A/N: I haven't gotten any reviews... Is it that bad?


Naina stood watching her mother and grandmother argue. As they always did.

"What reason did you have to invite them for dinner?"

Naina's mother, Jennifer, looked shocked. "What do you mean? They've been our neighbors and friends for over two years now. They have invited us over several times, and we've all gone. Except for you. What's the harm in inviting them over once?"

Naina was contemplating entering the argument, but decided against it. Instead, she flounced up the stairs to change clothes. After all, it was for Aman.


Next door, man was going through the same issues. Rohit was standing there, right behind him, giving his personal fashion opinion. Which, Aman had to admit, was fairly impeccable.

He was nervous. The red shirt he was wearing contrasted perfectly with the black tie, but he wasn't sure how that would come across.

For some reason, Jenny wanted it to be a formal event, even though it was simply their two families.

Aman was okay with that though. He was actually very proud of what she was doing. She was making an effort to be happy.

Her husband had died ten years ago in a brutal car crash. Jenny had been in the passenger seat at the time. The crash had been so close, and Jenny had barely escaped with her life. Her husband hadn't.

Aman turned back to his brother. "How do I-"

"Perfect. She won't be able to resist you."

Gia stumbled through Aman's room's door. "Aman."

He turned to her, a smile on his face. "Yeah, sweetie?"

"You look perfect!"

Aman smiled even wider, causing Gia to smile back at him.

Gia was their adopted sister. They had taken her in 5 years ago, when Aman had spotted her one day when he and Rohit had been wandering about the town.

At the tender of age of 4, she had caught Aman's eye, and he fell in love with his new little sister. He knew she needed a good home, and his family could give her one. So they did.

Aman had now had his ego and confidence fully boosted, so he was ready to face whatever would happen that night.


Naina, sadly, did not have anyone in her room advising her, as her mother and grandmother didn't know.

Her little brother, Shiv, had popped in and dropped his words of encouragement, but the boy was only 13. His brain was littered with basketball statistics and Deepika Padukone.

This was the age that the boy was obsessing over action figures and Minecraft.

So, as much as Naina loved and trusted her brother, his opinion didn't really have any effect on her.


But Naina didn't feel too frazzled in her red dress. Until she walked down the staircase.

Suddenly, time slowed. She could see Aman's laughing face as he spoke to her mom, leading her towards the kitchen. Aman's mother trailed behind him, arguing with Aman on how to properly make the paneer dish that Aman had decided Jennifer was making. They all knew that Jennifer would only stand in front of the stove, Aman and his mother were going to do all the heavy-lifting.

Naina smiled slightly, her heart feeling whole. She glanced back to the foot of the stairs, noticing Rohit standing awkwardly, looking at her. He had a smirk on his face, one that Naina couldn't quite place. She quirked her eyebrow, but Rohit simply shook his head and motioned for her to come down.

Aman backed into the entrance again, watching Naina come down the stairs, the two of them making eye contact.

He motioned to his hips, pretending to lift up something. Naina glanced down to her dress, which was trailing behind her, causing a potential tripping hazard. She looked back at him, smiling.

She lifted up her dress, walking slowly down the steps. But then, of course, she got lost in his eyes.

The last two steps became an obstacle for her and she tripped falling right into Aman's arms as he raced to catch her.

"Hi." He looked her in the eyes, brushing aside the hair that had gotten loose from her knot.

She was wearing her hair up, in the knot, the way she knew he liked it.

Aman slowly let her back up, not moving his eyes.


Behind the wall, all the aged females of the house were watching the scene without abandon.

Aman's mother had been aware of his love for Naina since before he himself knew. The unconscious feelings, can be a powerful thing.

Naina's mother, on the other hand, had previously, had her suspicions, but now she was sure. Her daughter was in love with Aman. And judging based on the look in Aman's eyes, he loved Naina just as much, if not more.

Naina's grandmother, conversely, had an issue with this whole thing. "Is he even Punjabi?"

Both the mothers turned to look at Lajjo, their expressions incredulous.

"Yes, we're Punjabi." Aman's mother smiled slightly then turned back to the scene.

Aman and Naina had begun making small talk, with Rohit standing behind them, rolling his eyes.

The mothers watched with adoration, their heads occasionally turning to each other to give that knowing mother glance.


Lajjo was worried. She had made a mistake. Actually, she had been so angry about this dinner, she had call Kuwari Kudi, the Punjabi matchmaking service, to get someone to show up. Now, she was even angrier. Because she wasn't told about Aman, they had forced her to call for help.

