"I've never had a reason to survive—no reason to question the way things were. I lived because I was told to...now I live because I want to. I survive because I want to know what is outside the deception we're buried in, and I want to experience it with you. You're the only person I've ever trusted, and now you're the reason I'm going to fight. I don't know how we're going to make it out of here, but we'll find a way. We'll find a better life."

― Cassandra Giovanni, In Between Seasons

****

Shravan found her leaning on the wall near Nana Ji's library, crying with her head bent and eyes red.

"Sumo," he called her out, worried at how her tears started to slip faster when she noticed him.

"Nanu wants to talk to you," she informed her, her voice breaking mid-sentence.

"Okay, but why are you crying about it?" He asked her softly as he sat on the floor close to her.

"Nanu says he wants me to get married soon," she whispered between her sobs.

"We can convince him to give us some time if that's what you want," he told her, wiping her tears away, his heart aching at her pain.

"He wants me to marry Aditya," she informed him, her whole body shaking.

"What?" He asked, shocked.

His father while walking out of Tiwari Killa had told Shravan that he had put forward the proposal and so had Mrs Ahuja. And even if he had suspected that Aditya's proposal would be given some consideration, hearing that it was taken more seriously than his own did hurt. He couldn't understand why Nana Ji's decision was so hasty.

"What do you want, Sumo?" He asked in a whisper.

And the more she took time to answer, the more his heart picked pace, restless in anticipation. Nana Ji was everything to Suman, he knew that. There wasn't a thing she could deny her grandfather nor would she ever. Never before had he thought there would ever come a situation in which she would have to choose between him and her Nanu.

He didn't want her to choose...

She shouldn't have to choose...

"I don't want to choose between you and Nanu, please, Shravan, I can't. Please don't make me choose," she cried out but came to him when he pulled her in his arms and rested her head on his shoulder.

"You will not have to choose. We can find a way, Sumo, just stop crying," he consoled her, running his finger in her hair.

"I can't ask you of that, Shravan, you just gave me the latter. It's too soon, I know, but please, stay... Don't go away, not this time, please stay with me," she pleaded to him as her sobs picked force.

"I told you, I am not going away anywhere without you," he reminded her.

It took some time for her cries to slow down. They sat in silence, with his arm warped around her shoulder and her head resting on his shoulder. He kept creasing her hair in the hope of providing some comfort.

"Do you know what's written in the latter?" he asked her, breaking the silence.

"Yes, I have already read it," she confessed, guilty.

"When?" He asked, shocked as he looked down at her.

"A while ago. I was waiting for you to give it to me, there were times I felt you were about to but you didn't," she muttered with a frown.

"Why didn't you tell me? I kept you waiting for too long, didn't I?" He asked, regretfully.

"I didn't mind waiting for you, I could wait for you for much longer...I thought I could...but now," she muttered as a lone tear slipped her eyes.

"Let's go," he said, standing up and helping her up.

"Where?" She asked him as she followed him.

"To talk with Nana Ji," he said as he started walking just to stop by her.

"Do you understand what he is going to ask you?" She asked him with a frown.

"Yes, but we can convince him to let us marry in spring," he told her with a shrug.

"Spring? You want to marry me?" She asked, shocked.

"Of course. What? Do you not want to marry me?" He asked her, baffled.

"Yes, but...We never talked about it?" She muttered, confused at how he was so casual about marriage without realizing she herself had agreed so easily.

"But we did. Don't you remember our conversations? And how we agreed not to marry in winter," Shravan reminded her.

"Yes, I said I wanted to marry in spring," she muttered with a frown.

"So who are you going to marry next spring if not me?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at her as he wrapped his arms around his chest, looking offended.

"That's not...But are you ready to get married?" She asked, dumbfounded.

"You are the only one I ever wanted to marry, Suman Tiwari, it's always been just a matter of when," he whispered, confessing a long-kept secret.

"Really?" She asked, overwhelmed by the emotions shining in his eyes.

"Yes...Why? What did you think? Don't tell me you too think I am open-minded Western or something along the line... As no one in the West gets married," he muttered with a huff.

"I didn't think you believed in marriage," she said.

"I don't, or rather I don't believe in the success of marriage. But I knew I would have to marry someone for the sake of my father, there would have been so many clauses, conditions, prenups, and whatnot. I had thought I would need to ensure so many things before getting married to someone. But that was because I never thought you could ever want me..." he said with a shrug.

And as she continued to look at him with wide eyes and a shocked expression on her face, he clarified.

"It's different with you, Sumo," he whispered.

"I know when you promise me not to leave me, you will not leave me. If you do, you will come back, I trust you to come back. And I promise I will not give you a reason that will force you to leave, and I promise to stay. Marrying you will ensure that someone else or society will have no power over our promises to each other," he said with confidence.

