"Namaste Didi, han abhi Akshit school k liye taiyaar ho raha hai. Bulati hun, ek minute." I heard maa speak to someone over the phone before she called my name. "Give me 2 minutes." I said as I set my hair.

(Greetings sister, yes, Askhit is getting ready for school right now. Lemme call him, give me a minute.)

"Here, it's your badi maa." She said and passed me the phone when I reached the living room. "Namaste badi maa." I greeted. On the call, she wished me for my birthday and asked about my whereabouts.

"Everything is alright." I replied simply as I don't really talk much with my father's side of the family. I know it's weird but it is what it is. "By the way, I forgot to mention that we are coming to meet you." She informed me.

"That's great. But all of a sudden, how?" I questioned sensing something fishy. "Well, San-" before she could finish, my father interrupted and told me that he had invited them to celebrate a party for my birthday.

"Yes, Sandeep rang us yesterday and said how he wants to celebrate your special day in our presence." Badi maa said. "Exactly, with family." Mr. Choudhary added, emphasizing on the word 'family' thoroughly.

After a few minutes I hung up the call and gave a questioning look to him. "Why did you do that?" I asked. "I did nothing wrong. Now, did I Mamta?" He glanced at Maa who just entered the scene with an aarti thali.

"What's wrong?" She asked, unknown of the conversation. "Remember, I told you how I heartily wished to observe my son's special day with family only?" He asked as Maa nodded with a smile.

"I've invited Bade bhai sahab and Bhabhi along with Diksha, Neeraj and Vansh. They will reach Lucknow by evening, maybe earlier." My mother gleamed with happiness while I was confused as to why he was being too sweet today?

"It's the first time Diksha, Neeraj Jamaisa and little Vansh would be coming here. Why didn't you inform me earlier, Sandeep?" She questioned but nonetheless got instantly pumped up to decorate the house.

"Akshit, we will prepare everything together and yeah, please cancel your coaching class for the day if you can, alright?" She asked, getting all excited. "I'll try but first do this maa, I'm getting late." I reminded her as she was still holding the aarti thali.

After doing my aarti and putting up a dot of vermilion on the center of my brows, she fed me laddu. "Janam din ki hardik shubhkamnaye, mere bachhe." She said and pecked my cheeks. "Thanks maa." I smiled and bent to touch her feet.

"May God bless you with success, health and prosperity. I also hope that you at least try to be a little more jolly this year. You know, take a chill pill, Akshit." She said while taking me in for a hug.

"As you wish, matey." I chuckled. "Go take blessings from your father." She said, though I wanted to reject the offer, I didn't want to make her sad.

"May God bless you and keep you away from the distractions so that you can focus clearly on your goals." He said as I bent to touch his feet. I didn't react and went to wear my socks.

"Oh I forgot to bring your lunchbox." Maa said and rushed to the kitchen. I then went to get my shoe from the shoe rack. While cleaning it, I sensed my father nearing me. "Seems like you have to cancel the plan that you have made with your friends. Too bad." He stated and went back to his room.

'I should have guessed it earlier. But how did he know?' I was thinking when it struck me. 'He must have heard it while I was discussing it with maa.' I sighed and by now maa was there with my lunchbox.

At school.

"Bro, with due respect, uncle is just too much." Manav responded as I told him about the occurrence that took place this morning. "He is just too determined to keep me and Ms. Govind away from each other." I replied.

"Don't worry, I'll find a way out." Manav suggested but I was already stuck between the friends versus family situation. "But maa was too excited yaar and I don't want her to do all the work alone." I said.

"Achha, let it be." He said and got back to his seat as we saw Amit sir enter the class. Throughout the class, I was fully focused and solved all the questions while underlying each concept related to it.

"How many of you got the same answer?" almost everyone raised their hand. "Akshit, seems like your answer doesn't match mine?" Sir asked.

As I was analyzing the steps, I noticed a minor mistake made by him. "Sir, after the integration you have not put up the sign before cos." I corrected it. He looked at the board for a quick second and nodded acknowledging.

"You're right. Good." He said simply and asked us to redo the number ourselves as homework. The class went on for an hour more, which actually seemed like eternity but ended with, "Okay students, so make sure to complete the exercise and the questions from no. 15 to 30, of the material."

The most eagered lunch break finally arrived, as I rushed my way towards the canteen along with Manav. "Yukuuu~" Manav almost sang upon seeing her as my face also bloomed by the sight of Ms. Govind.

"Hey Ms. Govind." I chimed in. "Hello, birthday boy!" She replied whispering because I had asked them to keep it a secret that today was my birthday.

