NEXT DAY

Aarchi dressed in a pink kurti with jeans and rushed out of the house to talk to Vihaan about the change in plans. She had spent the whole night making up a believable story about why she'd have to cancel their date night. 

She opened her car door to see Vihaan already standing by her.

"Ohh" Aarchi hit her back to the car surprised at seeing him in front of her suddenly.

"Sorry about that" Vihaan said sheepishly pulling her in front and closing the car door.

"How are you doing this morning beautiful?" Vihaan asked making her walk behind the cars so they were out of normal vision of people.

"I'm doing well, you?" Aarchi asked still nervous about what to say to him.

"Ari? Are you okay? You look slightly flustered" Vihaan asked checking her temperature using the back of his hand on her neck and forehead.

"Yeah yeah I'm fine, I just need to say.. I.. We need to talk" Aarchi said looking away from him. Vihaan took a step away from her, maintain a good distance between the both of them. Aarchi noticed the gap between them and looked at him shaking her head.

"You don't want this?" Vihaan asked as his voice slightly broke.

"You are getting me all wrong. I'm not breaking up with you Vihaan. Stop pulling a me right now when I'm already worried" Aarchi held his hand pulling him back where he was.

"So you aren't breaking up with me?" Vihaan asked with an extra big smile.

"Of course, not idiot" Aarchi looked at him annoyed and hit his head out of frustration.

"I would have cried if you said yes, no jokes there" Vihaan said holding her hands tightly reflecting his fears.

"I have no intentions of making you cry in the near future atleast" Aarchi said softly.

"Good. Now say what you had to say" Vihaan said giving her space to speak.

"Can we please cancel tonight's date? A friend of mine is here just for today and all of us are meeting her today. It was a last-minute plan" Aarchi said looking at him worriedly.

"I want to meet her. I haven't seen her after high school. Please..." She said looking at her hands.

"Then go meet her. We can reschedule our date when both of us are free. Go meet your friend" Vihaan said cupping her cheeks.

"You are important to me Vihaan just know that. I... You are important" Aarchi said looking deep into his eyes.

"Did I doubt you? No right? We are still at square one so its going to take time for us to progress but its okay. I trust you and I trust in us. You don't need to prove to me that you like me" Vihaan said with an assuring smile.

"Thank you" Aarchi smiled genuinely.

"Want to have lunch together?" She asked remembering that though they can't have dinner together they can have lunch. 

"I mean of course we can but I can't gaurantee it. Somedays are good, some are bad, I can't promise anything" Vihaan said feeling guilty.

"No worries, take a chill pill" Aarchi tip-toed and softly pecked his cheek.

"That is for being an understanding boyfriend" She said gigling and trying to walk away when he pulled her back in position.

"Stay here" He said holding his hand to where she kissed him. Aarchi turned around to see him walk to his car and remove something.

"Don't look" Vihaan said looking at her with a warning.

"Okay" Aarchi turned around laughing at Vihaan's excitement.

"Close your eyes" Vihaan said hiding something behind his back. Aarchi closed her eyes with a smile and waited for him to do his thing.

"Open" She opened to find a pink rose infront of her.

"A rose for my rose whose blush is the exact pink shade" Vihaan said taking slow steps towards her, caging her between the car and him as Aarchi looked at him blushingly.

"I don't like keeping favours" He handed her the rose and bent down whispering in her ear. Aarchi held her breathe waiting for him to end his sweet torture.

"Vihaan" She called out his name holding the rose tightly.

"There's the blush I was hoping to see when I handpicked this rose for you" Vihaan leaned closer to her and bit on her cheek.

"Look it even gets darker" Vihaan then softly pecked the area he bit and moved away.

"Favour returned with interest" He said smirking as Aarchi looked at him flustered. Aarchi released the breathe she was holding for a long time and looked at his smirking face.

"Don't bite me as if I'm your food" She said rubbing her hand where he bit her, feeling the sting now. She looked at him with a frown.

"Nahi toh kya?" Vihaan took her hand off the cheek and slowly let the petals of the flower he gifted her touch her skin.

"You.. You... We need to go work" Aarchi said leaning into the flowers softness while trying to remain strong in front of him.

"Let me have a bite of you once more so I don't miss you when I work" Vihaan said getting close to her. Aarchi looked at him shocked.

"Its my cheek not your lunch you fool man" She placed a hand over the cheek he bit making him burst out laughing.

"I can't wait for the day you'd be my lunch, dinner, breakfast, appetizer and al the in between" He winked at her and bit the uncovered cheek. Aarchi hit his chest, asking him to stop but he simply laughed it off.

