I'll Love You Longer Than Forever

Afterword

Um, so. Surprise, I guess? I bet none of y'all saw that coming (except those two people who guessed it yesterday after the Rome chapter and Sanju, who I told I was gonna do it). Honestly, I didn't either. Not till last month. I'd thought I'd just write the honeymoon chapters and upload them for the anniversary but then, suddenly, this happened, when I realized that… Oh, this looks a lot like happily ever after for our favourite couple. 

I think this has been a long time coming. Of course, I've been uploading this since November 2014, so I think almost 9 years is a good run for a fanfic. It's already been around for three times more than how long the show is. We've seen everything with this fic, not just with Armaan & Riddhima, but with the rest of the gang as well. As it is now, I feel the story is complete. They've all found their happiness in both their personal as well as professional life. I think it's a high point to end the story at. 

Believe me when I say this, I absolutely do not take this decision lightly. I know that you're all very taken aback by this, and when I thought of it, I was as well. It took me a solid week to actually decide that yes, this is a thing that will happen. This is what I want. Even then, I second guessed myself till the last moment. Even when I was posting the epilogue, I kept thinking… Is this really necessary? Maybe it's not. But, actually, it is, because this is what I always envisioned for this fic - the gang happy in their lives with their jobs and their partners, ready to take on the world. Which they are, right now. And they've all found their happy endings.

That is not to say that I won't revisit this, because I will. I have a few ideas for future takes which happen between the last chapter and epilogue, and maybe even after the epilogue. But, I don't know if I'll ever post them. It would just be the gang being really domestic, which we have already seen, but of course would love to see more of. I want to put all my focus on TDBU now, so I think it'll be a while before we get any of those future takes, if any. 

My journey with ILYLTF is extremely personal to me. I first had an idea for the fic while s2 was airing, because I wanted to see something cutesy where Armaan & Riddhima were happy together and not struggling so much. Though, I only started writing this in 2012 when I just couldn't handle all the thoughts in my head anymore and needed to put them to paper. For the next two years, ILYLTF belonged to only me. A quick escape from the mess of my life. And then, I somehow found the courage to post it online, and now, 9 years later, it belongs to all of us. 

I have grown so much as a person while I wrote this, and I can see that when I revisit old chapters. Frankly, the start of the story is absolutely ghastly and I'm judging 18 year old Prags so hard for writing the stuff she did. But, at the same time I am so proud because in these words, I can see my growth as not just a person, but also a writer. As I'm sure, so can you, if you've read the start and still stuck around.

That's something, isn't it? Some of y'all have been here since day one. Yes, I am talking about you, Sanju and Pako. You were there when the first chapter was published on 19 November, 2014, and you are here now as I publish the epilogue on 20 August, 2023. Thank you so much for always being there. For being my sounding board, critiquing the story, being so excited for it, and letting me churn out plot points in one-sided conversations on whatsapp which saw a lot of word vomit from my side and not a single word from yours while I had whole epiphanies while typing. This fic would not exist without you.

Thank you, Sheena. We don't talk anymore, but for a few months there, everything this story was, was you and I, giggling in our chats and cooing over how cute these people were. I don't think before then I'd met someone who shared the same brain as me. You got this story the way I intended. Every single takeaway you had from every interaction, and the way you built  all those headcanons in your head… It was stuff that I'd always thought of, but hadn't really had anyone to say it to. Then, you came along. Thanks for being the anchor that carried this fic to its completion. Even now, when I'm stuck, I look at the pages and pages of headcanons we came up with and it's so much easier to write more. It would never have been possible without you.

To all my other readers, but especially the usual suspects - Aayushi, Prizi, Shweta, Faraz, Nishita, Tanya - thank you so, so, so much for reading this story and loving it so much. Not so many thanks to Aayushi and Prizi for flooding me with demands for updates :p

Special shout-out to my girl Tani for being the best reader a girl could ask for. Your words inspire me. Every time I was stuck, or demotivated to write, I would open a comment from you and find that will to write more. You don't even know how you've shaped the story. Thank you so much!

To all the other readers whose names I'm forgetting, doesn't matter when you joined this journey and when you left it. Thank you. If you've read even a single chapter of this fic, thank you so much. I never thought this story would find a single reader, much less so many of you, and some of the most loyal kids out there, sticking by my sporadic update schedule. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much.

It has been an absolute honour to share this story with all of you, and I am so glad that it's received so much love. This story has given me friendships that I know will last a lifetime, has moulded me as a person, has taught me so much about life. It might seem cheesy, but the truth is, I would not be the person I am today if I hadn't written this. So, thank you, ILYLTF, for shaping my life so profoundly. 

I really don't know what else to say here. My heart is full and my brain is surprisingly empty. I have nothing but immense gratitude for all of you and it's just blocking my brain and not letting me think of anything else I might want to say to mark this very momentous occasion of my life which will never remain the same now that I'm marking this story as complete. It is the end of an era and I don't know how to let go yet. I don't know who I am as a person without the constant niggling of oh, I need to write more on ILYLTF in my head. It's time to find out, I guess. I'm sure you're all thankful that you can't see inside my brain cause you're spared of the absolute chaos that it is right now. 

But, enough of my rambling. That's not why we're here today. We're here today because our favourite show is now sixteen. Ahh, the sweet sixteen. Feels like just yesterday when they met at the basketball court and now here we are, celebrating sixteen years of Armaan, Riddhima, and their beautiful love story. I'm so glad to have met them, as I'm sure you are too. They will always hold a special place in my heart. So, pump out that music and maybe read this whole fic from start to end to celebrate? My DMs are always open if you want to fangirl.

Thank you so much. Until next time, with all my love.