Love in the Time of Corona | drabble series ✅

18

Hey everyone, sorry for being MIA! I just wanted to be off wattpad for a while, but I'll be fairly regular for the next few days.

Quarantine with the family was definitely different than what quarantine with Shivaay had been, but it was no less wonderful. Sure, Annika did miss Shivaay a lot. She missed the adrak waali chai he had especially mastered for her; she missed cuddling with him during movies; she missed the kisses and the snuggles. Yet, it was good to be back home and with her family. Now that all of them were always home, they had plenty of bonding time as a family. Annika even started taking cooking lessons from her mom; her mother was definitely surprised, but Annika now had someone she specifically wanted to learn cooking for.

Shivaay and Annika talked whenever possible. It was difficult to do so during the day, especially because none of their families knew about this relationship. Annika was trying to muster up the courage to tell Prinku, since Shivaay had given her the go-ahead. She wanted to be the one to do it because Priyanka was, after all, her best friend. And this wasn't the kind of thing you kept hidden from your best friend for so long. On a Monday morning, Annika decided to just go ahead with it. She began chatting with Priyanka about unimportant things, before timidly starting like this:

"Prinku, I had to tell you something..."

"Mhm?"

"I...um...Ihaveaboyfriend."

"You what?"

Annika took a deep breath. "I have a boyfriend."

Prinku was silent. Annika nervously chewed on her fingernail.

"See," Priyanka started, "I want to act all shocked and stuff, but I kind of knew pehle se."

"You did?" Annika asked, surprised. How could she have possibly known?

"Well, I've known for about two weeks now, actually." Annika frowned. She came back to India almost a month ago, so it was surely weird for Prinku to come to know about her relationship status out of the blue.

"How?" Annika asked, unbelieving.

"Because of bhaiya, who else?" Priyanka said. Anniak bit her tongue. Shit. "He started looking so...so lost since he came back, but happy too. You know, he would be humming songs, smiling at his phone, yada yada. So one day, I managed to sneak a look at his phone, and guess who he was texting – my best friend!"

Annika closed her eyes in embarrassment and guilt.

"And oh God, what texts they were," Priyanka continued. "I miss you baby; I want to kiss you baby – yuck!" Priyanka sounded disgusted. Annika blushed a deep red.

"Are you mad at me?" Annika asked softly. Come to think of it, this was why Priyanka hadn't called her for a while. Annika had been so lost in Shivaay that she hadn't even noticed.

"I was, initially," Priyanka sighed. "But then I ranted to dadi about it, and she made me understand your perspective. Besides, I realized I was too happy for bhai to be mad at you. He's finally found someone who makes him truly happy."

Annika smiled, before frowning instantly. "Wait, so dadi also knows about us?"

"Yeah yeah," Priyanka replied nonchalantly. "So do Om bhaiya and Rudra bhaiya. None of us have confronted Shivaay bhaiya about it, though. They're waiting for Shivaay bhaiya to tell them himself, while I was waiting for you."

"I really am sorry," Annika said sincerely. "But I didn't know how you would react, and honestly I couldn't gather the courage."

"It's okay," Priyanka replied. "Like I said, I'm not mad anymore. In fact, I'm happy for both of you. Dadi was right – you guys do make an amazing couple."

"But you haven't even seen us together yet, Prinku," Annika smiled.

"I know. But I can see the difference in bhaiya these days, Annika. Everyone can. And we all agree that you're perhaps the best thing that has ever happened to him."

--

Annika felt lighter than ever after talking to Priyanka. It was one of those feelings where you think you can achieve anything you want. And so naturally, Annika decided this was the perfect time to tell her parents about her and Shivaay's relationship. She had always been very open with them, but the only thing she was worried about was how they would react to the fact that she had been staying with her boyfriend for so long. They were progressive parents but, well, not that progressive. Regardless, Annika realized that they would find out sooner or later, and sooner would be better for her conscience. Sitting them down after dinner, Annika narrated her and Shivaay's relationship progress to them. They took it better than she had imagined, but her dad was definitely not pleased. Annika could tell that her mom was, somewhere, quite happy. After all, Shivaay was kind of like a dream guy, and they had known the Oberois since forever. Her dad was, however, also displeased about the fact that Shivaay was a few years older than Annika. He probably thought that Shivaay had behaved in an...ungentlemanly manner with Annika, and Annika had to control her laughter as the thought struck her. Oh, if only her dad knew.

"Well, what's done is done now," Her mother shrugged. "It's actually good you didn't tell us this when you were there. You father would have gone crazy with worry."

"Damn right I would have," Her dad said solemnly. "I would have gone there myself and punched the guy."

"Now you're just overreacting," Annika rolled her eyes. Regardless, she was so glad to finally have it off her chest. Annika was happy. The kind of happy that builds in your chest and reaches the sole of your feet. One of her biggest apprehensions regarding this relationship with Shivaay was how Priyanka would react, how her parents would react. Now, her only apprehension was about when she would get to meet Shivaay again. It didn't seem like that would happen anytime soon.