raanjhana; naagin 5 (chapter 9)
veer knew she was lying so he followed her up to the room. bani was looking out of the window, hugging herself. she was staring at the moon and once again, she felt like she was alone. bani had always felt unwanted at her home. she got love and acceptance from her dad and meera di but she never got a mother’s love. she never got that warmth. she barely even knew who her parents really were. bani started to feel less alone and as if she had a family with jay but after his betrayal, she didn’t know who her family was. neither did she know who or where she could call home. until she started spending time with the singhania’s. the singhania house was starting to feel like home, with veer and the cheel khandan making her feel welcome. she felt as if she was part of a family or starting to become part of one at least. veer made her safe and helped her belong.
however, after hearing her chachi’s bitter words, the feeling of not belonging came back up. she felt alone again and unwanted. she started talking to the moon and stars, as if she was talking to her parents, and when she did, veer entered and listened in on the conversation.
“ma, papa, why did you guys have to leave me so quick? i need you. i needed you. i never felt like i belonged there. i was always an outsider. i'm still an outsider. who do i call my own? who’s my family? why would you leave me having no one? i don't have anyone ma, i don't have you, i don't have papa. i don't have a family. i’m constantly left to feel unwanted, as if i'm a burden.”
veer broke hearing this. bani had revealed the side of her that was heartbroken due to jay but she never told him anything about her family, he assumed this was her real family and they never spoke about it in detail. bani never told him how she felt, he had no idea she had ever felt this way.
bani scoffed, “and now, i'm a burden to veer and his family.”
veer stopped her, he couldn’t hear anymore. “bani, you are not a burden.”
bani turned around, looking straight at veer. he walked towards her and continued, “not to me. not to my family. don’t ever think that you’re not wanted in this house or that you're a burden on any of us, especially not me. i love you. you make my life complete. you make this house a home. you’ve completed our family and none of us feel like you're a burden to us. you have us, always. i promise you that. none of us will ever turn our back on you.”
bani started tearing up, veer cupped her face. “thank you for making me feel like i'm part of the family, but what happens when they find out i'm a naagin?”
“they might be upset for some time but, they’re your family now and we’ll deal with it that way.”
“thank you, for making me feeling like i at least have someone in this world.”
“you always have me gharwali, i promise. but sweetheart, i'm sorry. i'm confused, you were talking to your parents, so papa isn’t your dad?”
bani shook her head, she led veer to the sofa where they both sat facing each other. “my parents died when i was 4. i was at home with chachi and papa. papa used to work for my dad. they went out and never came back. passed in a car crash. papa decided i would stay with them and he treated me like a daughter. meera di treated me like a sister. chachi on the other hand, wasn’t happy. she didn’t want me there as i was taking away their money with food, clothing and all. she’s not too fond of me.”
“i'm so sorry sweetheart, i had no idea. i always assumed this was your real family. i knew you called her chachi and it confused me but i kinda brushed it aside not thinking anything of it. were you okay while you were living there though?” veer questioned.
“it was okay. i mean, the first few years were hard. i don’t remember too much of it. they told me that i wasn’t talking or eating, i’d just stay quiet and was alone most of the time. as i grew up, chachi was stricter on me. she made me help with any chores around the house but once it came time for college, she told me the only way she would pay is if i took over the house chores completely. i agreed because i wanted to go and be able to eventually move out. so i’d get up, cook for everyone, do the laundry, go to college, pick up any dry cleaning, then come back and clean the entire house before cooking dinner and cleaning up the kitchen and dining room after.”
“bani, you would take care of the entire house while studying?” veer was shocked, part of him furious of what his gharwali had to go through.
“yes. meera di would help but if chachi caught her, she would yell at me and it would end up causing a scene so eventually meera di stopped helping too. you know, she actually tried getting me married at 20?”
“what? are you serious?”
“yeah but then she realized no one would clean the house so she called off the wedding. she basically said i wasn’t allowed to leave the house until i paid her back. so jay agreed to do so but then we got married and you gave her all of those expensive jewelry so she was fine then.”
“bani, how has this never come up? and how are you so okay about all of it?”
“veer, i had to accept it. it’s not like i had a way out. i didn’t have anyone to come and save me from there, i just had to go with how things were set up for me. i'm okay with it now because i guess i blocked out most of it before this and that’s also why i never brought it up. i wish my parents were alive but other than that, i'm not sad about anything that happened. i can’t change it now and i couldn’t change it then.”
“i’m sorry. i'm so sorry you had to go through all of this. i wish you could’ve had the perfect childhood you deserve. i really wish you had the happy family you wanted but you have that with us now i promise sweetheart.”
bani smiled at veer, “thank you for giving me this. thank you for making me feel like i belong. it’s getting late i know you have an early morning, should we sleep?”
“yes, let’s get you to bed.”
“will you, um..”
“what’s wrong gharwali?”
“will you sleep with me?”
“what?” veer was shocked. he knew she didn’t mean it that way but he was taken aback.
“i mean, will you sleep on the bed with me? i don't like it when you sleep on the sofa.”
“why not?”
“because i don't like seeing you sleep uncomfortably and i don’t like sleeping alone. i want you beside me. when i wake up i want to see you next to me, i don't like waking up to an empty bed.”
hehe they’re sharing the bed now yay! sorry for taking forever but i’ll try get the next part up tomorrow or saturday morning, thanks for reading!!