, she is not his Naira right now, all he needed was to be accepting of the changes and everything would be okay.
Just as he convinced himself, she did a complete 360 and rushed to get herself some kulfi. Excited like a kid, like his Naira. He just shook his head but couldn't help staring at her spellbound. There was something so childlike about her enthusiasm for these little things, the way her eyes lit up, the way her smile brought a shine to her face, then she would turn around and look for him, asking him to join her and threatening him if he didn't. He expected her to do that, simply out of habit then realized, he probably shouldn't but there are not enough words to describe the joy he felt when she actually did just that.

They walked hands interlinked eating kulfis and enjoying the moonlit night. It felt like a dream again. But sometimes, their reality was more beautiful than their dreams.

Quite unexpectedly, they bumped into Naksh and Keerti, they seemed to be having an argument. Awkward, thought Kartik. "Hello bhai, bhabhi" said Naira cheerfully. Kartik looked at his ever unpredictable wife -with or without  memories. Kartik wasn't sure what to do, so he just nodded & acknowledged the duo.
Naksh gave Naira a half smile,  conflicted, his mixed feelings about how they had parted ways and contrasting it to how happy Naira looked. Then he nodded at Kartik acknowledging non- verbally that Kartik indeed was the one Naira was happiest with. Naksh then gave Naira a quick hug.
When the older couple went their way, Kartik & Naira hugged each other feeling like a small battle had been won. Things were looking up. They were ready for many more battles as long as they had each other by their side.