Chapter 24

It had been an hour since Arnav had locked the two of them inside his office and he was now sitting with a chair propped against the door having fixed her with an unblinking stare as she had gone about on a rampage inside his room - throwing around files, threatening to break the glass vase on the table, flinging the cushions off the couch, pushing his revolving chair around, tearing up important papers, even yanking out the telephone wire right out of his socket which had been done accidentally of course and which had been followed by a long silence from the both of them which was what was currently pursuing in the room.

Before Arnav laughed out loud, his hands which held her cell phone, that he had managed to nick from her before she had had a chance to make a grab for it, came in front of his face and rested lightly against his eyes as he threw his head back and laughed as if without a care in the world.

And though Khushi was still nursing a broken heart and a tired head as she turned the broken wire in her hand to the only thing that could have saved her from the clutches of the monster who had her trapped - one thing that she had realized too late, well as soon as she had yanked the wire out that is, she could not help but look up as the sound of a laughter she had not heard in a long long time pervaded the room.

And just like that their eyes met and Arnav laughed even harder, his one hand resting against his head and the other clutching his stomach and Khushi could not help the tiny giggle that escaped her at the happening that she had engineered - a giggle which soon escalated into a chuckle and then into full fledged laughter.

And this was how the two friends broke ice that had frozen over their lives since the last eight years.

*****

It took a considerable time for the both of them to get back to their normal selves after the laughing fest, small giggles erupting here and there as they took in each other's inhibition less reaction and Arnav ran his fingers through his hair, looking down before catching Khushi's eyes again and conveying to her how much he had missed this companionship between them without any spoken words.

And the smile lighting his face grew even bigger as Khushi returned the look, the dazzle in her eyes sparkling brighter and Arnav knew that it was not just tears of laughter that made them glow and he felt his smile receding and his own eyes smarting under Khushi's tearful gaze and it was without words that the two friends reached for each other and neither would ever be able to pin point who had made the first move.

All they cared about at that moment was the fact that they had been apart for far too long, no matter what the reasons, and both let out a sigh of relief that they knew they had been holding within them for eight long years as the tips of their fingers met each other and Arnav felt her pull him to his feet and felt himself comply with no hesitation.

He not only got up but he pulled her closer as his arm went around her shoulders engulfing her in a hug that he felt her breakdown in, small sobs racking her body against his frame which seemed to be shaking itself and it was then that Arnav realized that he too had not been able to keep his emotions in check as Khushi's slender arms clutched at him, pulling him even tighter against herself.

But because he was Arnav Singh Raizada and she Khushi Gupta, his KhuGu, his response was not something completely out of the blue as Khushi felt herself sputter out her laughter at them,

"Don't squeeze me like I am a ketchup bottle, KhuGu. Nahin toh mujhe tumhaare khilaaf assault ka case daalna padega!"

*****

"I missed you...I missed you so much, Khu..."

The words tumbled out of Arnav's mouth with the urgency of water wanting to gush out of the hold of a dam even as his arms refused to let go of their position around Khushi's shoulders, his head bent and his eyes closed as he took in the feeling of once again being with his best friend after eight long years of separation.

And he reveled in how her arms tightened around him and how she rubbed her cheek against his shoulder as a long deep content sigh left her with the words, "I did too, a lot."

"I am sorry."

"I am so sorry!"

Were the next two sentences by them which overlapped each other making both of them break out in a small chuckle before Khushi fell silent and Arnav took it as a sign to speak,

"I am so sorry for everything...for not being there when you needed me, for not coming back more times than you could have pushed me away, for letting myself believe that I could live without our friendship knowing very well that I couldn't, for not fighting enough for what we shared and for looking away when you were angry and hurt...I should have been there, Khu, I should have been there throughout no matter what but I wasn't...I was just so angry and hurt myself and I let that override everything else and for that I am so so sorry!"

Khushi let him speak his heart, her hands caressing the expanse of his tensely wrought back as she let his words soothe over her wounds, said unsaid, like a balm as his breath tickled her ears and warmed her better than a cashmere shawl would and she felt herself smile as an epiphany struck her mute -

He was there.

In her arms.

A fantasy that she had often tortured herself with when she was younger and old had come true - the dream of having him in her embrace, for her to hold and have.

She had spent countless hours agonizing over the seemingly implausibility of it, cruelly putting down herself for even entertaining such thoughts and telling herself again and again that this was not only a dream which she could never achieve but also one that would mock her even if she were to become friends with Arnav again.

That it would haunt her when she would see him with someone else like this and hence it was a better deal to keep entirely away from him and the heartache which was this fantasy.

And yet...

Now that it had come true in part, it just took a moment for Khushi to realize the futility of her apprehensions, the futility of the insecurities she had harbored about her own strength for so long.

Because as she cradled Arnav close to her, it hit her hard that it did not matter at all whether she got to hold him like this on a more intimate level because what mattered the most was that she could hold him like this, even if as just a friend. Because what mattered was that he was still there for her to call a friend, her best friend and that if that was all she was ever going to get then she was going to grab the opportunity with both hands.

She had spent way too long trying to push herself away from him, apprehensive of a heartbreak that she had imagined would shatter her never realizing this until this moment that in these attempts of protecting her heart, she had scarred it even more and taken away its biggest comfort - their friendship.

And it was with these thoughts cementing themselves in her heart and mind and dispelling in their wake all her insecurities and guilt and fear for the future of herself and their relationship, did Khushi frame her next words, knowing well that it was on her that the onus of where she and Arnav would go from here relied.

"I am sorry too for...main darr gayyee thi. After all that happened, after I realized what I felt for you and what you didn't feel for me, I tried hard ki woh kabhi humaare beech na aaye but that seemed impossible and then you started spending all your time with Lavanya and you started sharing things with her that only I knew and suddenly mujhe laga ki tumhe meri zaroorat hi nahin hai jabki I couldn't even imagine living without you and that scared me so much...I just thought ki agar main tumse door rahoon toh I will be able to build myself up but I was wrong and I knew that...and that made me so angry! But I was so pissed off ki you also never came back twice! You should have! You know me and you know how mad I can be but phir jab tum wapas nahin aaye then I started thinking ki shayad yahi theek hai...I am sorry for that. I should have not just waited for you to come to me, I too should have approached you but I was so embarrassed and then things just kept happening and we kept drifting apart and...I am sorry, Arnu, I am really sorry! I hope ki you can look past all that has happened and that we can again be friends because I really really missed you!"

She held her breath as she gave him time to process all that she had finally let go of, feelings that she had finally put in words and an eerie silence rang in her ears as he stood like a statue and just when she was about to break away from their embrace and was contemplating shaking him for a reaction maybe, she felt his arms loosen from around her and her being gently pried away only to be held firmly by her shoulders at an arm's length, her eyes looking up to find him gazing intensely at her and for the first time in their lifetime as friends, Khushi could not decipher the look that clouded the chocolate orbs but even before the confusion could fully draw itself into her, she felt a gasp escaping her as movements happened in a blur even before she could fully comprehend them but even the gasp could not quite form itself fully as Arnav put an abrupt stop to it.

With his lips.

Next Chapter - Page 71

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*Not proof read

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