"I don't know what to say..." she gasped at him.

Suman looked startled at his confession, his reasoning, and how deeply he had already thought about the matter. All the while waiting for him to hand her the latter, she had thought it would take another eternity for him to fully trust her, them, enough to even be in a relationship other than friendship, let alone marriage...

"Don't tell me that this courtship was one-sided?" He muttered with a huff.

"We were courting each other? You were courting me?" She asked, her eyes widening further.

"So what do you think we were doing? Because clearly, this between us isn't just friendship..." he said, his hand signaling between them.

"Since when have we been courting?" She demanded, confused at the certainty in his voice and at apparently missing their whole courting situation.

"Should I have asked you officially, out loud, with words?" Shravan asked, doubts suddenly sinking in his voice and stance.

"Whenever someone assumed we were husband and wife, or in a relationship, you never corrected anyone and it has been happening for months now," he whispered with a confused frown.

Had he read her clues wrong?

Had she never corrected because she didn't care to correct?

Had she not been walking along with him on the same path?

Doubts and fears that he had buried inside him raised their heads and attacked him in full force. As confused and in his mind as he was, he didn't see it coming and snapped out of it only when he realized what happened to him.

"Did you just...hit me?" He asked, bewildered.

"Of course, I hit you," she yelled, lightly hitting him again and again on his arm.

"I missed our whole courting period that only you got to enjoy while I was stupidly waiting for you to give me that letter," she huffed in anger, her eyes narrowed at him.

"Well, I didn't know you were waiting for the latter and entirely missed the other key events," he muttered in his defense.

"What other key events?" She demanded as she put her hands on her waist and glared up at him.

"We meet almost every day. You cook for me and send me lunch every day. We go out to dinners and parties together. We have exchanged many gifts. Eric and Angela invited you to their wedding as my plus one. Everyone around us thinks we are married or at least engaged, but neither of us ever corrected them. I had already told my father about you, and whatever tension that was between you both got solved. He started to like you after we came back from meeting Mrs Ahuja. And today, before Mrs Ahuja could do anything, papa asked Nana Ji for your hand in marriage for me," he listed one after the other reason.

"But shouldn't you - we - have confessed before for all that to be valid?" She asked, bluffed, shaking her head at how he made sense and at the same time didn't.

"You are right, but..." he whispered with a sigh.

"Suman, do you want to marry me?" He asked again, uncertain.

After hearing him proposing to her casually yet with doubts in his voice, Suman didn't know what to say...

'What's happening here?' she thought with a frown.

She hadn't suspected that in the end, they would end up talking about marriage in such an unromantic way. Not that she had many grand expectations. Between the two of them, it was Shravan who was the dreamy one, and that said a lot. They both were practical and didn't need big declarations or confessions. So no wonder he saw the slow and steady way their relationship had developed as a courtship. They never needed tags, nor stated their feelings out loud, and maybe they never said anything out loud, but everything they did was a confession and testimony of their feelings.

So did he need to ask her officially even though he knew her answer would be yes?

Did he need to spell it out, again and again, for her to know he loved her?

Did she need that letter to know where they were heading?

"I do," she whispered, nodding at him, her heart swelling in fondness when the uncertainty in his eyes transformed into pure joy making them twinkle.

"But do you realize how unromantic this proposal of yours is? Do you think any other girl would have agreed?" She demanded with a huff.

"If you want a proper proposal, I can do that, with the grandeur, roses and all," he said with a nod, smiling at her bashfully.

"Well, in that case, Mr Malhotra, you better give me a proper official courting period and an official proposal, with grand love declarations, and maybe write me a few more poems too," she demanded with a smirk, taking in how even if he was acting casual, as always, he was giving away his feelings as the tips of his ears kept reddening second by second.

"I will see what I can do, Miss Tiwari," he muttered with a nod, holding back his smile as he ran his fingers through his hair, trying to appear nonchalant.

"I will be waiting," she whispered, taking his hand in hers, and smiling up at him.

"Shall we go and talk to Nana Ji first?" He asked before directing them towards the library.

With a deep breath and a nod from her, they began their march toward their destination. After knocking, they both entered the library and came to stand before the desk where Nana Ji was sitting. Even though they both had been caught and scolded by the elder man many times during their teens for pranks and everything naughty they had been up to, it was the first time that Suman was hiding behind him. If his own heart wasn't beating fast and his hands weren't trembling from nervousness, he would have found the way she was behaving very amusing.

"Ramnaath asked Suman's hand in marriage for you, what do you think about it, Shravan?" The elder man asked.

"I think it's a proposal worthy of some consideration," he replied politely.

