Their engagement was done. All of their close family members were there to witness one of the most beautiful couples, exchanging rings. Everything felt even more solid now. It was hitting Taani now more than ever that she would be married in a few days, gone to live somewhere else, she will have a whole new family to look after, a set of responsibilities and she could no longer afford waking up late or throwing tantrums if she didn't like something, she'll have to adjust now.

Day after tomorrow was her haldi and tomorrow they were going for their haldi photoshoot. She should be excited for it but no matter what, she couldn't get Yuvi's words out of her mind. But she still happily took part in the festivities, danced with her family and cousins and never let the sadness appear on her face. Only when she was safe in the confines of her room did she let it all out. It was easier to ignore her thoughts when she was busy but as soon as she would enter her room all those thoughts seemed to suffocate her.

She walked out in the garden to calm her mind, most of the guests were staying in a hotel so it was comparatively quiet out here. "Not feeling sleepy?" She turned around to look at her brother, who put a hand around her shoulder bringing her close to him then started walking alongside her.

She took a deep breath and replied quietly. "Not really." He just ruffled her hair playfully.

Yuvi and Rishi, who came to deliver a few things given by Divya, to her house, were passing by the garden when they saw Avi and Taani out there. They thought of going there and greeting them but as they neared them they heard him ask if she was happy and Yuvi wanted to listen to what she had to say, so he clutched Rishi's hand and hid behind a tree instead.

"Tu khush to hai na?" (𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖?) Her brother was well aware of her dreams and how soft hearted she really was. He knew she was a romantic at heart who wanted to marry for love and definitely not because of family obligations but she was also a dutiful daughter who would go to any lengths for her family.

"Of course bhaiya why won't I be?" She gave him a huge smile. She was actually getting tired of playing pretend and wanted this sham of a wedding to be over quickly.

"Don't insult me by thinking I would fall for that pathetic fake smile. I have never seen you put in so much effort to look happy! Taani there's still time, just tell me once that you're not happy with this marriage and I will call off this entire thing. I don't give a damn about family reputation. Nothing is more important than your smile and happiness." Yuvi looked at Taani and realised how he had not even tried to get to know her at all, he would have totally fallen for that smile of hers, which was apparently fake as per her brother. Then his heartbeat picked up for an entirely different reason. What if she told him to do exactly that? Would this marriage be over just like that? For some reason he didn't like that thought at all.

Taani's eyes filled with tears when she heard her brother. Of course he would see right through her act. "Of course I'm unhappy bhaiya, but not for the reasons you think. I'll be leaving my home in 3 days, I am fucking miserable. I grew up here, how can I be expected to just leave it all behind in a matter of days? I wasn't even given time to comprehend it. I will miss you guys. Who would handle my tantrums? Who would take care of me? Who would protect and love me the way you do?" Taani couldn't stop her tears from falling anymore. Tired of trying to keep them at bay the whole day, she finally broke down in the arms of her brother.

Yuvraj felt like his heart was breaking when he heard her cry, in fact he almost went to console her himself but Rishi clutched his shirt, warning him not to move from his place. Yuvi had not even bothered to consider how hard must it be for Taani to leave her family and adjust to a new one. He then promised himself that love or not, he would take care of her and pamper her just as she was in her home. Even Rishi started crying silently seeing Taani in this state, and he swore to treat her with utmost respect and to never let her cry or miss her home.

"Ek kaam karte hain ye rishta hata ke koi ghar jamai dhud lete hain! Wese bhi Yuvi itna kuch khaas nahi hai." (𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒀𝒖𝒗𝒊, 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒏-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝒀𝒖𝒗𝒊'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔.) Her brother replied making her laugh out loud. Even Rishi barely managed to stop himself from laughing at his brother's furious expressions.

"Baat to sahi hai par ab jo hai so hai" (𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔.) She said, still laughing loudly.

'Tumhe to mai bataunga mai kya hu, tum milo to sahi ek baar.' (𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒎, 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆.) Yuvi said in his mind, narrowing his eyes at her. They talked for a few more minutes then eventually went up to their room. Yuvi and Rishi also headed home after a while.

The next morning, she felt like she was on autopilot, just doing things that were expected of her. She just wanted everything to be over now, she wasn't sure how long she could keep this brave facade on for. She woke up early in the morning, took a shower and had breakfast. Then waited for her makeup artist to finish her look. The MUA advised her to sleep properly as there were huge dark circles around her eyes, she simply didn't bother with a reply. An hour later Yuvi came to pick her up to drive together to the location their photoshoot was scheduled for.

He literally stumbled on his way in as he looked at her coming down the stairs, looking no less than a princess. Now he was grateful that they coordinated their outfits.

Ranveer slightly coughed to gain his attention and when he saw that her entire family was looking at him while he was lost in his soon to be wife, he felt his face heat up in embarrassment and he quickly went to touch their feet.

