RISHABH'S POV -

I am in my balcony right now, enjoying the beautiful view. Usually I do not get time to stay at home with my mom and Sakshi di and now when I have the time without missing out on cricket, I am just spending all my time with them. I was drinking tea while enjoying the view and I saw a few military cars enter the area.

"Di, dekho koi military cars have come see." I said and di came.

"Yes, I saw in the news the government was planning to make military intervene so keep the lock down under control." di said and I nodded.

"I wonder why people go against the police despite the lock down is for their own good." I said.

"Hmmm, sub tumhare jaise samjhdar nahi hote na isliye." di said and ruffled my hair.

"Sakshiii" I screamed and she ran inside.

A lady in the army uniform came out and confidently, soldiers came out from the other cars also and saluted this man, he might be their head who gave them instructions.

Everyone were then taking their positions, the lady who came out first turned and I saw her properly, she was looking very confident and fearless, her hair were tied up into a high pony and she was looking just so beautiful even in her uniform. I was so lost in her.

Suddenly she looks up and I looked away, I do not want to seem like some creep.

KHUSHI'S POV -

Here I am in Uttarakhand for my duty, we saluted our Colonel and he assigned us duty points in that area. I was luckily paired up with my best friend Sonam and we walked towards our duty point.

"I never thought that we will have to be in the country and make sure that people dont get out of their houses." I sighed.

"Ya, I thought that when I become a soldier, I will fight on the border, thats where we belong." she agreed.

"But our country needs us here right now, and we never belong anywhere in specific, we are soldiers and we belong anywhere our country needs us and thats here right now." I said.

"Yes, leave all that, I have heard that Rishabh Pant, your crush lives somewhere here only." she said and winked.

"We are on duty now.' I said.

"So what, look up what if he lives in this building only?" she asked and wiggled her eyebrows mischievously.

"Meri kismat itni achi bhi nahi hai." I joked.

"Try toh kar." she said and I actually looked up, not like I was going to spot the Rishabh Pant.

I looked up to see a man with a perfectly chiseled jaw line with his hair all styled up perfectly, I took a closer look and realized the it was Rishabh Pant the crush of my life, am I dreaming? This means Sonam was right, he lives here in this building and my duty point is like here below. He was drinking tea or something and looking to the other direction, he looked down to my direction. Is he looking at me? No you stupid, he might be looking at the military cars around.

"Sonam, you were right." said and looked down.

"What was I right about?" she asked me.

"He lives here." I said.

"Who lives here?" she asked me.

"You have short term memory loss or what?" I asked her.

"He lives here, you mean Rishabh Pant?" she exclaimed.

"Yes look up, dont make it obvious." I said and she looks up like clearly looks up, why did I even say dont make it obvious, she is looking up and trying to strain her eyes like clearly she is searching for someone.

"He is looking her only." she said.

"Isnt that exactly why I said, dont make it obvious." I sighed.

"Chalta hai yaar, I think he is looking at you only." she said.

"No, he might be seeing why there are military cars over here." I said and ignored her, like why the hell would he look at me.

"Collect your masks and gloves." the colonel said and we went to wear our masks and gloves after which I looked up again and he was not there. What was I even expecting? He will be waiting for me?

We all later got busy in setting up our camps as we will be here for another week or maybe more. Later at night we all lighted a bonfire and were sitting around it and having our dinner.

RISHABH'S POV -

I was looking at her for a while and then the other soldier with her looked up at me and she nudged her to look down. I laughed at this as I came to know that she has seen me and her friend was looking up to see if I was their. In a while she went ahead and ma called me so I went in the house.

I then spent my whole day thinking how do I talk to her, I cant even go down, we are literally locked up in the house and she is there to make sure we dont get out. So I cancelled the going down idea.

Then I got an idea, I called Hardik, he is an expert in this business. I then added Rahul in the call too incase Harry gives a stupid idea.

"Hey." I said.

"Hey bros, wassup." Harry said.

"Nothing what are you doing?" I asked him .

"Nothing much, playing PUBG." he said.

"Great, I need help." I said.

"Really? You want help from me? I am honoured." Harry dramatically said

"You realise Harry is the last person you would call for help, he will put you in deep trouble instead." Rahul said.

"Shut up Rahul, I am a great helper, what help do you want Rishabh ?" Harry said.

"So, there is this girl." I was going to say.

"How did you manage to get a girl when you are locked up in your house?" Harry exclaimed.

"I thought You were engaged Harry." Rahul said.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." he said.

"Can we get back to my problem?" I asked.

"Yeah yeah tell." Harry said and I narrated everything.

"You realise you are asking the wrong person for help because for Harry, he would randomly walk to a girl and start flirting or he will just put his hands on her waist and you cant do any." Rahul said.

"Yeah and she is in army, if I randomly put my had on her waist, I might get shot." I joked.

"No I have an idea." Harry whined.