Even though not so regularly now, from time to time, Nana Ji had been asking his opinion on the proposals that had come for Suman ever since he had stupidly promised his help in finding a groom for her. But now that he was being asked about his own proposal, he was feeling as if he was a defense lawyer and the elder man a judge.

"Why would you think so?" Raghveer Tiwari asked, leaning back on his chair and glared up at him.

"I know her better than anyone," he stated confidently.

"Aditya would get to know her with time," the elder counter-attacked.

And only then did Shravan suddenly realize he got their roles wrong. They both were playing lawyers, so who was the judge? Suman? A biased judge who already was leaning towards him? Or was the elder man trying to make sure Suman - they knew what they were getting into? They had to convince him or be convinced by him? Was that what was happening?

"She won't have to move or relocate her business," he reasoned.

"Nirmala assured me that they will help establish her business or whatever she may want to do there," the elder man informed.

"Do you think Suman would take anyone's help?" Shravan asked and knew he made a point when the elder man nodded at him pensively.

"Preeti will get married to Pushkar, do you both think you can handle all the drama that would come with it? Do you think you can protect Suman from Kamini and whatever will come her way?" The elder man asked.

"I admit that Kamini chachi is a problem, but she is outnumbered as the rest of the family likes Suman very much. I will never let whatever chaos she or others may create affect Sumo or us," he said determinately.

"Nirmala would be able to give her the motherly love that she has been missing ever since her mother died," the elder man presented his reasoning.

"She sees no flaws in her son because she raised him. It's a matter of pride. She will end up acting like any other biased mother and wouldn't take Suman's side if it came to it," Shravan said with certainty.

"Ramnaath too would be biased towards you," the elder man objected.

"I won't let any external interference happen. Whatever may be the issue, we will try to solve it between us," he assured.

"Maybe with Aditya, it won't come to it. He seems like a very good boy," the elder man said with a shrug.

"And am I not, Nana Ji? Do you think I don't deserve Suman?" Shravan finally asked, breaking the role.

"Do you really want to marry her? Or are you doing this because your father wants that? Is marrying Suman a way of winning from Nirmala?" Nana Ji asked after a sigh.

"Marrying Suman had nothing to do with my parents. I do want to marry her. We would like to get married in the spring," he responded without delay or hesitation.

"We?" The elder man demanded as he looked past Shravan.

"Yes," he confirmed even if he slightly moved to cover her.

"And spring? That's too late," Nana Ji muttered, taking in how he hid her behind him.

'Unnecessarily protective,' he thought to himself, holding back a smirk.

"It's enough time to prove myself to you and that we are the best match," Shravan said with determination.

"You seem very convinced," Nana Ji said, finally cracking a smile.

"I am," he nodded, finally letting out a breath that he had been holding.

"I will take your proposal into consideration then," the elder man said with a sigh before dismissing them.

Shravan hurried before being told twice, grabbing the shocked Suman and dragging her along with him before the elder man could change his mind. As they walked out, a deep laugh, amused and affectionate, rang behind them as it had every other time they had been released after being summoned to the elder man's library.

Some things never change...

* * *

Compared to the chaos of the evening, the night was a quiet affair in Tiwari Killa. After dinner, everyone was sitting in the living room as the head of the family ordered. As Suman handed tea cups to them, her heart started to beat fast due to her nervousness over the upcoming discussion.

"You all already know about Aditya's proposal," Nanu started the conversation.

"But Ramnaath too asked Suman's hand for Shravan," he informed, taking in the expressions on the faces of his family.

"Both the proposals are good, I wanted to know what you think about the matter," he said, nodding at his son to start.

"Nirmala Ji is a very good person and Aditya seems decent, but I don't know how we would get the needed information regarding them. We can't just marry Suman to him without knowing about him in detail. While we know about the Malhotras and Shravan," Mama Ji said, subtly giving his opinion.

"I always wanted Shravan for Suman," Masi Ji declared her bais openly without hesitation and with a beaming smile.

"This is getting out of hand, you all. Have you already forgotten that today Preeti's marriage got fixed in the same family? Everyone there likes and knows Suman, if they get married in the same house, they will favor her and not Preeti. She will be Preeti's sister-in-law and they will be compared to each other all their lives," Mama Ji cried out, already forgetting how she didn't want Preeti's marriage in Malhotra's house in the first place.

"But Suman being there would be good for Preeti, she won't be alone there," Mausa Ji reasoned.

"It's not me you all should be thinking about, but Suman Di and her marriage," Preeti reminded them with a light glare.

"I vote for Shravan bhahiya," Dabu chimed in with enthusiasm.

"You both, don't talk in elder's matters," Mami Ji scolded her children with a glare.