"Pick up your jaw or you might catch flies." Taani taunted him making her family laugh. He just narrowed his eyes playfully at her.

Siya came forward and took some kohl out of her eyes and put it behind both their ears. "Kisi ki buri nazar na lage mere bachchon ko." (𝑴𝒂𝒚 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒆𝒚𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏.)

They soon bid everyone goodbye and made their way towards the car. Yuvraj couldn't help but notice how she wasn't as bubbly as before, in fact she was almost formal with him. She gave each pose with efficiency, like a model paid to do so, like their closeness didn't affect her at all. She gave such beautiful smiles but none reached her eyes. It seemed like the happiness was sucked out of her.

'Could it be because of what she was saying yesterday? Is she still so upset to leave her family behind?' He thought in his mind, casting a concerned glance her way.

She also didn't react when the photographer's assistant wrapped her arms around him to show her the next pose for the shoot, she just waited till he forced the assistant's hand away from himself and then took her place without any reaction.

He didn't know why he was getting angry at her behaviour and decided to heat things up a bit. The next time they were supposed to hug each other, he took hold of her neck and pulled her towards himself. She kept her hands on his chest to steady herself then gasped at their close proximity and looked up at him with wide eyes which made their lips almost touch. 'Finally she gave some reaction' He thought and smirked at her dumbfounded expression.

They were lost in each other when the photographer yelled that it's over. He was sure he would have kissed her had the moment not been broken so abruptly. 'It was a good thing too.' He thought.

"Would you like to eat something before going back home?" He asked her when they settled back in the car. Although Taani had eaten nothing after the breakfast she still didn't want to spend any time with him more than was necessary. 'The less time I spend with him the better.' She thought. And with that thought she refused his offer.

He frowned at her, he didn't feel like dropping her home so soon and told her he was hungry and that they will stop to eat something anyways. They stopped at a restaurant and as soon as they got out of the car an older lady came to ask them for some money. Taani immediately took out a 500 ruppe note and gave it to her. She started crying at her generosity and gave them her blessings saying 'Aapki Jodi salamat rahe.' (𝑴𝒂𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆.)

Everyone looked at them when they made their way inside wearing such fancy clothes, some even clicked their pictures discreetly but they paid them no mind and finished having their lunch.

Preparations were in full swing when she got back and she was ordered to take some rest today as tomorrow was a busy day for her.

In the middle of the night, she got so overwhelmed that she burst out crying when she was admiring her engagement ring. Soon she was a sobbing mess. It was her haldi and mehandi tomorrow. And after two days she would get married, would be someone's wife and daughter-in-law. She didn't know how she would manage, everything felt like it was happening a bit too soon.

Yuvi was feeling a bit restless as he laid on his bed, thinking of his marriage two days later. He could feel that something was wrong with Taani, like she was just as restless as him, if not more. But how could it be possible? How would he know what she's feeling? And more importantly why should he care? But no matter what, he couldn't stop thinking about his soon to be wife and at last decided to check up on her once.

Taani's mobile phone chimed. She picked it up and tried to focus on it through her teary eyes, hiccupping every so often. Her eyes widened as she saw that it's a text from Yuvraj.

"Awake?" That's all Yuvraj could think of asking without appearing to be too concerned for someone he was supposed to hate, in all honesty though he didn't really hate her now. After much consideration she decided to text him back.

"Yes, what do you need?" Just as she clicked on sent she saw how abrupt her text sounded and Yuvraj didn't fail to mention it either.

Yuvraj raised his eyebrows in surprise as he saw her text. "Can't I text my soon to be wife without any reason?"

"Careful there, you're getting a bit too comfortable with calling me your wife..."

"SOON to be wife and what's wrong with it, shouldn't I call you that? Are you getting second thoughts about marrying me?"

"Not just second. Third, fourth and fifth even." Yuvraj let out a loud laugh as he read her text. Cheeky little vixen!

This was what he missed, their playful banter. He was glad she was finally being a bit like herself. "Let me know when you decide to act on it, I'll throw a party, and don't worry I'll invite you too." Taani just shook her head.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" Taani asked instead.

"Why aren't you?" He asked in return.

"I was just going to." Yuvraj felt like asking her if something was bothering her, even on texts she seemed upset but he knew she wouldn't share it with him so he just wished her a good night and kept his phone away.

Taani looked at the texts for quite some time, realising that even unintentionally he managed to make her smile and laugh. But she soon remembered his words and the smile became one of melancholy. 'Just friends it is then Mr. Singhania'

***
Everyone was dancing and enjoying when Rishi bought 'haldi' from the groom's side. Siya welcomed him and requested him to stay for a while. So he stayed to spend some time with her soon to be sister-in-law.

