"When we're together, I feel like I'm home."
- Set It Up
~ A A R O H I ~
Paris looked different at night.
Softer somehow.Warmer.
Like the entire city had wrapped itself in gold just to feel romantic on purpose.
By the time Advik and I stepped out of the car near the Eiffel Tower, the evening sky had already deepened into shades of navy and silver while thousands of golden lights glittered across the city around us.
And then, I saw it properly.
The Eiffel Tower. For the first time in my entire life....my jaw visibly dropped at its site.
Towering impossibly high against the dark sky like something unreal.
For a moment, I genuinely forgot to breathe.
"Oh my God..."
The words escaped before I could stop them.
Beside me, Advik glanced over quietly.
And smiled.
A soft one. Smaller.
The cold evening breeze pushed gently through my hair while tourists crowded the streets around us laughing, taking pictures, speaking in different languages all at once.
Street musicians played nearby.
Somewhere a vendor sold hot chocolate and roasted chestnuts.
The entire place felt alive.
And somehow, despite the crowd
it still felt strangely intimate standing beside him.
I looked up again completely mesmerized.
"It's so much bigger in real life."
"That," Advik said dryly beside me, "is usually how monuments work."
I turned toward him with betrayal.
"You ruin emotions professionally."
"It's a gift."
Still when I looked back toward the tower, I felt his eyes drift toward me briefly.
Not the monument.
Me.
And suddenly my cheeks burned slightly despite the cold.
The wind grew stronger as we walked slowly through the crowded pathways beneath glowing street lamps. My coat slipped slightly from one shoulder while I kept turning everywhere at once trying to absorb every tiny detail.
The lights.
The music.
The architecture.
Paris felt cinematic in ways that should've been illegal. I felt like I was trapped in a movie. Picture perfect.
"You've been here before?" I asked while walking beside him.
"Twice."
"And you still came again?"
This time his answer came immediately.
"You wanted to see it."
My heart betrayed me again.
I looked away quickly before he noticed. But
He always noticed.
We continued walking through the crowd until suddenly a sharp gust of cold wind hit me directly.
I shivered instantly. Advik noticed immediately. Of course he did.
Without saying anything, he quitely stepped closer to me, adjusting my muffler around my neck neatly. His motion was precise and maybe he did not notice how my breath had hitched because he was too close to me.
My heart betrayed me again. As I took in his grey eyes bored into mine, with each breath he took.....I synced in.
His hands, they stayed adjusting my muffler and I had forgotten to breathe.
His fingers brushed my jaw unknowingly and my stomach flipped.
I blinked.
"You are cold" he said , stepping back .
"I'm fine."
"Aarohi."
That tone again.
The calm one that somehow always won.
I sighed dramatically before shoving my hands in my coat pockets.
Now I was cold and struggling mentally.
"There," he nodded approvingly. "Now you look less likely to catch pneumonia."
He said, as he bought two cups of hot chocolate from the vendor.
"You speak like an exhausted father."
"You behave like someone experiencing adolescence"
I rolled my eyes before walking beside him.
A few minutes later we stopped near the railing overlooking the Seine River, the Eiffel Tower glowing brilliantly above us now.
For a while neither of us spoke.
We just stood there quietly while the city shimmered around us.
The silence didn't feel awkward anymore.
Like we had unknowingly learned how to exist beside each other.
'coexistance' ,'mutualism' . Whatever you name.
I rested my arms lightly against the railing, staring at the lights reflecting over the water below.
"Thank you for bringing me here."
It took courage to say that.
Advik leaned one elbow against the railing beside me casually.
"You already thanked me this afternoon."
"I'm thanking you again."
"For the tower?"
I shook my head slightly. "For today."
His gaze softened.
And suddenly the cold wind didn't feel cold anymore. He was red. His cheeks were slightly pink and his nose...?
Redder than the red velvet cake.
He looked adorable.
Annoying.
"You know," I admitted quietly, "this morning I genuinely thought I'd panic the second I stepped outside alone."
"But you didn't."
"I almost called you three times though."
A faint grin appeared on his face.
"you called only once"
"I showed remarkable restraint."
"I'm proud."
The words came lightly. Teasingly.
But they still settled somewhere deep inside me. I looked at him from the corner of my eyes.
Really looked.
