Arshi FF: Tune Into Me-chapter:26 Updated Page 101 - Page 53

Thx so much for your note Dee!

Get well soon Dedee, take care. We will wait for your return.

Dede,

Hope you get well soon and be back with bang!
Thanks for letting us know that you will complete the story and also it not being a tragedy!

Understand how miserable we can be, when sick, so take your time to heal and come back healthy.

Loved reading 'Entwined' and just found this, so will be starting to read it.

Get well soon and then update for us.

No issues dear...

as recommended by moumita
just start reading this ff
and finished reading till chapter 3
very unique and lovely concept
related to music
loved reading all three parts
arnav and khushi are related from childhood
and arnav is fromm early age bullying khushi and poossessed and stole her music notes
and this thing is continuing till now
why?
andnow khushi cant stand with music
is this due to arnav?
or due to her mother death?
goingto read remaining parts

a very beautifull and marvellous writing piece

i m also a fan of ur ff
entwined

No worries. ..health comes first...get well soon :)

Hope you are feeling well and taking rest.

Note:! Hello Everybody. Yes, I'm ready to be killed by you all. M all yours. About that and lot more that I should talk. Soon! For now, here is the update. Just wanted to say, not gonna vanish.

Tune Into Me:

21: An Acceptance, A Battle:

Mere Chote Chote Kwaab hai,

Kwabon mein Geet hai,

Geeton mein Zindagee hai,

Khushi gazed at the words that were penned in her notebook and wondered if she had indeed written them. They meant a lot to begin with, but most of all, the lines literally screamed out her acceptance to her weird dreams and the music that she often witnessed in those dreams. It was weird; strange; delusional yet unavoidable in some weird way. Because the dreams came back every other night, over and over; prominently so, in the recent times. This she have already known, realized and hence maybe it was the time for acceptance. She mused. And then frowned at her own thoughts.

May be it was finally the time. She have lost it, for real.

Even as the thoughts waddled, her hands touched the surface of the page, the thick black coated nails of which laced from one letter into another, and just like that the skin around her eyes softened into that ghost of a smile. An almost little serene moment of self-content. Maybe. She was getting better with the words.

Maybe.

"Isnt that the notebook from 2004?"

"05..." Khushi not just jerked up into a robotic position, with the sudden intrusion of Sameer's voice but also has evidently managed to look cold towards the notebook, or rather at Sameer. An induced cold glare.

"Right. You still have that with you?" he said, keeping his warm gaze intact, as he walked to get comfortable beside her on the bed, leaning onto the same head-board that she had been leaning on.

"Your mother always had this habit to write diaries. It was before our marriage though. Back then when I met her, here in this very place, I have had this chance to sneak into her notebook..." Sameer chuckled sheepishly, and Khushi couldn't help but lean in, into the crook of his arm, the best she could do to acknowledge him. For the moment. Because she knew what was coming.

"Those writings of her before our wedding, were so poetic, so insightful, her thoughts have always had this deep effect on me" he sighed; nodded, realizing he was getting carried away. "Anyway, they kind of revealed a side of her which was usually veiled from the world. And I loved peeping into that side of her. But then she stopped writing them after our wedding.

I now talk to you'. She'd say said, if I asked..."

"Years passed, and there came this time when I felt she was holding back a lot from me."

""that time when you neglected her" Khushi cut him off. And he just looked on lost in some far away world.

"I somehow wanted to reach out to her, and I as an effort I started gifting these Notebooks to her, every year, hoping she would put in something..."

"But she gave them to me..."

"--- I have always hoped she would come along, in those rough years. But never once did I have any clue, that she was------"

"Maybe you could have been home, more often than once or twice a year" Khushi spoke, not being able to help the sudden taciturnity in her own voice. Sameer's grip on her shoulder loosened, and thus finding a reason, she moved away, as if to fetch her glasses from the bedside table. In quick random actions, closed the notebook, almost grabbed it away from him and sat there, at a distance, giving him his chance to finish the weird conversation.

"I gather that you had been writing songs in these books?" He continued, trying to ignore the lump in his own throat and the demure posture of his daughter.

"WAS dad. It was back then" she flipped her hair, to turn and look into his eyes. She then sighed, as if keeping her reactions at bay. She avoided his sad eyes. Opened the bedside drawer and dropped the Notebook inside. Picked up her glasses and slipped them on.

