Prachi and Ranbir get shocked when the news reporter said, "Wherever you may you better go home quickly, as there will be a 30-day lockdown from 9:00 pm onwards. All food and groceries will be delivered to you so, stay home and stay safe. There will be only 2 reasons to leave home. The first is going to work only if you are an essential worker. The second one is going to a medical clinic, but only one person should be in the car unless absolutely necessary. If anyone is caught breaking these rules then they will be fined, hit and jailed for a short period. This lockdown is a serious matter, as there have been over 1,000 cases of covid today. You should have proof of your appointment if going for medical services and a permit if working. Classes will be held online, so studies will not be interrupted."

Ranbir and Prachi share a look of panic, both worried for different reasons.

"Ranbir, it's 7:30 pm, and it easily takes half an hour to reach my house from here. And, what if there's a lot of traffic?! We might end up staying out during lockdown hours!" Prachi fiddled with her hands and got annoyed when Ranbir didn't reply to her.

Ranbir on the other hand is worried about being away from the love of his life for 30 days. He had gotten so used to seeing her every day, in college and office. And now, he wouldn't be able to see her for a whole 30 days! His heart ached at even the thought of it. He cursed his fate and whoever started the pandemic.

"Ranbir!" Prachi yelled for the 5th time, finally managing to bring out of his silent whining.

"Yes?" Ranbir asked.

Prachi looked at Ranbir in disbelief, "Baklu! Weren't you listening to me?"

Ranbir's lips twitched a little as he tried to stop himself from smiling. He knew Prachi would be infuriated if smiled right now, but what could he do? He just loved hearing that nickname from her mouth, she looked so cute while saying it. Ranbir closed his eyes and shook his head so that he could answer without making a fool of himself.

⊱ ──────────── {⋆❉⋆} ──────────── ⊰

"Dimpy, I should leave now. Thanks for letting me stay here," Riya smiled at her 'friend', hugging her and was about to leave.

"Riya, what's the rush you can stay here a little longer if you want," Dimpy replied, faking her concern.

"No, no. I should get going after all I need to go and meet dad as it's been a while. If I don't go home by tomorrow dad will drive me crazy!" Riya chuckled imaging the worried of her dad. Plus she needed to start her plan to defame Prachi as well. She wanted to execute it as soon as possible, Ranbir would be hers if she did do it.

"Okay, bye and take care," Dimpy feigned a smile.

"You take care too, " Riya replicated Dimpy's fake smile, only hers was much more sincere and bid bye to her friend, leaving for her car.

As soon as Riya sat in her car, it started to rain a little and then slowly the rain increased. She thanked the stars, she wasn't even remotely wet. Smiling happily, she drove off to her house, ecstatic about the fact that she would finally be able to spend some time with her family; and permanently get rid of Prachi and Maya.

⊱ ──────────── {⋆❉⋆} ──────────── ⊰

Prachi silently stared ahead, too lost in recalling Ranbir's Holi confession to realise him taking glances at her now and then. They both flinch when the car abruptly comes to a halt. Prachi frowned at Ranbir, "Why did you stop that car?"

Ranbir instantly denied stopping it.

Prachi rolled her eyes, "Right and let me guess, your ghost came and stopped it then?"

"I-I think the petrol has finished."

Prachi narrowed her eyes, making Ranbir give her a nervous smile, "Ranbir! I- How could you be so careless? Who doesn't check whether or not the petrol is full? Now, what are we going to do? Lockdown is almost starting and here we are stuck on the road because someone couldn't remember to check the car's petrol!"

Prachi was about to storm out of the car when Ranbir clasps her hand and pulls her back, causing her hands to rest on his chest, and his hands to be wrapped around her waist. Prachi looked at Ranbir, about to ask him something, but the words never leave her mind as she loses herself in his hazel brown eyes, feeling millions of butterflies in her stomach. Ranbir smiled at Prachi's action.

'Maybe I do have a chance with Prachi after all. Please god! I'll do anything you want me to if you make Prachi and me life partners!' Ranbir silently requested, still smiling lovingly at the love of his life. Soon Prachi realised what she was doing and looked away.

"Why did you pull me back?" Prachi muttered, still slightly red.

