It was a chilly morning in Amsterdam. The snowflakes shining the entire area. Feather-like snow was coming down from the sky, making everything look like heaven.

A small bungalow was shown, fully covered with the snow. A girl was dozing off at the porch, shivering due to the cold. Her whole face was red due to the cold, but she was just interested in her beauty sleep.

Suddenly, a guy of around the same age as her came out of the house. His eyes …twinkled with fascination, as he eyed the snow-clad lawn. His chocolate orbs zoomed around the house, before finally landing on a heap, oops sorry, a human…

What the hell!!

He quickly ran towards that girl, shaking her vigorously, only to get a nice handprint on his devilishly handsome face!

Akshara…how come she is here…this girl…

“Akshara Goenka, get up right now!!!!” Birds flew off, scared by his high-pitched scream. But, it did nothing to the girl in question.

The guy sighed, disbelief written all over his face. Then without any further thought, he picked her up in bridal style, stumbling a bit due to the snow.

“Pumpkin! What have you been eating? You weigh more than a ton!!!” He tried to tease her a bit, but all he got in return was nothing.

Sighing yet again, he moved inside the house towards his room, which proved quite difficult, given the girl in his arms!

Finally reaching the room, he tried to move her onto the bed… tried…!!!

Every time he would try to lay her down, she’ll just groan and snuggle more into him, not at all wanting to leave the warmth.

Having no other option, the guy too slipped under the duvet, pulling her close, making Akshara smile like a baby. He too smiled, looking at her child-like expressions, and also making sure that she doesn’t feel cold. Having nothing else to do, he also closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

“Abhimanyu Birla!! Get up this instant!!” Akshara screamed, as Abhimanyu bolted up at once, totally shocked by the yell.

“Akshara? What happened? All fine?!” worry was clearly visible in his voice, making Akshara’s face soften.

“Everything is fine. But, why the hell didn’t you wake me up?!! Look at the time, Abhimanyu Birla!” came the loud scream from the mad Akshara.

“What?!! That’s my fault too?!!! Are you freaking serious, girl?!” disbelief was clear in his voice, as both gave death glares to each other. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, both sighed.

“No use of shouting over spilled milk. Let’s just get up now. “ Abhimanyu shook his head, getting up from the bed.

“Eh, Abhimanyu… what about milk? We weren’t talking about spilled milk, were we? “ Akshara asked, being sceptical.

Abhimanyu sweat-dropped, palming his face. When he looked over at the confused girl, his expressions clearly said one thing; dumb much?!

“Never mind… You can go and get freshened up, while I prepare some snacks. And… we have some serious talks to do, Ms Goenka.” giving her a pointed look, he left with a sigh. And all Akshara could do was just shrug and look at his disappearing figure confusedly.

Akshara continued humming to herself, happily skipping down the stairs. She had had a long refreshing bath, and was now ready to face trouble.

After reaching the hall, she moved towards the dining area to see Abhimanyu Birla totally immersed in his phone. Shaking her head, she went and sat on the chair opposite to him.

“A-hem!” The cough broke the silence, making him look up at her with a raised eyebrow.

“What ?!”

“Keep that shitty thing aside and have your breakfast.”

“Did you just call my phone a shitty thing ?!!” Abhimanyu growled, offended.

“Yes, Mr Shit-face!” Akshara smirked, looking at his red face.

“What??! Seriously?” Disbelief was all over his face. But who cares!

“Akshara! Yaar I’m gonna be your husband in less than eight months…For God’s sake, give me some respect at least! “

“Okay then! I’m calling Mom and asking her to call off the wedding. “

“What ?!Why ?!!” All she did was shrug in return, while continuing to devour her favourite sandwiches.

“You either get your so-called respect, or you get to be called as my husband. Your choice! “

Abhimanyu sighed, knowing that he can’t ever win any argument with her.

“Now that you’re done, I need to talk to you.” Abhimanyu informed in a serious tone, all humour gone.

Akshara nodded, as both moved out towards his car.

“Wait! You’re not going out like that. It’s freezing out there.” Abhimanyu shook his head in disapproval, while Akshara moved and sat inside the car, completely disregarding him.

“Let’s go already.” Her shout made him sigh, as he moved inside the car, and quickly drove away.

Akshara was looking out of the window, as Abhimanyu kept his eyes fixed on the road. After a few minutes, he decided to break the silence.

“What are you doing here?” Akshara shut her eyes tight. This is what she was dreading, ever since she sat in the plane to reach here.

“Akshara, I’m asking something. “

“I came to…. study ??” It was more like a question to herself than anyone else, as she racked her brain for excuses.

“Study ?!”

“ I…. I mean, I was not getting some parts of it, so I came here so that you can help me.”