At the sharp line of his jaw beneath the city lights. At the grey eyes reflecting gold from the tower. At the calmness in his face I rarely noticed when he was busy joking through life.
~~~~My baby's fit like a daydream
Walkin' with his head down, I'm the one he's walkin' to
So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to~~~
.
That was how he worked. Hiding under sarcasm. But real him, real Advik. I had seen him before.
Someone rare. Someone precious.

~~I want to wear his initial
On a chain 'round my neck, chain 'round my neck
Not because he owns me
But 'cause he really knows me~~
Before I could stop myself, the thought escaped quietly.
"I think this is my favorite day so far."
His eyes shifted toward me slowly.
Soft..Warm..
Like he felt it too.
Then suddenly the Eiffel Tower erupted into thousands of sparkling lights all at once.
I gasped instantly.

"Oh my God!"
The entire tower glittered against the night sky like falling stars while tourists around us cheered excitedly.
Without thinking, I grabbed Advik's arm instinctively.
And he looked at me instead of the lights.
I didn't notice.
It felt magical.
Actually magical.
I stared upward completely mesmerized, it was better than the movies.
"Oh my God..." The words escaped in a whisper. "It's beautiful."
Beside me, silence. For one second and then he added "Yeah."
Something about his tone made me turn slightly.
And immediately my heartbeat forgot how to function. Because Advik wasn't looking at the tower. He was looking at me.
Not casually. Not teasingly. Not with that usual smug expression of his .
Just looking. Softly.
~~~My baby's fly like a jet stream
High above the whole scene, loves me like I'm brand new
(Call it what you want, call it what you want, call it)
So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to~~~
Like somewhere between the city lights and the chaos and this ridiculous romantic place, he had forgotten to hide it for a second.
The golden reflections from the Eiffel Tower flickered across his face while the cold breeze moved through his dark hair slightly, grey eyes steady on mine with an intensity that made my stomach whiplash.
My heartbeat. The closeness between us. His hand rested near mine against the railing.
God.
The entire world felt too quiet all at once.
"You're not even looking at the tower," I whispered before I could stop myself.
His lips pressed in a thin line.
"I know."
My brain officially left the conversation.
"And yet," he murmured softly, eyes still holding mine, "pretty sure I'm looking at the prettier view."
Oh.
Oh no.
That was illegal. My entire body short circuted as I felt fireworks through my entire body. My jaw dropped and my mouth stayed open for a few seconds.
I stared at him in complete silence .
Meanwhile Advik finally seemed to realize what he'd just said because his expression shifted almost instanly.
Like his own mouth had betrayed him.
He cleared his throat lightly. I looked away toward the tower.
The damage was already done.
"You just used a K-drama line on me," I accused weakly. "Clichè"
"I absolutely did not."
"You literally called me the prettier view in front of the Eiffel Tower."
"In my defense," he replied calmly, "the tower isn't half as beautiful as you
I choked out a laugh despite my cheeks reddend. "What..?"
"It...It isn't you" he admitted.
Kill me now or pinch me because this is a freaking dream.
The sparkling lights continued flashing around us while Paris glowed endlessly beneath the night sky.
But now...I openly stared at my absolute gorgeous husband with eyes wide .
After some time, we walked ahead.
Flowers. Candles. Tiny cafés. Street violinists. Couples kissing every three business seconds... everything radiated romance.
The second I spotted the bridge lined with hundreds and hundreds of little locks attached to the railing, my eyes widened instantly.
"Oh my God."
Advik, who had been lazily following me immediately sighed.
"No."
I turned toward him "You don't even know what I'm going to say."
"I know exactly what you're going to say."
"Advik..."
"No."
"Please?" I pouted.
"Aarohi."
I clasped my hands dramatically. "It's Paris."
He sighed again.
I ignored him completely and immediately walked closer toward the bridge instead, staring at all the tiny engraved locks glittering beneath the streetlights.
Some had initials. Some had dates. Some had entire love confessions scribbled messily into metal forever.
It was ridiculously cliché. But the hopeless romantic part of me....wanted to do it. I had seen it in so many movies and dramas.
So I decided to do this too.
I looked back toward him hopefully.
"Come on."
Advik shoved both hands into his pockets while staring at the bridge with deep suspicion.