One part of her definitely wanted to yell, argue, take it and end the discussion in her usual nasty blaming way, but then, she somehow didn't want to. Maybe the night that passed still had its effect on her mind; Or rather the events of the night. Or maybe she was just tired being herself, or not being herself? She was confused. She was lost. There are too many things rambling in her mind and grilling the past wasn't one of her agendas at the moment.

"Uh, can we just not talk about it..." She tried to get up. "I guess I want to take a walk"

"Oh Sweetie, would you be able to walk?"

"It's just a small cut dad, besides the pain killers helped. I'm good really."

"Are you sure?"

She twisted her lips and looked away, rolling her eyes. "I'll take Coco" She really wanted to be alone and just with herself. Sameer just nodded a little unsure, but he knew she was the stubborn one among them.

**

He kissed her last night and he didn't really know why. The senseless, weird rush of emotions he was subjected to when he carried her in the morning was an added element of frustration. Frustration more because of reasons that started seeming moronic to him. Music came to him, when with her. And like he was empowered by some sudden alien trance, he actually went and performed in the contest. More so, promised them and himself to go forward in the competition, which he knew wouldn't be possible by just himself. And he didn't want to go back. He didn't want to seek help from anyone, correction, didn't want to seek help from her.

Music came to him, through her and she didn't even seem to realize this. This reason seemed unconvincing, stupid and idiotic and he wasn't the least bit convinced by it, let alone convince her. And so, the idea of sharing with her and expecting some cooperation was beyond impossible. And even if his mind did think if it was possible for a millionth-second, all that were thrown out of the window as soon as he walked into the Gupta Villa through that front door.

Standing at the base of the stair-case, dressed in a short and loose dark blue sleeveless tee, the rough waves of her hair fanning her sides, the red in her locks almost disappearing, revealing the real her to him, like the fraudulent layers are starting to peel off; her one hand holding Coco who was busily licking on some chocolate drink as her another hand held the bowl of drink for the Ferrier, she looked distinct. New. She was directly looking at him, from the time he walked in. Their stances quite struck at their respective positions, both unsure of the other's reaction. Awkwardness after last night.

She remembered, he comprehended. He realized that she remembered. She concluded.

Awkwardly, she adjusted her glasses. "Uh, th---thanks" she whispered referring to her glasses. He heard. And he isn't going to fuss. Glasses, the Notebook, the guitar bag, he brought them all back from the Islet, that morning. She acknowledged. He was just glad.

"No problem" he simply stated.

Surprised, she fixed her eyes on him and tried to force a smile. It felt so robotic, so irrational and so not them, that she started to feel uncomfortable to the point that she just wanted to blurt out whatever was going on in her mind.

"We need to talk"

"We need to talk"

They said in unison and then went silent. He just looked on, sliding his hands into his pockets while she let Coco jump onto the floor, as she held it with its rope. "I'm uh, going for a walk"

"Your leg is alight?" The question came out almost instantaneously. She just rolled her eyes as she couldn't help it any longer and walked past him. Of course he had to follow. As they needed to talk.

**

Khushi watched, with some kind of emotion pouring into her mind and even as she pondered over that thought, she just continued to watch. Arnav ran behind Coco, as the pet escaped from her master's hold; his run was funny or rather it was at that moment, as he had to chase the Ferrier. She had this sudden flash of possessiveness towards Coco. And that emotion kept her wondering. It wasn't the first time that Coco played with anyone else other than her and Sameer. The pet was a darling with strangers. It wasn't fussy to people, ever. Camron even gets along great with her. It was even famous with the surfers who come to store. Never did Khushi complain about it, nor did she have this urge to keep Coco to just herself. Never before.

This thought kept her wondering even more; further, into the past and into the present. She started analyzing herself. She started analyzing if she had been this fussy, protective, closed person with her friends back in her college or all these years with people around in this small town;

She couldn't think of any instances. She tried to think, if she had ever been protective of Cam, given he was the only person who had stuck to her even after college. She still couldn't recall any big grand instances. The answers to her own questions were clear. If she was the person that Arnav claims she is, maybe today she didn't really retain her friends. The get together party was evidence. She convinced herself. But why had it become suddenly so important to convince herself, though?