"The majority wins then," Nanu declared with a nod, stomping his stick on the floor to quiet down the protests and cheers.

Bidding them a good night, he walked off without minding the chatters of the rest of the family.

'That easily?' Suman thought, utterly confused.

When after an hour she walked into Nanu's room with the Turmeric milk, she couldn't help but ask him.

"Nanu, you have been my guardian, grandfather, friend, and parent all in one. There is no way I will be able to do anything without your approval. I need to know what you think of Shravan." She insisted, softly.

Nanu looked at her way before sighing to himself as he smiled.

"Do you know when I first wished you to end up with Shravan?" Nanu asked with an amused smile, and chuckling while taking in her shocked face.

"You both matched so well as soon as you met, two sides of the same coin. You both completed each other because you were so different from each other. But precisely it was when you first started to cook and he was so supportive that I started to think about it. He would eat anything you put in front of him even though he knew it tasted bad. Weeks after weeks, you experimented with dishes with the strangest combinations, but he ate it and gave you his review. I knew then that he would be a good husband for you," he said with a smile.

"But then there was a separation of ten years and when he came back and agreed to help me find a groom for you, I thought maybe you both would just stay friends. But as a guardian and a grandparent, for you, I wanted someone who would know how to appreciate your strength and help you overcome your weakness. Shravan had been doing all of that since you both met. You both bring so much stability into each other's lives," the elder man said with a soft smile.

"Shravan especially won me over when he was able to handle the whole debit situation with you Mami. I had feared that you would be hunted by that forever because you didn't know when to put your foot down. I have noticed how he is protective of you and supportive of your career. If Ramnaath wouldn't have put forward the proposal first, I would have done that myself," he revealed with a sly smirk.

"Nanu," Suman whispered, overcome with emotions, her eyes mist.

"So if you want to hear it, let me say it out loud: you have my approval," Nanu said with a laugh, patting her head with affection.

After wishing him a good night, Suman walked out of the room and as she descended the stairs, she didn't know why tears kept slipping from her eyes. Stopping midway, she sat down and looked at the sky lit by stars and let the sobs she was holding back shake her body.

Everything was falling into place, so why was she crying?

It was because for so long, it seemed impossible. For so long, it seemed like it wasn't going to happen. For so long there were too many obstacles - monsters of the past and people - and so many problems that it seemed unlikely that what her heart had desired for so long could become her reality...

Ever since that day more than a decade ago when she had seen him sitting in that car and going away without looking her way, countless days and nights, she had wished for him to come back. And when he had, she had understood that there was a difference between him coming back and him coming back into her life. And when he came back into her life, she understood that there was a huge difference between coming back into her life and being with her...

And each time she had some of him, she wanted more. She had felt selfish and greedy for wanting more of him and feared that she would be punished for it. For wanting more of him. She had feared that she would be denied of him. That one day there would be some obstacle that they wouldn't be able to overcome. Or that he would get tired. Or that he would deny her of him in the capacity she wanted him, the intensity in which she needed him...

But now that Shravan confirmed that he did want to be with her, that he wanted her in the same way she wanted him, that she could have him. That she did have him. And now that in a matter of hours, Nanu and Ramnaath uncle both had given them their blessings, it was only now that she realized what had seemed impossible to her had already, finally, happened...

Only now it was sinking in that the man she loved, loved her back...

Suman Tiwari was in love with Shravan Malhotra and he was in love with her...

She loved him and she was being loved by him...

***

A/N:- After the cliffhanger of the last chapter, was this chapter satisfying? Worth the wait? Did you like it? Let me know if you are smiling and cheering or if you are crying... ;D

So what are your thoughts on ShraMan courtship? Haha, Suman was being courted without even her knowing that she was being courted, that's ShraMan of them. Did you know they were courting? Or did you too miss the whole courtship period? Do you want a re-do too? ;D

Nana Ji vs Shravan, your thoughts? Mr Sravan Malhotra being so bold and firm, did you like his this avatar? The man knows what he wants and is ready to fight for it! * __ *

So yes, Nana Ji was technically the first ShraMan shipper. Huh? Pushkar who? It's Nanu is The original and the first... -_-

He was there to ship them when no one else was. He is The Original and The shipper. So, yes, he was putting on a show and pushing for a confession. Imagine shipping them for a decade and more just to see no progress. ; /

So the cunning shipper that he is, in the end, Nana Ji got what he wanted... ;)

Let me know your thoughts and feelings in the comment section... :)

We are at the end of this story, I will write an epilogue, so one more to go. I have started to miss them and you all already. Thank you for being with me on this journey, for the wait, love, support, and everything else... <3

Thank you! <3

***