Author's Notes: My first ever CID fic. This one's on Abhirika. A Valentine's Day fic. I wanted to post it on the day itself but got delayed for some reasons. Anyways here it is. Please give it a go.

Fourteenth February…

That was the date showing on the screen of her phone. Or to be exact, her eyes just happened to catch a glimpse of the numbers while receiving a call. She wouldn't have minded missing it either.

Valentine's Day. Day of Love. Precisely, the day when two people in a relationship celebrates the love and bonding.

But Tarika never really cared for this day. Neither did she believe that love could be celebrated only in a certain marked day of the calendar. It sounded ridiculous to her, always. Even in her high school and college days, she remembered arguing with her friends on this issue, who were die-hard romantics and would do anything for a date on that particular day. She could never do that. It's like more a forced affair, far from anything real. And she hated it. So, coming as a straight fact, she had never celebrated the Valentine's Day. Nor even wanted to. Never. Until…

She realized she had fallen in love.

Abhijeet was not a romantic person, per se. Yeah, he had gone out of his way to impress her initially. But that's it. She never had the fortune of witnessing his romantic side when they were alone, which was a very rare occurrences, considering the number of years they had been in this so-called half formal relationship. Starting was fun. Those naughty flirts, deep eyelocks and cute smiles carved the way for a relationship. But the way ahead was rougher. Abhijeet was not easy to deal with. He was always messed up when it came to taking a right decision and never knew to create that balance between professional and personal commitments. Tarika couldn't remember a single date where he had been in time. His duty of a cop, always being the solid excuse. Once, twice, thrice..she could understand. Two times, maybe, she could forgive. But each and every time..?

No, she couldn't. Not without feeling bad. She had tried to be patient for eight years. But now even her patience was wearing thin. She was on the verge of breaking.

The shattering sound of the test tube brought her to reality. Shit, my thoughts are really getting fucked up. Biting back a sigh, Tarika tried to concentrate on her work. But the thoughts kept pricking her mind.

"Why on the earth did I even pick up the phone?" groaned Tarika.

However much she claimed that she gives a damn about the Valentine's Day, deep down even she knew that she wouldn't mind getting a small surprise from Abhijeet today. At least for once she would have something to tell her friends, who never leaves an occasion to tease her while blabbering about their own love life. But she knew this was not gonna happen. Her wish would never be fulfilled.

I mean, if Abhijeet really understood my cherished wish, he would have already done that in these eight years.

Never even a wish came to her on this day from him. Let alone a surprise..

And this year the scenario is even worse. The whole CID team has been on a trail after Herpes Dongara for two weeks. Yet they haven't been able to track him down. The situation was tense. Everyone is wearied down with stress, but, thankfully, everyone has managed to survive with some scratches. Only they need more time to see off this terrorist, once and for all.

So not even in her wildest dreams could she imagine Abhijeet doing something….anything, for her.

…

Okay, fine. She was, indeed, expecting something. And that couldn't exactly be something she should be ashamed of. After all, she couldn't control her heart always. You have got to listen to it sometimes. And heart doesn't know how to judge the scenario and then make some expectations out of it. As far as Abhijeet is concerned, situations are always terrific for him, in his views, at least. Some crucial cases had always popped up whenever he tried to think something out of the box. After which he would rant over the same apology words to her, again and again. So this time it's nothing new. Nothing at all. She could write a book on all his failed attempts. Definitely it would be worth reading.

BEEP BEEP..

She came out of her thoughts at the sound of her phone. It showed a new message. From..

Abhijeet.

Yes, the sender's name said Abhijeet. Tarika was too surprised to react for a second. Is her mind playing some games..? Not utterly impossible, considering she was reminiscing him for the last one hour. She can feel her heartbeats racing just at the sight of his name..

God, sometimes she hates the effect he has on her. It is pretty numbing. As she selected the read option, the message lit up the screen..