"To ask where you're going. It's raining, very heavily, so we should wait until the rain stops to go and find someone to help us, instead of getting drenched in this rainwater," Ranbir gestured towards the rain. Prachi frowned listening to him.

"A, I love the rain and wouldn't mind getting wet in, in fact, I'd be happy and B, what if doesn't stop raining all night? Are you just gonna sit here and wait for it to stop?!" she snapped and went out of the car, followed by a sighing Ranbir.

The moment a soft yet heavy rain makes contact with Prachi's skin, a smile appears on her skin and she instantly forgets about all her annoyance with Ranbir. She spreads her arms out and faces up towards the sky, cherishing the rain. Ranbir smiles on seeing Prachi acting so childishly and just stares at her lovingly. He comes out of his trance when she yells out his name.

"Look, there's a hotel right there! Maybe someone inside could help us?" Prachi voiced her thoughts, her voice full of ecstasy and hope.

Ranbir turned to face the hotel and his smile widened when he looked at it, "Prachi, this is our company's hotel! I have the keys with me. In case it is already locked we can stay here, at least for the night."

"Ranbir, even if the hotel is locked it doesn't matter! I think I can see your Dad's car, meaning he's here. And we won't get in arrested or in any other sort of trouble for coming out during lockdown hours!" Prachi rushed towards the hotel and Ranbir quickly followed her.

⊱ ──────────── {⋆❉⋆} ──────────── ⊰

Riya attempted whistling for the first time, in an attempt of making her silent car trip a bit more, bearable, however, she end sighing as it only made her more bored. She finally decided to turn on the one thing she probably despised more than Prachi, the radio. That's when she heard it.

The greatest news she had heard since forever. From 9:00 pm onwards there would be a lockdown, a lockdown that lasted for a whole month! For one whole month, Prachi, the sole reason for her misery, would be away from her, her father and most importantly, her 'love'. The worst that Prachi could do was call her Ranbir, but she, she could easily meet him and win him back. He would be hers again. 30 days would be more than enough time to make a plan against Prachi foolproof. Riya smirked and happily drove back home, her smile never leaving her face, unaware that soon, she would be the one in for a big surprise and not the good type.

⊱ ──────────── {⋆❉⋆} ──────────── ⊰

Pranbir smile widely when they spot Ranbir's parents in the hotel.

Vikram who was talking to Abhi on the phone quickly hang up when he spots Prachi and Ranbir.

"What are the two of you doing here? It's 9:15 pm, hence, lockdown hours." Vikram smiled at them, perplexed.

Ranbir and Prachi look at each other and then back at Vikram, their mouths wide open. After staying in shock for a minute or two, Ranbir finally managed to speak, "What are you doing here Dad?

"Long story short, when I was coming home from work your mother and grandmother called me, asking me to come and pick them up from the mall as they went there on the taxi and couldn't find one to come back and due to traffic we ended up here. You still haven't told me why you're though?" Vikram raised an eyebrow.

The question causes Prachi to glare at Ranbir and him to squirm a little.

"Ac.. Actually, I was going to drop off Prachi and then my ca.. car r.. ran out of petrol and that's when Prachi stopped our hotel. We decided to come here to get a life, but we didn't realise that it was past lockdown hours," Ranbir stammered in between when Prachi kept on glaring at him.

Before Vikram could react, the ringing of Prachi's phone interrupted them.

"It's Maa, I'll be back in a minute," Prachi excused herself and went away.

⊱ ──────────── {⋆❉⋆} ──────────── ⊰

"Hi Maa, how are you?" Prachi asked, knowing well that Pragya would rant on about her whereabouts before she could have the chance to speak.

"Forget about me and tell me where you are! It's past 9 pm and you're still not home. You didn't even bother calling me! You know how worried I get when you're not nearby, don't you?" Pragya began to rant.

"Maa, calm down and take a deep breath. I'm fine Maa. I'm with Ranbir and the Kohli's now as Ranbir's car ran out of petrol. We're all at their company's hotel, so I guess we'll have to stay here until the lockdown ends. And you know what, Ranbir should hear one of your lectures someday, then I'll see how if he ever calls me Lecturi again," Prachi explained and Pragya smiled a little at Prachi's last statement.

