"Advith!" Vidhushi couldn't believe her eyes as she saw Advith standing at the door as she opened the door. She thought it was her neighbour who was knocking on the door.

Instead, it was him...the person whom she texted 'Happy Diwali' with a very nice quote, stolen from Instagram, in the morning itself but got no reply to. She had thought that he must be too busy with his family that he didn't see his phone.

But here he was.

"Happy Diwali, Vidhushi!" Advith wished and waited for her to invite him in.

"Who is it, Vidhu beta?" Came her mother's voice that brought her out of her surprise.

"Same to you, Advith. Please come in." She said as she motioned him to enter.

Seeing her barefoot in her home, he looked at his own shoes.

He attempted to remove his shoes as well when she stopped him.

"It's okay... keep them on." She said as she knew that he didn't have the habit of being barefoot at his house. She had noticed it in his house during the party.

"No, the floor will get dirty." He said and removed his shoes anyway.

Picking it up, he asked where to keep them.

She smiled and motioned him towards the shoe rack. He was such a sweet man, she concluded. Little things like this affected her deeply.

Advith turned around to properly greet Vidhushi's mother with joined hands and wished her the festival.

"Oh, so you are Advith." Her mother sang as she gave a knowing look to her daughter.

Vidhushi playfully glared at her mother for giving him a signal. This didn't go unnoticed by him, though.

So, he played along as he got the signal that she had told her mother about him...a little too much.

Both knew that they had feelings for each other but they were yet to confess it to each other. Both waited for an appropriate time and situation. Till then, they tried to know more about each other, as much as they can.

"Oh, I am so sorry! I forgot to ask you for water." She mumbled and quickly ran to the kitchen to bring him something to drink.

"Vidhushi has told me a lot about you." Her mother spoke as she analysed Advith from top to bottom.

Advith shuffled a little under her gaze. He knew that Vidhushi's mother was calculating his every move and he had to give a perfect show. He wanted to score 100/100 in impressing her. Because, if the mother is impressed then all is set.

"I hope all good things, aunty." He smiled.

"Oh yes. They were all good, of course." She replied.

Vidhushi came back bringing soft drinks for all and sat down beside her mother.

"I didn't know you would actually come here." She openly said.

"I thought of surprising you." He said.

She smiled and nodded.

This surprise made her happy because Kunal had cancelled his arrival here. If he was coming here, she would have immediately told Advith to go back to avoid bloodshed and drama.

Now, as Kunal wasn't coming, she was more than welcoming towards her guest.

The trio talked about random things, mostly about their culture and how they celebrated Diwali in their native places. Vidhushi's mother didn't leave a single chance in asking him personal questions, like where he studied, lived and what did he do for a living. He answered all of them patiently.

"Mumma, stop taking his interview." Vidhushi finally interrupted the session with an awkward smile to which her mother complied.

"Okay, okay! Why don't you show him around!" Her mother suggested.

"Come, I'll show you the decorations." She said gently and stood up.

Advith followed her.

"Oh! Is this a library?" He joked as they entered her room and he saw the piles of books and papers on the table and some on the bed as well.

"Shut up!" She chuckled.

He threw his hand in surrender.

"No photos...nothing on the walls?" He asked as he noticed that she didn't decorate the room as expected of girls.

"That's because I am here for some months only. As far as I have calculated,  approx 2 months are left for me to work under your uncle. After that, I have to join my own university back again." She explained even though she had told this partially to him in their previous meetings.

"Oh, yes. Two months." He repeated, realising that he had two months to convince her of his...their feelings towards each other.

"Come, I'll show you how I have decorated my balcony." She said excitedly.

He followed her with the same zeal.

Coming to the small balcony, he observed that she had decorated the railing and roof with fairy lights...as most people do. She decorated them in a wavy style and at the base of each wave, there were tiny bells that rang whenever there was a light breeze. At equal intervals on the ground, there were lighted diyas that added to the brightness of the balcony. It all looked pretty, just like her, he thought.

"So, how's it?" She asked, proud of her work.

"It is amazing. But, I think that part fell." He said pointing towards the portion of the fairy light that fell from its hook.

Vidhushi looked at it and she walked in its direction to correct it. She was tall and she knew it very well. But this particular light was above her reach. She had earlier took the help of a chair for hanging the fairy lights.

She was about to turn around to reach for the stool that laid there at the corner when she felt herself being raised from the floor.

"Advith!" She exclaimed as she realised that he had taken the liberty to raise her.

"Fix it, quickly. You are heavy." He said as he held her up from the waist using his strength.

She did as instructed and then felt him lower her down. He purposely brought her close to him...a little too close.

She turned around and faced him to scold him but after seeing the distance between them, she involuntarily took a step back. However, he still had his grip on her waist and kept her still.

Her mind stopped working being so close to him.

"Advith!"