"Bhabhi jaan! Kaisi hain aap?" (𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖?) Rishi asked as he bent down to touch her feet. Taani patted his head saying 'khush raho', blushing at his nickname for her. She was well aware now that Rishi was a very genuine and playful person. She really liked how he'd always seek her out whenever he would visit and never forgot to greet her and touch her feet.

"Bilkul theek dewar ji, aur aap kese hain?" (𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖?) Taani asked as people came forward to apply turmeric paste on her.

"Hum bhi theek hi hain, par koi hai jise aapke aane ka besabri se intzaar hai." (𝑰'𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆'𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆.) Rishi teasingly said making Taani's cheeks red as a tomato.

"Kuch bhi" (𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓.) She knew that wasn't possible.

"Aapko bharosa nahi humpe? Rukiye abhi batate hain." (𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆? 𝑾𝒂𝒊𝒕 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖.) Rishi took out his phone and clicked a selfie with Taani who looked at the camera with a huge smile, covered in turmeric paste all over. Rishi sent that picture to his brother and even uploaded it on his WhatsApp with a caption 'my favourite person in the whole world'.

Yuvraj looked at his mobile phone as it chimed, he too was covered in turmeric paste and was itching to take a shower. He wondered how his Taani might be looking right now and just then saw a picture of Rishi and Taani. 'My God she's so beautiful.' He thought as he looked at her smile. She was truly mesmerizing and the most beautiful girl he had met. Just then he saw Rishi had uploaded it as his status as well. His blood boiled when he read the caption and threatened him saying. 'She's mine, not yours! Delete this caption or I'll tell everyone how you went to Manali with your girlfriend and your friends, lying about it being an educational trip.'

Rishi started laughing as he read his brother's text and showed it to Taani who started blushing. 'Why would he call me his and try to act all possessive when he was not?' She thought with a frown. A lot of other cousins of Taani got curious and started asking what happened but Rishi quickly hid the text from them and re-uploaded his status with a simple caption 'bhabhi jaan'.

While everyone was playing with haldi, a lot of her cousins came forward to apply it on Rishi as well. "Chha gaye aap to dewar ji." (𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘!) Taani teased pulling his cheeks playfully.

"Ab mai itna bhi kuch khaas nahi." (𝑶𝒉 𝑰'𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕.) He replied rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment making Taani laugh and then they clicked another picture where Taani was pecking his cheek while applying haldi on the other side of his face. Rishi sent this one to Yuvraj as well but there was no reply from him this time.

Rishi took some turmeric paste and applied it on Taani's cheeks. "Welcome to our family bhabhi." Taani just gave him a watery smile and hugged him. Then after staying for a while he bid goodbye to everyone and went back to his home.

Yuvraj was busy with the guests when he checked his mobile and saw that there was a text from Rishi around 20 minutes ago. He looked at the picture and his blood boiled in jealousy. "Maa Rishi ko call karke ghar bulao wahan meri hone wali biwi par line maar raha hai!" (𝑴𝒐𝒎 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑹𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒊 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆, 𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒇𝒆!) He yelled at his mother making everyone laugh at him.

"Aree aree bhaiya, kyu jhoot bol rahe ho? Aur wo meri hone wali bhabhi bhi to hain!" (𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈? 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓-𝒊𝒏-𝒍𝒂𝒘 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍!) Rishi said entering the house.

"Saale kamine tu to ruk mai tujhe abhi batata hu, bohot chipak raha tha Taani se!" (𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝑰 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖! 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑻𝒂𝒂𝒏𝒊 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖?) Yuvraj ran to catch him, with an angry expression on his face. Rishi's eyes widened and he too ran to save his life.

"Maa! Mujhe bachao." (𝑴𝒐𝒎! 𝑺𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆.) Rishi yelled but was soon caught and both of them rolled on the floor as Yuvraj caught him in a headlock.

"Haldi dene gaya tha ya uspe try maarne huhh?" (𝑾𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒉𝒉?) He said tightening his arms around Rishi's throat.

"Jali na? Jali na?" (𝑨𝒘𝒘 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒋𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒔?) Rishi teased him but was soon struggling to breathe.

"Yuvraj let him go!" Meenal shouted, trying to pry his hand away from his throat. Yuvraj finally let go of him and stood up then bent to help Rishi up as well.

Karan came and patted him on his shoulder. "Bhai tu to abhi se itna possessive ho raha hai shaadi ke baad to pata nahi kya hi karega." (𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒆. 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅.) He said laughing along with all the other guests. Yuvraj felt his face burn in embarrassment but he just shrugged and walked away from there.

Mehendi ceremony was also done and everyone danced till late at night, even Taani danced and enjoyed herself. She was happy to spend some time with all her cousins. Although it was a bitter sweet happiness as she would have to bid farewell to her family day after tomorrow.

Hello there everyone, hope you are enjoying the story. I also hope you will show your support by voting and commenting. It feels really nice to see people appreciating your hard work.

Shukriya❣️

-Your Taani