They were childhood best friends. There was nothing in this world that they didn't know about each other. Whether it was their attractions, crushes, bad marks, fights, achievements, anything and everything. Nothing was kept away from each other.
But now, there was something. Something he couldn't tell her. Not because he was scared, well maybe that was a part of the reason, but not the main one. He didn't want to hurt her or make her choose. All he wanted was to make her happy and if she was happy with someone else, he was not going to deny her the happiness.
He loved her irrevocably. He doesn't know when it happened but when she spoke about her crushes and attractions, it had started hurting his heart. He had felt his heart squeeze in despair and had started realizing he loved her.
It has been 4 years since then. He had started getting extremely protective of her but he had made sure he always gave her her personal space. He never refused her anything, even if that was the weirdest thing at the oddest time. His love for Khushi was just as deep as the ocean.
She was dating someone else. He had made himself believe that she loved that guy. It hasn't been very long since Karan had asked her out and she had agreed. She has liked him for a very long time and when Karan had finally asked her out for a date, she had been elated.
As much as her happiness had made him happy, he could never deny that it had hurt him more than anything else in the world.
Karan was a nice guy who liked Khushi and there was nothing Arnav could do about that. He had always tried to stay away from him but on Khushi's insistence, they had all gone for frequent lunches.
It had finally dawned on him that he would never get Khushi and he had done the next best thing. He moved on. He asked out Lavanya and started dating her.
Lavanya was his school friend who was one of the few people he had genuinely liked. She was a modern girl with great values that she had taken up from her parents. She knew that he has always liked Khushi and when he had asked her out she had questioned him about the same and all he could say was that it was time for him to move on. She had agreed to his proposal but had also added, "True love would always come back Arnav. If your love for her is true, she is going to be yours. For right now, I am only keeping her treasure safely with me." And that was the day his respect for her had increased ten folds.
******
She was a jolly girl with a smile adoring her lips all the time. She believed in smiling at the toughest of times only to make sure that her sadness was not the cause of anyones frown.
She thought of her life to be perfect. Her perfect loving parents, perfect friends and her perfect best friend. Her Arnav.
He was the only person in the world who knew her in and out. Who could identify her grief behind her smile.
He was always the first person to know anything that happened with her. When she had started dating Karan, she had noticed a kind of sadness in his eyes which was masked so soon that she had suspected if it was ever there or she had only imagined it.
She had noticed his constant denial to spend time with her and Karan but she would always make him agree with her puppy like innocent eyes.
She could never imagine her life without him by her side. She had come to believe that the only person who had a right on him was her.
When he had told her that he had asked out Lavanya and she had agreed, she had been extremely happy, yet she could feel something inside hurt. She had felt a constant pain in her heart but had ignored it.
A few days down the line, she had seen Arnav and Lavanya spending all their time with each other. Whenever she would ask Arnav to join her and Karan for a meal, he would reject it saying he was taking Lavanya out.
One fine day, she had finally heard. Heard her heart break into pieces when Karan and she entered a restaurant only to see Arnav holding Lavanya's hand, saying something to her and the next minute, he had picked it up and kissed it.
It was a small gesture yet it had broken her. She had felt her eyes misting up and had told Karan that she suddenly felt unwell and went back home. Unknown to her, Karan had seen the change in emotions that had been clearly visible in her eyes.
That day she had locked up herself in her room and cried her heart out. She had not let anyone enter her room or answered to any calls.
That was the day she had realized that she loved Arnav. Her thoughts had gone to Karan as well. She didn't know what to say to him.
He was a very nice guy who had given her loads of importance and respected her to bits. Her every mood swing, her every unreasonable want, he had tried to fulfill them all.
She didn't want to betray him. She didn't want to make him feel used. She knew she had to talk to him and tell him the truth.
She had texted him asking him to meet her at the park next to her house. He had arrived and was not shocked to see her state. She was in her pajamas with messy hair and swollen eyes.
She tried to speak but no words would come out. She felt guilty for unknowingly hurting him.
"Karan..."
"No Khushi. Let me speak please. I know why you called me here and I'm really glad you did. I was going to do this myself. I know you love him. I've known it for a very long time. You can see it in the way you're with him, your every gesture, your every move, its always synchronized with his. He moves, you move. Like magnets. I guess you're the only one whos unaware of it and I was just waiting for you to realize and now you did. I'm happy for you. I guess its time for a goodbye now." He smiled.
"I'm sorry." She finally let out a sob.
"Don't. There's nothing for you to be sorry about." He smiled once again and held out his arms for her to hug him one last time. She hugged him tightly, crying on his shoulders.
"You're a very nice person Karan. I hope you get everything in life. Keep smiling." Were her final words as she left him and walked away.
*****
She had been calling him since the past two hours but he had not replied to any of her calls. She had texted him asking him to call her back but the calls were never returned.
Tears were continuously flowing down her cheeks as she hastily wiped them off making her cheeks go red. She was getting more and more scared as wrong thoughts entered her mind.
She had gone to his house to check on him but his mother had said that he was out from the morning and she didn't know where he was. She had tried asking her if she was okay but Khushi had ignored all her calls and ran to the next person who would know where he might be.
