Cover edit above credit goes to my 👆👆 darling suku SukanyaSarker

Neil sat straight on the couch and put on his tee shirt... Avni was picking up the items to take back to the washroom

Neil: um let me help u

Avni: no need u rest I'll do if myself she said walking to the washroom..

Neil: I'm feeling ok

Avni: that's what u think when u r sitting but as soon as u get up and take few steps u will lose balance
.so just stay seated.. she said coming out of the washroom and picked up the remaining items.

Neil didn't say anything as he could see how annoyed avni is with since he was about to fall while walking to the bathroom.. right now he didn't have the strength to argue back or let's say he didn't want to do that right now as his heart was telling him to let her take care of him

It was nearly evening avni was getting Neil's food ready when shweta came in the kitchen

Shweta: avni beta I'll take Neil food till then u eat

Avni:it's ok shweta ma I'll eat after

Shweta:Kya after u havent ate properly... by the time Neil becomes well i hope u don't fall ill

Avni: arien I did eat

Shweta:haan like half a sandwich and few pieces of biscuits now and then

Avni bit her tounge as shweta said that...

Shweta: u go and take this I'll come

Avni nodded and left.

When she reached to the room she saw prakash and Neil talking

Prakash: look here comes Avni u have your dinner I'll see u in a bit he said tapping on Neil shoulder.

As soon as he was about to walk out he saw shweta coming with a tray.

Prakash: shweta ji y did u bring this food Avni already boughtfood...neil turned to look towards the door while avni also turned to see shweta with the tray

Shweta: the thing is prakash ji while looking after Neil properly our darling avni isn't having her meals properly....

Neil looked at avni when shweta said that while avni looked at Neil then shweta

Avni:shweta ma I told u na I'll eat after

Shweta:yeah like finish your food in five mins and then check on Neil..

Prakash:avni beta that is not right.. Neil's health is important but so is yours.

Shweta: Neil I'm leaving her food here make sure she eats and u also eat

Now Neil was surprised... but he somehow nodded

Shweta:I'll come and check on you both in a bit

Avni placed her food on the other side of the bed and got Neil's food... she was about to sit down and lift the spoon to feed him

Neil:stop?

Avni:what happened?

Neil:u eat

Avni : I'll eat after.. first u eat as u need to take medicine.. Neil held her wrist stopping her from feeding him

Neil:mom can come anytime... if she sees  u haven't ate then the amount of food will be doubled... and u should know her since childhood as she has done that many times

Avni looked at Neil and her gaze slowly moved down to his hand on her wrist..

Neil: so just eat and I'll have my food.

Avni:ok...Neil removed his hand from her wrist

Avni went and sat on the couch taking her food.. while Neil was not use to eating on the bed... he saw avni getting ready to eat and thought of sitting on the couch next to her but by accident he dropped his soup.

Neil: shit he said seen the mess on the floor. Luckily the bowl didn't break .. Avni went towards him seen the mess

Avni: u ok? How did this happen?

Neil:I was about to get up and the bowl fell by accident

Avni:like seriously would it hurt your ego if u asked for help ..but nope even though u r ill u want to do everything yourself.

Neil:u was eating so I didn't want to disturb u

Avni:yah right.. y did u get up she asked after trying to calm herself down.

Neil:I thought of sitting on the couch and eat

Avni:u could have said ....I wouldn't eat u. Let me get more food for u till then sit on the couch

Neil: no first finish and then get it he said coughing a little.. Avni made him sit on the couch and went to get his soup without listening to him

Neil eyed avni food after few mins
.. he actually hates having khichdi and soup.. he looked towards the door and back at avni plate even though he knew he wouldn't be able to taste anything properly due to his taste buds he still wanted to eat it .. without wasting a second he looked at the paratha and chilli paneer and began to eat it

Avni came back with the soup when she stopped seen Neil eat her food.. for a sec she smiled seen the way he ate but then after she realised that he shouldn't be eating all this at the moment

Neil stopped when he saw avni... he held the piece of paratha wrapped around the panner and then looked at avni and then at the panner

Avni:Neil u shouldn't be eating this right now.

Neil: it's ok I'm...

Avni:no u r not fine... not fully and until u r not better like before u won't be eating this..  she was about to take the food that he held when he quickly ate it

Neil:it's not good to leave food like that

Avni:oh really?. .. now here have your soup she said placing the bowl in front of him and took her plate which was In front of Neil and sat on the couch next to him.

Avni could see how he was eyeing her food but she ignored looking towards him and ate... after a while Neil finished eating and avni was nearly done.. while he wiped his hand

Neil saw avni was full... she was about to get up and take her food which had few pieces of panner

Neil: suno

Avni turned around looking at Neil.

Neil:at least let me have those few pieces of panner.. .please.

Avni:no

Neil:please

Avni:but u shouldn't be eating this too much

Neil:I promise only today... Avni knew how much Neil loved panner and looking at her plate she saw it was few pieces only so she moved her plate forward and within secs neil ate the paneer quickly but due to eating fast he started coughing..

