Riya grumbled underneath the warmth of her soft blankets when she heard the irritating alarm clock, she reached out, remaining underneath the blankets to snooze the alarm clock. After a few attempts, it finally stopped, but not before disturbing Riya's beauty sleep. She roughly pushed away from her blankets, instantly regretting it as she felt something blinding her eyes.

'I need to make Dad get rid of this alarm clock! I don't even need to get ready to go anywhere now. But maybe I should go and meet Ranbir. I didn't have the chance to meet him yesterday and I'm already falling a little behind on my plan!' Riya thought and quickly rushed downstairs, motivating herself by thinking about how great it would be once she finally got rid of that Prachi.

Abhi gave Riya a warm smile, "Princess, come to have breakfast before it gets cold. You'll have to microwave it like everyone else otherwise."

Riya went to Abhi and tightly hugged him, kissing him on the cheek, "I missed you so much, Dad!" Riya then took a seat beside Abhi.

"I missed you too, Princess. Now come on, start eating," Abhi urged her. Riya furrowed her eyebrows and scrunched her nose, "You aren't going to wait for everyone else?"

"No, Mitali Bhabhi, Raj and Purab are out of town, Aryan as always will be doing breakfast later and Aliya has an important meeting to attend. So, our breakfast would get cold by the time the two of them came," Abhi explained and smiled in his head when he still saw Riya confused. 'I can't wait to see her face when she finds out Ranbir is stuck at the hotel for the duration of lockdown!'

"What about Ranbir and the Kohli's? Won't they be joining us today, it is Sunday." Riya asked, looking at her father with hopeful eyes. If she couldn't manipulate the Kohli's during lockdown then her plan just got a whole lot harder.

"First finish your breakfast, then I'll tell you," Abhi instructed, thinking that Riya wouldn't finish her breakfast after learning about the news.

However Riya being Riya, stubbornly shook her head, "Tell me right now. If you don't I won't eat breakfast at all."

Abhi sighed knowing that it would impossible to argue with the mini him, "Fine. Ranbir, Vikram Pallavi and Dida are all stuck at our company's hotel because of lockdown."

Abhi smiled when he saw Riya's face fall, however, became utterly bewildered when he saw her smiling again after a moment. 'She probably doesn't want me to know about her feelings! That is the only explanation.'

'Even if plan is delayed and Ranbir won't fall for me during lockdown, at least Prachi isn't with him and my plan will still be foolproof,' Riya smirked contently and began to devour her breakfast, surprising Abhi.

⊱ ──────────── {⋆❉⋆} ──────────── ⊰

Prachi slowly rubbed the towel against her soft hair, in an attempt to dry it. Once done, she quickly ties it up in a messy bun and rushes to the mirror and fixes the black blouse and red saree embroidered with golden lining, that Pallavi and Dida had bought for her, not knowing why she had suddenly started caring about how she looked.

I hope Ranbir will like- NO! I'm probably just thinking this he confessed to me on Holi, right? Yes, that must be it... his feelings are affecting my mind just like Shahana's teasing used to. Prachi's mind tried to convince her, while she thought of ways to distract herself.

I should call Maa! She must be worried too. But what if she's sleeping? And even if she's awake will she be free? Before Prachi could make a decision her phone began to vibrate and she smiled when she saw the caller's I.D.

"Namaste Maa, how are you?" Prachi asked instantly after receiving the call.

Pragya smiled over the phone, "I'm fine beta. How are you?"

"I'm also good Maa, I'm just missing you though."

Before Pragya could say something Prachi heard the 24/7 bickering of Shahana and Sarita Ji again, "Bye, Maa! I think you should deal with both of them first. Take care."

Prachi hung up and rushed out of the room, which resulted in her bumping into something. She frowned and looked up and felt heat rushing to her cheeks when she saw Ranbir staring at her. She quickly looked away, not understanding what emotion she was feeling.

Ranbir noticed this and thought he had made her feel uncomfortable so he quickly apologised, to get rid of the awkward silence between them. "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."

