Sanskar had been pacing in his room the next morning. He had showered and had put on the pajama but Kailash kaka had taken away the kurta to get it ironed. It had been half an hour and he was still missing. Ordinarily, Sanskar wouldn't have minded it since it would have meant him getting delayed for the Haldi function, but since it was to take place at the villa itself, he didn't have much latitude to miss it.

Annoyed at just standing there in his pajama, he stepped out of his room calling out "Kailash.."

But before he could finish the sentence, someone bumped into him and he felt something wet and cold against his chest. He looked over to see it was Uttara and she had gone wide eyed. He looked at his chest finding a glass bowl of yellow paste.

"What the hell!" He shot at her as he tried to move away

Uttara shook her head and followed him not letting the bowl away from his chest.

"What are you doing?" Sanskar asked her, now fairly annoyed

"Bhai! Don't move" Uttara pleaded with him

"Stop this nonsense Uttara. Get this thing away from me" Sanskar ordered her

"I cannot Bhai"

"What do you mean you cannot?" he yelled at her, trying to push the bowl away, but she pushed back

The door next to Sanskar's opened hearing all the commotion and Swara stepped out tentatively, though the siblings didn't spot her just then.

"Bhai, this is the Haldi for the function. Mom, Badi Maa and Shomi Aunty have grinded the turmeric and sandalwood all by themselves. Panditji has blessed this. Everyone will kill me if something happens to it"

"What were you doing prancing around carrying it with you?" Sanskar said exasperated as he threw his hands in the air looking at his sister's antics.

"I was supposed to take this outside to where everything is set-up. But Badi Maa asked me to call Swara Bhabhi. I thought I might do it while was at it" Uttara said making puppy eyes to calm down her brother

"Who asked you to use your non-existent brain and multi task. Get this away from me now!" Sanskar warned

"Bhai, please understand. Everyone will kill me if this Haldi is wasted" Uttara tried to reason

"What is going on?" Swara said softly as she came around

"Bhabhi!" Uttara looked at her wide eyed

Swara took in the scene

"Bhabhi, please don't tell anyone about this" Uttara pleaded to her. Swara sighed and nodded

"What do you expect me to do? Stand around here with the bowl stuck to my chest so that you don't waste the haldi?" Sanskar cut in annoyed, holding his hands on his hip.

"We have to get all of it in the bowl. As much as we can" Uttara suggested, before turning to Swara "Bhabhi, please don't tell anyone" she begged again

Sanskar sighed, shaking his head "Fine. Get inside the room. We cannot do this standing outside"

Sanskar moved into the room with Uttara trying to hold on to the bowl matching his speed for a while "Give it to me. I can hold it" Sanskar told her after a few steps, muttering to himself in annoyance now.

He gently tipped the bowl upright, noticing the amount of haldi paste smeared on him, he gave an angry look to Uttara.

"We will help you get it off" Uttara offered talking a step forward, looking at Swara, who had joined them in his room, to help her get it off her brother

"Don't! Sanskar jumped away. I can manage just fine on my own" he told them as he cleaned the haldi off himself and dumped the paste in the bowl.

Once done he handed the bowl back to Uttara, while muttering "Clumsy" under his breath

"I am not the only one who is clumsy" Uttara said, applying some haldi on his cheek before moving away.

Sanskar went to follow her, but she pulled Swara in front of her and ran away. Sanskar bumped into Swara and had to hold on to her as she was falling down because of the impact, while stabilizing both of them.

"Uttara!" He screamed out at his sister over Swara's shoulder even as he moved back quickly, away from Swara

Both looked at each other for a second before looking away. Sanskar ran his hand through his hair before looking back at her "I am really sorry about this" he told her

"It is okay" Swara said softly before her lips broke into a soft but mischievous smile

"Is something wrong?" he asked her, seeing the way she was looking at him

"Your hair. You have Haldi in it" she told him with a smile

Sanskar looked at his hand, realizing he had haldi on it from when he had wiped himself. "I must look a mess" he said casually

"Sort of" Swara replied with a smile

"Oh yeah! You might want to look at yourself as well" Sanskar shot back with a smile of his own now

Swara looked at herself to realize that her dress was covered in some haldi from when she had bumped into him.

