Chaitra POV

"I come bearing gifts!" I shout as I get into the house.

I knew it was a girls night because my mom was out with her friends for the night.

"What?" Saakshi peeks her head up from the couch upon hearing my voice.

"Please tell me you got the pineapple pastry from my favourite place!" She mutters, and I hand her the pastry bag. How could I forget she has been dreaming about that pastry since forever.

" I also got you macaroons, cookies, peanut butter ice cream, and also the milkshake you wanted to try from that new café", I say, placing all the goodies on the table.

"Nothing savoury?" she asks, making me chuckle. Saakshi has always been a foodie, and after getting pregnant, let's just say she got more foodie-er.

"I bought us instant ramen, and also the teokbokki from the new Korean restaurant near my school," I tell her, and her smile knew no bounds. I love my sister-in-law a little too much. She has been like an elder sister to me.

" The baby in me is very happy." She tells me, making me smile. I hope the baby is happy.

" But you only get to pick one item from the sweets I bought, you can't eat them all," I tell her, making her pout.

"I want the pastry and milkshake." She tells me, giving me the puppy eyes, mind you, they work well. I obviously have to give in. If my nephew or niece gets the same puppy eyes, they will grow up being spoiled brats.

"Then we can have ramen later, "I say, and she agrees easily.

"So what are we watching today?" I ask as I pack everything up properly to put it back in the kitchen.

" I was thinking friends from-" She leaves me to complete, and I pick my favourite episode ever.

"Season 6 episode 23" The series only gets better from that point.

"I knew you would say that!" Saakshi grins.

"I will just freshen up and come," I mutter as I change and come back to the hall in a jiffy.

" And here I thought I was the one pregnant," Saakshi mutters as she hands me a napkin in the 25th episode.

"Hey! You can't blame me, Chandler makes the perfect proposal." I defend him fiercely. I love the character growth he has with Monica, for Monica. I love him so, so much.

"You know, when Niku proposed to me, I thought of rejecting him." She says and looks at her as if she has gone bonkers.

"You loved each other!" I say exasperated as I blow my nose.

"Sometimes loving each other is not enough." She tells me.

"What do you mean?" I ask as I turn towards her and criss-cross my legs.

"Yes, I loved him immensely! But what is the guarantee he loved me the same? What is the proof that his love for me was, you know...for me as a whole?" She rants, and I listen to her keenly.

"But he loves you so much! His eyes were enough to tell that" I counter.

"Before he proposed, we used to fight a lot. A lot," She says.

"I didn't know you guys fought", I say, but it sounds like a question.

"Once he got me red roses for Valentine's Day." She starts, but I interrupt her.

"That's a good thing, right?" I ask.

"But my favourite flowers are tulips." She says.

"Ohh", is all I could say.

"On one of our anniversaries, we decided not to buy presents for each other, but I ended up buying one for him, and upon my insistence, he didn't buy me any, and I asked him whether he loved me enough." She says, making me go speechless.

"But you guys agreed on not buying presents", I whisper.

" After these kinds of scenes, I truly believed he didn't love me enough to buy me my favourite flowers or buy me an anniversary gift. But I failed to realize he loved me enough to buy me red roses because those were the first flowers he got me and if I had not have fought we would have gone to our first date place because he was trying to recreate that scene for us, he loved me enough to listen to my words even though his love language is gift giving." I nodded at her words.

"He loved me enough, I was the one who didn't accept I could be loved enough," she tells me.

"You deserve all the love in the world!" I counter instantly.

"I didn't know it back then. But now I know!" She tells me as she pats my head.

"It's good, I don't want you to feel that anymore," I tell her, and she chuckles.

"The reason I am telling you this is because I have seen you idolise our marriage to be the perfect one." She tells me.

"But it is perfect. You guys met at 16, started dating at 17, carried the same love through college and work, got married and are now having a baby!" I counter, but she nods her head in denial.

"We met when we were kids, all we had for each other was infatuation, we had a lot of big fights, we grew up together, chose different paths, had to do long distance because of college, had to conivince our parents for marriage and now after these many years we are having a baby. All of this doesn't make us perfect, it makes us real." She says, but I am still not convinced.

" Still, you guys got to fall in love, and someone to hold you when you fell, that's what makes it perfect, I feel," I tell her. I never got to fall in love. Why don't they accept that falling in love or being in love is a blessing?! I never got a chance, and it infuriates me that people in love take falling in love so lightly.

"Chinni! You might also fall in love with your to-be husband," She says, making me scoff.

"Arranged marriages don't guarantee love, they just guarantee commitment and protection. I have given up on the idea of falling in love, Saakshi," I tell her, but I know it's a lie. I can never give up on the idea of falling in love. It's something I always wanted to have, till 25 I was determined I would find it, but now I understand the hopeless part of being hopelessly romantic.

"Chinni," she says, and I just stop her from speaking.

"Love is not written in everyone's charts, some just won't find it," I tell her, and she shakes her head in a no.

" It's not true, you still have time!" Saakshi says, making me give a pathetic chuckle.

"Saakshi, I do not expect you to truly understand how I feel because you have been in love with someone all your life, and I, on the other hand I have never," I say, standing up.

"I think I will go to sleep", I whisper as I take a turn to leave.

Just then, the front door opens, and my brother comes in.

" I think I found a guy for you, " my brother announces as he comes in through the door.

"Whoever it is, I trust you. I will marry him."Saying that, I leave the room.

🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿

Well, wasn't that eventful? What do you expect will happen? Do you think our main characters will get married? 
I can imagine them married with kids. Oh gosh! I know their babies will be so cute!!!!
What will happen next?
How will Chaitra react?
How will Abhiram take this?
Let's see in the next chapter.

~Author