"Oh, thank god Ranbir is with you. Take very good care of yourself, ok? Call me every day and remember to eat on time, don't skip any meals. Wait, is there even any food at the hotel?"

".. Of course, there is Maa!" Prachi lied, knowing well that her mother would start to panic even more if she told the truth.

"Look Prachi, don't try lying to me. I'm your mother, I know you better than you know yourself," Pragya's was stern and Prachi sighed.

"Maa, the truth is that I don't know. But, we are at a hotel, and I'm sure that there's some food here. If there isn't enough for all of us we'll ration it. Plus, there's always a lot of food at the minibars in hotels. And Pallavi Aunty and Vikram Sir wouldn't come here unless they knew there was food here." Prachi attempted to try and calm her mother down.

"What about your clothes? You obviously won't go thirty days without showering - no one would, but you don't have any other clothes with you!"

"Maa, I think you're forgetting what happened in Hoshiarpur. Ever since my clothes got ruined during Shahana's sleepover, I've always bought a spare pair of clothes with me! I'll be able to manage with two sets of clothes."

"Oh ok. And Prachi remember I'll call Ranbir to ask him whether or not you're taking care of yourself, ok?" Pragya warned and Prachi frowned.

"Why will you call Ranbir? Why not Pallavi Aunty or any of the other Kohli's?!" Prachi questioned. 'Wait.. does Maa know that Ranbir lov... No, she wouldn't hide such a big thing from me. And she certainly wouldn't be fine with allowing me to spend so much time with him.'

"Prachi do you think Pallavi Ji or Vikram Ji would like it if I called them just to ask whether or not you're taking care of yourself?"

"They won't mind, Pallavi Aunty and Vikram Sir aren't like that. Just please don't treat Ranbir like your son," or son-in-law, Prachi replied. Pragya smiled knowingly and chuckled a little.

'Thank you, Bhagwan Ji! You're starting to make my Prachi aware of her feelings for Ranbir,' Pragya silently thanked. "Ok. I won't treat him like my son but that doesn't mean I won't be calling him to check up on you. Acha bye, Shahana and Sarita Ji are arguing again. Love you!"

"Bye. Love you too, Maa. Take care." Prachi replied and hung up. When she turned around to go back to Ranbir and Vikram she was astonished to see the sight in front of her.

There stood Pallavi and Dida, both holding around four bags each and Ranbir and Vikram, well they were both holding a mountain of bags.

Pallavi and Dida rushed to Prachi and pulled her into a tight hug, surprising her.

"Prachi, beta, thank god you're here! It'll make being stuck here much more enjoyable. We'll have so much fun!" Pallavi clapped her hands together, smiling widely.

"Exactly Pallo! We'll do so much online shopping and we'll have lots of family bonding time. Prachi, here all these take these, you can-," Dida was interrupted by a lot of noise. Pallavi and Dida turned around and glared at Vikram when they saw that he dropped all their shopping bags on the floor.

Before they could admonish him though, he ended up yelling. "Why did you guys spend 55, 000 rupees at the malls?! What were you guys doing? Shopping for Ranbir's wedding?"

"Something like that," Pallavi answered, this time, causing Ranbir to drop all the bags, Prachi too was shocked and felt like someone had hit her really really hard.

"What?! And when were you going to share the fact that you and Beeji planned our son's wedding with me?" Vikram glared at his wife and frowned Dida smacked him on his head.

"Pallavi and I went on a shopping spree for our future daughter-in-law. We also bought clothes for you, Ranbir and some for ourselves. You should be thankful you know, you would have nothing to wear in this lockdown otherwise. Oh and Ranbir's and our daughter-in-law's wedding hasn't been confirmed yet, but I'm sure it will be soon. Right, Prachi?" Dida smiled when she saw the worried expression on Prachi's face.

"Did.. Dida, I don't even know who the girl is," Prachi replied, unaware that she sounded, looked and felt extremely worried and scared. Ranbir on the other hand, who was tense and shocked at first became bewildered on seeing Prachi's reaction. 'Maybe she does love me!'

"Guess who it could be?" Dida asked, grinning and Pallavi chuckled when Prachi didn't say anything.

