Later when Manik went to go check on his dad, Cabir sat by Nandini.

"Manik ko pakka tujhse pyar hone laga hai."

"Really?"

"Haan....I heard usne police walon ko dhamki di?" Cabir asked. Nandini nodded. "Aur jab tu behosh thi tab Manik ne jo sunaya na Aliya ko. Uss chipkali ki shakal dekhne layak tha!"

Cabir & Nandini laughed at the thought.

"Vaise bhai....I think jo bhi Papa ke saath hua, usme shayad Aliya ka haath hai." Nandini said.

"Shayad? Definitly ussi ne yeh sab kiya.Tere elava sirf wahi thi na ghar pe? Even Manik ko bhi uspe shaq ho gaya. Finally uss gadhe ko akal aaya."

"Bhai...gadha nahi hai mera pati. Bas thoda blindly trust karta hai....yeh toh Aliya aur Dhruv ki galati hai na ke unn dono ne Manik ke bharosa ka faida uthaya." Nandini defended Manik. At that moment, there was a knock on the door and Manik entered wheeling Raj in on a wheelchair.

"Papa? Aap yahan ky-aah!" Nandini yelled out in pain as she moved to get up.

"Arre arre....uthne ke liye kisne bola? Laiti raho." Raj said. Nandini obediently lay back down as Manik brought Raj closer to her bed. 

"Aapko aaram karna chahiye na..."

"Haan...woh main bas....main tumse..." Raj looked around nervously.

"Kuch kehne ki zaroorat nahi hai Papa." 

"Zaroorat hai...maine humesha tumhare saath burra bhartav kiya hai, galati ho gayi mujhse tumhe pehchane mein. Aaj agar main zinda hoon toh tumhare vaje se....bas mujhe yeh nahi paata ke mujhe pehle sorry bolna chahiye ya thank you." Raj replied.

"Kuch bhi nahi Papa. Maine yeh sab sorry ya thank you ke liye nahi kiya, yeh toh farz tha mera. Aap thik hai, wahi kafi hai mere liye."

While Raj talked to Nandini, Manik left the room and thought about Alia.

*Flashback*

"God Manik...tumhare family na...they are just impossible." Aliya complained.

"Kyun kya hua?"

"Maine itni badi party organize ki Uncle aur Aunty ke anniversary ke liye, they are not even grateful."

"Par....thank you toh bola tha na Dad ne?" Manik asked confused.

"Exactly....itni mehnat ke baad sirf ek chota sa thanks mila mujhe. Like what am I supposed to do with that? You know my cousin? Woh America wali? Usne apne in laws ke liye party throw ki toh usse kitna expensve designer dress mila....aur yahan mujhe ek thank you mil raha hai."

"Aliya....mere Mom Dad ki anniversary hai. Tumhe gift kyun milegi?"

"Because main iss parivaar ki sabse choti bahu bane wali hoon. The Malhotras ki bahu...aur kuch nahi toh ek diamond ka set de sakte they party mein pehene ke liye? But no...they just thanked me...like ab mere cousin call karegi toh main kya bolungi? Mere hone wale in-laws kitne cheap hai."

"Enough Aliya...tum mere Mom Dad ke baare mein baat kar rahi ho!"

*Flashback Ends*

"Kya soch raha hai tu?" Manik was startled by Cabir's voice. "Yahi na...ki Alia aur Nandini mein kitna fark hai."

"What....nahi toh." Manik shook his head.

"Rehne de. I know tu exactly wahi soch raha tha, but actually tu Aliya toh humesha se hi khudgarz thi. None of us really like her that much lekin tere liye hum sab chup reh gaye."

"Im so confused Cabir." Manik confessed. "Ek taraf....Aliya ke saath mera rishta hai, uske dhoke ke baad bhi mujhe laaga ke main uss par bharosa kar sakta hoon....now Im not so sure. Aur dusri taraf, Nandini....I dont understand ke kya force hai jo mujhe uske taraf keechta hai. Even when I said terrible things to her and I said I hated her, kahi na kahi woh sab main sirf apne aap ko vishwas dilane ke liye bol raha tha. I always thought ke...main Aliya se bohot pyar karta hoon, lekin agar main Aliya se pyar karta hoon toh jo main Nandini ke liye feel karne laaga hoon....woh kya hai?"

"Sacha pyar toh ek hi insaan se kiya jaata hai Manik. You have to figure out ke tera sacha pyar kaun hai? Aliya ya phir Nandini?"Cabir said.

