Chapter 44

"Wow!"

The birds chirped merrily in the surroundings. The morning sun radiated slanted rays as it ascended overhead. The sound of waves rushing to meet the shore echoed in the salty breeze.

Amidst the natural beauty of the place was set a small, cozy looking villa. Painted in a sunshine yellow, accompanied by brown doors and windows, highlighted by white parapets, with pillars leading to the clay tiled roof, the house made a welcoming vision. Lush greenery surrounded the building, adding to its vibrancy.

The group of eight stood in awestruck silence, taking in their surroundings. All traces of their exhaustion from the rush of packing and the short flight had faded within seconds of setting their eyes on a piece of paradise.

Lavanya let out an appreciate whistle. "Well done Anjali..."

"I know right!" Anjali gushed. "And to think you guys didn't want to come here..."

"Well...you should have showed us a picture of this place first." Akash chuckled. "No one would have argued for a second."

"It seems you're losing your persuading powers after getting married." Khushi joked.

"Please don't lose that skill before you persuade Rohan to put on the cape and the fangs..." Lavanya teased shamelessly.

She, along with Khushi and Payal, burst into bouts of giggles while Akash, Arnav, and NK looked on as confused as ever. Of course, Rohan had not divulged to them the information of Anjali's fantasies. A red faced Anjali hid her face into her husband's arm while he glanced away, his cheeks heating.

"Oh, my god!" Payal exclaimed. "Rohan's blushing!!"

"She told him!!!" Khushi squealed and followed it with more giggles, completely oblivious to the confounded glance that refused to leave her face.

Arnav watched, with a satiated smile on his face, as Khushi giggled and poked fun at Anjali and Rohan. Absent-mindedly, he pulled her closer into his side with a hint of possessiveness and smiled wider at the way she gently squeezed him in her tiny arms, silently reassuring him that she was here.

"If you're done bugging my wife, can we please go inside?" Rohan changed the topic quickly. "I don't know about you guys but I want to spend every minute out on that beach."

Without waiting for a response or agreements from the others, Rohan began making his way towards the door. The gravel crunched in a random rhythm as the group collectively made their way across the short walk way.

After taking a few more minutes to admire the tasteful interior design and furnishing of the house, they gathered in the living room.

"Pick your rooms...there are five in total. Two upstairs, three downstairs. I figured everyone would want to stay...you know, together." Anjali gestured within them collectively, pointing out the couples. "If any of you well behaved kids don't want to take advantage of the opportunity then there is an extra room for them."

She threw a pointed glance at Payal and Akash and earned herself a perfectly synchronized eye-roll from the couple. In the aid of this distraction, a silent communication passed via a glance between NK and Arnav. NK's lips lifted in a smile knowing that Arnav understood what he was trying to convey.

"Give the biggest room to Lavanya and Khushi." Arnav spoke up in a tone that no one would argue with.

Khushi threw him a bemused glance which quickly turned into one of respect. She still didn't quite understand why he hadn't chosen to stay in the same room. It wouldn't have been the first time they'd share an enclosed space...

Without a single comment on this arrangement, however, everyone shuffled around with their luggage to get settled in their rooms.

"Do you ladies need help?" NK asked as Khushi and Lavanya made their way towards one of the rooms downstairs as the two couples were already on their way up the stairs.

"I think we should be fine..." Khushi smiled. "But we'll be over if you two need help. I know how much both of you hate unpacking."

"You too?" NK and Arnav questioned simultaneously.

"Can't stand it." NK chuckled.

"Me either. A waste of time." Arnav muttered.

"I'll help you." Khushi repeated as she followed Lavanya towards one of the rooms.

No sooner had they dropped their bags than they left the room to help their respective men.

Khushi had barely crossed the threshold when the door shut behind her and she found herself tightly embraced in Arnav's arms, his face snuggled against her neck, her hair making an effective curtain around him.

"With every passing minute, it becomes harder to keep away from you..." He muttered, for her ears only"even though there was no one else present.

She sighed softly, feeling utterly at peace. The peace lasted a few seconds before faint resentment made its way through.

"Then why didn't you choose to stay in the same room?" Khushi pulled away slightly and looked up at him with a small frown.

Arnav smirked and touched the tip of his nose to hers. "Because I lose my mind around you. I don't want to get carried away and do something you're not ready for. I don't want to put you in that spot. Ever."

"And you don't think I would tell you to stop if a situation like that came up?" She searched his face for an answer.