"Mummy ji, take pity on Prachi. Look how scared she is. Don't worry your Ranbir won't get married to anyone but you," Pallavi smiled patting Prachi's cheeks and making both Pranbir relieved.

"But Aunty, Dida, Ranbir and I aren't in a relationship," Prachi said shooting a glare at Ranbir, but ended up frowning when he seemed lost and was grinning.

'She didn't say she doesn't love me!' Ranbir grinned in his head.

"Prachi, no need to hide it from us. We heard the two of you at the mall, we know that you both love each other! " Dida exclaimed.

"And you, why didn't you tell me it was Prachi who you loved! And more importantly, why did you stop Prachi from revealing that you guys are in a relationship?! We could've made Maya back off by getting the two of you married!" Pallavi scolded, twisting Ranbir's ear.

"Ouch! Mom, please let go of my poor innocent ear," Ranbir started to rub his ear instantly after Pallavi let go, "And as for Prachi and I, we were lying to Maya back there so that she would back off from my so-called marriage with her, and it worked! Maya and I won't be getting married, not even in our next lives."

"So you're not in a relationship with Prachi?" Dida asked, gloomily.

"No. Prachi and I are not in a relationship," I wish we were though, Ranbir glanced at Prachi, who was already looking at him, and she instantly looked away.

Their small interaction was dismissed by everyone but Vikram.

"We should have a celebration first thing tomorrow!" Vikram suggested.

"What? Why?! What's the good news!" Pallavi asked, bewildered.

"Maya's finally gone from our lives! What could be greater than that?" Vikram questioned

"Seeing Ranbir in a permanent relationship with someone very sweet," started Pallavi.

"Very kind," Dida continued.

"And very caring," Pallavi finished.

"But we only know one girl like that, Prachi, and it's almost impossible to find someone else like her!" Dida frowned, sighing.

'Don't worry Mom and Dida. You won't have to look for anyone like Prachi, because if I get married, I will only get married to Prachi and no one else.' Ranbir silently vowed on seeing his mother's and grandmother's upset faces.

Prachi on the other hand feels guilty on seeing the sad faces of Pallavi and Dida and is about to go and try comfort to them, when Vikram begins speaking, "Well, enough talk about Ranbir's love life. It's getting late and we should all go to sleep now. Prachi, beta you can go and sleep in the room in the middle. Ranbir, you'll be sleeping with your grandmother."

Prachi and Ranbir nod and everyone leaves for their respective room.

⊱ ──────────── {⋆❉⋆} ──────────── ⊰

Prachi was about to go in and close the door when she saw Pallavi standing outside with five bags. "Prachi, here take these bags and please keep them."

"But Aunty, how can I? You bought these for your future daughter-in-law. Give them to her please," Prachi tried to refuse.

"Look, it's currently lockdown and I doubt you'll be staying in these clothes for a whole month, so please take these."

"Aunty, I have a spare set of clothes with me, so thank you so much for this sweet offer but I don't want your future daughter-in-law to feel upset if she ever learns about this." Prachi refused again.

Pallavi frowned, "Oh. I thought you considered me like family. I was trying to give a gift to someone who I considered my daughter, but I guess she doesn't want it."

Pallavi turned around so that her back was facing Prachi and began to take slow steps forwards. Prachi sighed, feeling extremely guilty, "Aunty, I'll take them."

"I knew you wouldn't refuse me! Here," Pallavi turned back and happily handed Prachi all five bags.

"Goodnight, beta!" Pallavi went away, smiling happily.

"Goodnight, Aunty!" Prachi smiled and waited for Pallavi to leave, before gently closing the door.

(3100+ words, long, I know)

Ok, so I know that lockdown is generally announced a day or two before, and it's usually not a total lockdown, but this is fiction, so just imagine that it can happen like that.

Also, how many of you thought that I was actually gonna show rain romance of Pranbir when they went out of the car while it was raining? Because if you did, rain romance is the last thing you guys should expect from me.

Btw, around which part do you think Prachi will realise her love?

Also, how do think Riya will react when hearing that Pranbir are stuck together?

And when should I update next?

Until Next Time!

~ Riya Sharma