"Arghh! Why the hell is her room on the third floor?" Veer groaned exhaustedly while climbing into the balcony attached with Bani's room in the Rajput's bungalow. He panted heavily and dusted his clothes while slowly sneaking into her room. "How careless is she? She just left the door unlocked." He sighed disappointedly as he opened the balcony door easily. He thought to knock it if she had locked it.

He walked into the room to see her sleeping peacefully while hugging a huge teddy bear securely in her arms.

Awww how cute! My little baby girl.

After admiring her for a good 10 minutes, he finally decided to climb on the bed without making any sound and hovered over her. He stared at her being amused as she was still in slumber even after he pressed his body weight on her. "Sweetheart, wake up." He whispered, moving the loose hair strands from her face whereas Bani, who was in deep sleep just smiled hearing his voice and tried to turn to snuggle more into her teddy bear. 

She frowned when something was stopping her from moving and slowly opened her eyes with a soft groan. The moment she opened her eyes, they popped out of their sockets seeing Veer's grinning face there and let out a loud scream to which he instantly clamped his hand over her mouth to stop her. "Shhhh baby girl don't shout. It's me." He whispered and Bani nodded at him while blinking her eyes rapidly.

He slowly removed his hand from her mouth and she breathed a sigh of relief but soon that relief was replaced with panic when she realised that he was there in front of her in her own room. "What the hell are you doing here? How did you get into my room? What's the time now and why did you--" Before she could continue her rambling, he interrupted her by placing his palm on her mouth again.

"Happy 18th Birthday, my precious princess." He wished her, pecking on her forehead and Bani gave him a shy smile with her cheeks heating up.

"Don't call me princess. Only my brothers are allowed to call me that." She said, making Veer roll his eyes.

"I'm the one who climbed 3 floors of this huge bungalow through the drainpipe at 12 in the midnight to wish you on your birthday, not your brothers."

"But still you can't call me princess." She mumbled, making him frown at her.

Veer stared at her for few seconds and sighed exasperatedly. "Okay Jaanu, I won't call yo...Ouch!" He grumbled in pain when a punch landed on his jaw.

"How dare you call me Jaanvi!!! Did you forget my name, you moron? I'm Bani, not Jaanvi!" Bani growled, pushing him away with such a force that made him fall back on the bed beside her.

"Oh God! Sweetheart, I said Jaanu not Jaanvi." He said, sitting up on the bed.

"Jaanu? Is it a nickname for that witch?" She asked again, glaring at him and Veer shook his head.

"Girl, I swear I will get old by the time I finish teaching from A to Z about love and romance to you." He sighed and sat on his knees while pulling her closer by her waist. "Now listen carefully without raising your hands on me. I'm not your opponent for you to punch me anywhere anytime. I also can get hurt, sweetheart. I can't pretend all the time like it doesn't hurt me at all." He pouted at her sadly to which Bani chuckled and caressed his jaw while mumbling a sorry to him.

"Okay fine, listen to me quietly now. Jaanu is an endearment that could be used for our loved ones. It's just the same like how I used to call you sweetheart, baby girl and etc. I personally feel like Jaanu is more romantic than the other endearments so I'm going to call you Jaanu after this. Is that okay for you?" He explained and asked in a calm voice to which Bani immediately nodded at him shyly. "Awww my Jaanu is feeling all shy now, huh?" He teased her as she lowered her face to hide her cheeks that turned into beetroot red.

"Thank you, Ansh." She whispered in a soft tone and Veer raised his eyebrow at her.

"For what?"

"For everything. For coming into my life, for being there for me whenever I needed you, for loving me, for bearing my punches, for climbing 3 floors just to wish my birthday, for---" Veer cut her off and continued.

"Okay okay, enough of your long speech now. I don't want to get emotional tonight as it's my Jaanu's birthday so I want to celebrate it happily with her." He said, pretending to wipe his fake tears while Bani laughed, hitting on his arm playfully.

Veer too joined laughing with her and they both laid down on the bed with her snuggling into his arms. "Ansh?" She called, looking up at him while he hummed at her. "Will you be there with me forever?" She asked and he smiled at her.