He chuckled lightly. "I trust you to beat the crap out of me if you need to, Khush...but still...I never want to put you in that position because that would mean that I've crossed a line..."

"Says Mr. Ex-Casanova?" She teased.

A moment later she realized what a mistake it was when the smile faded from his face as if a switch has been flipped. His expression darkened and shame flooded into his eyes.

Khushi touched her fingertips to his cheek in a gesture of apology. "It was a joke, Arnav..."

"True nonetheless." He sulked.

"Shh..." she hushed, going on her tip-toes. "It's all water under the bridge."

Before he could say another word in response, she pressed her lips to his, changing his mood in a rapid moment again.

when they were finally unpacking his bags, after resurfacing achingly breathless from their kiss, Khushi made a mental note to herself to never ever joke about the past, knowing the obvious effect it had on his mindset. For how long it would bug him, she didn't know. She could only hope that with time, he'd acknowledge that the past couldn't be changed and despite what had been...they were together now.

_____

"I could get used to this view..." Khushi smiled to herself as she looked out the window of Arnav's room.

A short sandy distance away was the beach. Calm but wild at the same time.

"And I could get used to this." Arnav squeezed her tighter in his embrace, forcing her to lean back on him. He dipped is head and placed a playful kiss on her shoulder.

As if on cue, her stomach rumbled violently, announcing that it no longer appreciated being neglected.

Arnav broke into a throaty chuckle. "Well...I could get used to this until you get hungry." He kissed her shoulder again, "come...let's get you some lunch."

Taking her hand in his, he led her out of the room and into the living room where he paused as six other heads turned swiftly to look at them.

"There they are!" Anjali scowled. "We were just going to come drag your love birds out of there."

"Oh please Di...we were just unpacking my bag...but Khushi's hungry." Arnav shrugged as he walked towards the group.

"So are the rest of us." Payal rolled her eyes. "We were waiting for you two."

"You could have gone without us." Khushi interjected jokingly, trying to diffuse their playfully accusing glances. "It's not like we had you locked up and you couldn't go anywhere without us."

"This is just great. First we wait for them and now we're the bad guys!" Rohan stood up with a grunt.

"Come on guys...try and understand..." Akash smirked evilly. "There was a lot of," he paused to make air quotations with his fingers, "unpacking to be done."

"Shut up, Akash." Arnav tried to glower but failed a smile lifted his lips as he recalled the various moments when he had strayed from the unpacking to steal a few kisses.

The party joked and teased and chatted on their way to, during, and after lunch. Their uplifted spirits showed no signs of fading as they made their way to the Church of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception in Panjim. Even though Rohan and Arnav weren't too keen on it, they'd been outvoted two to six.

So there they were, looking around interestedly despite their prior denial as the others blended into hordes of tourists. Khushi and Anjali were busy listing the names of movies in which this popular landmark had been shown while Lavanya, Payal, and NK were busy admiring the Baroque style architecture. Akash, on the other hand, was clicking away with the camera in his hands.

Once they were inside the church, they all found themselves awestruck with the elegant gold plated altars. Whispered comments from other tourists rang in the echoes and spoke of their amusement with the place as well. Even to a person like Arnav, who didn't firmly believe in the concept of God, the place held a certain uncanny feeling of content and peace.

He told himself that perhaps it had to do with the fact that the love of his life was standing right next to him, her hand wrapped around his bicep, her eyes flickering to his face every now and then accompanied by her radiant smile.

The more time they all spent being tourists in Goa, the more they all fell into their usual ways of young adulthood. The playful banters returned as did the jokes and ruthless teasing. Little playful pranks, liking tipping someone's water bottle a little bit more while the victim was drinking unassuming or stopping abruptly in one's track so that the person walking behind them would crash into them. Khushi even went so far as innocently sticking out her leg just enough to made Rohan trip, causing a thunderous laugh to echo around the dinner table.

By the time they all returned to the villa, they were exhausted from a full day of walking. Even so, they all settled on the couch and the sofa seats in the living room, turned on the TV for the sake of it, and continued chatting well into the night until people started passing out one at a time.

Anjali, who had been the most energetic throughout the day, was the first to fall asleep with her head on Rohan's shoulder. Her husband soon followed her into their own dreamland. Akash followed shortly after, becoming the victim of more pranks. In the morning, he would wake up to find that his face and arms had been turned into convenient canvases by the remaining mischievous minds.