"No, it's alright. I wasn't looking where I was going either," Prachi replied surprising Ranbir. She hadn't ever let him win a fight, but then again, they weren't really fighting right now. Prachi smiles awkwardly and then proceeds to leave.

Ranbir turns around and stares in the direction that Prachi went, a smile playing on his lips. His smile widened when he realised that he and Prachi were in a matching set of clothes. He had donned a golden kurta pajama along with a red and golden vest over the top of it, that his mother and grandmother had bought for him the previous day. 'Is this a sign? Will Prachi really end up with me? If she does, then thank you so much, Bhagwan Ji! And even if she doesn't, thank you for giving me the best opportunity of my life. I can finally spend time with her without any interruptions.'

Just then Ranbir's phone began to ring and absent-mindedly, he received it. Before Ranbir could say a word, a voice rang out through the phone.

"Hello Ranbir, where are you? I can't find you anywhere in the house!"

"I'm in heaven," Ranbir replied, with a dreamy smile on his face.

Aryan scrunched his face up, "Huh? What are you saying, bro? You're making no sense at all."

"I'm in a hotel because of lockdown," Ranbir explained after shaking his head to come back to his senses.

Aryan becomes even more bewildered on hearing this, "How is that heaven?!"

"If I was at home, my love life would have been ruined! I would have had to spend, 30 days, 30 whole days away from Chikchiki! I would have to wait 30 whole days before looking at her adorable, cute face! But now, I don't need to, and that's because she's at the hotel with me!"

Aryan who had initially thought Ranbir was talking about Prachi, became perplexed when his best friend mentioned a Chikchiki, so he began to rant, he had secretly shipped Prachi and Ranbir ever since he first saw them together, "What bro? I thought you had finally realised your one true love! You've already moved on from Prachi to this Chikchiki two days after proposing to Prachi! You should've waited a least for a month."

"No, idiot! Chikchiki is Prachi. I could never even imagine moving on from her! But only I get to call her that, got it?" Ranbir warned.

"Prachi's at the hotel?!" Aryan asked, curiously.

"Yeah, we were leaving the mall after getting rid of Maya and then the car ran out of petrol and luckily the car had stopped near our company's hotel. We came inside the hotel and met Dad who was here with Mom and Dida. As it was past 9 we had to stay here until lockdown was over." Ranbir explained.

"Oh okay. Well then enjoy your time here. Bye!" Aryan says.

"Bye," Ranbir disconnects the call and goes suite's living room.

⊱ ──────────── {⋆❉⋆} ──────────── ⊰

Riya who had overheard Aryan's conversation with Ranbir, was fuming. She could not let this happen, she could not let Ranbir be with Prachi! No, this can't be happening! If Prachi and Ranbir are stuck at the same hotel and who knows what Prachi is doing to woo my Ranbir! I can't let this happen. I need to think of a way for Prachi to stay from Ranbir during lockdown but how? Think, Riya, think. What if I make another fake MMS of Prachi viral? No, Ranbir will just trust Prachi and help her again. What if I make an actual video of Prachi with a boy. No that won't work as no one can go anywhere in lockdown! Wait, what if Ranbir's family start liking Prachi so much that want her to be their daughter-in-law?! I can't let that happen.

Riya began to panic and rushed to her room, mentally jotting down ways to get rid of Prachi from life. After a while of searching her brain for ideas, she had none that would work, especially during this lockdown and so, she started to throw things around her room, creating a mess, like always.

⊱ ──────────── {⋆❉⋆} ──────────── ⊰

Prachi was assisting Pallavi and Dida in creating Rajma Chawal, when Ranbir passed by and asked, hopefully, "Do you guys need any help?"

Pallavi and Dida stopped what they were doing and instantly began checking Ranbir's temperature, while Prachi and Ranbir looked on, befuddled.

"Mom, Dida, what are you doing?" Ranbir questioned.

"Checking whether or not you're alright!" Pallavi replied.

Ranbir raised his eyebrow, wanting a further explanation.

"You would never want us to help us in the kitchen otherwise!" Dida explained.

Ranbir looked at them, offended, "I have helped before! With the ladoos!"