"Thanks....so helpful." Manik said sarcastically.

"Manik bro as much as Id love to, main tere liye yeh faisla nahi kar sakta. Haan par classic tarika hai, you can try that." 

"Kya?"

"Ankhen band kar...aur jiska chehra sabse pehle samne aayega, tu ussi se pyar karta hai." Cabir replied. Manik just scoffed. "Yaar try toh karke dekh...Its fool proof...saare movies mein kaam karta hai."

"Fine.." Manik agreed and took a deep breath before slowly closing his eyes. The first thing he saw was....Nandini. The first time he saw her dancing at the bar and then their first fight about who was gonna sleep where. Basically all their moments together flashed infront of his eyes. Manik gasped and opened his eyes quickly to see a smirking Cabir.

"Toh? Kisse dekha?" Cabir asked, even though it was very evident by Manik's expression who he saw.

"Nandini..." Manik replied. "How is that possible? Maine toh humesha Aliya se...."

"Are you sure?" Cabir asked. "I mean, Aliya is hot and tera aur uska rishta itna purana hai. Are you sure that you actually love her and she wasnt just a habit? Maybe tujhe sirf laga ki tu usse pyar karta hai because you didnt know anything different. Shayad you were only just attracted to Aliya. Think about it." 

Saying that, Cabir left Manik deep in thought.

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

A few days later...

Raj & Nandini both came home while Nyonika took Raj to their room, Manik helped Nandini to his room. As Nandini settled down in the bed, she flinched in pain but tried to hide it from Manik....but of course he saw.

"Abhi bhi ard ho raha hai?" Manik panicked. "Main...doctor ko bulata hoon."

"Manik.." Nandini giggled at his reaction and held his wrist. "Doctor ko bulane ki zaroorat nahi hai. Unhone khud kaha tha ke dard hoga kuch vaqt tak."

"Right....main painkillers deta hoon." Manik walked to the chest of drawers and opened one of them. Not taking his eyes off of Nandini, Manik reached in and took something out. Nandini took one look and burst out laughing. 

"What?" Manik was confused. "Has kyun rahe ho?"

"Haha! haaha! Wrong...Haha..wrong drawer." Nandini pointed to his hand, Manik looked and was horrified to see he was holding up her bra.

"Aah! Woh main..I..sorry." Manik threw the bra back into the drawer and shut it. Then he took the painkillers from the other drawer and passed it to Nandini who was still laughing. "Ok Ok...enough with the laughing. Galati se ho gaya...so what? Ho jaata hai kabhi kabhi."

Nandini kept laughing. Manik was super embarrassed but soon started to smile seeing Nandini laugh and couldnt help himself from admiring her.

"Look Nandini," Manik quickly put on a seriosu face. "Hasna band kardo varna..."

"Varna kya huh?" Nandini gave an I dare you look.

"Varna....varna tum thak jaogi na." Manik backtracked, not wanting to mess with her. "Abhi abhi hospital se vapas aayi ho. You should rest."

"Fattu." Nandini smiled and mumbled under her breathe. 

"What did you just all me?" 

"Fattu...Fattu Fattu Fattu." Nandini teased, knowing that it irritated Manik.

"Fattu? Main? You really think main tumse darta hoon?" Manik asked.

"No...I KNOW ki tum mujhse darte ho. Tabhi toh last minute apne dhamki ko chage kar diya." Nandini laughed. 

"Oh yeah? Ill show you who's scared." Manik started wiggling his fingers and Nandini's eyes grew wide.

"You wouldnt..." 

"Oh I totally would. Mujhe Cabir ne bataya tha how tickish you are. Main kya pagal lagta hoon tumhe ke itna bada hatyar istimal nahi karuga?" As Manik walked towards Nandini she got off the bed and tried to dodge him.

Manik quicly caught her and started tickling Nandini.

"No..Hahaha...Manik stop..bas karo!" Nanidni giggled and tried to get away but Manik was having too much fun. While tickling Nandini fell back onto the bed with Manik ontop still tickling. "Haha! Manik! Hahaha"

The two of them were so busy with each other they didnt see a furious Aliya standing at the door watching them.

"No...Manik Nandini ke khareeb nahi jaa sakta. I have to get rid of her once and for all. Dhruv se baat karna parega." Aliya thought as she stormed away.

-------------------------------

Note: So Manik is finally in love with Nandini...he just hasnt accepted it yet. Aliya is now desparate to get rid of Nandini but Manik has started to suspect her.....what do you think will happen next?