It was like their wedding night all over again.
The hesitation, the blushing, the nervousness. The tentatively lowering themselves to their sides of the bed. The sneaking glances at each other.
They'd spent the evening apologising.
Expressing their shame. Drowning in guilt. And comforting each other when it all got too overwhelming.
Laying their heads on their respective pillows, they turned to face each other.
"It's been a weird day, hunh?" Khushi said quietly.
Arnav snorted. "Weird? More like absolutely bat-shit crazy."
Khushi giggled.
"You know what's weirder?" she asked.
"No, what?"
"Your Salman Khan picture."
Arnav rolled his eyes and looked away.
"Really!" she laughed. "What were you even thinking?! I could never have thought that YOU, of all people, would do something like that."
"So you're saying I'm not cool enough to be Salman Khan?" he narrowed his eyes playfully at her.
Khushi pursed her lips, her eyes dancing with mischief.
"Seriously?! You think I'm less cool than Salman?"
She seemed to think hard before resolutely shaking her head.
"Now you've done it," he said in mock anger as he lunged at her.
Khushi's delighted giggles filled the room as Arnav tickled her sides, laughing in her ear. With fluttering fingers, she tried to tickle him back and as soon as her hands found his funny bone, he rolled on top of her, clutching her wrists upon the pillow to pin her down, his uneven breath, erratic with laughter, falling in warm huffs upon her nose.
As the laughter died down and awareness grew, both Arnav and Khushi's heartbeats went haywire. Eyes refused to look away from each other. Arms tightened around each other. And lips inched closer to each other.
This kiss was very different from the last. Where the previous one had been laced with passion, an explosion of longing, this one was slow and soft, a gentle plea for forgiveness and a promise to love.
When they finally broke away from each other, Arnav carefully rolled back from his wife, relinquishing the shackles he's created around her wrists with his hands.
Breathing heavily with her eyes still closed, Khushi's hand smoothed against the mattress, searching. When her fingers found his, she slowly laced them together, a tiny smile pulling the corners of her mouth up.
"Good night, Kinky," she whispered without opening her eyes.
She didn't need to look at him to know he was smiling indulgently at her too. Because she heard it in his whispered, "Good night, Lola."
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