"Dont say scream, "You look beautiful" from the balcony." Rahul laughed.

"No, I am not that dumb." Harry said.

"You look like." Rahul laughed.

"Guys my problem? I called the wrong person" I said.

"No no no I have idea listen" Harry said.

"Okay then tell fast." I said.

"Ohh so desperate." Rahul teased.

"Let me say, throw a paper ball down and give your nunber and ask her to text you." Harry said, not a bad idea but I dont know.

"Ya and creep her out, totally." Rahul said.

"Then ask for her name then ask for her number figure it out." Harry said.

"The idea is not bad Rishabh, just make it less creepy." Rahul said and I hummed in response.

We then talked for a while and ended the call.

I went out in the balcony and saw that its already night time, time flew s fast while talking to Harry and Rahul. I tried looking for her and saw a bonfire where the soldiers where talking and she was also there, she looked so cute when she was laughing and talking to her friend and the other soldiers.

I decided to execute my plan tomorrow morning .

KHUSHI'S POV -

It was morning already and we got ready and went towards our duty points. Sonam and I were doing our duty and suddenly a tennis ball fell down, we looked up and saw Rishabh Pant. I picked up the ball and another ball fell down, this time it was a paper ball. I picked it up and saw something written in it. I looked up and he smiled and asked me to read it.

"Is he mad? His floor is so high, how am I supposed to throw it back?" I said to Sonam .

The he threw another paper ball and I opened it.

"Ooooo, he wants to talk to youm sidhe sidhe number hi de diya." Sonam teased.

I looked up and he pointed to the letter in my hand telling me to check the number. What the hell is even going on?

Sonam made me dial his number.

"Umm hello?" I said.

"Hello, Rishabh here." he said, oh my god his voice, I can die for it. I still cant believe I am talking to Rishabh Pant .

"Ya I saw that paper." I said.

"Oh and you are?" he asked.

"I am Khushi" I said.

"Sweet name, totally suits you." he said, and I blushed. Is he flirting with me?

"So ya, how am I supposed to give you the ball?" I asked.

"Oh ya, I didnt think of that." he said, what?

"You think I am a fool?" I asked.

"Sorry?" he asked.

"First you threw the ball down and the next minute you threw the message, which means you had the message ready and it was on purpose." I said and I could see his expression from down, he was shocked. Sonam gave me a did you have to say that look and I ignored it.

"I am a soldier Mr. Rishabh Pant dont try to fool me." I said.

"Oh sorry, I was like no." he was fumbling with his words.

"Chill, why do you think I played along?" I asked and looked above and winked.

"Oh so you dont mind?" he asked.

"Do you think I do" I asked, I cant believe what I am even trying to do.

"No, you dont." he said innocently.

"Yeah and I need to be back on duty so bye." I said.

"Talk to you later and my ball?" he asked.

"You figure out how you want it back got to go." I said and hung up and Sonam was like staring at me.

"You realize you were talking to the Rishabh Pant?" Sonam asked.

"I cant believe it." I said.

"What that you should him an attitude?" she asked.

"No that I talked to him."I said in a duh tone.

"Then what was that attitude for you could have talked to him longer." she said.

"He should know who Khushi is, not as innocent as her name. And we are on duty so lets get back to work." I said.

"But." she was going to say something and I cut her off saying, "Aaaj ke liye this much is enough." and she sighed.

RISHABH'S POV -

She hung up leaving me shocked. This girl is like next level mahn, she understood that all this was planned. But her voice was so sweet and her name was just defined her smile, I quickly saved her number and went on whats app and saw if her number was there and it was there, I opened her profile pic and it was a candid of her in her uniform. She is seems so dedicated towards her work which is serving the nation.

I called Harry and Rahul just as they told me to after I implement the idea.

"Hey bro, tel what happened." Harry screamed as soon as he picked up.

"Calm down Harry, sab jagah ki gossip chahiye tujhe." Rahul said.

"I am just trying to help." Harry protested.

"Ya ya I know." Rahul said

"I got her number." I announced.

"Really?" Rahul asked.

"I knew it, my plan always works." Harry said.

"Ya totally experience jo hai tumhe." I said.

"Woh toh hai." he said.

"Dekho besharam accept bhi kar raha hai." Rahul said.

"Tell the whole story." Harry said and I narrated it.

"You realize usne tujhe attitude dikhaya?" Harry asked.

"Aur even caught the plan." Rahul added.

"Yeah but I got her number na." I said.

"Bas itne mein hi khush?" Harry asked.

"Now I got her number na." I said.

"So call her, talk to her, text her, know her, stalk her, flirt with her." Harry went on.

"Stop I get it." I said.

We talked more and then I kept the call.

I want to talk to her, now. I went out in the balcony and saw her doing her duty so I just came back, I think I should not disturb her. I will call her later.

AT NIGHT -

I finally texted her after having dinner.