*

Finally getting hold of the rope to which Coco's neck was tied, he crashed down, tired and breathless. Gasping for some oxygen, he tied the rope to a branch and then looked around right in time to catch her looking at him. She didn't look away though, which typically makes her. Not shying away from anything.

He gave a half smile, still gasping a little and then with final sigh, he allowed himself to lay flat on the sand. Ahead of them was the sea making its usual noise, there were locals coming out with their kids for the evening walks, fast-food stalls along the shore and the waves that occasionally greeted them, almost touching his feet as his legs were long stretched towards the sea.

He let out another sarcastic snigger and then she decided to close the little distance to join him.

"I'm glad I amuse you..." she made herself a flat surface on the sand and sat down, her shorts creeping up as her legs tangled against one another below her bottom.

"You've that look again, it sure as hell amuses me" He said, gazing the evening sky, not making an effort to look away from the solace above him.

"What look?"

"You know what"

She couldn't see his expression properly, as she had to face the sea. And so she allowed just her eyes to be fixed at his form and mused. There was a very good chance for him to read what's in her mind; after all he had been the sole receiving end of her possessive emotion for good part of their lives.

But he was the one being blamed in her eyes. Not the victim. He analyzed.Victim according to him, would be the one about whom she would get protective. For better part of their invasions, it had been Cathy. Sometimes Sameer, or the musical instruments, her notebook, the songs that they made or at that very moment, it is Coco. He now knew being on the receiving side, didn't really feel good. He had been there. He started to wonder how would it be if he was the victim rather? Someone else, or something else earned that look from her, for him? The thought sounded exciting.

The sky above was blue, clear. The air was fresh. The breeze was soothing. The innate aura of sand and waves was refreshing. Refilling. He could see the sun at the west, half hiding itself behind the clouds. He could see small glimpse of the moon in the east, making its way into the day. He could see migrating birds in patterns, as the waves of the sea shuffled towards his feet. It was like the world has decided to stop for him, here. In this very place.

"This is beautiful" he sighed. "I can see why you wouldn't come back from here". She flipped her eyes away from the sea, as if alerted to reality from her reverie and tried to look at his face.

"We came back here Arnav, to our roots"

"So you think..."

They always had this way of finding sentences instantly, even before the other completes. Like a tennis match. Quick, prompt. One after another.

It was proving to be difficult to look at his face, his expression, to figure out his body-language. And so she gave up with her position and allowed her back to fall flat on the sand, adjacent to him. She had always been comfortable around guys. She didn't think twice before being physically close to them, her buddies, Cam, and it all hardly ever mattered. She was like one of them. But it was only after she found her eyes to be exactly in line with that of his, as he now looked at her directly; she realized it wasn't a great move. One of such move of her, last night, might have led to that kiss. And suddenly she was all conscious of the proximity around him. Around the opposite gender to be precise.

It felt Intimate, and that's a first.

"Speak the truth Khushi. Just say it" He said not blinking his eye.

The Kiss. What was she supposed to say? It wasn't something that she had initiated. And what's truth? Was there a truth behind what happened last night? Is he aware of one?

"He deserves to know" he added still sounding thoughtful.

She released that virtual breath she was holding in her mind. And in the next instant she knew what he was talking about. She didn't like the path of the conversation, not this. Anything but this. She looked away.

"He deserves to know that his daughter have touched music after all these years."

"--- Do you usually charge for the preaching that you do or is it free?" Sarcasm resumed in her stance. "No I mean, you should be following what you preach, right?" she raised her brows. "Do you?" she probed. "Are you the perfect ideal son Arnav?"

She knew the answer, because she has seen his relation with his father closely. Close enough to judge his present relation. Of course she was judging and she knew she isn't proud of it. But then what was he doing? She isn't the ideal human being, to just do everything right and perfect. He looked away from her boring gaze and she did too.

It was just silence for several minutes. Noise around them, surrounding the silence between them.

"I got through the audition today" he declared, like he was declaring to no one but himself. And realized, she was the first person he was telling this to. It was the first time he even declared that, out and loud to himself as well. And for some odd reason, telling her felt good. He did it, on his own. Not taking any help, nor involving any gambling.

She turned to face him again and he was looking the other way. She watched her words for a moment. "Oh.. Con..Congratulations!" She tried to sound excited. What else is she supposed to say? Was he sharing that with her? For real!?

"A little bit of practice needed. Surely you will improve."

"huh?"

"In wishing me good."