"I guess I need to clean the dress up" she said softly

"Umm. You also have some of your cheek" he told her softly indicating it by touching his own

Swara tentative touched it and to find the haldi smear on his fingers. She nodded. They stood there for a while, looking at each other, before Swara spoke again "I should go"

Sanskar nodded

Swara turned to leave, stopping for a second, turning back to look at him again. She touched her cheek as she told him "Your beard pricks." She paused a second before nervously adding "You look better without it"

Sanskar stood still in his room long after she left. Her words running in his head even as his heart beat sped up at her words. He shook himself off the reverie as he heard light music play in the garden, indicating people were arriving.

About forty minutes later, Sanskar walked out into the lawn and stood next to Adarsh Bhaiyaa. The function was already underway and the family members on both sides had been busy applying haldi to the bridal couple who were seating on separate settees that has been put up on the lawn. Adarsh looked at him as he felt a presence next to him.

"You have cleaned up well" Adarsh commented "Trying to impress some of the girls that Chachi is trying to set you up with?" he asked with a mischievous smile

"I already get enough on this topic from Mom, please at least you don't join in her quest" Sanskar requested

"You know you aren't going to be able to get away from this for much longer" Adarsh reasoned "You are soon going to be on the short leash. Your days of freedom are done"

"Jealous much?" Sanskar tried to counter

"Not in the least. I am happy with my love life" Adarsh shot back casually "Now tell me, has anyone here caught your fancy?" he asked

Sanskar eyes landed on Swara for a bare second before they moved away "I want to talk to you about a proposal" he told Adarsh bhaiyaa trying to get away from the topic

"Work can wait a bit Sanskar" Adarsh told him "You need to fall in love. Then you will learn to live life and see that there are other things besides work"

Sanskar looked away. What was he supposed to say for Adarsh Bhaiyaa? Love was precisely the reason why he had been throwing himself so completely in his work. His eyes trailed towards Swara again. She had been dressed in a simple yellow dress, as was most of their family including him, and had haldi smeared on her face, hands and legs. She wasn't wearing any finery or jewellery today and yet she looked absolutely beautiful in her simplicity.

"You know" Adarsh bhaiyaa trailed off.

Sanskar snapped his eyes back at Adarsh, worried about whether he had been caught starting at Swara, but it seemed that while Adarsh was leaning into him, as if saying something conspiringly, he hadn't been looking at Sanskar

"What?" Sanskar asked

"They say that if an unmarried man or girl gets smeared with the wedding haldi, he is likely to get married very very soon" Adarsh Bhaiyaa told him

For a second Sanskar's heart skipped a beat. Had Uttara informed everyone of what happened earlier in the day? No! That couldn't have been the case. She would have gotten into trouble herself if she had. But then again, she was the only girl and the baby of the family. If anyone could, she could have gotten away from getting blasted for it. If no one else, Adarsh Bhaiyaa would have protected her.

He looked at Adarsh bhaiyaa. He had a smile still on his face as he looked at Sanskar. Something was wrong. His eyes immediately went to the settee where Laksh was sitting and he realized Laksh was missing. He took a few steps back, away from Adarsh, but Adarsh caught hold of his hand and Laksh came out of nowhere and jumped on him. Both his brothers pinning or trying to pin him to the ground even as Laksh hailed Uttara.

Sanskar tried to struggle out of their grasp but before he knew it, his face had been completely smeared in haldi by both his brothers. Being the most athletic of the three, thanks to this sports interested, he pushed Adarsh bhaiyaa away, wiping off some of the haldi from his face and smearing it on Adarsh bhaiyaa. He threw Laksh off him, effectively sitting on Laksh even as he grabbed the bowl of haldi out of Uttara's hands, smearing it on Laksh. Uttara screeched and ran away from there or at least tried to.