"Yes, but that was only because you wanted to taste them first," countered Pallavi.

"Well that's true but yesterday was a tiring day for all of us! I just thought that I should be helping," Ranbir explained, momentarily glancing at Prachi. This action of his only remained unnoticed by Prachi.

Pallavi smirked, "Ok then. If you are being so persistent, you can go and cut the onions. And Prachi, beta, I'm sure you feeling tired. You have been helping us in the kitchen since you woke up. How about you go outside and relax a little? You could watch the tv with Vikram?"

Ranbir widened his eyes and frowned at his mother, causing her suspicions to rise. He was about to say something when Prachi began to politely refuse her offer, "Aunty, I don't feel tired. I would love to stay and help a little longer."

Ranbir sighed in relief, however, began to panic again when he heard his mother's response.

"Prachi beta, please, if you've ever considered me as a part of your family then you won't deny having a rest," Pallavi pleaded and Prachi nodded, unable to refuse her request.

Ranbir is about to follow Prachi after she leaves but gets called back by Pallavi. "Ranbir where are you going, come and cut the onions like you offered to do!"

"Uh, Mom, I actually forgot that my favourite television serial comes on at this time today!" Ranbir quickly made up an excuse, however, he had forgotten that he was lying to his mother.

"Really because as far I remember you never watch serials," Pallavi said with a smug smile on her face.

Ranbir turned pale on realising that his lie had been caught and began to think of ways to get out of this. However, before he could decide anything, Pallavi asked, "Now quickly tell me why you lied?"

Ranbir remained silent, not knowing what to say.

Dida looked at Ranbir, smiling and quickly asked, "Is it what we think it is?! Please tell me it is."

"What do you think it is?" Ranbir raised an eyebrow, having no clue where their conversation was heading, however, Pallavi's next line cleared his doubts.

"That you're in love with a certain someone!"

Ranbir felt himself blush slightly at the teasing tone his mother had, "Uh, Mom, I already told you that I love someone!"

"Yes, but you didn't tell me the girl's name!"

Ranbir shifted around, nervously. Should I tell them? I don't want to get their hopes up. What if she never likes me back?!

"Ranbir, if you don't want to take her name, then don't. Just answer this one question; is she in the hotel right now?" Pallavi asked and her happiness knew no bounds when Ranbir nodded.

She squealed and hugged him, along with Dida.

" You can go now, puttar, we'll tell her the work that you could do was finished," Dida urged Ranbir to leave and he smiled gratefully at the both of them.

⊱ ──────────── {⋆❉⋆} ──────────── ⊰

Ranbir smiled contently as he saw the sight in front of him. Prachi was massaging Vikram's head as a daughter would do for her father. This just made Ranbir more certain that Prachi would be the perfect daughter-in-law for their family, he already knew that she would be the perfect wife. Ranbir sighed wistfully, he hoped that Prachi would reciprocate his feelings someday but he also knew that she deserved someone far better than him. It would be selfish of him to pester her to be with him if she wasn't happy. He'd gladly let her go if it meant her happiness. The thought still hurt him though. He loved her and though a large part of him would be content with her happiness, a small part of him would always feel upset and hurt on seeing her with someone else.

"Dad, Prachi, what are you guys doing?" Ranbir attempted to begin a conversation.

"We were just watching the television. And, aren't you meant to be helping your mother?" Vikram replied, confused and a hint of shock was present in his voice.

"I was helping her, but then there wasn't anything else I could do so I came here again," Ranbir explained, using the excuse his mother gave him. Just as Ranbir said that Prachi put down the bottle of oil, she was using to massage Vikram's head.

"I better go help Pallavi Aunty." Prachi is about to leave when Ranbir held her hand, stopping her. Prachi turned around to face Ranbir and lost herself in his eyes, the question she was about to ask never left her mind. Vikram noticed his son lost and smirked. It seemed that whatever they had told Maya wasn't a drama, after all. However, he decided not to ask any questions about this topic just yet. If Prachi and Ranbir weren't ready to accept it, he wasn't going to ask them.