“Oh really ?!! Okay fine I accept this excuse. But did you tell anyone that you’re coming here?” He stopped the car at the signal, and turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

“Umm, ye-yeah. I told Neil and Aaru...” However, he just glared at her, his look saying You think I’m dumb enough to believe that ?!

“I swear I told them! It’s not my fault that your siblings are so forgetful that they must have forgotten like every time!”

“ Yeah..Yeah…After all, they are Akshara Goenka’s BFFs, a.k.a. !! “

Both glared at each other, yet again.

Thankfully, the traffic started moving, breaking their staring contest. Abhimanyu again looked at the road, as Akshara tried to call the two naughty Birlas.

“Hello?Aaru ?!”

“Yeah I’ve reached…Where’s Neil ? Good. Now keep the phone on speaker…”

Abhimanyu looked at her from the corner of his eyes, silently praying to God to save his siblings.

“ Now… WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU BOTH ?!!! I asked you to inform everyone that I’m coming here. But you were too busy sleeping, isn’t it ?”

Abhimanyu winced, muttering curses at the trio. What was the fault of his poor eardrums in all this? Why were they getting tortured?!

“No no no… Just wait till I come back! Then I’ll see you both! Bye!” She ended with a huff, looking at Abhimanyu with an intense glare.

“Why are you Birla siblings so….. idiotic ?!”

“That’s because we have to tolerate a Homo sapien called Akshara Goenka! “

“You!!!!”

“We’ve reached. C’mon!” Abhimanyu interrupted, moving out of the car, followed by Akshara.

They both looked at the mesmerising view in front of them, spellbound. Akshara had a wide smile on her face, as she looked at the white, fluffy snow all around. Abhimanyu went and took out two blankets from the car boot, and spread them over, near a big Pine tree. He beckoned her towards the blankets, as both finally sat down, scooting up closer, covering themselves with the soft duvet, and looking into the horizon.

“Akshara, now tell me the truth. Why did you come here when you have an exam day-after tomorrow?” his voice was soft, as he looked at her with a small smile. Akshara leaned her head on his shoulder, entwining their hands.

“I….. I was feeling suffocated there. Exams, studies, it was making me frustrated. I couldn’t concentrate on anything. Neil, Bhai and Aaru, they all tried to cheer me up. But I was just… feeling very low. So I came here… I knew you’d be angry, but still I just needed to be here.” She ended with a sigh, looking at him with unshed tears.

“Shhh… It’s okay, Pumpkin. You need not cry about it. It’s okay to be broken sometimes. It’s not always that you have to be strong… It’s okay to take a break. Yeah I agree that you shouldn’t have come here leaving your exams, but it’s okay. And the exam is still not gone. We’ll go back to India tomorrow evening. And I’ll also stay there till your exams end. Then you can give your exams peacefully and I’ll help you with studies…Okay?!” Abhimanyu wiped her tears, smiling at her.

“Hmm…But, I don’t want to go back…” She wailed like a baby, making Abhimanyu chuckle.

“Okay let’s do one thing. First you can give your exams, and then I’ll ask Dad to give us all a month’s vacation. Both of us will come here to spend the vacation…”

“But what about Bhai, Aaru and everyone else?! Dare you forget our family Mr Birla!!?” She glared at him, as he put up his hands in surrender.

“Calm down girl! Okay we’ll come here with the family. Happy now ?!”

“Yesss!” He smiled at her cheerful face, happy on bringing that smile back on her angelic face. He took out a chocolate from his pocket, as Akshara’s eyes twinkled in excitement.

Quickly snatching her treat from him, she opened the wrapper hurriedly and started munching onto it like a kid.

“But, I still have a question.” Akshara, being too busy with her sweet, just nodded at him to continue.

“What the heck were you doing sleeping at the porch at 6 in the morning?!” Abhimanyu asked with concern.

“Oh yeah, about that.. Actually, I reached here at 5. It took me around half an hour to reach home. I rang the bell many times, but you weren’t answering. My phone was dead and I was just too sleepy. So I sat on the porch to wait till you would get up. I guess I drifted to sleep there only.” She gave him a sheepish smile, making him chuckle and shake his head.

“Yeah. I was up till late yesterday to complete some presentations. I slept around 2… So maybe that’s why I didn’t hear the bell, being too tired. “

Both kept quiet after that, not speaking a word. All they did was just enjoy the ethereal beauty of nature, finding solace in each other’s presence. They knew that they had to get back after some time. But at that moment, it was just the two of them.

Trying to find their peace in the warmth of the other. At that moment, they were just together, away from the cruel, harsh reality. At that particular moment, nothing else mattered…

Because all they knew was, that they are each other’s,