"Uttara!" Sanskar bellowed "You are dead once I catch you"

He ran after her even as she tried to run around chairs and tables to get away from him. He stepped on the chairs and tables, cutting the distance between them, before he caught her just as she was trying to get some cover behind their Mom, who was standing close to the settee that Swara was sitting on. He smeared her face with some haldi before he let her go

"Bhai!" she screeched

"Serves you right!" he shot at her

"Sanskar!" his Mom exclaimed, even as she turned to look at Annapurna "Look at them fighting like kids even now, Jiji"

"Let them be Sujata. Look at how happy they are" Annapurna said with a warm smile

"Mom! Don't shout at me. Look at what they have done to me!" he cribbed, spreading his arms to show his state.

Sujata shook her head even as she got a towel for him to wipe his face, but not before Parineeta got the wedding photographer to take some photos of the four siblings.

Sanskar wiped the haldi off his face as much as he could with the towel.

"You shaved!" Sujata exclaimed happy "My boy looks so handsome, doesn't he, Jiji" she commented looking at Annapurna "Of course, he always looks handsome" she added with a bright smile as she touched his cheeks

"Mom! You are embarrassing me" Sanskar complained even as his ears turned a shade of pink. He quickly excused himself to clean up properly and went to the safety of his room.

Post lunch, everyone had retired for a light siesta before the Mehendi function began. As had become norm for him, he turned up on the lawn fairly late, dressed in a light blue kurta. He glad surreptitiously at Swara once, noticing that she was busy with the Mehendi artist. She was dress is soft pistachio green dress, talking to Uttara and Ragini even as her hands were being decorated with intricate designs. He looked away, trying to search for Adarsh Bhaiyaa, not having had a chance yet to talk to him about work. Having spotted him with one of Parineeta Bhabhi's cousins, he walked over towards his direction.

"Sanskar Bhai!" Uttara called out when he was half way over towards Adarsh Bhaiyaa.

He saw her run towards him "What is it?" he asked her.

"Bhai, I need to talk to you" she told him, pulling his hand towards the end of the line of chairs that were lined up on the beach for the guests attending the function.

"So what is this about?" Sanskar asked once they pulled two chairs and moved them to face each other.

"Bhai, there is this course that I want to pursue. It is a really short one month course in media designing" Uttara blurted quickly "But there is a small problem"

"And what is this small problem?"

"It is a being conducted in Sydney" Uttara said trying to make puppy eyes

"Let me get this straight. You want me to convince Mom and Dad to let you do to Sydney for one month to do this course, right?" Sanskar told her, raising his eyebrow in questioning.

"Bhai, please" Uttara pleaded

Sanskar sighed "Is this course or a similar one also being conducted by the London University?"

"It is but that is a three-month course. If Mom doesn't allow me to attend a one month course, there is no way she will agree to a three month course, especially now that you are going to be back home soon" Uttara explained

"Actually I am going to stay back in London a bit longer. I have already spoken to Bade Papa and Dad about it. I haven't been able to find or train the right manager yet. Tell Mom about that London course and tell her I will be around to look out for you"

Just then Laksh walked over to them and pulled a chair, turning it around to talk to them.

"Go talk to Mom. She wouldn't object now" Sanskar told her as Uttara slowly got up

"Are you sure Bhai?" she asked

"Yes go now. Tell me how it went. If she doesn't agree, I will talk to her" Sanskar assured her.

Uttara left them, rushing over to find her Mom.

"Bhai, I need to talk to you" Laksh said a bit anxiously

"Is everything alright?" Sanskar asked him

Before Laksh could speak, Adarsh Bhaiyaa walked over there "So what are you talking about?"

Sanskar shrugged his shoulders "Laksh wanted to talk something"

Adarsh patted Laksh's back before occupying the chair vacated by Uttara

"What is bothering my little brother?" he asked with a chuckle

"Nothing" Laksh answered moodily

"Not worried about the wedding night are you?" Adarsh asked him leaning in closer to the two brothers.