Avni quickly ran to get water for him and sat besides him giving him the glass and rubbed his back. While Neil took few sips of the water. Trying to get rid of horrible feeling on his chest.

Avni:u r mad...u eat as if that panner will run away from u..

Neil: I need to go for a walk

Avni:r u mad ?

Neil:I'm not going to sleep straight away after eating and neither I have a habit to sit I need to walk for few mins

Avni:fine I'll take u in the garden is that fine .. Neil was about to deny but then agreed

Shweta smiled seen this from the door and decided to leave them alone and update bebe about it

Few mins later avni was holding Neil arm ... she couldn't let go of him after seen the amount of time he lost balance today... it was quiet.. both walked silently...lost in their own world.. knowing the small changes but not wanting to talk about it yet...
They sat down on the bench in the garden.

There was a lot to talk about but both stayed silent not wanting to break that peace.. if Neil wasn't ill then maybe things wouldn't have changed between them like this.. Neil would probably be doing his own bit while avni will be doing her own thing. But situation was such that they r slowly warming up a little or let's say it's just the start.

An hour later

Avni looked at Neil... who was sleeping peacefully on the bed.... she smiled slowly and went to him covering the blanket properly and then adjusted his head on the pillow so that he is comfortable while sleeping... she was about to get up when Neil held her hand in his sleep.

Avni:this kadhoos khanna... am I his teddy that he can hold while sleeping... gosh now I just need to loosen his grip without waking him up

Avni slowly moved her other hand and slowly tried to move his hands away.. first time  she failed but second time she was able to loosen his grip. She got up quickly before he does such thing again and went on the couch to sleep

The next day

Avni woke up and found Neil sleeping.. she checked  his forhead to see that there was slight fever and thought to check his temperature when he gets up

After getting ready she made sure not to make much sound as Neil was still sleeping thanks to the medicine effect ...

Avni went down and grabbed herself some coffee when she received a call from riya

Riya:hi babes

Avni: hey riya

Riya: acha listen can u join me in an hour or so as juhi sangeet dress needs to be decided and i need to show you both all the desgins so that we can start working on it

Avni:Riya actually Neil isn't well  so I won't come but  do one thing choose something For me... I won't mind she said coming to the hall and at that time bebe and shweta heard her say that and looked at each other

Riya: yeah Vidyut told us about him... me and Ali were planning to visit him sometime this week.. but isn't there any chance for few hours

Before Avni could speak shweta took the phone of Avni while she was about to protest but bebe gestured her to be quiet

Shweta:Riya.. don't worry avni can make it today what time do u want her to leave

Riya: ASAP aunty

Shweta no worries I'll make sure of that... where does she need to meet u

Riya:at my workplace

Shweta:ok beta I'll send avni bye

Riya:bye aunty

As soon as she gave Avni the phone back avni spoke

Avni: shweta ma y did u do that u know Neil isn't well and that guy is too stubborn to ask for help... someone needs to be with him and I don't mind

Bebe:r u done? Now listen u made us go yesterday right so even u can go for few hours right. We will stay with Neil and look after him.. whatever shweta did was right

Avni: but  ...shweta interrupted her

Shweta: avni it's not that u sent us yesterday that's y we r sending u.. beta u also have a life which is out of this house to and also have the right to enjoy... we will take care of Neil

Avni was hesitant

Bebe:puttar don't worry Neil is slowly recovering and we will take care of him

Avni: I know bebe but u know how stubborn he is.. despite knowing he has weakness he wants to do things on his own

Bebe:dw if he is stubborn then his mom and bebe aren't less she said winking

Avni:ok but I need u both to do one thing

Shweta: what?

Avni :I have left a book on the table u just need to write down how his progress is as doctor uncle said

Bebe:don't worry u go

Avni nodded and left

Shweta left from there and bebe went to her room to update riya and juhi about the small changes she saw between avneil

It had been 30 mins since Avni left.. Neil slowly opened his eyes and woke up and tried to sit on the bed slowly

Shweta : one min

Neil frowned and looked up to see shweta who was sitting on the couch cutting vegetable

She came and made him help sit on the bed.

Shweta: good morning tillu

Neil:morning mom but what r u doing over here he said looking around the room

Shweta: y? can't i be here

Neil:u know I don't mean that ... I just asked since u was here cutting vegetable

Shweta:haan actually avni has gone out so I thought while waiting for u to wake up I can cut the vegetables u know like 2 in 1 work

Neil wondered as to where avni went.. but he didn't want to ask and make it look like he wanted her to be there with him know where she has gone

Neil: ok umm I'll go to the washroom

Shweta: wait let me help u

Neil:mom I can manage

Shwta: that's what u thought yesterday... avni told us how you was acting as if u r fine and lost balance many time. I don't care even if u have 1% of weakness we will still look after u.

