AN: Hello dearies!

Here's the last chapter to this story! Hope u all like it. :)

Thank u for all the votes and comments. They all are truly appreciated. :D

This chapter is especially dedicated to all those who took time to give me feedback, because seriously, feedback is love! I may not have replied to everyone bcoz of switching frm desktop app to mob app frequently but I assure u I hv read each and everyone one of them and truly cherish it! ❤

So yeah, this time too I will be waiting for ur feedbacks as always. Feel free to give me your constructive criticisms too! I would love to improve my writing... :)

NOT PROOFREAD. Kindly excuse the errors. :)

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Previously:

Sumo sensed it and kept her hand on his face and pulled it up to face her! He looked up and she could see the lies in it and that made her really angry!

Sumo yelled: Oh God Shravan! Seriously Tumne yeh vrat rakha tha? Kyon? God seriously you are too much! Yeh tho sirf Pushkar aur Preethi ke liye natak tha, nah! Aur tum yeh baat jaanthe bhi the nah?! Fir bhi tumne vrat rakha!

Then she suddenly remembered all those times during the whole day when she had taunted him for fake fasting! She felt so guilty and ashamed for all her taunts... She looked at him apologetically and said, " Shravan I'm so sorry... Maine sach jaane bhagair tumhe bahut kuch bura bala keh diya... please maaf kardo mujhe... Saying she cutely caught her ears just the way they used to apologize to each other when they were best friends all those years back... And she realised that just like today, she had always jumped to conclusions about him without knowing the complete truth and had hurt him in the process...

But Shravan just brushed it aside like it was no big deal and said that he fasted in real only because he did not want Pushkar to somehow find out that he was faking it!

But both of them knew that was a complete lie! Pushkar would have never found out even if he tried his best. They both knew he had kept the fast only and only for her... for her happiness and her longevity and for everything pious and sincere that the vrat depicted.

But he didn't want to let her know the real reason for his fasting... He knew that she still had not forgiven him completely for his past deeds and telling the real reason would just cheapen his quest for her forgiveness... He wouldn't take the short cut way... He wanted to earn her forgiveness the hard earned way because she was worth that and much more.

On the other hand, Sumo didn't know what she was feeling at that moment when she heard his obvious lie... She understood that the whole vrat thing he did was never about convincing Pushkar... She didn't know what to make out of that vital piece of information... But one thing she knew for sure was that somehow something deep inside her was changing...

Shravan , she realised was exactly like those little drops of rain water that seeped slowly and persistently into the rocks... And one day the crack would finally give away and water would burst out of it! She wanted to resist so badly but looked like nature was mocking at her by saying if a great boulder couldn't resist those loving little rain drops, she was after all a petite human, how long would she last before all her pent up feelings burst out of her?

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CHAPTER -4

Sumo was so lost in these thoughts that when she finally came to senses, it was few minutes later and to her chagrin she noticed that her hand was still cupping his face and he was staring at it quite intently! She then shyly removed her hand from his chin and left the room in a hurry...

Shravan knew an escape when he saw one! His wifey was embarrassed and had surely run away from him! He didn't know what to think of it but decided he better not think of anything on those lines today as thinking about his wife's inner thoughts even on a full stomach was mentally draining and here he really didn't have enough glucose in his body for that today! He then decided to just drink some more water and sleep early as he knew he wouldn't get any food as the kitchen must be all packed and set aside for the night and anyways even if he went down now to search for food it would look suspicious if someone else found him there. He had after all excused himself from dinner saying he had eaten too many sweets that day and his stomach was already over full! So deciding to fill his stomach with water he was about to raise a glass to his mouth when somebody caught his hand!

It was Sumo who was standing with a plateful of food! He looked at her in surprise and she smiled saying that she had gone to reheat the food and bring it for him as she knew he must be really hungry. He smiled gratefully at her thoughtfulness.

He sat on the couch to eat but was hesitatingly staring at the food lost in some thoughts. And suddenly he saw a piece of roti dipped in his favourite side dish extended near his mouth! He saw Sumo kneeling next to the table trying to feed him! He looked at her questioningly and she smiled as if saying she knew that he was thinking that he should eat the first morsel from her hand today... He didn't know how to react at her kind gesture and simply opened his mouth and accepted the food. But before she could get up and leave he pulled her to sit on the couch next to him! She sat and looked at him questioningly this time. He just smiled and took a piece of roti and extended it to her mouth conveying through his eyes that he knew she too hadn't eaten properly that night. She too smiled gratefully and accepted the food.