Prachi was the first to realise what was happening and her cheeks heated up a little. "What is it Ranbir?" she muttered.

Ranbir too then realised what he did. He quickly let go of Prachi's hand, not wanting to make her feel any more uncomfortable than she already was. His cheeks turned slightly pink, feeling embarrassed. "Actually, Mom said that there isn't much work to do, so it'll be pointless to go and help her."

Ranbir silently prayed that Prachi would believe his excuse and stay here with him. He knew that God had already been generous to him, by letting Prachi stay with him for 30 days but he really wanted to make the most out of this. But unfortunately for him, today, the almighty was not in his favour.

Prachi nodded and made her way to her room.

"Ranbir, you have online college tomorrow. You do realise that, right?" said Vikram, much to the annoyance of Ranbir.

Here I thought I'd be able to spend 30 days with Prachi, without any distractions but no! First Prachi wants to help Mom and Dida in the kitchen, and then college takes up half of the time. Ranbir whined in his head, and Vikram watched on amused.

"Ranbir, care to share your problems?" Vikram asked, despite having a fairly clear idea of them.

"Dad, you know I don't like studying, and I forgot that we were meant to be having online classes, so I'm just annoyed about that," Ranbir made up a white lie.

"Is that it or - is what your mother and grandmother thought?" Vikram questioned, smiling mischievously. "You know, they thought that you are in love with Prachi," Vikram elaborated after seeing Ranbir's clueless face.

Ranbir looked at his father in shock. He had expected Abhi to figure out his love life way quicker than his father, considering his father was never the romantic type. Was his love that obvious? Ranbir began to panic now, what if someone else found out? He just wanted things to remain between him and Prachi, especially if Prachi didn't reciprocate his feelings. The people in college would make a big fuss about it and that would make Prachi uncomfortable.

"Is it that obvious?!" Ranbir's voice was laced with panic.

"So, you do love Prachi. And, yes, it's obvious though most people might think that the two of you are clueless about your feelings towards each other." Vikram chuckled as he saw the relief on Ranbir's face, and then a thought occurred to him.

"Does Abhi know about your affections towards Prachi?" Vikram asked, and smiled victoriously as Ranbir shook his head.

"Ha! I do know my son better than him." Vikram declared with pride and Ranbir chuckled.

⊱ ──────────── {⋆❉⋆} ──────────── ⊰

Ranbir paced around outside of Prachi's door. His heart yearned to spend some time with her, knowing that she was only a few metres away. If he was at home he would've called her by now, and been complaining about lockdown because it meant not being able to play any football matches. But he wasn't at home and he would not complain. Why would he? He had gotten the opportunity of a lifetime. Spending thirty days, with the love of his life, without any irritating boys or clingy girls with him, was something he was not gonna waste.

Tentatively, Ranbir knocked on Prachi's door. He had only confessed to her two days ago, and knowing Prachi, she wasn't going to forget about it soon. Prachi came to the door and opened it, a smile appeared on his face as soon as he saw her, he glanced at her open wardrobe and noticed the same suit she wore on valentines day, causing him to smile as he recalled the precious moments he had spent with her. Sure, they didn't get Saloni to confess but at least it gave him an excuse to be with Prachi.

"Ranbir, what are you doing here?" Prachi successfully hid the worry in her voice but could not manage to mask it in her eyes. Yes, she was worried. She was worried that Ranbir would accidentally confess something, something that she didn't want to hear, but subconsciously she was really afraid of losing the friendship she had with Ranbir. He was her best friend, that much she could admit, and she didn't want to change that. Their relationship would definitely change if they ended up together, and she most certainly didn't want that.

"I- I just wanted to tell you that you can use our company's laptop to attend online college!" Ranbir quickly cooked up an excuse.

(3100+ words) Phew! That was a long one after a long-ish time.

Please do leave a comment if you have time, and if you liked the chapter do vote.

Precap - Pranbir dance.

Anyways, how was the update?

How will Pranbir's love evolve?

When will Prachi realise her love?

And most importantly, will I ever actually update soon?

Until Next Time!

~ Riya Sharma