Neil: great all r the same he mumbled

Shweta: what did u say she said looking at him

Neil:nothing I was thinking there is no point of arguing let's go

Shweta nodded and walked with Neil to the washroom helping him .

Meanwhile at Riya's work place

Juhi was checking the outfits while avni was sitting on the chair

Riya came back with more designs and saw her friend busy choosing the outfits while her sister was just sitting on the chair

Riya: avniiiiii come on yaar u need to choose

Avni:I'm confused riya... I don't know there is just too many... so I gave up.. riya shook her head

Riya: show me which outfits have u chosen

Avni got up and showed riya the 3 outfits that she felt will suit her.. riya examined three of them and then finally chose one putting it against avni to see how it would look on her

Riya: this one is perfect for u.

Avni: finally 

Juhi: how does this look on me

Avni: amazing

Riya:outstanding baby after all it's your sangeet

Avni:ok so all sorted now can I go

Riya: wait wait wait not so easily she said looking at avni making her sit down while juhi came near riya side and both gave avni a naughty look.

Avni: what?

Back to the khanna mansion  Neil finally got his laptop as he promised shweta he won't stress himself with work and just play games and watch videos to which shweta agreed to

Neil was keep on changing the videos without any interest for some reason.... every few minutes he kept looking towards the door as if waiting for someone to come and open it .. he tried to ignore that and concentrate but wasn't getting that feeling. He closed the video and thought of playing a game with much difficulty he found a little bit of interest when his bedroom door open.. with that he quickly turned his head but it was bebe and not the person he expected it to be

Bebe: what were u doing tillu

Neil: nothing bebe was playing a game he said closing the laptop and placing it next to him.

Bebe:come on its your medicine time take this

Neil:bebe u should be resting i would have taken it myself.

Bebe: chup kar I know what to do and u don't worry about me just worry about yourself now here take this

Neil smiled and took the medicine

Back to Riya's workplace

Juhi:so?

Avni:what so

Riya:how's things with u and Neil now

Avni:what do u mean she asked confusingly

Riya:I mean he is ill and all so how r things

Avni:that guy is too stubborn.. he thinks he can handle himself despite been weak.. I had to shout at him and that's when he stopped and allowed me to help him

Juhi:awww

Avvni:there is nothing to awwww about Juhi

Juhi:but it's sweet that u r looking after Neil.. at least he is agreeing to u

Avni:yeah for now as he has no choice but once he gets better I'm damn sure he will behave the same way

Riya and juhi looked at each other

Riya:what if he doesn't ...

Avni didn't want to discuss about this with the gang because she knew if she told them that she feels that things r changing between them then they will come up with some next plan and right now she wants things to be the way it is with her and Neil

Avni:notning has changed between us rii so of course he will be back to normal.. anyway I got to go now as maa and bebe r looking after kadhoos khanna bye she said hugging both and left before they start questioning her more

Riya:u know I feel Neil's illness has bought some changes in avni and Neil relation.

Juhi:hmm as bebe told us with the way she saw avni taking care of Neil and how Neil was behaving but I'm sure these two can't see that yet or they r trying not to see that

Riya:let's see what happens... bebe said she will update us again when she sees another progress

Juhi:I'm happy we have bebe in our team

Riya:yup

Avni finally reached home after two hours thanks to the traffic

Avni got out of the car and was walking in when shweta stopped her

Avni:what happened shweta maa

Shweta:beta our family doctor said to keep Neil progress report ready as he will come to check since he is near by

Avni:ok..

Avni was walking towards the bedroom when she heard Neil and bebe laughing sound

bebe was talking to Neil while he was smiling at her telling about something

Suddenly his eyes saw the person he hadn't seen for few hours..unaware of his own feelings for her.

Avni walked into the room smiling at bebe and checked how many medicine Neil had left while also taking a note of his progress literally writing everything... and also reading what shweta and bebe had written. 

Neil was nodding while looking at bebe and then looked at avni watching her do her own work.

Bebe: haina Neil she said noticing now Neil was agreeing to whateever she was saying but his mind was somewhere else busy stealing glances at avni now and then

Neil:hmm bebe he said not knowing bebe just said it like that and looked at avni and then at bebe

Bebe:what happened tillu r u not listening to me what r u looking at now and then she said pretending while neil became conscious and looked at bebe.

Avni also looked up when bebe said that.

Neil: nothing like that Bebe I was listening to u

Bebe:that's fine then she said but from inside she was laughing giving those naughty devil laugh)

Avni: open your mouth She said walking towards Neil

Neil:y?

Avni:need to check your temperature ... Neil opened his mouth and avni placed the thermometer in while looking at the clock.. after a while she checked and noted it down in the book.. while bebe smiled slowly.... seen now Neil was Trying to look at avni slowly without anyone noticing unaware that his bebe is keeping a close watch on both of them

Precrap: will post a promo for it hopefully

Thanks to those who voted for the previous chap and also commented.. really loved reading all the comments

Hope u love this chap too will be waiting for all the votes and comments

Lots of love sonali