Sanskar had a knot in his stomach hearing this. He did not want to hear anything about Swara being with any other man. He didn't want to think about it. If he had his way, he didn't want any other man anywhere near Swara. He gritted his teeth, almost getting out of his chair to walk away but at the same time Uttara cut in "Ewww! I do not want to hear such things about my brothers" she said eyes wide and making a disgusted face

"What are you doing here?" Adarsh Bhaiyaa asked, wishing his younger sister had not heard him

"What did Mom say?" Sanskar asked her, happy at her interference

"She said she is going to talk to you. She wasn't happy to hear about your plans to stay in London longer" she told him

Sanskar nodded at her "I will talk to her" he assured her

"You are extending your stay in London?" Laksh asked him

Sanskar nodded "I haven't been able to find the right manager yet. I need to stay longer, especially now where there are so many new opportunities in play." He hoped this brother would take him for his word

Uttara left them a bit later, wanting to get her hands done, leaving the three brothers alone. After Uttara left, Adarsh Bhaiyaa seemed ready to broach the topic he had left off because of her interruption. Not wanting to talk about it and wanting to dig a bit into what was going on with Adarsh Bhaiyaa and Ragini, he asked "Adarsh Bhaiyaa, do you love Parineeta Bhabhi?" releasing it was too direct, he asked "I mean, after all this years, how do you still love the same person?"

"What?" Adarsh Bhaiyaa asked startled "What the hell do you mean?"

Sanskar wrecked his brain trying to put in the right away for him to get the answer what he was looking for. Seeing him struggle, Adarsh asked "Are you asking me if I love Parineeta?"

Taking a cue from the question, he asked "Not exactly. How is the person that you love different from all other girls? What make her different?"

It wasn't a perfect question, in fact it was far from it, but he was trying to make do with what he could, in this difficult conversation, that he had no real experience of dealing with. He had intentionally not asked directly about Parineeta this time, choosing instead to put is as "the person he loved", hoping that somewhere along, Adarsh bhaiyaa might give out clues that would help him figure out if Adarsh bhaiyaa was talking about Parineeta Bhabhi or someone else.

"I don't know how best to put in" Adarsh admitted scratching his head a bit "You have been in relationships before, right? Haven't you been in love?" he asked

"I haven't been a situation like yours" Sanskar replied cryptically

Adarsh looked at Laksh once, who shrugged his shoulders, before turning back to Sanskar "Well what made me love her was her caring nature. She is really mature and she is sensitive. She understands when I need support and when I need to be left alone. She doesn't push me to be something I am not" Adarsh told him.

Sanskar catalogued what he knew of Parineeta Bhabhi with what Adarsh was telling him. Most of it seemed to match, but then again he remembered what Swara had told him about her sister that first night when he met her. And much to his distaste, there were similarities to what he had been told about Ragini as well.

Unaware of Sanskar's confusion, Adarsh turned to Laksh and asked him "What was it like for you Laksh?"

"She calms me down. It doesn't matter what I am worried about, one look at her and a few words and I feel okay." Laksh said, even as Sanskar eyes moved towards Swara. "She is really sweet, always had positive things to say about everyone. She cares about the smallest of things when it comes to me" Laksh said.

Memories of his moments with Swara swept through his conscience at Laksh's every word. His brother loved Swara. Sanskar looked away from Swara, focusing instead on the sand by his feet.

"Sanskar" Adarsh Bhaiyaa called out to him

"Smile that spreads lights up the eyes and spreads warmth. Eyes reflecting an innocence that deserves to be protected. Feisty; knows how to give it back to me in a way that is endearing." Sanskar said softly lost in his own thoughts.

"Looks like someone is in love" Adarsh Bhaiyaa commented

Laksh at the same time asked "Who is she?"

Sanskar broke away from his reverie "She who?" he asked trying to appear confused

"The girl you are describing. The one you seem to be in love with" Adarsh Bhaiyaa commented

"I don't have any one in my life" Sanskar commented. In a way it was the truth, she wasn't exactly in his life and even before she could, she was actually going far far away from it

Laksh looked at him, narrowing his eyes. Sanskar quickly cut it "I thought you wanted to know about the girl I would want to fall in love with"

Adarsh looked at him for a second before nodding "I did think for a moment that the girl you were talking about was too good to be true." He said glancing at Laksh once before turning back to Sanskar "This is the reason you are single. Get out of your dream world. Real life women aren't like this" he said

Sanskar nodded, choosing not to comment more.