Slowly they had finished the entire meal feeding each other as if by an unsaid pact, no one dared to tell the other they needn't feed them. But now that the food was over and they both were staring at the empty plate forlornly...

It was Sumo who broke the silence by saying," I'm still hungry!"

That brought a hopeful smile on his face and he pulled her hand and led them down the stairs stealthily towards the kitchen! Sumo even commented that they looked liked food burglars! His wife was funny!

Then when they finally reached the kitchen, he proceeded to open the fridge and ransack it for the food! When he finally found some, he started to reheat few more rotis and sabji in the microwave. Seeing him so excited, she too happily joined him in their midnight food hunt!

She had taken a bowl of his favourite kheer too from the fridge which she now knew he hadn't tasted in the morning. They both then settled themselves on the kitchen platform and started to eat happily, this time feeding themselves even though they wanted to feed the other but they didn't want to make it all awkward...

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But there, right outside the kitchen, unknown to these two awkward love birds, three people were watching the beautiful scene in front of them with a satisfied smile on their faces... Mamiji, Preethi and Pushkar! Preethi then hugged both her mom and husband in turns and silently congratulated them for the success of their plan!

Actually both Pushkar and Preethi had known something was not right in their brother's and sister cum best friend's life... They loved them both too much to let those two stubborn people to spoil their happiness due to their own stupidity and thus had made this wicked plan!

Preethi and Pushkar had then begged Preethi's mom aka mamiji, to help them out! She had at first refused to be part of their overtly dramatic plan but later reluctantly agreed because even though she thought both Preethi and Pushkar had gone mad and were imagining things, she thought that if by any chance there really existed some problem between Suman and Shravan , then she better help them both to end it at once! She may be rude to Suman on the outside but deep down she always wished her well in her life... after all she did raise her like a daughter too...

And now, after seeing Sumo and Shravan's happy faces, the three of them happily decided to leave the two clueless people inside the kitchen to continue with their romance! Pushkar had to almost close Preethi's mouth and drag her from there as she had started to giggle looking at her jiju's lovelorn reactions towards her Suman di!

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Inside the kitchen the two clueless people were still trying their best to avoid looking at each other while eating lest they get tempted to feed the other! But towards the end, Sumo lost the battle and she extended a spoonful of kheer to him and he looked at her and accepted it gratefully. He closed his eyes and savoured the sweet with a blissful expression on his face which in turn brought a huge smile on her face as she had made that kheer that day! She loved it when he liked her cooking... Because for her, her cooking was a very important part of her soul itself...

Meanwhile as soon as he opened his eyes he said a sincere," Thank you.". She smiled thinking he was thanking her for feeding it to him, but he said," This is the best kheer I had ever had! And I know this was not made by mamiji or maasi!" He said indicating that he knew she had prepared it! But she wasn't willing to give into the praise so easily and questioned how he knew that Preethi didn't make it? He smiled and said nothing. But she could read his answer in his eyes which said, "I could feel the love."

She felt embarrassed and averted her eyes... He smiled looking at her and in the dim glow of the kitchen light, her blush seemed to be even more crimson... even more ethereal... His heart was swelling with hope but he didn't want to jinx it because after all he was willing to wait an eternity for her... And this was just the beginning...

The winds were changing and winter was giving way to spring... Ice was gradually melting and rivers beginning to flow... And somewhere deep in someone's heart, the small seed of love which was sown long ago was coming to life...

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Hopeful for a happily ever after... ❤❤❤

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AN: So?? Did u like it? Do tell me ur thoughts! 😊

In case u haven't checked it out before, here is the list of my other Shraman works!😊 Hope u hv grt fun reading them too! So, Happy reading evrybdy and yeah, hv a grt day too! 😘

MY OTHER SHRAMAN WORKS:

1. PAL PAL DIL KE PAAS TUM REHTHI HO - A Shraman One Shot

http://my.w.tt/UiNb/r1D9YK5VXD

2. Pride and Prejudice - A ShraMan - Shravan & Suman (EKDV) - Two Shot 

http://my.w.tt/UiNb/HHXBa27VXD

3. Pyar dosti hai?! Love is friendship with wings!

http://my.w.tt/UiNb/KbDGxQjWXD

4. Yeh Dil Hai Ki... Maantha Nahi!

http://my.w.tt/UiNb/p5HYGnhWXD

5. HAPPILY EVER AFTER

http://my.w.tt/UiNb/RrGRHgcWXD