"Meet me downstairs at 5 pm today. Something urgent to talk. I will be waiting near my car."

This was weird. She wasn't expecting anything from him. And here he mentioned urgent. What could it be..? She was sure it couldn't be anything about the ongoing case. For she had already given her reports on time and there was nothing more where she could be much of a help. Again the message didn't seem like a date either. Then what the hell does he want..?

"This is surely going to be a long day", thought Tarika.

Five hours seemed five days. She kept looking at the clock after every five seconds hoping the clock might run slow. Finally when the clock strikes five, she shuts down her laptop, gathers her files and dashes out of the forensic lab. As she made her way to the parking lot, she could see Abhijeet standing beside his car. Waiting for her.

On time, mused time. Then this must be really important.

Abhijeet felt a presence behind him and turned round. It was her.

"Hey, glad that you came", smiled Abhijeet.

He is nervous. Tarika can make it. After being with him for years, Tarika can read each and every state of his mind, right through the shell of his external appearance.

"Of course. Wouldn't give it a miss for anything", Tarika gave a small smile in return.

Abhijeet moved forward to open the car's door for her. "Shall we?"

"Wait you got to tell me what all this is about. Besides, where are we going? What's so urgent thing you want to talk?" Tarika shot out all the questions at once.

"Patience Tarika. It's not far from here, you know. You'll soon see."

"Fine. I've waited all day and maybe I can wait a bit longer." She moved to her seat.

Abhijeet closed the door and settled down himself on the driver's seat. He drove out the car from the parking garage.

…..

They are on the roads for almost one hour. Tarika has had thousands of creepy thoughts running through her mind. Abhijeet has been exceptionally quiet, concentrated on driving. He had made no attempts to talk to her during this hour long journey and even silenced her with one or two words whenever she tried to. They are on the outskirts of Mumbai. Tall buildings were replaced by the wild greenery. A waft of wind carrying the sweet scent of flowers only sought to pacify her. Tarika let the winds blow on her face, yet it could not calm her mind.

Finally Abhijeet took a turn down the road and stopped the car to a clearing in the middle of the woods.

"We're here", announced Abhijeet.

Tarika opened her eyes and tried to grab the surroundings. The sun was almost down. She could not see things her hair and rubbing off the wrinkles in her dress, she got out of the car. Abhijeet is standing a bit away from her. She took two steps towards him and froze in her tracks. She could not believe her eyes. The scene was…

Breathtaking. Intoxicating.

They were standing in front of a beautiful lake, whose waters reflected the deepest blue of the sky yet crystal clear. Swans were still sailing in the fading twilight. While the red and yellow flame trees spread out their branches as an extending welcome.

Tarika was still in a trance. Her whole presence seemed to breathe in the atmosphere. It was surreal, magical.

Abhijeet came forward and said," Like it?"

Tarika couldn't control her emotions anymore. She engulfed Abhijeet in a big hug, as if to never let go. "Like it..? I'm completely in love with it. How come you've never brought me here before..?"

Abhijeet felt relieved. For a moment he was scared how Tarika would react to his surprise. Guess he didn't fail this time, finally, in making her happy.

"Well I discovered this place long back. I used to come here when I was upset or felt lonely. This seemed a good place to wind down my thoughts. But only recently did I feel it would be even more wonderful to share this place with someone. Like happy thoughts. Not being lonely, for a change."

"Oh I'm surprised. When did you start your actual thought processes..?" teased Tarika.

"Just wait and watch. You're in for the best night of your life, darling." There was a mysterious glint in his eyes.

Tarika could feel a blush creeping up her cheeks. Could it be what she is hoping for so long now..? Oh God, please don't mess it up this time. Her heart prayed silently.

As the last rays of the sun died down, the place became completely dark. Silent.

Tarika was a little scared now. Dark places are not really her forte. And besides they won't be able to enjoy the view anymore. The reason they travelled this long. It's over, like, in a flicker of seconds.