We gathered around our reserved seats. It was known so well that even in our absence nobody used this table. "So, what's your plan for today?" Yukti bhabhi asked, clapping her hands. "Well, nothing." I said after a long pause.

"What?" Ms. Govind and Yukti bhabhi questioned in unison. "Yup! The thing is my dear father, out of nowhere, had decided to make my day 'special' so he invited my paternal side of the family to celebrate my birthday." I explained with an extended sigh.

"Hey, don't be sad. Instead, it's nice that you would be meeting them after so long." Ms. Govind said while patting my arms. "I mean, you have mentioned to me a while ago that it's been a long time since you last met them." She added.

"I know and I would have been genuinely happy if he wouldn't have planned this just because he didn't want me to spend time with you." I saw Ms. Govind's smile falter at my statement. The realization then hit me. 'She doesn't know that my father wants us to break up.'

"I mean with you guys." I added with a hope that she wouldn't take up much stress. "It's alright. Family comes first after all." She said with a cheeky smile but I could sense that somewhere deep inside, she was hurt.

"Yeah but Akshit you still have to throw a party soon." Yukti bhabhi said. "As you wish bhabhi." I replied in a joking manner to lighten up the dull atmosphere. After a while we settled down and were now gossiping about stuff.

"Bro, don't you know him?" Manav exaggerated. "Ay stop it yaar. He might be a bit showy but I think he's a good guy." Yukti bhabhi defended. "Yeah yeah, whatever." Manav said with a playful eye roll.

"Waise kisine Teacher's Day ke baare mein kuch socha hai?" Ms. Govind asked. "Not yet." Manav replied. "Don't tell me now that Ritu ma'am has again given you the charge to manage it?" I asked, with a doubtful glance.

"No no, that's not it. But I've heard from juniors that this time they want to help us with the celebration. They were also willing to do most of the work to lessen our burden." She explained.

"It's nothing like that! It's just they want to do anything other than studying and I know it 1000%" Yukti bhabhi stated. "Why do you think so?" Manav asked.

"Kyunki humne bhi 11vi padhi thi. Aur inn dono ko chord k baaki kisika bhi mann padhai mein nahi lagta tha." She added while pointing fingers at us. "Nahi nahi, mera mann toh kahin aur lagta tha." Ms. Govind said boldy while nudging my shoulder.

(Because we have also read 11th grade. And apart from these 2 neither of us really focused in our studies.

No no, my focus was on someone else.)

"Hmmm hmmm" Manav tried to tease me while Yukti bhabhi didn't back off and did the same. Meanwhile, Ms. Govind kept her bold demeanor and continued with her flirt, "I mean just look at him yaar. No wait, on second thought, don't. Nazar lagg gayi toh?"

The teasing got elevated with Manav now poking my sides to earn a reaction from me as I tried to hide my blush while stuffing my mouth with pasta. "Seriously, it's like whenever I see him, that song plays in my mind." She said with a pause as she cleared her throat.

Aankhon mein doob jaane ko~

She sang while Manav and Yukti contributed as background singers, singing 'ooo ooo' with great enthusiasm.

Hum bekarar baithe hain~

She continued as I was now hiding my face.

Ek pal mein sab lootane ko,
Us pe he yaar baithe hai
Us pe he yaar baithe hai~

The way she had placed her hands to the side of her face with her eyes admiring me made my heart swell with joy. It felt good, really good. The moment could have lasted longer if the bell wouldn't have interpreted us.

After school.

The day passed by quicker than I thought. 'The good part is, I did spend some good time with Ms. Govind.' My heart sings joyfully.

'But the sad part is I didn't get to see her after school ended.' My brain reminded me. 'You didn't have to.' I thought and huffed while entering my room.

After getting freshened up and changing, I went to maa who was busy, making something in the kitchen. "Hey amma! What are you doing?" I asked, peeking at the vessel placed over the gas.

"Gajar ka halwa! Mere liye?" I asked once again as she smiled and replied, "Tere liye aur teri didi ke liye bhi." I smiled back, remembering the one time when Diksha di and I had a huge fight for the last bowl of halwa.

The reminiscence of the past also brought up uncured scars. Some traumas, some fights, some undesirable incidents. "Maa, I don't wanna offend your feelings but why are they coming to be a part of our happiness now?" I asked involuntarily.

"Akshit!" She called out almost immediately. "They are family, beta. Aur jhagde toh har ghar mein hote hain. Iska matlab yeh toh nahi ki hum sabse rishte he todd den?" She replied while turning off the gas as the halwa was now prepared.