"And my reality is coming over here" Adarsh said as he saw Parineeta making her way over to them "Don't tell her where I went" he said sneeking away from there before Parineeta walked over

"Have you seen your Bhaiyaa? Wasn't he just here?" she asked them

"He was, but he left a while back" Laksh answered, Sanskar nodding to it

"Do you know where?" she asked again, both shook their head to it

After she was gone, Laksh leaned forward again "I really need to talk to you Bhai"

Sanskar nodded, though a part of him dreaded to know what the conversation was about. He hoped again hope it wasn't about what Adarsh bhaiyaa had broached.

"I don't know how to say this" Laksh began

"Laksh" Sujata called, walking over to them just then. Laksh let out a grunt of displeasure "Laksh I need to talk to you" she told him "Come with me" she said waiting for him to get up. He looked undecided for a minute before he finally sighed and stood up, walking with her. Sujata turned again before leaving "Sanskar, don't go anywhere. I want to talk to you too!" she said with a look that clearly indicated she was upset with him. Sanskar nodded. It wasn't as though he hasn't expected it.

Laksh hadn't managed to get hold of Sanskar alone for the rest of the night, much to Sanskar's relief. Dinner was supposed to have been organized at the hotel and he had been with the family over there. Laksh, Swara and some of the family had been at the house, because of the on-going functions. When he drove back home, everyone had headed back to their own rooms for some rest after a long day.

Sanskar had changed into comfortable clothes himself and had walked into the balcony for some fresh air and some solitary moments. As he looked at the beach below, he saw a lone figure sitting there. It didn't take him long to realize it was Swara. He debated whether he should walk over there or let her be, in the end the desire to not leave her along out there won and he walked to the beach.

She turned slightly to see who had come out, when he opened the gate.

"You seem to have fallen in love with the beach" he told her softly as he walked towards her

"Something like that" Swara replied with a soft smile

"Can I?" Sanskar asked, pointing to the beach, asking her if he could sit with her.

She nodded softly. He sat a bit farther away from her than he would have otherwise liked. But he didn't want to make her awkward. They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Sanskar spoke

"I am sorry" he said softly, seeing the questioning look on her face, he added "For what happened three months back"

"It was an accident. You were the one who saved me" she said softly

"I didn't mean about the dive" Sanskar said "I meant about what happened between us after the dive"

Swara's face paled a bit. He spoke quickly not wanting to add to her worries "You were really vulnerable and emotional at that time. I should have known. I crossed a line that I shouldn't have. I made things awkward. I...I took advantage of you" he said quietly, and he believed it in his heart, especially now more so than ever with her impeding nuptials. It seemed clear what she wanted.

She looked away from him hearing this.

His heart sunk a bit at that but he continued on "I am not bringing this up to hurt you. That is the last thing I want. If I could I would have stayed away from the wedding to make sure things aren't awkward. I know that you can probably never forgive me for what I have done. I....I just wanted you to know that I am going to extend by stay in London. You wont have to deal with me"

He looked at her, hoping, waiting for her reaction. Any reaction really. Something that could tell him what was going on in her mind.

Swara got up suddenly, making her way back to the gate

Sanskar stood in startled by her reaction "Swara" he called out softly

She stood by the gate for a minute before turning her face to the side "You should let go of this burden of guilt you are carrying around now." She said, pausing for a few seconds before adding "You don't have to go away from your family. Your family loves you a lot and misses you a lot" she told him.

Not for the first time, he wished that she was just a girl and he was just a man. He wished that he could walk over to her and ask her upfront if she too missed him. If she too loved him. But she wasn't just a girl and he wasn't just a man. She was the bride and he was the groom's brother.

He stood still as she walked into the house briskly without a glance back at him.

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