"I don't believe in forever but I will be there with you till my last breath." He replied, kissing on her forehead.

"Promise?"

"I promise, Jaanu."

"Please don't ever leave me, Ansh. I have only four special people in my life and I can't afford to lose any one of you." She said, hugging him tightly.

"I won't leave you, sweetheart. Trust me, I will always be with you as I promised."

Bani nodded at him and kissed on his chest by moving the t-shirt he was wearing. A shiver ran down his spine when he felt her lips on his bare skin and he tightened his grip around her.

"Ansh?" She called him again in a soft whisper tone after some time.

"Yes?"

"I think I-I'm in l-love with you." She confessed shyly and gasped when Veer suddenly pulled her up to his level.

"What did you say?" He asked to confirm what he heard.

"I love you." She said, making his eyes go wide in astonishment.

"Really?"

"Yes." She nodded and the next moment, he flipped their position by bringing her under him.

"Ufff, my Jaanu finally confessed her love to me after making me wait for her for 4 months and 11 days!" He exclaimed happily while Bani gaped at him.

"You were counting days?"

"Yes, I was counting from the day I proposed you for the first time."

"Awww I'm sorry I made you wait for quite a long time." She apologised cutely to convince him but Veer being Veer smirked at her mischievously as he had another plan in his mind.

"You can't escape with just a sorry, babe. I want something else from you." He demanded, making her raised her eyebrow confusedly.

"What do you want?"

"It's Sunday tomorrow so you have to spend the whole day with me without bringing anyone else between us. Only you and me.... alone." He emphasised the last word and pecked on her lips before moving away from her swiftly as he knew she would punch him for kissing her without her consent.

"What did you just do now?" She scowled, getting up from the bed and walking towards him while Veer gulped in fear looking at the rage in her eyes.

"Sweetheart, stop there don't come near me!" He said, slowly moving backwards as Bani stood in front of him with her arms crossed against her chest. "Hey come on, we are lovers now and I can kiss you, you know? Your lips were so tempting and I wanted to take you into a long passionate kiss but I know you would kill me if I do that so I just pecked on them." He said, sticking against the wall like a lizard while Bani trapped him by placing her palms on either side of his body.

"Idiot! It's my birthday today and you can't escape with just a peck. Kiss me properly before you leave." She demanded in an authoritative tone, making his eyes go wide in shock.

"Are you sure? You won't punch me after that, right?" He asked to make sure he would go back home alive after giving in to her demand.

"I won't punch you after this. It's my promise to you on this special day." She gave him a genuine smile to which he swiftly pulled her closer by grabbing her hips and pinned her against the wall by flipping their positions.

"Once again happy birthday to you, Jaanu." He said cupping her face before placing his lips on hers.

Veer smiled in contentment as it was the first time for him to feel the sweetness of her lips. He did kiss her twice before but they were just small pecks but this time he could taste her lips by nibbling on them intensely. While on the other hand, Bani was feeling a strange sensation in her stomach. She didn't know how to kiss him back so she mimicked his way of kissing her by nibbling on his lips just like he was doing to her.

Soon Veer broke the kiss when both of them felt the need to breathe and joined their foreheads with his hands still cupping her face. "You know, this is not my first kiss." He said once they started to breathe normally and Bani immediately stepped back, creating some distance between them.

"What do you mean?" She glared at him while he chuckled at her reaction.

"This is my third kiss. I kissed you twice before. Remember?"

Bani breathed a sigh of relief and fisted her hand to punch him again but he grabbed her hand and turned her around by taking her into a back hug. "You promised me that you won't punch me anymore." He reminded, nuzzling her neck.

"You better don't repeat this again. Don't give me a chance to break my promise, Ansh. Once you're mine then you are stuck with me for the rest of your life. I know I'm your first and I will be your last too. No one should ever come between us. Do you get that?" She asked, expressing her possessiveness firmly. Veer was completely taken aback, witnessing the new shade of her and turned her towards him.

"Ufff, that was so hot baby girl." He chuckled, pecking on her nose and added, "But there will be one or two more members between us in the future, sweetheart. We can't avoid them from getting between us." He said, suppressing his smile as he could see her face getting red in anger.

