Arhi FF: Humsafar. Chapter 18 up! - Page 7

Khushi entered the kitchen a little late and saw her mother working. Greeting her with a salam, she proceeded to work when her thoughts went to someone special. The way he had honestly confessed that spending time with her was the best part of coming here made her warm all over and her toes curled. Butterflies flew in her stomach and she had no idea how to control the blush that spread over her face whenever she thought about him. There was something magical about all this. He had made her come out of the shell she was living in. Though, she had not told him everything but she had started opening up to him. He was more of a friend than a husband. Her opinion mattered to someone at least. Last night something had changed between them. Khushi was no child to not understand the depth of her own feelings but part of her was scared to admit them. What if her dreams shatter again? What if after some time, Arnav gets tired of her? Something in that thought made her restless. Yes, she had full faith in Arnav but her past didn't let her believe the notion of a faithful marriage after she had seen...She closed her eyes due to the tiredness and yawned.

"Raat ko late soyi thi?" She looked up at her ammi asking her and she nodded with her eyes downcast.

"Ji ammi."

"Kyun? Kya kar rahi thi?"

"Neend nahin arahi thi ammi." She lied and hoped against hope that her mother would buy it because if she came to know that she was with Arnav, Allah knows how she will react.

"Khushi this behavior of yours will not be tolerated now. You are a married woman and sleeping till late like this will not be of any help. You need to wake up before everyone does."

"Ji ammi. Ainda nahin hoga. I am sorry."

"Hona bhi nahin chahye."

"Hamesha toh fajar ke time pe uthti hain. Aaj thora late ho gaya toh kya ho gaya ammi?" Aaliya, who had come to fetch something from the kitchen had heard their conversation and answered her mother in an irritated tone.

"Chup! Go to your room if you are not of any use here in the kitchen."

Pleading Aaliya to leave, through her eyes, she took a deep breath when she heard her mother taunting her again. Thank God, Aaliya had gone to her room.

"I don't know what is wrong with the kids today. Bari hai toh woh nahin sunti aur choti aage se zuban chalati hai. Meri tou aulad ke maamle main kismet hi kharab hai."

A tear rolled down her eye and she wiped it off quickly but it didn't go unnoticed by her mother who again started: "Ab ro kyun rahi ho? Ek baat samjha kya do, tip tip anson behne lagte hain maharani ke. Pata nahin kab jaan choote gi?"

Unknown to them, a pair of eyes looked upon them in total disbelief and confusion.

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Arnav had gone upstairs and wasn't sure if Khushi will come today or not but to his surprise and relief, she was already standing there looking at the stars. He moved forward and sensing his presence, she looked up at him and smiled. A smile that didn't reach her eyes yet again, he noticed. Whatever he had seen in the kitchen in the morning had confirmed his suspicions to some extent and today he had decided to ask Khushi about it. She needed to let it out. He turned her to face him gently by her shoulders and when she refused to meet his eyes, he held her chin and urged her to look up at him.

"Khushi? Meri taraf dekho."

And when she did, his heart went out to this girl. The anguish on her face seemed to be piercing his heart in return and he couldn't bear it. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears and she again and again admonished herself not to cry. The concern in his voice made a tear escape her eye and he took her in his embrace, she let herself cry. He ran a hand at her back to soothe her and let her cry to lessen her pain and when her sobs reduced to hiccups, she looked at him with wide doe eyes and meekly said:

"Sorry!"

"Don't be. It's okay sweetheart. Kya hua?" He asked hugging her again to comfort her.

"Wo bus aise hi..." She tried to come up with something when she was cut off by him.

"Khushi, I saw what happened in the morning. You can talk to me about anything, you know?"

"It's nothing." She said and turned away from him, closing her eyes. But flashes of concern filled caramel orb staring at her came to her mind and she didn't know when she started speaking:

"Our parents always wanted a male child." He stood shocked at the revelation and held her hand as he knew how much difficult it was for her. Nonetheless, she continued "Laikin Allah ko kuch aur hi manzoor tha. Aaliya doesn't know anything about this but humen bachpan main hi andaza ho gaya tha, isi liye Aaliya ko is sach se bachane ki koshish karte hain. Wo choti hai abhi. How will she take it hen she comes to know that our parents didn't want to have us in the first place." She asked turning to him and was immediately taken into a hug. He patted her head and whispered in her ear: "Ssh, it's okay. It's going to be alright."

"Thank you." Surprised at her breakdown, she could only utter this word as her eyes looked towards him with gratitude as she was feeling much lighter after sharing a tad bit of her past to him.

"Khushi as much as I am happy that you trust me this much to share something that is very private, I want you to know that I am always there for you and you can talk to me anytime and about anything you want. I know that there's more but I won't force you to tell me. Take your time." Arnav cupped her face and kissed her on her forehead ensuring her of the security and shelter he would provide her within his embrace while Khushi deduced that only he is the one with whom she could share anything.