She replied back in a few minutes .

I am in my room is she here? What? I start seeing around the room.

She is so like cool and nice and she knows me like already, hows that possible? Rishabh you are a cricketer who plays for team India, duh. But she knows me too well. Did she like have a crush on me before ? Possibly not, she looks too head strong to have a crush.

Whatever, I am off to sleep now, I need it, even though all I am doing now is sleep.

NEXT WEEK -

We have been talking through chats and phone calls for around a week now and I really think that I am falling for her. Everything about her, her attitude, her smile, her dedication towards the nation, her thoughts, her beauty, everything is so natural and herself, like she is just so perfect.

It is around 10:30 already and this is the time we usually start talking to each other and we talk for a good one hour or even more sometimes.

I was trying to call her but she wasnt picking up the call, it was coming switched off. I called a lot of times and then went out in the balcony and saw that the army camp was still ther but the cars were missing. Is everything okay?

I just sat and kept waiting for her call and finally at 12 her call came.

"Hello Khushi? Is everything okay?"I asked in a worried tone.

"Hello?" I asked again as she did not reply.

"Hello Rishabh" she finally said.

"God you scared me, are you okay?" I asked.

"Yes, I am fine" she said.

"Then where were you? Even the military cars were not there." I asked.

"We were called to a nearby hospital" sh said slowly.

"Why?" I asked.

"To transfer the bodies." she said.

"What bodies?" I asked.

"Of people who died because of the virus. Can you imagine 50 people died just because of a virus, there were people of all age groups, some old, some the same age as us, some kids. My heart hurt, what have these people done to suffer so much?" she sobbed, she was affected. For a second even I was shocked and silent, she was right, what have these people done to suffer so much?

"Calm down Khushi, you need to be strong, you are a soldier." I said, trying to sound as calm as possible, cause she needs strength.

"I know that I am a soldier." she said and for some reason I felt like laughing at this and then I came back to the same gloom.

"So be strong and do your duty. If you break down then the whole nation will." I said.

"I am a soldier, does that mean I dont have a heart?" she asked.

"No I didnt mean that, I meant just have strength." I said.

"I know you meant that, you know right now I feel so helpless because I cannot save my country or the world from this virus, I cannot fight it like any other war." she said.

"You cant fight it but you can restrict it right and you are doing that Khushi." I tried explaining her.

"You know sometimes I feel scared that will I too die in that way?" she said and something in my heart hurt.

"I am not scared of death, I am just scared of the type of death Rishabh. Being a soldier my honor would be to die for the country, I am ready to keep the country safe but if I fall into the hands of this virus then who will protect the country?" she asked.

"Khushi do not talk like that nothing can happen to you, and nothing will." I said, I just cannot see anything happening to her, I cannot.

"This is nothing less than a war and I am a soldier Rishabh, anything can happen to me, at any time." she said.

"No, nothing can ever happen to you. I wont let anything happen to you I love you Khushi, I cant let anything happen to you." I said and a tear rolled down my eyes.

"Rishabh? You love me?" she asked and I realized what I just said.

"Yes Khushi, I love you, from the day I saw you , please dont leave me." I cried.

"Rishabh, I need to tell you something." she mumbled.

"Tell" I said.

"We all were told to take the tests two days back and we did, today after dropping the dead bodies, I came to know that I have the virus, I am in the hospital." she said.

"What?" I asked in shock. No.

"Yes, I have contracted the virus." she said.

"What no, what will happen to me if? No you also please dont leave me." I begged, I cannot afford to loose anyone I love so badly after my dad.

"I wont leave you Rishabh, I wont I dont want to, I love you." she said, that I love you made me happy but her condition pains me, I cannot do any thing to save her.

"Promise?" I asked like a kid.

"Promise" she said.

"Promise me that you will fight like a tigress that you always act like." I said, and she chuckled.

"Promise me that you will be strong, for me." she said.

"First my promise." I said stubbornly.

"Promise." she said.

"Then I also promise." I said.

"I love you, always remember that, I love you." she said and hung up.

My heart broke, I could not imagine the condition she would be in. I never thought this would happen to someone I love the most. I did not imagine that the fear of losing someone will come to my life ever again. Tears just flow out of my eyes.

"Rishabh? What happened?" it was Sakshi di who saw me and ran up to me and I hugged her.

"Kya hua? Why are you crying?" she asked and hugged me back.

"Di, Khushi" I said, I never hide anything from her, I told her about Khushi before itself.

"What happened to Khushi?" she asked.

"She has it she is in the hospital." I say in between my sobs and di hugs me tightly.

"Dont cry bachcha, she is a soldiers believe me she will come out stronger than ever before." di said I put my head on her lap and continued to hug her, she is my best friend before di and right now only she can give me the comfort I need.

"Dont cry, so ja." she said and caressed my head and I fell asleep.

TWO WEEKS LATER -