SS: Race-Part 5

Recap:

Arnav needed to know whether Khushi liked it or not. Arnav needed to know everything before they took their next step into each other's lives.

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NK was brought out his thoughts as a dainty hand started tugging him towards the entrance along with Arnav.

"Guysss! Come on! Are we going to go inside or what?!" Khushi said a little annoyed at them for just standing there when they could be partying inside. For such a petite person she was really strong as she dragged them to the entrance where Payal and Akash were waiting. She kept her hold on NK and Arnav as they waited for the bouncers to confirm their names and let them pass.

NK was watching her, how she unconsciously leaned closer to Arnav, how she moved when he moved, how she was so in tune with him. He would have to do something and do it soon.

Arnav noticed how that NK kid was staring at Khushi, his Khushi, the whole time. He wanted to rip out his eyes for that. Khushi was his, only his. So then why was that NK kid so close and comfortable with her, why did she allow it, why did she look comfortable with him too?

His eyes traveled to Khushi who was practically jumping up and down with excitement as the bouncers let them pass and she tugged them in behind her. As his eyes traveled over her face he noticed how she looked the same yet so different. He couldn't believe it had been five years since he last talked to her, six since he had last seen her. He felt as if all those years of separation were just a figment of his imagination as his mind traveled back to the past, memories drowning out the deafening music.

~Flashbacks~
==================================================================
He and his gang stood there laughing, waiting for the girl in front of them to start crying. Suddenly his laughter was cut off when a something soft collided into him, knocking him over.

"Ouch!" He hissed as his elbows scraped against the ground. He looked up to see that girl standing above him, she was shaking with anger, anger he could see in her teary doe-like eyes.

"You...You...Raksash! Do you think tripping a girl and stealing her lunch is funny? Well your not laughing anymore, are you?" And with that he watched as turned and marched away, looking back at him with hate.

"What the...?!" He stared after that girl in wonder, who was she?

"Khushi! Khushi stop! Wait for me!" Another girl shouted, running after the girl who had left him shocked and confused...Khushi... ================================================================== "Arnav..? Arnav?...Arnav!" He turned at her voice, only to have her collided into his chest. His smirk quickly became a frown as he felt and heard her sobbing against his chest.

"Khushi?" Her sobs grew louder along with his worry. "Khushi?! What's wrong? Stop crying and answer me! If you don't tell me what's wrong how am I going to help you damnit!?" He grew more and more frustrated, he didn't like feeling helpless, especially when it came to her. He pulled her back to look at her face as her sobs died down. She looked up at him, her cute little nose and doe-like all red, and sniffed,

"P...Payal. She's anger with m...me and won't t...talk to me! She's my b...best friend! I d...didn't mean to r...ruin her f...favorite dress." Khushi finished on the verge of tears again.

Arnav stared at her tear-stricken face for who knows how long. Here he was worrying over her uncontrollable tears, thinking of what he was going to do to the person responsible for them and she tells him all these tears are because her best friend is upset with her.

"Unbelievable!" Arnav blurts out before he beings laughing uncontrollably. He watched at Khushi stares at him with disbelief then anger. She turned on her feet and was about to walk away when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into his chest. "Your completely and totally out of your mind, you know that right...meri Jungli Billi?"

"You were a mean Raksash, Laad Governor before and your still mean Raksash, Laad Governor! No one would even think that you were my other best friend! It's like I'm still in first grade and your still in third!" Khushi huffed. " And you know I hate that name! So why do you continue to call me by that?" She begun to walk away again but Arnav held on.

"I'm sorry...meri Jalebi Bai" Arnav whispered to her with a wink. =============================================================== "Hey dude, chill she'll be here! She's probably stuck in traffic or something." Akash tried to calm Arnav down, who was vigorously pacing up and down the road and constantly checking his watch.

"Today! Today of all days she decides to be late! She knows how important this race is for me and how I can't race unless she's here cheering me on!" Arnav shouted at no one in particular, getting more frustrated with every passing second. "Where could she be? What if something happened...No, no she'll be here." He shut his eyes tring to rid his mind of the vivid, awful images.

