"You mean me?" Khushi whispered, her voice trailing away uncertainly as she scanned his face for some sign of sarcasm or untruth. She found none. Could it actually be? She felt her eyes glaze over with a thin film of tears, as happiness erupted within her like fireworks.
Arnav was wondering how he could possibly get himself out of the mess he had placed himself in, berating himself for having been so uncharacteristically impulsive, when he caught a gleam in her deep brown eyes that looked a lot like hope, as though she wanted to him to say yes... as though he was the person that she liked.
A part of him - a very jubilant part indeed that was somersaulting wildly at this revelation - wanted to profess that he felt things for her that he had never felt before, that the very thought of her with someone else had driven him crazy, that she had become an integral part of his life and he would never want to let her go away from him. All those soppy, cliched dialogues that he would have once gagged at, seemed to fit the bill, and he ached to throw all caution to the winds, and tell her how he felt, what all he felt.
But alas - old habits die hard. It was impossibly hard to resist the temptation to tease her, just a little bit.
"Are you hoping that I'll say yes?" he smirked.
Khushi felt a very telling blush sear itself through her face at his words and, she realised, mortified, that it was not even remotely possible that her reaction would go unnoticed. His hands were still cupped around her burning face after all. She tried to compose herself, nevertheless, using every fibre of acting prowess that she possessed, before she retorted coolly,
"I was just being curious. But are you hoping that I'm hoping that you'll say yes?"
He could help not but smile. It was one of the things that he loved best about her - the fact that she did not feel intimidated by him in any way. She could stare straight into his eyes, fight back on an equal footing, and (occasionally) stump him with her wit and ingenuity. There never could be a dull moment with Khushi around.
"Your little button nose becomes red when you blush, did you know?" he said casually, watching with satisfaction as her efforts to not blush only made her more flustered, "I have a sneaky suspicion that you've found your perfect guy in me. I must say, I'm not surprised at all. I always knew that I am perfect."
The infuriatingly smug look on his face was enough to drive away all those typical filmi sharmeeli vibes Khushi was inadvertently displaying. Love or no love, there was no way she would let that bloody Raizada's massive ego swell even more on her account! He would have to confess first. She could not let him win at this.
"Dream on, Raizada! You are the one who stole my ishq wala love dialogue, implying that you have fallen head over heels for me, which is perfectly understandable of course. I, however, have made no admission to that effect, and I don't intend to either."
"Oh really?" he said, his smirk more pronounced than ever, as he tilted his head and leaned in towards her, "Well, we'll see about that. I am about to kiss you, Khushi Kumari Gupta. You have three seconds to object. Three..."
The words froze in Khushi's throat, as all her bravado evaporated in thin air.
"Two..." he continued, his fingers stroking her cheeks slightly.
She could not breathe. His smirk had been replaced by a purposeful, blazing look.
"One," he said, almost inaudibly, as though out of breath.
And with that, he placed a small kiss on her nose.
"I love... your little red nose," he stated, gently letting go of her face, and stepping back slightly, with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
Khushi opened her eyes (which had somehow fluttered shut at some point) and shook herself out of the daze that she had been in. That was in no way a confession! How dare he?
She was about to throw some sarcastic barb at him, but before she could do so, she felt his hand travel to her bare waist and pull her towards him. She placed her hand against his chest, intending to push him away, but found herself unable to. She could feel his heart pounding, just as hers was, with a wild sense of desperation. She looked up and found his eyes studying her intently, and she blinked back slowly, conveying acquiescence.
The next thing she knew, he had covered her mouth with his, and his lips moulded with hers in a gentle, but firm kiss that caused the rest of the world to blur away. She felt her hand slide up his chest and travel to the back of his neck, pulling him closer, as she tentatively parted her lips to deepen the kiss, and ran her fingers through his hair.
Arnav tightened his grip around her waist, causing her to arch backwards slightly, and pressed his body against hers. He was finding it painfully hard to tolerate even the tiniest distance between them. He wanted her, needed her, in a way that was almost scary to acknowledge, and yet, nothing had ever felt more right. They fitted together, like two adjacent pieces of a puzzle, perfectly in sync.
When they finally parted, slightly out of breath, and feeling indescribably, profoundly euphoric, no words seemed to be needed.
Khushi looked away towards the scintillating lights reflected in the swimming pool as she tried to process what had just happened, and what it meant. The heart was a wild, uncontrollable being, that refused to be caged within the bounds of rationality or morality. But she knew that if she did not stop and allow her mind to kick in, she would soon have traveled too far down the spiral of all-consuming love to be able to protect herself from heartbreak.
"We should go," she murmured after some time, "Someone might -"
"You are my fiance," Arnav replied, slightly confused by her sudden aloofness.
"Contract fiance," she corrected, as her eyes began to burn.
"To hell with the contract," he said, before adding, earnestly, "I really, really like you, Khushi. I promise you, I am not just fooling around. I've never felt this way before. I've never felt so happy, so alive."
"I trust you," she said gently, fighting to hold back her tears, "But the ideas of marriage and commitment have always made you uncomfortable. I understand that. I know that you are not a very emotional person and that's okay. The thing is, I - I don't want you to feel trapped a few months or years down the line. I don't want us to end up as one of those embittered couples who can't stand the sight of each other. What we share is too special for me to allow that to happen. I love you, and I cannot bear the thought of becoming the source of your unhappiness or frustration."
Arnav felt a raw, icy pain burning through his chest as her words throbbed against his eardrums deafeningly.
He wanted to protest, and most vehemently so. But could he really give her the unequivocal reassurance that he would always feel the same about her, that he would not end up feeling cornered and confined? Could he commit to her, wholeheartedly, without the haunting fear that he might one day break the heart of the person who had given him so much, who meant so much to him?
"So what do you want?" he asked, his voice hoarse and heavy with emotion.
"I want us to remain friends, and I want you not to make any promises, any commitment until you are sure," she said, braving a small smile.
He nodded silently, in awe at how perfectly she knew and understood him. She was right. It would be wrong of him to commit unless he became the person who was perfect for her. He smiled back, as he wiped away her tears with his thumb, and asked teasingly, "So does that mean no kissing?"
"Goodness, Raizada, who would want to kiss you?" she quipped, the corners of her mouth twitching.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
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