"Let's face the truth, Vidhushi."

She looked at him again, confused as to what was he saying. What truth? She never lied to him and she knew it.

"About what?" She asked noticing how he came closer to her ear to whisper.

"I want you. I've wanted you since the first moment I met you. And I want to ask you if you feel the same way about me?" He asked.

Vidhushi just continued to stare at him as he backed away a little so that they faced each other again.

"Advith...I...You know that I am engaged." She reminded him, not knowing how to tell him that she had not told anything about them to Kunal. And if he gets to know it, she didn't know how he will react. She was confused already and Advith increased her confusion and fear a million times more by confessing his feeling. Plus, he was expecting an answer too.

"I don't care about that. I need to know how you feel about me!" He asked.

"It's too early to say anything." She tried to dodge the question. She had promised herself that she will first clear things between her and Kunal before committing anything to Advith.

But Advith seemed adamant today.

"We have known each other for three months. That a pretty good time, I guess." He asked, in a serious tone, that in a twisted way aroused her.

"I need....some more time." She lied and walked back into her room. He followed her.

"If I prove to you that the guy you are engaged is not good for you, will you atleast think about me?" He asked.

Her legs froze and she turned around after hearing such words coming from him.

"You want to prove to me that Kunal is not good for me?" She asked again as she walked towards him.

"Yes." He answered proudly. He trusted his friend's spying skills and he had told him that there was something fishy about Kunal which he was still in the process of finding exactly what.

Vidhushi chuckled.

"No, Advith. You don't need to prove it to me. Because I already know it. I know he is not good for me nor am I good for him. It is just his...stubbornness that he wants to marry me. And it is because of my... father that I am marrying him." She explained herself gently.

"Do you even hear yourself, Vidhushi? How twisted this all sounds! It appears as if you both are marrying each other without an ounce of love for each other." He said.

"Well, you are not wrong. I don't love him..." She couldn't continue further.

"Then say no to this marriage!"

She thought for a while again.

"Please give me some time, Advith. I...I am sorry. I can't say anything right now." She said. The distress was clear in her tone.

"Okay. Calm down. I'll wait for your decision...whatever it is. And I hope that you will give it a proper thought...without feeling any pressure. I will accept your choice, I promise." He said.

She only weekly smiled at his response. They were interrupted by their mother who called them outside.

Vidhushi nodded to her mother. But, when her mother went outside, he stopped her again from going out as well.

"It is a custom in our tradition to give Diwali gifts to our relatives and friends." He said, partly lying. There was no such tradition.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"So, because you are my friend....more than my friend to me, at least, I wanted to give you this." He said as he took out a gift-wrapped box from his blazer's pocket and handed it to her.

"What's it?" She asked with a smile. She loved gifts...But that was a secret for herself only.

"Just a showpiece...nothing too special."  He commented.

"Okay! Thanks." She said and accepted it. Keeping it on her bed gently, she followed him out of her room where her mother was.

"I should go now." Advith said looking at his watch that was about to strike six in the evening.

"So early! You just came." Her mother tried to make him stay a little longer.

"I would love to, aunty. But, I have to go and meet my friend and wish him Diwali too." He said with a smile.

"Well... okay. Thank you for coming here, beta!" Her mother said as she gave him the sweet box that Advith accepted with a smile.

"Bye, aunty. Thank you for this." He motioned towards the sweets.

Vidhushi walked with him to where his car was parked.

"Think about what I said." He said as he opened the car door.

Vidhushi only nodded in return, not able to look into his eyes. She wasn't sure if she would be able to fulfil her promise or not. But for him...for her...She will atleast try.

"Bye." He said as he took the liberty to touch her hair gently and corner few strands of hair behind her ear.

Vidhushi only stared at him, feeling his gentle gesture.

At that instant, she knew that she wasn't merely attracted to him.

She had silently fallen in love with Advith, without any expectations or needs in her mind. It was like a soul connection that she had never previously believed in. But she did now.

Love is a terrible thing, she realised. It comes in the heart without even asking and it will just not go away....no matter how much one tries.

She still looked at the spot where he stood and touched her gently. He was long gone and she knew it. But, she couldn't move from there.

Her mind and heart were in turmoil. She didn't know how long she stood there contemplating her emotions for this sweet man and how she should strengthen herself to face Kunal and....spill out everything.

She was scared of Kunal. Not for herself...but for her loved ones. Initially, it was just her mother. But, now she was concerned about Advith too.

Her heart elevated again as she remembered how bluntly he had put forward his feeling for her today. She was so happy that he had similar feelings for her as she did for him. And that made her insanely satisfied.

Her beautiful thoughts were interrupted by a slight itch on her nose and she looked up to focus her gaze on the interrupter.

Her eyes widened in shock as she saw her nightmare standing in front of him...exactly where Advith stood.