"I told you I'd be here, didn't I then why are you so worried?." A melodious voice said as a pair of soft dainty arms wrapped around his torso from behind. Arnav let out a sigh of relief as he turned around in her arms to face her. He cupped her face, looking into her eyes,

"When it comes to you there's nothing I don't worry about. Do you k...know what I went t...through this past hour? I thought s...something happened to you! What if something did h...happen to you?! What if you had di '" His last word was cut off as she placed her hand over his mouth, shushing him. She gently cupped his face and whispered,

"I'm sorry." She held her ears. She reached up on her tippy-toes and placed a sweet kiss on his check. Arnav sighed with bliss and whispered,

"Khushi...I love you." ================================================================== ~End Flashbacks~

"...Arnav!...Arnav? Are you okay? Did you forget to take your medicine again? Arnav!?" He was brought back to the present by a frantic Khushi pressing her hand against his forehead, then checking his pulse. "I'm fine Khushi." He looked down at her face only to find her on the verge of tears. Her grabbed her shoulders, "Shh...Khushi. I'm fine! Okay. Stop crying. I'm fine...Shh."

NK looked over to see Arnav holding a teary-eyed Khushi. Khushi and tears? She only cried when she was afraid or hurt. NK didn't give it a second thought before he strode right up to Khushi and took her into his arms, shoving Arnav away.

"Khushi?! Are you okay? Look at me...look at me! I'm right here, okay? Nothing can hurt you as long as I'm here." With that last line he looked at Arnav and then around the club, making sure the coast was clear.

NK was roughly shoved away from Khushi. He looked up to see Arnav coming at him. Khushi was looking at both of them shocked.

"What the hell is your problem! I wasn't doing anything to her!" Arnav was about to shoved NK again when he found Khushi in front of holding her arms out, her eyes pleading and frightened.

"Arnav calm down. It's okay. NK is just really protective of me. He gets over-protective whenever I cry ever si...since..." Khushi choked up on her words and dashed away to the bathroom only to be followed by a worried Payal, who had seen the whole thing.

Akash walked up to NK and Arnav. He lead them away from there, to a corner of the club. Arnav was furious, this NK kid was getting on his last nerves at this point. NK knew that it was time now, he had to tell Arnav.

"Akash, why don't you go grab us a couple of drinks" NK offered trying to get Arnav alone. He watched as Akash gave them both an oppressive look before heading off towards the bar to grab some drinks.

"Come with me." NK said turning to face Arnav, who was about to burst in him again. "There's something you need to know...whether she likes it or not."

Arnav looked at NK's back with confusion. What did he mean? Who was she? What did he have to tell him that was so important? Why did he need to know? He followed NK who lead them into a room upstairs over-looking the club. He looked through the glass window down at the club to see Payal and Khushi coming out of the bathroom, she looked much better, her smile was back. He sighed turning back to face NK.

"Why did you bring me up here for?" Arnav asked as calmly as he could, looking NK in the eyes, waiting...for what he didn't know. NK stood with his back to Arnav facing away from the club, at the blank wall in front of him.

"Arnav Singh Raizada. Hmph. I well aware that you certainly have no clue as to why I brought you up here. Don't worry. You'll find you soon enough. But it'll take a while so why don't you sit down?" NK gestured towards a chair, still facing the wall. Arnav didn't move an inch, staring at NK's back, the grimness in NK's voice sent anxiousness seeping into him. "Suit yourself"

"I'm here to tell you a story today, about a girl with whom life played a miserable game. One cold December night, a couple had been rushing home when the muffled sounds of laughter reached their ears. They found a little baby girl, no more than two years old giggling away on the sidewalk, with no clue where she is and in what state. They were so awed by the little princess at their feet they decided to take her with them. After a few days they had grown attached to this little miracale sent from above and having no children of their own they decide to adopt her. Her new parents were always left amazed at how she smiled at everyone and everything, and so they name her Khushi, Khushi Kumari Gupta." NK paused at the sound of Arnav's sudden intake of breath.

"Khushi...Khushi was adopted?" His mind unable to wrap around the concept of how such a innocent and beautiful being could have been left on the streets at birth.