The doorbell rang, and Lajjo winced. She was going to be in so much trouble, and Jennifer was going to get the chance to get mad at her again. To scold her.

Lajjo moved as fast as she possibly could with her old limbs and creaky joints toward the door, but Rohit got there first.

"Dadaji, what took you so long?"

Lajjo sighed as she took in the sight of Chaddhaji. She smiled at him, loudly, but no one suspected anything. She was always very loud and brash. Especially her singing, which thankfully Aman had managed to shut down almost the moment he had moved to town with his family.

Chaddha immediately moved next to Lajjo, glancing toward Aman and Naina, who were still engaged in their conversation, which had gone way past small talk. No one was able to hear their conversation, but they could all see the love-smitten faces.

Though it was unbelievably clear that the two didn't realize the other's feelings.


Soon, Aman realized that he should go help with the food, unless they were planning on ordering pizza that evening. Because they all knew that Jenny couldn't make Indian, let alone Punjabi food, for her life.

Aman walked away, smiling at Naina, refusing to turn around and break eye contact. Until he hit a wall. At that point, he gave up, and simply turned towards the kitchen.

Aman was walking around with a taste of daal on a ladle. Everyone had dispersed through the house, until he bumped into Naina.

"Aa." He said, pointing the ladle to her, and Naina opened her mouth involuntarily, without a second thought. "Does it need anything?" He followed up, moving his finger right next to her lip, wiping off the stray food with him.

"Um… It… it… It needs…"

Aman removed his hand.

"Salt. It needs salt."

Naina shook off her haze, walking back towards the dining room, blinking her eyes. When Aman had touched her, she had lost all sense, all thought. She hadn't been able to feel, see, hear, smell anything but him.

And the strange fact was, she didn't mind.


The doorbell rang again, causing the entire house to jolt, save Lajjo. She winced, and cursed under her breath, immediately apologizing to Sarasvati.

Rohit groaned, stopping his conversation with Shiv about the current basketball stats and got up to answer the door.

Shiv immediately turned to Gia, and they began trying to guess, meaning place bets, on who might be at the door.

Neither of them got it right, as their guesses had no names. It was the 'little Chinese girl', or the 'tall teenage basketball player'.

They didn't actually know the names of their neighbors.

When the door opened however, everyone was surprised to see an Indian man that seemed to be in his late 40s/ early 50s. None of their group had ever seen this man before, though I this moment, he had certainly caught Jenny's eye.

He was unbelievably tall, easily at least six feet. He had a slightly gruff look about him, but there was this air about him that commanded attention, and said he deserved trust.

he walked in, without invitation, but no one minded. "I'm here to meet-"

Lajjo cut him off. "He's a family friend. I invited him since we're letting anybody come over."

Jennifer looked hurt, but none of the Kapurs took any offense. They were a very happy family, which usually resulted in most insults simply bouncing off of them.

Jennifer chose to break the silence. "Well, come on in." She glanced up at him, comparing her 5'2" frame, to his six feet. "There's always room for one more."

Aman suddenly walked in. "And the food's ready."


Throughout the meal, Lajjo kept sneaking glances at the man, who they later learned was named Yash. She couldn't understand why a man that was about the age that her son would have been sent over here by the matchmaking service.

She had specifically requested a match for her granddaughter. Hadn't she?

To her immense displeasure though, the group accepted Yash as if this was an ordinary occurrence. Which, in the case of the Kapurs, it was, considering Aman's personality.

Eventually, the awkward meal was over, and Yash was sent on his way, along with the Kapurs. Of course, Jennifer ended the night with a new number in her phone.


Naina was about to go to bed, when she noticed that Aman's jacket was still on her couch. She smiled, remembering how he had immediately shrugged it off when he walked in, as if it was his own house.

She glanced out the window, noticing that the lights were still on in Aman's house.

She made a split-second decision and decided she would return it to him.

She didn't bother to change out of her sweatpants and t-shirt, assuming at this point, it wouldn't make a difference.

She rang the doorbell, to which Aman's mother opened the door.

Naina held up the jacket and Aman's mother smiled and shook her head. "He's upstairs. You can go give it to him."

Naina smiled gratefully, shrugged off her slippers and jogged up the stairs, where she heard the last threads of Aman and Rohit's conversation.

"We have to talk about the gay thing."


A/N: So? REVIEW! Social media and other stories on profile. Update stories on Tuesdays, and one-shots on Sundays