Avi's pov :

I looked at her sleeping figure. After having her lunch, she immediately went to her room without speaking a word to anyone. I also gave her some space. After some time, when I came to the room, I found her sleeping peacefully.

I had been trying to keep my anger under control since the morning because of that girl. How dare she insult my bunny? If it was another person in her place, I could have slapped that person. I'm proud that she didn't sit silently when that girl tried to insult her.

Now I'm searching for some good books on the bookshelf so that I can divert my mind. She has a good collection of books, as she loves reading. But there are only books related to group exams. Where might she have kept them? Then I pulled the storage box from under her bed. Yes, they are here. But why did she keep them here? Anyway, there was a box that caught my attention.

What's so special about this box? I opened the box with curiosity to see what she had hidden inside. There were so many letters inside the box, some with my name and our house address and others with my college address. Then it struck me that she had written these letters for me but didn't send them to me. Actually, when she moved to city from our village, she used to write letters to us. That was Grandpa's idea. She didn't want to go with her parents, so he gave her the idea of writing letters. Despite the availability of telephones at the time, he told us that the feeling would be beautiful when writing letters. Indeed, it is so beautiful. Every week, we used to write two letters. She used to send for me and Arjun, while I used to send for her and Arjun, and Arjun used to send for both of us. We used to wait eagerly for the letters. But for the last three years, I haven't received a single letter. Though now we are using smartphones, even then we used to write letters at least twice a month.

I moved to the balcony and sat on the chair. She will definitely scold me if she finds out that I read all these. But who cares? These were written specifically for me. So, it's my right to read all the letters. With that, I opened a letter randomly. It was written on February 16, 2017. That is, it was written four years ago.

Hey Avi,

How are you? How is your internship going on? I know you will rock. You know, last week was Valentine's Week. My friends were busy celebrating their love. You know, they thought that I and Sunny were in a relationship. I told them that we were just friends—best friends. I wish you were there with me. Though we didn't propose our love for each other, I know you love me the same as I do, or maybe more than I do. I miss you, Avi. I just want to run away from everything and hide in your arms for the rest of my life. But is it possible? I wish I could tell you how much I love you, Avi. Why can't I stop thinking about you, Avi? Why do my thoughts always roam around you? No matter how hard I try, I always end up thinking about you. I want to tell you so many things, but I'm at a loss for words. I feel you are close to me yet apart.

With lots of love,

Why Bunny? Then why did you separate yourself from me all these years? I opened another letter. It was written on August 17, 2016.

Hey Avi,

How are you? I'm not fine at all. I didn't want to take this course, but I didn't have any other option. I'm not getting much interest from listening to the classes. I thought I would learn about plants and soil, but here I'm learning some coding and all. But the only good thing in all the bad is that Sunny is my classmate. You know, I was so relieved when I saw him in the class. That idiot didn't tell me that he was coming here. I was so angry with him for hiding, but then he brought me a tub of my favourite unicorn ice cream, making all my anger fly away.

I chuckled reading it. Her craziness for ice cream never changes.

Don't laugh, okay? I know you will laugh while reading this, thinking how crazy I am for ice cream. But what can I do? You and Anna have only spoiled me by bringing me ice cream since I was a child. So, that's your fault. Anyway, seniors are such a headache. They always poke their noses unnecessarily into our personal matters. And the food in the hostel is not good. I made new friends, but still, something is stopping me from getting close to them. Anna came to visit me last week. I thought you would also come with him, but you didn't. Then it struck me that you are busy with your project and the interviews. We enjoyed it a lot, but we missed you. Why can't we be like little kids, Avi? At least then we can be close to each other. I wish I could erase the distance between us. I love you.

With lots of love.
Yours, bunny.

We were very happy when she topped both the state and national entrance examinations. She worked hard so that she could convince Mamayya to let her study agricultural engineering. But he didn't listen and was firm with his decision. We tried our best to convince him, but everything went in vain.

I opened another letter. It was written on August 17, 2021. That means it was the next day after our engagement.

Hey Avi,

I still can't believe that we got engaged, Avi. Though a part of me is very happy that I'm going to spend my entire life with you, another part of me is yelling at me, "Do I deserve you?" Your life is perfect, whereas mine is dark and messed up.

How dare she think that she doesn't deserve me? And no one's life is perfect, bunny.

Every wedding ritual will be remembered by every girl for the rest of her life. Thank you for remembering all my wishes. Everything was perfect that day except for that incident. How could she accuse me like that, Avi, when I'm the one who bore all the pain? But what more could we expect from that brother-sister duo? I'm glad that Anna didn't marry that witch. You know, she accused me of having used her brother and left him, when I despise him with all my heart. Why would I do that when I love my Avi? Okay, tell me if that girl had accused me of the same thing in front of you. Then would you trust me?

Of course, I know my bunny can never do such things.

I know, Avi, that you will trust your bunny. This evening, I confronted Rajesh in the temple. And I feel as if a huge burden lifted off my shoulders. Did you remember how I used to roam around you or Anna at any family function after the death of Adi Dadda? You even asked me why I'm with you guys all the time. "Earlier, you used to be with the girls. Now, why are you roaming around us like a bee?" The answer to your question is that I used to feel protective around you guys. I used to escape the creepy stares of that bastard, Rajesh. I know, I didn't share any of these things with you. I know you will be hurt when you learn that I shared those with Anna but not with you. Trust me, he also didn't know many things, not even Anju Maa.

I just don't understand what's happening to me, Avi. I'm feeling very low these days. On top of that, Sunny has not talked to me for the past year. He was angry at me because I resigned from my job. Now his anger has doubled because he has come to know that I'm getting married. He didn't know that you were the groom. He and Pranav are the only ones in our family who knew about my love for you, just like Veeru Anna knows about us. I will tell you everything, Avi, but I need time. You know, Sravya is in love with Surya. She told me that he was in love with another girl, and that girl was going to get married, which I didn't know. I was so busy with my own life that I didn't know that my best friend loved someone. I'm the worst friend one could get.

I was about to read further when my phone pinged with a message. It's a message from Arjun asking me to come to his room. I placed all the letters inside the box and went inside the room. I kept the box in its place and went to Arjun's room.

*********************

In Arjun's room:

"Where is Diya?" I asked, sitting on the bed.

"She is with Siri," he said, playing some game on his mobile.

"Okay. Tell me, why did you call me?" I asked, snatching his phone.

"Just like that. It's been a long time since we talked alone. So, tell me, how is your married life going on?" He said.

Oh! Finally! This moron has realised that there is a person, Avinav.

I gave him a sarcastic smile and said, "Oh! I'm glad you finally remembered that."

"What?" He asked, perplexed.

"I thought your brother and sister had forgotten about me. You both kept me out of your lives until now, and then you started hiding things from me. I agree. I understand; I, too, kept my feelings for Bunny hidden from you. But apart from that, you know everything, don't you?" I said, gritting my teeth.

"It's not like that, Kittu. We know how much you will be hurt by seeing us like that," he said, trying to explain to me.

"But you guys forgot that I would get hurt more when I knew everything. Just leave it. I need some time, Arjun," I yelled at him and just stormed out of the room.

I don't know what to say to him right now. I don't know how hurt I would have felt then, but now I am more hurt by their thinking. I need some time alone for myself. I texted Maya that I was leaving for work and then left so she wouldn't be worried about me when she woke up. I just don't know when things will fall into place.

Keep smiling and take care ❤