1 month later:

It was a Sunday afternoon which meant we all had a day off from work. Me and my parents decided to go down to the Oberoi mansion as Dadi wanted to share some news with everyone. She insisted all her family was there. That's right, she considered my family equally as her own. She's a very sweet dadi. Shivaay jiju And Anika di, Tej Uncle and Jhanvi aunty, Shakti Uncle and Pinky aunty, my Mum and Dad and me were all waiting in the living room for dadi to come. After a few minutes dadi walked down the stairs. We all greeted her and then she sat down on her special chair. That chair was always reserved for dadi and no one but her grandsons ShivOmRu were allowed to sit on it.

"I have some amazing news to share with you guys and that is why I've called you all. I'm sure after listening to this you all will be very happy. Omkara and Rudra are coming back from London tomorrow." What? Did I just hear that? My body felt numb. I was unable to react. I saw everybody around me getting excited. A strange feeling went through me. He's coming back! He's coming back! I'll have to go through all that suffering, pain, sadness all over again. I can't. I'm not prepared for this.

"What? Dadi are you sure? OmRu didn't tell me. In fact they didn't tell any of us." I heard Shivaay jiju ask.

"Yes but they rang today and I picked up so they told me. They've asked Shivaay and Anika to pick them up from the airport. They'll land at 5 in the evening. Make sure you two get there on time." Dadi cleared everything out.

The elders then started to have their own conversation. I was still in shock. I just did not know how to react. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Anika di next to me. She gave me an "Are you Okay?" look But I ignored her and walked out of the room and towards the poolside. The poolside held lots of memories. Some sweet romantic ones and some painful ones. I sat near the pool and dipped my feet in the pool. Tears started flowing out of my eyes unwillingly and I did nothing to stop them. All the memories flooded back. Our first meet, us teasing each other, the whole ladke vs ladki fiasco at Shivika's wedding, our friendship, our cute moments spent together, our so called break up.

It's been a year. A whole year since I've seen him and now he's coming back. I don't know how to feel about this. I mean I'm excited that I'll finally get to see him but what's the point? We ended it all a year back. Woh apnay raastay gayaa aur mai apnai. But I miss him. I still miss him. I don't know if what we shared was love or attraction but all those moments we spent with each other mean a lot to me. We haven't talked to each other since he left or even messaged each other. He would occasionally like my instagram pictures and I would do the same. The only way I was kept updated on him was through his social media stories which he rarely put up. And occasionally I would hear Maa and Anika di talking about him. She would never mention him in front of me though. Neither would Shivaay jiju because they knew it would only hurt me. He didn't once message me or tried to get in touch with me.

Over the course of Shivika's wedding me and Omkara had gotten very close. We spent a lot of time together after the wedding too. Omkara would occasionally sneak into my lectures at college and then we would go hang out together. We both had feelings for each other. Atleast I definitely did and I felt he did too. We never actually said those "3 magical words" to each other but there was no need. Our eyes and actions said it all. Only Shivaay jiju, Anika di and Rudy knew about us and our feelings. They would occasionally tease us about it too. When Omkara had to leave again for London as his holidays had finished and his final year was about to start, I was upset. I really didn't want him to leave but I thought atleast we could still stay in touch and have a long distance relationship. It was only a year, we can do it! But I guess Omkara didn't want this. He felt this relationship would only hinder us from achieving our dreams and progressing into our career. He didn't feel like this long distance relationship will work so he decided it was best if we forgot everything we had and moved on. Within a few minutes he ended everything. He did not once ask me what I wanted and I never bothered to hold on to him either. After all, that's what he wanted, for me to stay away from him. My trail of thoughts was broken by two hands placed on each of my shoulders. I looked either way to find Anika di on my right side and Shivaay jiju on my left side. My pillars! They were the ones who consoled me after Omkara left. I simply held Shivaay jiju's hand and placed my head on Anika di's shoulder.

My tears continued rolling down.

"Gauri I understand. It was all a shock for you. I know it must be hard for you Gauri but look on the bright side. Both you and Om have successfully completed your studies and got amazing results. You both have a degree in the field of your choice. You guys parted ways because you didn't want this relationship to top you from achieving your goals. But now you have successfully become a doctor. Om has earned himself a place in the Oberoi Industries as the leading manager for the new fashion house we're opening. We are opening a branch in Bandra. It'll be Badi Maa's second fashion boutique. He'll be helping his mum with her business. Yes his art and business degree will be perfect for this new venture. So you both have got what you wanted so maybe now you guys can work on each other. Maybe things can be like before. Maybe...." Shivaay jiju spoke trying to console me.

"No jiju. No. We may have achieved our goals. Omkara May have completed his degree but now things cannot be like before. If Omkara wanted us to be a thing then he would have made an effort. It was only the matter of one year. Surely we would have sorted something out but clearly Omkara didn't want this relationship. If Omkara cared he would have tried to communicate with me in this one year. He would have tried to message me but he didn't. And all this makes me wonder, were we ever meant to be?" I spoke in my defence, tears still rolling down my face.

"Lekin tumnai bhi koshish nahi ki Chutki. You never tried to message him. You never stopped him when he decided you two should break up. Why didn't you say anything then? Why didn't you fight for your love?" Anika di questioned me. She's right, why didn't I stop him? Should I have stopped him? But would he have listened because he had already made up his mind to end it all.

"You know what di, I don't even know if what we shared was love. I mean what if it was simply attraction. We never said I love you to each other but..." I was interrupted by Anika di.

"But we saw the love you two had for each other in your eyes. Humnai bhi pyaar kiya hai Gauri we know all these things. If it was merely attraction then you wouldn't have cried all those nights thinking about Om. If it was merely attraction then you would have come to see Om the day he left for London but you didn't come to see him because you couldn't bear to see him go. If you didn't care about him then you wouldn't stay updated with his social media or ask us about Rudra's well-being so you could find out about how Om is doing too. You care for him baba. And I know Om was wrong to just end it all like that. He wasn't courageous enough. He was scared about long distance relationship. I guess he didn't want to ruin the beautiful relationship you guys shared so he decided to end it on a positive note. But just tell me one thing, if love gives you both a second chance, will you take it?" Anika di was trying to explain to me but there was no way I'm going to let Omkara hurt me again. I couldn't give him a second chance. Even if I did, what's the guarantee that he wants the second chance?

"Di I understand what you're saying but I can't let Omkara affect me. Mai maanu yaa naa maanu but the past still haunts me. Jaise taise karkai I got out of that sadness. I don't want to get my hopes high again and have them shatter to pieces. I'm not that strong di to have my heart broken twice. I'm going to try my level best to maintain a distance from Omkara. I can't let him affect me. I just can't. And I want that you both please support me in this decision."

"As you wish Gauri. As you wish. We are always here for you if you need to talk. I understand Om is my brother but you are also my sister. I will do anything for the happiness of my loved ones especially the ones younger to me. You, Om and Ru are like my little kids and I will always look out for you three." Shivaay jiju spoke with a reassuring smile.

"Thank you both of you for always being there for me. I love you guys. I couldn't have asked for a better sister or jiju." I wiped my tears and hugged the two very important people in my life. I mentally prepared myself for the days to come. It was going to be hard and challenging but I was ready.

A/N: Chapter 2 updated! What did you guys think? Please do let me know. Is my story line interesting? Also, Om and Gauri will meet soon after a couple of chapters because a little build up is necessary! I hope you all enjoyed this update. Do let me know your favourite part about this update. Don't forget to vote and comment! 😊❤️ Lots of love xxx