"You do realize attaching metal objects to public infrastructure does not determine relationship success." he paused ," And it's bad for the environment"
"It's symbolic."
"It's littering "
I gasped softly. "You're ruining Paris."
"I'm protecting the ecosystem"
Still despite all his complaining,
he followed me toward the tiny street stall selling locks nearby.
Because beneath all the dramatics and sarcasm and emotional avoidance
Advik rarely denied me things.
The old vendor smiled warmly while handing us a small silver lock with a marker attached.
"Names?" he asked cheerfully.
I looked immediately toward Advik.
He looked immediately toward me.
Then narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Don't write anything cheesy "
"like..?"
"Till death do us apart.... forever mine. That is something Yash Agnihotri would do"
"you are obsessed with him"
"I am not!!"
"You should have married him"
I mocked before thinking what to write on the marker.
Because suddenly the tiny lock felt strangely intimate.
"Write whatever you want, Mrs. Advik."
God. That stupid name again. I am going to choke him someday.
I looked down quickly before he noticed my face warming.
Then slowly, carefully,
I wrote:
Aarohi & Advik
Simple. Small. Safe.
The moment I finished, Advik took the marker from my hand casually.
"What are you doing?" I frowned.
"Fixing your lack of creativity."
Then beneath the names, he added one line quietly.
"To the stranger, who has become my home "
My breath caught instantly.
He looked almost nervous that I understood the meaning.
"Don't overanalyze it," he muttered.
Too late.
Together we attached the lock carefully against the bridge railing while the city lights reflected across the Seine beneath us.
"Okay," I smiled . "Now throw the key."
Advik looked at me calmly.
Then casually slid the tiny key into his coat pocket.
I blinked.
"...What are you doing?"
"Keeping it."
"That ruins the entire purpose!"
"I don't want to ruin the river"
"Advik!"
"What?" he asks "If this marriage survives me, it can survive one spare key."
I stared at him in disbelief while he looked deeply satisfied with himself.
Hopeless man.
Then after sometime
"Wait," he said while pulling his phone out. "Stand there."
I blinked once. "What?"
"Picture." He looked at me "when we come back again years later ,we should know where we attached this stupid lock"
"Oh."
Immediately I moved awkwardly toward the railing , standing beside the lock we had attached.
And unfortunately
Advik took photography very seriously.
"No, not like that," he frowned while lowering the phone. "You look like you're being held hostage."
"I'm trying!"
"You're standing without any expression"
I gasped . To be honest, him taking my pictures felt weird in a good way.
He sighed dramatically before walking closer. "Move."
Then gently, his hands adjusted my shoulders slightly.
Turned me toward the lights.
Pushed one strand of hair behind my ear
.
"There," he murmured quietly.
The proximity instantly ruined my remaining ability to think.
His fingers lingered one second too long near my jaw before he stepped back again.
Professional photographer mode returning instantly.
"Okay," he pointed. "Now smile naturally."
"How do people smile naturally ..?"
"Mrs, Advik...look at me"
I smiled despite myself looking at him holding his Samsung Flip Fold, completely focused on me.
The camera clicked immediately.
Like he'd accidentally captured something important.
"What?" I asked suspiciously.
"Nothing."
"You made that face."
"What face?"
"The one where you have something to say but not saying"
"I hate how observant you've become."
I grinned proudly.
"Show me the picture."
"No."
"ADVIK."
"Absolutely not." Then he flipped the camera to selfie mode. "I also need to be included in the moment"
I sigh, before looking at myself in the screen, smiling. While he took our selfie.
The lock , captured too.

"Why did you wrote those words on the lock earlier..?" I asked again,
He immediately turned back, the phone shoved in his coat pocket. Walking before me, while I chased after him through the bridge laughing.
"Tell me ...you emotionally constipated Giraffe!!!"
"Not that name"
"Aduuu"
"Fuck" he turns to look at me "you are insufferable"
"And prettier than the Eiffel tower" I grin vioctoriously "my husband says that"
"Your husband is an idiot" he looks at me with that stupid smirk "but disgustingly handsome....could have been a model or something"
"I hate my husband"
"And he still wants to return back to paris , find the love lock you both attached to the bridge..... years later....with you...."
I officially relocated to the Mars.
Bye...
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VOTE BECAUSE REAL FUN IS AWAITING ✨
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