(...And there are fights in every household. But does it mean that we should break off relations with them?)

"I can just never win these types of arguments with you now can I?" I asked as she pulled my cheeks lovingly and asked me to help her clean the kitchen. After that we ate our lunch together and took some rest.

"Care to explain why my device shows around 20 missed calls from you in a span of, what 20 minutes?" I asked as I reached back home after attending the extra classes at school.

"Count properly baby, there are 29 missed calls, 35 texts and 2 missed video calls." She corrected me.

"Okay but what happened?" I asked again, placing my belongings in their respective spots. "Are you really not gonna do anything for Akshit's birthday?" I heard Manav bhai's voice.

"Manav Bhai? What are you doing there with her?" I was almost disgusted by how these 2 have literally started to live together at this point. "I'm at his house as aunty and mumma have gone to the mall as there is a sale." Yukti explained.

"Aarohi, you're missing the point here. Mere bhai ka birthday hai yaar. We should do something for him." Manav bhai interrupted once again. "But we cannot. Akshit values his family and moreover his mother's sentiment." I retorted.

"It's impossible to make you change your mind, isn't it?" Manav bhai stated with a defeated sigh. "Ok then, I'll call you guys later. Bye." I replied and ended the call. My body was tired and so was my mind.

I felt exhausted but mostly disturbed; not because of the tiresome day at school but also because I couldn't make his day special as I had promised him. I plopped on the bed, unable to think what to do next.

After a while I finally got up, changed my uniform and put it in the wash while I took a nice shower. Once I dressed up and combed my hair into a simple ponytail, I took out the box which I had hidden inside the cabinet of my study table.

It was supposed to be his present. That I was about to give him today at his birthday party but it seems like it gotta wait for a while. Even though I tried to act cheerful in front of them, I was slightly upset.

I dodged the thoughts and tried to distract myself with my phone. I scrolled through a few reels but ended up getting bored so I strolled to the kitchen and prepared maggie for myself as I was all alone because mumma is at pharma, papa is at hospital and Ayushi has gone for her coaching classes.

The clock was now showing 6:15 pm while the sun was all done with the morning duty and had started to dim slowly. I went back to my room and checked my phone. I again saw 2 missed calls from Yukti and Manav bhai each. 'Marr gayi.' I thought and dialed Yuku's number.

"Hello? Woh- main- hehe-" I stuttered, clearly knowing how angry my Kung-fu Yuku would be. "Your phone must be on silent isn't it?" Her voice sounded scary. "Han~ Sorry. Tell me what I can do for my Yuku?" I tried to calm her down.

"It's okay. Don't need to be scared. Actually I was having trouble understanding this topic of Political Science, could you please help me with it?" She asked. "Yeah sure! Anything for you." I replied. "Lemme get my book first." I added.

"No no, come to 'Sky High Library Café' if you can. Manav and I are heading there." She said hurriedly. "But why?" I questioned, getting confused. "Because this man has been chillin like a sloth on the couch and won't let me read properly." She answered.

I could hear Manav bhai trying to repudiate the fact and throwing a tantrum of him being innocent, I laughed at their cute banter. "Lemme just inform mumma and then I'll let you guys know." Yuku affirmed and hung up the call.

"Hello." I spoke up. "Han Bachhe, what happened?" Mumma replied. "Nothing maa, I actually wanted to ask if I can go out with Yukti and Manav bhai?" I asked.

"Where to?" She questioned with a pause, maybe she was busy as I heard many faint voices asking for medicines and their doses etc.

"Sky High Library Café, it is near Manav bhai's house." I informed her. "Okay, but come soon and make sure to lock the gates properly before you leave." She advised me.

I texted Yukti saying I'll be there! 'At least I would feel less lonely.' I thought and changed into my casual wear which includes an oversize t-shirt and my cargos.

I kept my hair the same and packed the books and some cash in my bag and headed out after locking the gates properly.

After a peaceful ride of about 20 minutes, because of the great traffic today, I reached my destined location.

Upon entering the café, the aroma of coffee coming from upstairs made my stomach grumble but I just shook off the thought and walked around in search of the couple.

A minute or 2 later, I spotted Yukti and Manav bhai, sitting in a corner and fighting for some reason. "No but I'm telling you it's Nepoleon, with an 'e'." Manav bhai said. "It's Napoleon with an 'a', you idiot." Yukti fought back with a sass.

"May I know the reason behind the quarrel?" I whispered trying to remind them that we were inside the library. "Why are you whispering?" Yukti asked. "Because you are not! And mind you, we are in a library." I was still whispering.

