Charan came to his room only to find Akira on the phone.

"Who are you talking to baby??" Charan asked sitting beside his daughter.

"Shreya.." Akira answered and went back to talking to Shreya.

But after a while, Akira reluctantly extended to phone to Charan and went to bed with a pout.

Charan couldn't help but slightly laugh at his daughter's behavior.

"Hey, you reached home??" He asked on the phone while tucking Akira and switched off the lights. He then quietly exited the room and went to the terrace.

In the house filled with people, the terrace was the only place he could get some privacy. Or else, if he was caught talking to Shreya not long after she left, his family will talk his ears off the next day teasing him.

"No.. Not yet. I will reach in a while" Shreya said without really explaining where she was.

"Where are you exactly??" Charan asked frowning.

"Two streets over.." Shreya mumbled in a barely audible voice.

"Two streets from where?? Your home??" Charan asked once again.

"No.. your house..." Shreya said even more softly than the last time.

Charan let out a puff of air trying to keep his own emotions at check. He knew getting angry at her stupidity is not going to help anyone in this situation. So he took a few deep breaths and calmed himself down before talking into the phone, "Shreya, it's getting late. You need to get home."

"I know. It's just.." Shreya trailed. She did not want to go home just yet.

"We will be home tomorrow and you can stay over okay?? Just today one day okay??" Charan said softly coaxing her.

Right after that, he heard rustling sound which he assumed is Shreya reversing the car.

A few minutes passed when Shreya suddenly thought of something.

"What did your mom say?? And your dad?? I did not really talk to your dad!! I did not know what to talk about.. So was he offended or something??" Shreya lined up the questions anxiously.

"Don't worry. They all liked you. And 'no'.. dad was not offended. I told you right they will like you. Mom was ecstatic."

"Really?" Shreya asked grinning brightly. Her shift in mood was very apparent in her voice.

"Yes, really," Charan said emphasizing.

Shreya just smiled ear to ear without replying.

Charan kept her company up until she reached home.

"Oh yea, did you like the dress?? Was it weird?? I just never wore anything like that before. SO I don't know how or what I was doing with it?? Was I awkward with it??" Shreya once again lined questions nervously.

Charan found it very odd and yet extremely heartwarming to think Shreya would be so nervous about meeting his parents. That kinda told him how much she cared about him and his family. After all, from the time he knew her, he never saw her wear anything other than denim.

"You looked so breathtaking that I found it so hard to keep my eyes off of you the whole time. But from what Bharat said, I am guessing I wasn't very successful." Charan replied with a warm smile up until the last part when he rolled his eyes.

"What did Bharat say??" Shreya asked.

"He said I was in l..." But then he stopped himself in the middle suddenly realizing what he was about to say. He cleared his throat and said covering up what he was about to say.

"He just said I kept staring at you the whole time you were there."

Shreya was about to reply but yawned instead. If she hadn't been so tired she probably would have caught him trying to cover up something so obvious.

"Go.. get some sleep Shreya. I will see you later." Charan said walking downstairs.

"I will. I could barely keep my eyes open. Okay, good night. Love you." Shreya said and hung up. She threw her phone away and flopped into the bed headfirst. She had already changed into her PJs. That was the very first thing she did as soon as she stepped inside her home. She did not know how she tolerated it for so long. She was just not comfortable and she was not used to it.

She snuggled into the pillows comfortably ready to go to sleep without even realizing what she had just said.

But on the other side, Charan stopped on his track. His breath caught at his throat while his hands and legs stood frozen at the same spot.

Did he just hear what he thought he did??

'Good night. Love you' these words kept repeating on his head.

His heart sped like crazy at just the thought!!

As he said, Shreya always had the knack of catching him off guard all the time! His face spread into the biggest grin ever while warmth spread through him like a wildfire. In a dazed state, he walked into walls headfirst twice before safely reaching the living room. He was rubbing the forehead where he got hit with the wall. They were red by now.

But even then he was actually smiling like a creep.

Bharat stood there a couple of feet away from his brother with an amused smile.

Of course, Charan did not notice his brother until he walked right into him too.

"What are you doing??" Charan asked, at last, composing himself slightly.

"The more important question is, what are YOU doing walking into walls in the middle of the night??" Bharat asked raising his brows.

A slight blush spread on his cheeks for being caught by his little brother at such an embarrassing situation. And Bharat, of course, caught it.

Bharat went and put his arms around his brother's shoulders and said in a teasing voice, "If someone saw you now, they are going to think you got confessed to by your crush or something!!"

Charan's eyes widened and he turned so fast and looked at his brother. And before he could stop himself, words just tumbled out of his mouth as he asked, "How do you know that??"

"What?? Shreya confessed?? How?? Where?? When??" Bharat exclaimed quite loudly. He was just pulling Charan's legs.

But Charan just cleared his throats and said, "Good night. Sweet dreams brother."

"Hey hey hey.. You can't leave me hanging like this!! I am your brother. I won't tell anyone. Promise.. Just tell me what you happened?? I won't be able to sleep otherwise!!" Bharat begged.

But all he got was the loud noise of the door being shut on his face.