Suddenly lights flashed all around her. Thousands of colorful small lights lit up the place and even the pond. She was momentarily blinded by the view.

As she adjusted her vision she could see something floating on the lake. Or words, to be exact.

Large lamps floated on the lake that screamed the words…

"I LOVE YOU TARIKA"

The lights reflected from her dark pupils, as she drowned herself in the moment. This was what she had been waiting for. All that she ever wanted to hear from her boyfriend. But instead of saying the words, he etched those, in her heart, forever. Now when the moment is finally in front of her, it's too much to take. Tears glistened in her eyes. She turned around..

"Abhi, this.."

"My feelings, Tarika. Words that I could never find the courage to speak out all these years. Yet I desperately wanted to. Finally made the nature voice out on my behalf."

"It's wonderful, Abhi. I will cherish this moment for the rest of my life, no doubt about that. But you do know the enormity of the words, don't you..? Are you sure you want this..? As much beautiful the words sound, it's too heavy to carry its weight entire life."

"Tarika, I know I've been a complete jerk all these years. You're the one who gave everything in our relationship. You waited, cared, accepted..you did everything in your power while I never cared to go deep. I'm sorry. I truly am, you know. Before everything gets finished due to my utter selfishness, I want to give it a real try. I've carefully thought out my mind, and what I'm completely sure of is that, I want this relationship. Us. This togetherness. I want to grow old with you. And hold you in my arms. Forever.

Saying so, Abhijeet knelt down on one knee and forwarded a small velvet box towards Tarika.

"Will you tolerate me for the rest of your life Dr. Tarika..? Will you marry me..?"

Tarika was overwhelmed with happiness. With tears streaming down her eyes, she bent forward to grab the box and opened it. And yet again to her surprise, it was empty.

"Abhi.."

"What..? First say, Yes. You'll get the ring only then." Abhijeet flashed one of his brilliant smiles. He is gorgeous, you know. He sure is.

A laughter bubbled inside her throat. Abhijeet is crazy.

"I could never ever refuse you anything. That's quite beyond my power,you know. So yes, yes and yes…A thousand times YESSSSS."

As soon the words left her mouth, Abhijeet swept her off the ground, in a giant hug.

"Thank you, Tarika. For everything you ever did to me. For coming into my life. I promise you'll never regret this day."

Breaking the hug, Abhijeet pressed a soft kiss to her lips. Tarika was unsure how to respond. But soon she found herself participating as well. First the kiss was soft and sweet, conveying their feelings to each other. Soon it grew passionate and hot enough to finally break apart for air. As their foreheads touched, Abhijeet muttered slowly," Happy Valentine's Day, darling."

"To you too, Abhi. And I love you, always."

"So, I guess you're flattered enough to join me for dinner..?" Abhijeet asked playfully.

"Here..? In the midst of nothing..? Are you serious..?"

Abhijeet mock-rolled his eyes. "Don't underestimate me, Tarika. You know I've always got some brilliant plans up my sleeve."

"Yeah, only to mess them up.."

Fine. Yes it was the case always. But not this time.

Abhijeet quickly turned her around. There was another surprise waiting this evening to be added on her lists. Her eyes followed a well-laid table, with two chairs, stuffed food items just waiting to be devoured.

Okay, she has to admit that he did make a brilliant plan this time. She could go on thanking him letter. But right now, she was hungry. Everything else could wait.

"Do you have any more surprises left..?" Tarika laughed.

"Yeah we can spend the night here, you know, in case you really want it. I've brought a tent and all other stuffs in my car."

"Perfect. What are we waiting for..? Come on.."

As Abhijeet and Tarika entwined their hands to make the most out of this night, they felt blissful. Contented. This time they are going to make this work, they are confident of that.

END

Finally, done. Since I'm giving fanfiction writing a first try, there could be mistakes. Please drop a review. Constructive criticisms are welcome.