"Oops! So silly of us, Manav." She exclaimed and let out an awkward chuckle. I looked at her with a slight amusement thinking what deeds I would have done in the past to have this crazy human by my side. "You're just amazing, Yuku." I voiced out.

"I know right." She affirmed with a hair flip. "By the way, tell me what I can help you with?" I asked, sliding near her chair, taking out my books while Manav bhai was sitting across from us. "These paragraphs, right here." She pointed out.

"Okay so this..." I explained as she nodded understanding. "That's why I prefer to be taught by you rather than Ritu ma'am." She joked.

"Wish someone could help me with my Chemistry doubts as well." Manav bhai huffed dramatically. "Wish I could." I said with a smile. 'Wish Akshit was here!' I thought with a sigh.

"Your wish is my command." I heard a familiar voice and I knew exactly who it was. I stood up almost immediately, preparing myself to greet him first.

And I don't know why but somehow the same song played in my mind once again. It felt as if the surroundings had started to fade away, it was just him whom I could see, just the one, whom I could admire.

Haye re haye, kya kahen jab dekhe woh
Bhar ke aankhon mein pyaar

My heart sang as our eyes met.

Deewani hai dekho bekarar woh
Sambhalo sambhalo na pyaar ho

He replied. Wait, did he just sing back to me!? It's either I'm going crazy or someone has just casted a spell on us.

[Sushi: Abracadabra~]

Aapna banake dekho dil na churale woh
Aisa kyun lage hai, bolo na

He continued and stepped towards my direction. And snap!

"Hi mohatarma, kahan kho gayi hain aap?" Akshit asked with his ever so sweet voice. "Aapko khayalo mein." My words just flew out of my tongue without my command. "Hayee." He gestured his palm over his chest, acting to get hurt.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, somewhat regaining my senses. "I mean I'm glad that you are here but how?" I questioned, getting curious.

"Well, long story short, Manav called me here. And honestly speaking, I wasn't enjoying the family gathering, even one bit." He replied, shrugging off his shoulder.

"By the way, where's Manav? I gotta thank that human." He asked as I pointed my fingers to my back but to my surprise neither Manav bhai nor Yukti were there. "They were here just now." I said.

"Lemme ask him." He said and dialed Manav bhai's number. Upon receiving the call he told us to come upstairs in order to celebrate Akshit's special day. 'They have already planned it?' I was surprised.

As we entered the dimly lighted ambience of the café reflected the overall coziness vibe of the place. We then headed through to a private chamber which was decorated with a few balloons and on the table there was a cake.

"Happy Birthday Akshit" Manav bhai and Yuku exclaimed while the party popper showered on him. "Thank you so much guys!" Akshit's words radiated pure enthusiasm.

Manav bhai caught Akshit in a warm hug, as the 2 patted each other's shoulder, happiness evident in their smiles. "Let's cut the cake guys, Akshit come!" Yukti reminded him as he nodded and stood between Manav and Yukti to cut the cake.

"Ms. Govind, come here." He called out, and I quickly joined him beside Yuku. We all sang the birthday song and in the meanwhile, I saw a camera recording us.

"Here, open up your mouth." Akshit said and brought up a piece of cake near my mouth. Before that, I took a small bit from the same piece and fed him simultaneously. "Happy Birthday Choudhary ji." I wished him with a side hug.

He then fed Manav bhai and Yukti, each a piece while they decorated his face with a lot of icing. Manav bhai then guided us and told us to pose as he was controlling the cam. As we took lots of pictures, I reminded myself of the present that I had prepared for him.

"Once again, thank you so much everyone." Akshit said, bringing our attention back to him. "But the party is not over yet!" Manav bhai announced as he then reached out a huge bag lying on the sofa and passed it to Akshit.

"What's in this now?" He asked. "You'll see." As Choudhary ji unwrapped the box he found another box, wrapped in the same gift paper. "Don't tell me it's that 1 rupee candy prank." Akshit warned but Manav bhai denied and asked him to continue.

Upon unwrapping once again, he finally came across the gift. They were sneakers from the brand he loves. "Please excuse me because I might cry any moment." He said dramatically, wiping some fake tears off his cheeks.

"Manavvv" He screamed in a high pitched voice. "Akshitttt" And Manav bhai launched himself over him. The 2 now practically cling onto each other as if their life depended on it.

"Aaru, kya tu bhi wahi soch rahi hai jo main soch rahi hun?" Yuku asked under her breath. "Ekdum same to same Yuku." I replied in the same tone but we couldn't hold our seriousness and laughed off because we both knew what we were thinking.

