Sleep was the last thing for them tonight, both of them were deeply engrossed in their own set of thoughts.

After juggling between a chain of thoughts, Ram decided to confess his feelings to Priya tonight itself no matter what may come as the consequences.

His heart was thumping against his ribcage, as he moved closer to her room.

Taking a deep breath, Ram knocked on Priya's door and prayed to God with closed eyes.

A moment later, Priya opened the door and looked at him with a confused frown as she found him with closed eyes.

Priya cleared her throat, grabbing his attention. He opened his eyes to find her in front of him.

"You can take Pari to your room." She told without looking at him. Her face was pale and eyes were swollen as if she had cried a while ago.

"Actually, I came here to talk about what happened in the evening." Ram stopped her when she was about to turn.

Her body stiffened as soon as she recollected the Kiss they shared. She too wanted to speak about it.

Gathering some strength she asked. "Tell me one thing, was it also a part of the deal that we had?" She looked at him with her moist filled eyes.

Ram's eyes widened when he saw tears pooling up in her eyes. She turned her head away from him, so that he doesn't see the tears burning in her eyes.

"Priya, please understand. You are taking me wrong. Please listen to me." Ram tried to reach out for her hand but she took a step back.

"Priya, please..." Ram was worried.

"Who do you think I am? Are you trying to take advantage of me? Did you think I will not say anything and let this slip away? I can't and I won't. I am not a helpless woman with whom you can have your own way." Priya's voice choked with a lot of emotions.

"For you, it may be nothing but I can't let you take advantage of me like this." Priya said, her nose flared in anger and pain.

"Stop it Priya! At least for once listen to me carefully." He was hurt that she was taking him wrong.

"Yes, I kissed you. Not because I was taking advantage of you but because I love you Priya." Ram confessed.

Priya was frozen to the spot looking with wide eyes at his confession.

"I took a lot of time to realize that I really really love you." Ram said, keeping an eye contact with her.

Priya was utterly shocked with his confession. She couldn't process anything and stood there in utter silence.

Ram took her both hands in his and looked directly into her eyes. She looked at their hands and then into his deep eyes which were conveying his true feelings.

"I am sorry Priya, I know I hurt you a lot. I was being selfish all these days and nothing mattered other than me and my feelings till now. Instead of helping you, I took unfair advantage of your helplessness when your father was not well. Yes, you are right. For me, every relationship comes after money. But, after staying with you all these days I have realized how wrong I was. I took time to realize that I truly enjoy talking with you and spending time with you. I like your smile, your laugh and everything about you. Being with you made me very happy and realize the meaning of life. Eventually, I got so used to being with you that a day without you is unimaginable to me. I thought a lot about my feelings for you and finally realized that it is not a mere attraction or infatuation but love. You are the only person who can make my heart beat fast. I am not very good with words but I hope these three words reach you. I Love You, Priya." Ram said, not breaking eye contact with her.

His eyes conveyed the genuinity in his words.

Priya was so shocked that she didn't react. She couldn't believe what just happened right now. She was unsure whether it was a silly dream or reality. When Ram got no reaction from Priya, he held her shoulders and pulled her closer to him.

"Look into my eyes Priya. Every single word and sentence I told you is true; I really mean it." He shook her lightly. "I was afraid that you would not understand my feelings and leave me and that is the reason I even made this deal for 6 more months. Because I was scared that you would leave me and Pari. Pari needs you, I need you too." Ram said and waited impatiently for Priya's response.

"This isn't right." Priya shook her head.

"If this isn't right Priya, then why didn't you stop me from kissing you?" The single sentence from Ram, kept Priya in a fix.

She didn't know either, she doesn't have an answer for it. Her mixed emotions made it hard for her to understand her own feelings for Ram.

"I don't know Ram; but what I know is, this is wrong." Priya was in denial with her feelings.

"I can understand that you are just afraid to acknowledge your feelings. But there is nothing wrong. Don't hold back thinking about the past events. I am a changed man now. You changed me completely. Please Priya, don't say no." Ram pleaded to her, holding her palms in his hold.

Priya looked at him blankly. She was so confused.

"Answer me, Priya. Will you be able to stay apart from Pari and me?" Ram questioned desperately.

There was no response from Priya. Ram's face softened as he cupped her face lovingly. "Priya, I love you. I want you to walk beside me always as my pillar of strength and I want to stay with you in your good and bad. I want you and me both to be there for Pari." Ram said, looking into her eyes.

"Raam, please." Priya was unable to process as the situation was very overwhelming for her.