As soon as she rang the bell Lavanya opened it not one bit surprised. Lavanya had seen Khushi and Karan in the restaurant and had also noticed how Khushi had reacted to the kiss and waled out. At that moment, she was sure that her mission was successful.
Coming out of her thoughts, she looked at Khushi who was breathing as if she had run a marathon. She silently gave way for Khushi to enter, but she just stood there, rejecting her invitation.
"Where's Arnav?"
"Why don't you come in Khushi." Replied Lavanya, calmly.
"Answer my question Lavanya."
"I will. Come in so we can talk please."
Lavanya held Khushi's hand and led her to the couch. Making her sit, she sat down next to her.
"You love him, don't you?" it was a simple question with a simple answer.
"Yes, I love him."
"I love him too Khushi. But my love for him is not enough to make him stay with me." She said with sadness taking over her eyes.
That was when Khushi remembered about her.
"Lavanya..."
"No Khushi, you don't have to say anything. I always knew this was going to happen. He has always loved you Khushi. From the day he got to know what love is, its been you. His definition of love is His Khushi. He waited for you but you never came and he lost hope that you would ever come and so he asked me out. He said he wanted to move on but I couldn't do this to any of you. I knew you love him as well, only you didn't realize it. It took you some time and I couldn't take advantage of that. I did say yes to him but I also told him that I am taking care of him until you come back for him. I knew that if you see us together all the time, you would feel jealous and would eventually realize your feelings for him. And you did." She completed but all Khushi could register was that he loved her from the beginning.
"When?" she asked, looking at her blankly.
"4 years, Khushi. He's loved you for 4 years." She replied.
"Why did you do all this?"
"For him. If he could let you go for your happiness. If he could let his childhood love go, then my love is nothing in front of his. This is the least I could do for his happiness.: she smiled sadly and was instantly hugged by a sobbing Khushi.
"Thank you so much, La. I always knew you were the best friend anyone could get and I'm so glad you're my friend. I wish I would have understood your feelings. I'm so sorry for being such a bad friend." She said between her cries.
"Shh. Just go get him Khushi. He's been waiting for you forever."
"I don't know where he is. He isn't answering any of my calls." She said.
"You do know Khushi. Ask your heart. It will tell you."
Instantly closing her eyes she asked her heart where he was and she got the answer. Quickly getting up she ran out to her Arnav.
****
He was sitting under the tree looking in thin air. He was very upset. As mush as he tried to act like he was happy, he couldn't. In front of other people, he did it but when he was alone, he couldn't.
He was not feeling too good today and wanted to be alone. The only place he could thing of was the little unconstructed area near his house which looked nothing less than a jungle. The place was filled with trees and this was his and Khushi's favourite hiding. They would frequently come here when they wanted to be away from everyone but since she had started dating Karan, they had never visited this place.
He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the ruffling of leaves indicating that someone was coming. It wasn't too hard for him to guess who it was. There wasn't anyone who came here except Khushi and him so it obviously had to be her.
He heard the noise stop and looked up to see an absolutely devastated Khushi. Immediately getting up he held her by her shoulders and looked at her face. Her eyes had swollen up and reddened. Tears were still flowing out of her eyes, yet there seemed to be a smile lingering on her lips which she tried to hide.
"Whats wrong Khushi? Why are you crying?" he asked, scared at what had suddenly happened to her.
"What are you doing here?" she questioned back, ignoring her inquiry.
"First tell me..." he asked again but was instantly cut off.
"Answer me Arnav." She stuck to her words and he gave up, there was no use arguing with her.
"I just wanted to be alone. I was missing someone."
"Who?"
"My best friend." He said before he could stop himself.
"But I'm right here, Arnav." She replied with sudden softness in her voice which made him look up in surprise. What did she mean by that? Was she trying to tell me that she... no stop right there Arnav. Don't let your thoughts wonder off.' He self-talked. He was lost in her thoughts when he heard something he wasn't sure was true or not.
"I love you too." He looked at her, sure that he was dreaming, the surprise clearly evident in his eyes. He saw a small smile appearing on her lips and her eyes lightning up.
"What? Why do you look so surprised? Shouldn't you be happy?" she asked softly.
"Why would you say that? Just to make me happy?" he asked, offended that she only said that for his happiness.
"No. To make myself happy by hearing it from you as well." She tried to indicate what she wanted.
"What?" he asked, still clueless at what was happening.
"Ugh! Are you really this stupid or you're just acting to be one? Don't you get it. I love you, you stupid person. What were you thinking all this while? You think its very smart of you to go all I'm-the-selfless-person-who-only-cares-about-my-besfriends-happiness? Did you ever think about me or what I want? Don't you understand that its only you that I can be happy with. Its always been you. I've always loved you. You already know that I'm immature and I cant take decisions for myself. Its always been you who takes the best decisions for me. You've been the mature person in our relationship who always takes the right decision. Then what happened this time? How could you take such a decision? How could you even think about going away from me?" she screamed.
As soon as she stopped, her lips were captured in a mind-numbing kiss. Initially shocked, she immediately came back to her senses and responded with equal fervor. He pulled her by her waist so she was stuck to his body while she pulled him closer by his hair.
They stood there as moments passed by, kissing each other while Arnav continued to murmur I love you' to her.
******************
I know the end sucks. I hated it myself😕
Anupamaa
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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