OS : Arnav's Khushi

Lamps burning with the last of the oil, the faint smell of flowers, a house adorning a deafening silence, all reminiscent of the fateful day 15 years ago. Arnav Singh Raizada, sat in his room emotionally exhausted and holding back feelings which he always suppressed except on this one day. slivers of sadness were etched out on his face, which probably only his sister could see. He needed to get his mind onto something else...or maybe someone else...as he shut his eyes, instantaneously her face flashed in his mind...the face that haunted him day and night...khushi kumara gupta. Her face which had a zillion expressions all at once, mischief, excitement, hunger,passion, pride...her many facets... her voice which albeit a little annoying when she rambled but otherwise shimmering of droplets on glass... her tightly braided hair, which she sometimes let loose magnifying her beauty ten fold and her eyes. Her eyes were what captivated him the most, sparkling, big eyes...they held a world within them and more often than once he had caught himself wishing that he'd be immersed in that world. Her eyes would be the death of him...no scratch that...her tears would be the death of him...tears which shone bright but didn't fall...tears which he gave...tears that were in her eyes, but cut through his heart. He couldn't help it...it was the only way for him...and for her... the more stonehearted he was...the less hurt he would be...he didn't think he'd survive another loss of a loved one...no he couldn't bear it...he wouldn't bear it...which is why he had snubbed her, insulted her at every single given opportunity...but she always bounced back with a stronger resolve...with only a few unshed tears as evidence that she was hurt ever...

Why did he say that her tears didn't affect him...when he knew her tears affected him more than anybody else's ...Why did he have to yell at her today...why did he shut the door on her face... a tiny part of him argued that she was only being nice...but at that point it seemed like she was trying to be sympathetic...pitying him for his loss...pretending to understand...no one would understand...no one could and he had wished that people over the years would stop saying they understood... how could she understand...when she had her parents with her...she could be with them...lie in their lap when she was sad...give them all the happiness in the world...she could touch them...they were alive...then how did she say she understands ?

His meandering thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his sister's frantic voice... Arnavv...she never called him arnav...he leapt to his feet to see what the matter was...what his sister was telling him hit him like a rock... khushi...her father...city hospital...heart attack..she left alone...these words were enough for him to rush out of the house...to his car...in search of her...scared for her..Almost guilty for being jealous of her relationship with her parents. He reached the hospital in a daze...and managed to locate his friend a senior doctor at the place. His friend found out that they were on the 4^th floor...arnav followed his friend to her...but stopping short just before the family could see him. He snuck behind a door close to them, and urged his friend to do the best he could. The family looked shattered by the incident, and he felt a familiar stab of pain... he looked further and saw her...eyes bright with those same unshed tears...hands twisting her duppatta like she always did when nervous...but voice steady...telling her mother and sister that all would be good...and that nothing would harm their father... he watched her walk up and down...he watched her speak to his friend...watched her give instructions to her aunt...he just stood and watched her...till he saw signs of the bravado fading...the extreme sadness that reflected off her face... she was breaking down...slowly...yet no one else noticed...except him..he followed her silently as she made her way to the hospital prayer room...he stood outside while she wailed...here she didn't have to put on a front...here she didn't have to be the strong one... all he wanted to do was rush to her side and hug her and say all would be good...but alas...this was something he could never do..he ASR...could never have the chance to comfort his unrequited love...and this was a choice he had made. She was having one of those conversations with god...as was her nature...and even if it was for a second...it brought a smile to his face...he listened carefully..what he heard made him want to die of shame...right there and then...she wasn't lying...no she wasn't lying earlier...when she said she understood him, she truly did...Khushi probably understood it best, because Khushi was orphaned when she was 15... as was he... khushi's aunt and uncle were her guardians...and she loved them as much as she did her parents...but like he knew...the void of not having your parents is never filled...Khushi was like him...just that while he blamed the world for it...she accepted the truth and lived her life through it all... she lived for her surrogate family...their happiness...their love...khushi lived for love..

He hid behind the curtains again as he saw payal running towards the room, her father...or uncle...no father...who was he to question her decision...HER FATHER had regained consciousness and was out of danger... he saw her thank the almighty and fold her hands in reverence while she rushed out to join her family...he stayed there a while...making sure she was ok...making sure she was fine...making sure her lines of worry had disappeared... he walked away slowly...never once his eyes leaving her face...and then he left..she was good...which meant he was good...

He saw her the next day...again the cheerful girl...eating as she walked...talking twenty to a dozen...telling his family how it was a miracle that her father was okay...and how brilliant the hospital was since they ran a program acc to which.. they charged them nothing and had offered to take full care of him while he recuperated...that was the least he could do for her...and was something he'd never tell her adding to the list...

But all that he cared about was...she was back...where she belonged...near him...as always. Time to put on the ASR face... KKG...we all will be fine.