"Oh, there's more... Years passed she lived a happy and beautiful life. She was never told about her birth parents, she never knew she was adopted. She was in her second year of college, she had gone home with a few friends to celebrate Diwali. A Diwali she will never forget. That night they were all celebrating, but their celebrations were cut short. Three gunshots, that's all it took to turn her world upside down and inside out. Two hit her parents right in the chest, killing them instantly. The third one grazed Khushi's arm, she was safe." NK's voice grew hoarse towards the end.

"Kh...Khushi...was shot at?!" Arnav's voice growing more and more hysterical almost. "She was fired at!? Her life was at stake! And her parents...they were her everything...no...she would have broken down completely!"

"And she did. Now she barely speaks to anyone other than Payal, Akash, and myself. We were the only ones with her when it happened. Those few seconds ruined her to the core. The bubbly, optimistic, talkative, crazy Khushi we knew was gone, our Khushi was gone. The littlest things would scare her. If Payal caught a cold or if I went away to visit family, she would break. She wouldn't sleep alone for six months, she's terrified to be alone in the dark still, Diwali will never be the same for her. Even after almost two years Khushi was barely like herself. But then when Khushi got the news of you she reemerged, Khushi came back to us. The jump in her step, the twinkle in her eyes, the trueness in her smile. Everything. It was all because of you that we got to see our old Khushi again." NK sighed.

"Me... I brought Khushi back...Khushi had lost herself...she came back because of me?" Arnav couldn't believe his ears, he brought Khushi back! His Khushi!

"Yes. You, only you. Not Payal, not Akash, not even me. Khushi and I had clicked right off from the first day of college. But I was only ever a friend for her, she never forgot you. I felt more for her but she never knew. For her I became the brother she never had. I saw noticed how you saw how close she was with me, well it's only because after her parents died Payal and I were the closest to her but she always felt bad about taking Payal from Akash and so she became even more attached to me. Today itself, before we came here, I had to suddenly leave and I hadn't told her and she had been so worried. The thought of losing anyone else she's close to always haunts her now." NK whispered at the end.

Arnav was remembering how Khushi was with NK, close but distant as well. He finally saw how Khushi did and still does only feel for him. That NK had been her support when he wasn't there, he was her comfort.

"But now I'm going to tell you something that only Payal, Akash and I know, something that I need to tell you before I let you and Khushi step into each others lives again." NK turned and looked Arnav straight in the eyes.

"There's more?! What more does she have to go through? Her birth parents left her, her adoptive parents were murdered, someone supposedly attempted to murder her to! Khushi...What did she do to deserve this?" Arnav asked not able to understand that there was more than what he already knew.

"Yes. Khushi's birth parents didn't just leave her, they were murdered. They had been on the run with Khushi but they left her in a old house before they kept going for her safety. I don't know when or how but the gang following them caught up with her parents and killed them. That's when Khushi's adoptive parents had found her after she had crawled out of the old house onto the street. That same gang had been after Khushi for all those years but never found her because of her new family and name. It was on that one Diwali night when her adoptive parents were shot, they were shot by the same gang. But once again they had missed Khushi. When this had happened we had been terrified for Khushi and so we had an investigation done and we found all this out, but we felt it would be better to keep it from Khushi because she was already going through enough. But we still haven't found out why that gang is after Khushi." NK said looking past Arnav out the window at Khushi, dancing away without a care, that's the Khushi he wanted to see and he would make sure she stayed that way.

Arnav followed NK's gaze out the window to Khushi. He watched as she danced away, her hips shaking along with the beats of the music, her arms raised above her head, clad in a black jeans and a hot pink shoulder top. She looked so happy, who would want to steal her precious smile.

"No one is going to even look at her in the wrong way. I'll find whoever's after her and why they want her. If they want her they're have to go through me first. And that's Arnav Singh Raizada's promise." The confidence and fidelity in his voice hung in that air, his eyes never leaving Khushi.

"I won't let anyone hurt you...I promise...Khushi... I'm sorry." Arnav whispered feeling defeated for the second time in his life, he watched Khushi as a lone tear escaped his eye.

Part 6 - https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/iss-pyaar-ko-kya-naam-doon/3038637/ss-race-part-6