As they all moved to settle back again, Arnav wrapped his arm around Khushi and pulled her towards to sofa chair he'd been lounging in while she was smiling and laughing away a short distance away. He'd glowered at her numerous times, wishing that she would move and switch seats with someone to sit next to him but she'd been too busy.

She didn't protest in the slightest when he sat her down in the chair and sat on the floor, childishly putting his head on her thigh. He looked up at her petulantly, extracting a chuckle from her and earning himself a sweet kiss to the forehead.

Payal watched them silently, watching the way the two seemed to talk just by looking at one another. The way they would exchange smiles as if enjoying some kind of a private joke. She could feel their happiness rippling off of them, bringing her a sense of peace. She looked at her cousin, seeing her face glow as if a light bulb had been lit behind her face. How long had it been since she'd seen Khushi like this?

She knew what Khushi was feeling, of course. Payal knew that feeling of being irrevocably in love. She'd had the fortune of finding the same love with Akash.

As Arnav and Khushi locked eyes again, Payal glanced away quickly, suddenly feeling as if she were intruding on an intimate moment. She couldn't help the small smile that made its way to her lips, however.

She knew that no matter what their past consisted of, their future was a bright one. They would figure out rest.

_____

"Oh, enough of your tourist mode!" Lavanya groaned. "Please yaar, Anjali! If you want to be a tourist, you and Ro can make a mini honeymoon trip here. It's been three days and I haven't spent more than a few minutes on the beach."

"I second that." Payal added. "My legs are killing me from all the walking."

"I could take a book, lie on the beach and just read away for the day." Khushi sighed dreamily.

"Fine!" Anjali huffed. "If you want to be boring and just sit on the beach all day, let's do that today."

"Who says we have to be boring? We could check out all the boys in their swim trunks." Lavanya wiggled her eyebrows mischievously.

"I'm sitting right here." NK frowned.

"Oh please...as if you're not going to ogle at all the girls." Khushi rolled her eyes.

"He wouldn't dare." Lavanya threw him a warning look while Anjali, Payal, and Khushi burst out laughing at NK's startled expression.

He held up his hands in surrender and made a swift exit from the living room. After coming to a decision to hang out at the beach for the day, the ladies stood and made their way towards their significant others to relay the plans.

Khushi walked with an extra bounce in her step, looking forward to a relaxing day. It had been a while since she had one of those. She hadn't expected this trip to be a vacation anyway. She knew weddings are busy affairs. Moreover, she had anticipated utter awkwardness in the few days after considering what disarray their equations were in before things had been sorted. She also knew that once they got back, they would be swept off in a tide of preparations for Akash and Payal's engagement and soon after that, she'll have to fly back to Australia.

Shoving aside the sudden burst of sadness at the thought, she pushed open the door to Arnav's room.

"Absolutely not!" He roared. "I want the whole consignment completed by the end of this week."

Khushi bit her tongue, realizing too late that she should've knocked. He glanced up at her and offered a nod in the form of a greeting before turning his eyes back to the screen and breaking into another bossy rant.

She glanced around the room and found a notepad at the foot of the bed. Practically skipping over to the notepad, she scribbled a quick note and flashed him a big smile. When he glanced at her, he raised an eyebrow in question at her expression. In response, she just blew him a kiss and turned on her heels to leave the room but not before she caught the small smile that stretched his perfect lips.

"I'm not smiling at you, Aman." He growled a moment later.

The rest of his grumbling drowned out as Khushi closed the door behind her, shaking her head at his bossiness. Just how did his workers put up with him? How had they all not quit already?

She skipped into her room and quickly changed into her beach-wear in record time. On her way out, she grabbed her straw-hat which she had purchased yesterday along with her favorite pair of sunglasses. She was almost out the door when she remembered her book.

By the time she made it into the living room, the others had gathered already. The only one who stood out was Rohan.

"You're not coming with us?" Khushi inquired.

"He is waiting for some email." Anjali rolled her eyes, clearly displeased.

"I'm sorry, my love." Rohan embraced his wife from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. "As soon as I get the email and have a chance to respond to it, I'll come join you guys. It won't take more than half an hour, I promise."

Anjali sighed, giving in. "Fine...but if you're late, you're in trouble."

"Wow...wives really do wear the pants in a marriage, huh?" NK said amusedly. "It's not too late to back out, Akash."