The boys looked at us awkwardly while exchanging confusing glances at each other. "Hey wait, how did you buy these? I mean these pairs were pricey." Akshit questioned as Yukti answered in place of Bhai, "Well, Manav and I contributed so the share was just fine for each of us."

Then upon the request of the Manav bhai, Akshit tried out the shoes and gave 2 3 poses with it. "Killing it bro!" "Looking awesome, Akshit." "Katei zeher lagg rahe Choudhary ji." I yelled out without realizing.

"Thank you thank you" His cheeks showed a slight tint of red hue. While they were having a conversation I was thinking of doing something to get the present but didn't know how. "Any issue Ms. Govind?" He asked.

"Umm, actually, I had prepared a gift for you as well. But-" "It's alright. Your presence is bigger than a gift for me." He said and gave a cheeky smile. "Aur humara kya?" Manav bhai interrupted.

"Bhai, at this point, you are acting like my sautan." I replied, earning a few laughs from my and his partner. "I favor Aarohi's words." Yukti backed me. "Akshit, they are teaming up against me." Manav bhai complained to him.

"See, you're helping me prove my point." I mentioned that both the boys looked dumbfounded and the fun banter continued.

"Lemme click your pics in the new shoes." I suggested as he again posed. Even though the pic turned out to be good I wanted to have something different.

"Let's try some candid pictures, shall we?" My idea was soon approved as I clicked each of their pictures. "Aaru, go sit with Akshit. I'll click your picture." Manav bhai said. "I'm not looking good bhai." I declined the offer because my outfit was not outfitting today.

Instead I kept clicking his candid pics on my phone while he was checking out the previous ones on Bhai's phone as it was connected to the camera. We enjoyed the party, had great food and it won't be wrong to say that we might have had the best 2 hours.

And it was now time to bid goodbye. "Once again, thank you so-" Akshit's speech of gratitude got interrupted as he received a call from Mamta aunty. "Yes maa, han Manav is fine now. I'll be there in 15 minutes." He said and passed a wink at him while Bhai reciprocated the same.

"Yuku" "Aaru" "Hmmm" we both said in unison. "Okay then, see you guys. And thank you so much for today. Felt like time well spent with family." He said and with a group hug he rushed off. "Main bhi chalti hun." I said as the duo nodded. I took my bag and got off for home.

At night.

As I got comfy under the sheets, ready to study and learn the chronological history of India and its relation with different countries over the ages, pre and post independence a ping of notification grabbed my attention.

Akshit has posted something a few minutes earlier.

akshit_choudhary

❤ 💬 ➤
Liked by manav_gupta03 and others

akshit_choudhary Had a great time with my family. Once again thank you guys ♡

📷: aaro._.hehe
👟: manav_gupta03 & yukuuuuu.here

Comments to this post have been limited.

manav_gupta03 you're welcome!! But where's the other picture?

yukuuuuu.here welcome :))

arjun.443 aesthetic much >>

I knew exactly what other picture Manav bhai was talking about and well was I going to make a little bold move? Maybe. So I texted Yuku and got the 'pic' and got straight to my post panel. I thought twice before clicking 'post' but at the end, I just did what I had to.

I set the phone aside and after completing the 1st half of my lecture video I checked my phone once again.

aaro._.hehe

❤ 💬 ➤
Liked by yukuuuuu.here and others

aaro._.hehe Happy Birthday akshit_choudhary 🎂

📷: yukuuuuu.here

Comments to this post have been limited.

yukuuuuu.here I'm a great photographer, ain't I?

→ akshit_choudhary without a doubt!
→ manav_gupta03 learning from the best >>
→ aaro._.here yuku has been the best xp

akshit_choudhary thank you once again ♡
→ aaro._.here you're most welcome :)

And with that the day finally came to an end. All these days spent with different modes made me understand the mood swings of the fate of my life. 'Hope there's just happiness and no drama.' I thought and continued my lecture.

♡

Sushi's note: Hey readers, hope you liked and enjoyed this chapter!

215k+ reads, 16k votes and 240 followers. Few months back, we couldn't have even imagine to do thus without your support and encouragement.

Maybe that's the reason why I (Shi) got the determination to complete writing this chapter in about 5 hours = 4+ hours of writing and about 1 hour of editing and finding the right picture, no jokes.

Also, there's gonna be an important announcement in the conversation tab so please don't miss that.

Btw, does anybody wants to guess what maybe the word count for this one?

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