"Priya, please. Try to understand me. I can't live without you. Don't bury your feelings inside your heart, I know somewhere deep down in your heart you fear about what happened in the past." Ram said.

"Raam, please leave me alone." Priya said, as she was very anxious thinking about every moment between them.

"Okay, don't get nervous. I will wait for your response." Ram said.

"Please think thoroughly about what I said." Saying this Ram left her room.

Priya closed the door once he left and leaned on it, closing her eyes tightly.

She didn't expect that Ram would confess to her. One part of her was very anxious thinking about the past events and the other part of her was surprisingly happy that things are not meaningless for Ram.

She didn't know which part of her heart she should follow.

Thinking about Ram's past behavior itself sends chills down her spine but when she recollects all the things happening since a year, convincing her that there's a better future waiting for her & Pari.

She was in a dilemma, whether to accept his confession whole heartedly or deny him.

"I am so used to these two people and a mere thought of leaving them behind gives me an ache in the heart. Would I be able to stay away from Pari & Ram?" She said to herself.

"To be honest with my feelings, I also started liking Ram and his company. Ram seemed to be genuine with his feelings. Shouldn't I accept his proposal? Is it too early to decide anything?"

"Oh god! Please help me. I don't know what to do." Priya was unable to decide.

Priya walked towards the bed and took Pari in her hands before kissing on her face while the baby was sleeping peacefully.

In Ram's room, he was glad that at least he confessed his feelings to Priya. Back of his mind, he was happy that Priya did not deny him straight away. There's a hope for him that Priya would accept his confession.

Both of them slept around the wee hours.

*************

Priya's sleep got disturbed in the morning with the sound of her alarm. Rubbing both her eyes, she looked at the time and noticed Pari who was sleeping next to her.

The next moment, flashes of last night's moments came into her mind. She was still clueless on her decision. She doesn't want to make any decisions in haste.

Priya got down the bed, quickly freshened up, washing away her sleepiness. She fixed her hair and went to Pari's cradle to check on her. By now, Pari was wide awake, playing while making baby noises. Priya smiled and took her loving daughter in her arms.

Priya removed the nappy and gave bath to Pari, got her dressed in a onesie and then fed Pari before calling Sunita to her room.

"Sunita, take Pari to Ram's room." She handed Pari to Sunita.

Sunita knocked on Ram's door but got no response. Seeing the door open, she walked inside the room and saw him still sleeping. She called Ram two to three times but he didn't respond.

After failing to wake up Ram, Sunita came back to Priya's room and informed her what happened.

When Ram did not turn up for breakfast Priya decided to check on him once. She went to Ram's room, but her hands hesitatingly shivered when she touched the door knob. She gulped; she was nervous.

Taking a deep breath, she took a step in the room which made her heart race fast.

She saw that Ram had covered himself with the blanket. She tried calling his name over and over again but he didn't move an inch. She frowned and called again but no luck.

She then shook his shoulders gently to wake him up. "Ram. Ram." Priya kept calling.

"Hmmm." A feeble voice from Ram but he still hadn't opened his eyes.

Priya sensed something wasn't right with Ram. She bent down towards him, placing her palm on his forehead. Her eyes widened. "Oh No!" Priya said, feeling his burning forehead.

She became worried, he looked in a very bad condition as he was shivering too.

"Raaam!" Priya called him one more time.

Finally, he opened his eyes looking very pale.

She helped him to sit properly on the bed and placed a pillow behind his back.

"Hi!" Ram said in a rough voice and started sneezing badly.

"Looks like you have a fever & cold." Priya said.

"Probably due to the rain." said Ram with a faint smile.

Flashes of yesterday's incident played in their minds. He sneezed again.

"Let me call the doctor." asked Priya, concerned when Ram sneezed again.

"I will be fine. It's just a cold & fever. I will take the medicines and that should be enough." Ram's voice trailed off as he spoke again. "I am sorry I will not be able to take care of Pari today." he apologized.

"It's ok. It's more important that you take care of your health right now. I will take care of her, don't worry. You just take some rest."

Ram closed his eyes as he adjusted himself in his bed.

"I will send breakfast soon. After that I will give you medicine" Priya said further.

"No, I am not feeling like having anything. I will take some rest." denied Ram. Priya frowned at him slightly.

"You haven't had anything since yesterday. It's not right that you take medicines on an empty stomach." Priya said and he nodded in agreement.

A day passed, Priya took care of Pari and checked on Ram in regular intervals. His fever came down a bit. Even though she tried to be normal, her mind was still occupied with the recent happenings between them.