"What? Why would you give him ideas?!" Payal slapped NK's arm playfully.

"No...it's really not a bad idea." Akash teased and then ran the next moment when Payal chased him.

"NK, you do realize that Payal will be the one in-charge, right?" Khushi raised an eyebrow challengingly.

"Oh yeah...She's a bandit queen...I know to keep myself in check." NK laughed, earning a glare from Lavanya.

"You better run. Now."

Anjali, Khushi, and Rohan laughed as the other two couples played a cute chasing game before running out.

"Go and have fun. I'll be there shortly." Rohan gave a quick sweet kiss to his wife, making Khushi grin like an idiot.

"Come soon." Anjali smiled at him and started walking towards the door with Khushi.

Halfway to the door, Khushi turned around and called out to Rohan. "Will you also bring my workaholic boyfriend along?"

Rohan chuckled. "Yes Ma'am."

Khushi grinned and turned back only to find Anjali staring at with a goofy smile. "What?"

"You two are boyfriend and girlfriend!" Anjali quipped, sounding almost unconvinced.

Khushi laughed and threw an arm around Anjali's waist. "Yes we are..."

"Finally!" Anjali chuckled.

____

Arnav closed his laptop and pinched the bridge of his nose. What a tedious meeting! He stood from the bed, pushing the laptop away from him and reached immediately for the notepad. Ever since Khushi had scribbled something onto it some twenty minutes ago, it had taken a considerable amount of control on his part to not reach over and read what she'd written.

His eyes scanned the short note which simply read, we'll be at the beach. xo'. As his eyes settled on the xo', a goofy smile appeared on his face.

Shaking his head at her juvenile reaction, he left the room dressed in a crisp white polo t-shirt and navy shorts. He stepped out into the living room at the same time Rohan walked down the stairs.

"You didn't go with them?" Arnav questioned.

"Headed there now." Rohan smiled. "I've been ordered by your Aussie girlfriend to bring you with."

Arnav shrugged, trying to be nonchalant as they left the house together. As was their usual tradition, the two talked business as they proceeded to join the others. They didn't take time to admire the beautiful day which was the perfect combination of sun, breeze, and light clouds. Nor did they take time to note all the cheerful interactions around them as couples walked hand-in-hand, children built sand-castles, older kids played with beach balls.

"Ro!" Akash waved frantically from a short-distance away, trying to get their attention.

As the two walked towards the group"namely Akash and Payal"Arnav's eyes quickly scanned around for Khushi. A momentary uneasiness settled in his stomach when he couldn't locate her.

"About time...Anjali's actually been keeping tabs on the time...you've made it just in time." Akash winked at Rohan.

Payal watched Arnav, noticing how his attention was elsewhere completely.

"She's over there." Payal pointed with her chin and Arnav followed her gesture, glancing towards the water, where sure enough, he found his Khushi. The four of them were far in the distance in shoulder deep water, timing their jumps with the waves, trying not to get swept away.

"How was the meeting?" Akash began.

With that, the two of them quickly immersed themselves in the discussion, barely acknowledging when Payal and Rohan broke away to join the others in the water.

A few minutes into the discussion, Payal returned, dripping sea-water from her T-shirt, shorts, and hair.

"I swear Akash...sometimes you become just like Arnav. Are you two even going to get your feet wet?" She plopped down next to Akash, shivering slightly as the breeze ran past her.

Arnav glanced towards the water to look for Khushi, hoping that she would be coming back. He saw Rohan and Anjali walking towards them along with NK and Lavanya. Arnav frowned slightly seeing his sister dressed in a bikini top and a knee length skirt. Then, he focused on the protective arm Rohan had around her shoulders and he relaxed a little bit.

Then it happened. Rohan and Anjali broke away, walking in a different direction from NK and Lavanya and in the newly created gap between them, he saw her.

His blinking ceased, his eyes settled on her alone. They began at her feet which were pushing into the sand as she walked towards them. A delicate beaded anklet glimmered on her right ankle. The expanse of her legs was generously on display since her jeans shorts, which ended a couple inches below her derriere, failed to conceal much. To complete her look, she was donning a black, halter neck bikini top.

With a frown he stood up, not realizing that his jaw was still slightly dropped. As she reached around her neck to move her dripping hair to one side, he could swear he saw a glimpse of her rib tattoo. That was the last straw.