"Who the fuck is that? Are you planning to have two more girlfriends other than me?" She snarled at him.

"No, not girlfriends but they are going to be our kids." He whispered huskily while kissing her earlobe and Bani instantly bit her inner cheeks to control the smile falling on her lips.

"I just confessed my love to you today and you're already talking about our kids. We are not going to have kids for the next 10 years." She said sternly while Veer pouted at her.

"What? 10 years is too--" He stopped abruptly as they both gasped when they heard a knock on the door.

"Oh no! Someone's here." Bani whispered, panicking herself.

"Bani? Hey princess, open the door. Are you sleeping?" She heard Arjun's voice from the other side of the door and widened her eyes.

"Is that Arjun? He is staying here with you?" Veer asked and she shook her head.

"No, maybe he's here to wish me. Oh God, Veer! How are you going to escape from here now? Where can you hide? He has very sharp observation skills and you can't escape from him by hiding in the washroom or wardrobe." She gabbled, pacing back and forth anxiously.

"Girl, calm down first. Don't panic. Take some deep breaths and relax." He said, gesturing her to take deep breaths and continued, "I don't have to hide anywhere. I will go back just the way I came in, okay? Relax, baby girl." He said, kissing her forehead and ran to balcony to climb down. Bani stared at him worriedly and sighed in relief once he landed on the ground safely. He waved at her and quickly escaped from there while Bani went to open the door.

She widened her eyes seeing Arjun and Sid standing before her. "Ajju, Siddhu, what are you guys doing here?" She asked, letting out a fake yawn to show them that she was sleeping all this while. They apologized for ruining her sleep and pushed her inside the room to celebrate her birthday as they used to do every year.

They left around 2am after celebrating her birthday and Bani went back to sleep being exhausted as they made her run behind them after smashing the cake on her face. After a long time, she finally had a contented smile on her face while falling into a peaceful slumber.

****

The next day, as insisted by Veer, Bani decided to spend the whole day with him. Sid sulked when she told him about her plan but eventually accepted as he understood that their little princess was all grown up enough to spend some time alone with her boyfriend. To their luck, Arjun went to another city for a business meeting so they managed to hide it from him as he wasn't aware of Bani's love story yet. Veer and Bani visited all the famous places in the Oklahoma City and finally got back to the hostel at 7pm.

"Ansh, thank you for taking me out today. I really enjoyed a lot with you the whole day. It has been years since I last visited those places we had visited today." She said once they entered into his room. They were alone there as Lucas and Sid went out with their friends.

"Pleasure is all mine, Jaanu. I really enjoyed the day with you." He smiled, pulling her closer to him.

"But you haven't give me my birthday gift yet." She pouted, pushing him away lightly.

"Sweetheart, open your eyes and see properly. Your 6 feet gift is standing in front of you in all his glory." He extended his arms dramatically and Bani scoffed at him.

"Ufffoo, stop with that cheesy dialogue please. I want a gift now." She whined, stomping her feet like a stubborn kid.

Veer chuckled at her and asked her to wait there while he walked to his wardrobe. He took out a box and passed it to her. "You really got a gift for me? Why didn't you give me this last night?"

"Because I wanted to give it to you now." He winked at her and gestured her to open it. Bani opened the gift and gasped seeing a pair of anklets in it.

"Wow Ansh, these are the traditional anklets right? So beautiful! Thank you so much, baby." She exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck. Veer chuckled at her and wrapped his arms around her securely.

"Do you like it, Jaanu?" He asked, breaking the hug.

"Oh God, I love it!" She squealed excitedly and bent down to wear the anklets but Veer stopped her and bent down to put them on her with his own hands.

Bani jumped excitedly hearing the sound that the anklets were producing while Veer laughed wholeheartedly, witnessing her childishness.

Phew 😪 I finally got the time to update this chapter after a whole 8 days. I'm sorry for the delay, guys. And I won't drag their past anymore. It will end really soon as in the next chapter there will be a turning point in their love story 😉❤