She rolled her eyes. "You actually sound excited. Proud of this achievement"

"Glad you noticed."

""Why does this matter to you so much? I just don't get it. I've tried to understand ever since you've been here. Why is that, a competition in some part of Europe has become so important to someone who is a celebrity in India. The leading music director as I have been told. The hierarchy of a legendry family. What's the point?"

"It's, uh just an invasion" he was suddenly at loss of words. He didn't see that coming.

"Or greedy for more fame, maybe?"

His eyes hardened. "Maybe" he repeated and turned away again. There was a lot that he could tell her. There was a whole book he could write about the situations that led him here. But could he? It's called accepting your own weakness, and not trying to fake it.

He looked into her eyes again. Bright, honey orbs, inside those almond eyes, guarded my pink framed glasses gifted by him. And there was nothing but honesty in those eyes. Something he couldn't do, not at the moment. Honesty is about coming in face to face with your inner self. Accepting you as just you, by you. And as he looked at her now, he could tell she had been that throughout. At least she wasn't faking about anything that wasn't hers.

The un-nourished messy locks, the shabby attire, the unaltered attitude, not making an effort to disbelieve what she believed (as annoying as it could get), not shying away from accepting what she can do, and what she cannot; it was intriguing.

"Look, this is how it is, when it comes to talking about you. The truth is Arnav, we have nothing civil enough to talk to each other. Can we just face this fact?"

"Civil as in?" involuntarily he moved a bit closer. He was spelled by then already. By all those emotions that drove him throughout the day.

"A..as in good.." She noticed his intensified stare. Of course she did.

"Describe good" his eyes dropped to her lips.

"Some...something positive?" Her throat was suddenly dry. Her mind was being drugged or it ceased to shut down, because all she wanted to do was, to arch her chin and their lips would meet.

"Last night wasn't positive enough?" He was now whispering, his nose almost brushing with that of hers, and there was no more silence between them. In its place was the little harmony of their breathing. And like it had happened before, like he have by now gotten used to, his mind exploded into tunes, rhythms and melodies. It was silly, funny and absurd, yet amusing, all at the same time. Each time he was subjected to this emotion, he just wanted to explore more. Even more. Just more.

But, incongruous to his thoughts, she moved away suddenly angling herself into a sitting position. "It was stupidity. I was sleepy"

"Not drunk though" he sat too, mirroring her actions.

"I was tired exhausted, out of my senses"

"I wasn't and Khushi relax, it's just a kiss"

"I know, but it wasn't needed. Not between you and me. It just wasn't needed"

"Why? We have something going on, you can't deny that"

"Yeah? How many times have you had this something going on with a girl before?"

"That's Silly! How does it matter? I'm here now, single and sorted."

"And insensible!" she got up, dusting the sand off her shorts in quick awkward moments, untying Coco from the branch as it immediately scooped up into her arms and Khushi looked at him, just in time for him to get up and stop her.

"Khushi listen.."

"No you listen Arnav" she snapped and sighed immediately trying to keep her anger at bay. "We have enough of mess between us. We don't really need more. And honestly, it's tiring enough to argue and fight with you day in and day out..."

"So don't Khushi. Let's just not"

"We can't. It's not possible. It wasn't before, ever"

"I'd like to believe we are matured enough now, unlike all those years ago. Can we just not behave like two adults and look at this in different light? Common! We bloody have something serious going on; it's leaving me at the edge, craving for more" he stressed, pouring it out in the only way he can.

She looked at him for a moment, before letting out a sarcastic sneer. "You're just sexually frustrated. How long has it been? Maybe you should find a girl of your taste here" His reaction was sharp, fast, crisp. He grabbed her by her arms his eyes turning wolfish.

"If that is all I wanted, I would have had my way with you last night"

"And what you just said speaks a lot about what you have wanted last night"

She wasn't the least bit affected by his black eyes, and they just continued to look at each other, unblinked. Sensing the sudden heat, Coco started to bark, its little woofs alerting them and he let her go. She gave him one last glare before turning away to limp her way back to her house.

He just stood there, watching at her retreating back.

What was that!?

**

I'm gonna send update notifs to all the likes, of my prev post, which is about my illness. so if you're here and didn't receive my scrap, please forgive me. I just want to make sure I'm not bugging anyone who aren't interested.

Blog is OPen too! Tune Into me