At that exact moment, she caught his eye and smiled at him, offering an enthusiastic wave. He pressed his lips in a thin line and began walking towards her. Her smile faded slowly as she noticed the expression on his face.

She stopped walking altogether when he swiftly removed his navy shirt and continued walking towards her. She was suddenly a prey locked in the eyes of a predator. His eyes scanned her from head to toe once more and that's when it dawned on her.

When he was mere five steps away, she yelped and ran. He was quick to follow. Both of them were absolutely unaware of the six pairs of eyes following them.

"Khushi, stop!"

"No!" She laughed and glanced back at him.

Realizing he was closer than she thought, she squealed and tried to run faster but by then it was too late. He was able to hook an arm around her waist and pull her against him. She struggled and squealed and fought to get out of his hold.

"Arnav...No! Stop!...what...but...gah! Stop it...no no no!" This was all too familiar. She struggled to get out of his hold to no avail.

Somehow, he managed to keep her in place and slip his shirt over her head and slip an arm through the sleeve. She pressed her free arm against her back, where he was holding it firmly. When he tried to move it, she protested by pressed it firmly to her lower back. The action pushed her into him even more and her breath hitched.

"Do you remember, Khushi?" He whispered. He leaned slightly until his lips were right next to her ear. She squirmed slightly as a jolt ran up her spine. "I'd once said that if I were your boyfriend, you'd be dressing like this only for me?"

He pulled back to look at her and found her staring at him. He could tell that a particular memory was running through her mind. The night where he had forced her to wear a hoodie before she left for her dance class.

In her distracted state, she didn't protest when he slipped her other arm through the sleeve and pulled the shirt down, covering her body in an instant.

"Will you keep the shirt on for the sake of your possessive boyfriend?" He asked.

Khushi nodded gently even as a small frown marked her face.

"Good." Arnav smiled. "Come..."

He turned to walk back towards where the others, who were actually observing the exchange between Arnav and Khushi, were sitting. He had merely taken a step when Khushi called out to him.

"Arnav, wait." She paused to give him time to turn. When he did, she saw the confusion flicker across his face at her expression. "I want to get one thing very clear. For today, I'll keep this shirt on. But you need to know and accept that I will wear whatever I want, I'll eat whatever I want, and I'll practically do whatever I want. I'll ask for your opinion, yes...and if I see your point, I'll implement it but you won't be controlling any of my decisions. If you can't do that, then this can't work. The possessiveness, I can deal with as long as it's cute...the moment you start controlling is the moment I walk away...why the hell are you smiling?!"

He chuckled gently, the sound rumbling in his chest.

"Because you're standing up for yourself." He closed the distance between them and cupped her face. "Khushi, you've grown into a strong, independent woman and I don't want to change that at any cost. You shouldn't have to change yourself for anyone...me included."

She searched his eyes and found nothing but honesty highlighting his words. It was as if he was trying to tell her these same words with his eyes but was using words just for the sake of it. She could practically feel her heart expanding in her chest.

He tucked a semi-dry strand of hair behind her ear and caressed the dewy skin of her cheek with his thumb. "I love you for who you are Khushi...you could be wearing a sack for all I care. The last thing I want is for you to lose yourself in this relationship. I want you to make your own decisions because I know you're more than capable. You don't need anyone to tell you what to do."

"Then why force me to wear this shirt right now?" She questioned.

"Because if someone looks at you the wrong way, then you won't be able to control what I do to them. I'm pretty sure you don't want me killing someone on this trip." He shrugged.

Khushi chuckled softly and rested her head on his chest. She was glad and relieved that this topic had come to a settlement so easily. She had secretly worried that his possessive and bossy nature would get under her skin before any of his other habits. "I never thought I would actually love this possessive side of yours..."

"We have to learn the changes each of us has gone through in the past three years...some we'll like, some we'll hate...but I know we'll be okay." Arnav kissed the top of her head.

"It's going to be hard when I leave..." she mumbled slowly.

Arnav inhaled deeply. "I know. We've been apart for so long and we'll barely have enough time together before you leave again. But Khush...as long as we can communicate and talk out any issued we have, we'll figure this out. We have to. I have to. I don't want to lose you again. Ever. I'll be damned if I let a little distance break us apart."

"I promise it won't. We'll make it." Khushi spoke with more conviction than she felt. She couldn't agree with him more though. They had to figure this out. She didn't want to lose him at any cost either.

In that moment, she vowed to herself that she'll do whatever it takes to make this relationship work.