"Next time you bite me, I'm going to bite you back" She held out her index finger threatening him. He looked at her challengingly and bit her finger and licked it to soothe the sting.

"You...You... You are a very bad man. You are a cannibal. I will complain to papa that you bit me. I will tell bhaiyu...no both bhaiyus that you first bit both my cheeks and then my finger. You watch what they do to you. No one bites Aarchi Ranawat" Aarchi pulled her finger out of his mouth and threw soft punches on his chest as his chest vibrated with laughter.

"Oh yeah? What will you Papa Ranawat when he asks you why was I biting you? What are you going to say?" Vihaan held her hands behind her back and teased her.

"I...I" Aarchi looked for words to come out of her mouth but ended up being speechless. She glared at him with a pout making Vihaan pull her cheek.

"You are so cute" He said pulling her cheek as she continued to glare her.

"This is manhandling me. I will report you to the HR" Aarchi argued.

"Go! The floor's yours" Vihaan said taking a step closer to her capturing her between him and the car.

"Only Vihaan Malhotra bites Aarchi Ranawat, okay?" Vihaan asked softly as he pecked her cheek and proceeded to bite it. Aarchi tried to hide her cheek from Vihaan but failed immensely. He kissed it again and left her hands taking a step back crossing his hands over his chest.

"I said if you bite me, I'll bite you back" Aarchi pulled him close and bit his cheek hard before pushing him away and running away with the rose he gave her. Vihaan stood there smiling sheepishly as he watched Aarchi make her way inside the hospital muttering profanities at him.

Vihaan walked in after a few minutes and got busy with his work and true to his words earlier, it had been a busy day where he had to skip his lunch. He had sent a one-line sentence text to Aarchi asking her to not wait for him as he was busy saving lives. Aarchi understood his duty and replied with a thumbs up and a glare for his flirtings.

_________________

Vihaan's chats

Aarchi's Reply

Aarchi laughed and got to her work. They didn't have much conversation after that except Aarchi dropped by Vihaan's cabin to tell him she was leaving.

"I'm going home, you?" She asked looking around to see if he had any plans to leave or not.

"Nope, I'm waiting for the labs to send back some results and then I'll see from there" Vihaan said moving his stuff here and there to look for a pen.

"Have you eaten anything?" She asked helping him to look. Vihaan shook his head.

"Here's your pen and a small snack" She handed him the pen and held out a container to him.

"Nothing much just bread and butter but it should keep you functioning until you have dinner" she said with a smile. Vihaan looked up at her feeling warmth spread all over his heart. He held her wrist and motioned her to round around the desk.

"You didn't have to do this" He said standing up and making her sit in his chair.

"But I wanted to. I don't want to a undernourished boyfriend" She said opening the container and removing one slice of the sandwich and holding it to his mouth. Vihaan stared at the slice and her with undecipherable emotions making Aarchi look at him confused. Vihaan placed the sandwich in the container and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you" He said hugging her closely as Aarchi looked around confused.

"Is everything fine Vihaan?" She asked reciprocating the hug. Vihaan nodded his head and broke the hug.

"Good. Have this, I have to go" She said standing up giving him the container.

"I don't have time to eat jaan. I'm swamped with work" Vihaan said showing her his table.

"Normal people generally can eat with one hand while the other one does the rest of the work. Now unless people with 165 IQ do stuff differently, I don't know" She said winking at him.

"You sneaky little mouse" Vihaan looked at her with mock anger.

"Eat Vihaan" She held the sandwich to him and glared at him.

"You need to bite it smartass, it won't dissolve in your mouth" Aarchi said when he didn't bite down on the sandwich.

"But I want to bite those cute red cheeks" Vihaan said taking a bite of the sandwich pointing at her cheeks making her look away from him laughing.

"Not permitted. This property is not meant for biting" Aarchi said pointing at herself and taking Vihaan's hand so he can hold his food.

"Please" He looked at her with puppy eyes melting her exterior. She forwarded her cheek to him looking annoyed to tease him. Vihaan pecked her cheek and let her go.

"Done?" She asked shaking her head as she picked her purse from the patient chair.

"Actually no" He pulled her back and softly bit her cheek and then kissed it to make it feel better.

"Now better" He said kissing her cheek once more.

"Easy easy tiger. I'm a human not the apple you are talking about and before you again go caveman on me, I think I should run" Aarchi said pushing him away slightly so she could run away. Vihaan let go of her laughing as he completed the food she brought.