#2 ArShi FF - I AM WITH YOU || Ch 24 on Pg 115 [Sep 3] - Page 65

Arnav had been restless seeing Khushi avoiding him. He was quite sure she was doing this because of the unexpected kiss. He needed to talk to her. He got up from his bed and slowly walked towards Khushi's room. He saw the door was shut. He knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" he heard Khushi's voice as she opened the door.

Khushi had not expected the person to be Arnav. She moved a few steps back in surprise and turned her back towards Arnav to avoid facing him. She pretended as if she was busy in folding her clothes lying on the bed.

"How are you here?" she asked him without facing him.

Arnav understood that Khushi was avoiding him. "I want to talk to you..." he said looking at her back.

"Talk to me?" asked Khushi as she continued folding her clothes.

"Look at me, Khushi" said Arnav waiting impatiently for Khushi to turn around.

"I am folding my clothes Arnav. You say whatever you want to..." Khushi carefully tried not to face Arnav.

"Khushi look at me when I am talking to you!" said Arnav trying to control his frustration.

"Bolo na... I am listening" said Khushi not knowing how long she will be able to avoid him.

Now Arnav lost control over his composure. He walked to Khushi, and turned her with force holding her arm. "Why are you avoiding me?! Tell me the reason damn it!!" he yelled.

Khushi was shocked. Tears filled her eyes as she looked back into Arnav's. She could see pain in those deep dark eyes. She knew she was hurting him. And more than that she was hurting herself. But didn't he know he was to get married to Sheetal? Then why the hell did he let these feelings grow? Why didn't he just curb all this before it even began?

Arnav could see loads of questions in Khushi's eyes. Seeing tears roll down her cheeks, Arnav loosened his hold on her arm, but didn't leave it. Khushi remained silent. Arnav calmed himself down, and said "I am sorry Khushi... It just happened. I know you were not prepared for it, may be you are still feeling nervous about it... I understand Khushi..."

Before Khushi could say anything, Arnav held her hands in his. Khushi didn't understand what to do. She just wanted to move away from him. But his closeness was so captivating that Khushi was lost into the moment.

"Khushi..." whispered Arnav coming closer, "why do you look at it as a mistake? It was such a beautiful moment we had together... There was no wrong in it..." Khushi just stared at Arnav with wide eyes. What is he saying? Arnav looked deep into her eyes. "Don't you trust me, Khushi?" Khushi's heart was beating at an unusual pace. This is not right! Pulling her closer, Arnav gently blew a strand of hair off her face. She closed her eyes feeling his breath. "It wasn't so bad, was it?" he whispered, "Our first kiss..." Khushi suddenly opened her eyes realizing what was going on. "It was a beautiful moment, Khushi... A very special one..." he said gently circling his thumbs on the back of Khushi's hands. Khushi was feeling uncomfortable now, rather guilty. "Khushi... whenever I see you, I feel like..."

"No!" cried Khushi pushing Arnav away. "You can't feel anything for me!" she said stepping back. Pain gripped her as tears streamed down her eyes. She didn't want to lose this beautiful feeling she had whenever she was with Arnav. But the feeling had to be crushed, she couldn't let it reside in her heart any more. She had no right to feel anything for Arnav, and neither had Arnav the right to feel anything for her, anything more than friendship. Arnav was Sheetal's. And that was the truth, though very difficult to digest.

Arnav looked at Khushi in shock and confusion. Why was Khushi behaving in this way? Arnav was waiting for Khushi to answer his silent questions. Khushi breathed in and out to compose herself. She saw Arnav looking at her with a questioning and confused gaze. Khushi wiped off her tears and sniffed before she was ready to speak.

"You never told me anything about Sheetal..." she said softly. Arnav had forgotten about Sheetal. He was not expecting Khushi to bring up this topic. He stared at Khushi blankly, wondering how she knew Sheetal. Khushi could read his mind. She wanted to have a casual conversation with Arnav... no tensions, no hard feelings, no pain. She smiled to ease things a bit and said, "Amar uncle told me..."

*****

Karan and Lavanya wanted to let Khushi know what had happened with them and what they had heard Ajinkya say at the police station. But they were pretty sure that their phones were being tracked. So if they tried calling Arnav, Inspector Deshmukh would know immediately and they would also know the conversation going on. Karan had come to meet Lavanya in order to discuss 'what next' as they couldn't discuss it over the phone. Both were sitting in Lavanya's room thinking out a way to somehow reach to Arnav and ask him about Khushi. They didn't have Khushi's new number, the old one not working. And anyways, Khushi's new number was with Ajinkya. So the only way to know about Khushi was to talk to Arnav somehow. But that had to be done without letting Inspector Deshmukh know.

Just then Lavanya's mother entered the room with two glasses of juice for both of them. Lavanya and Karan's faces glowed at once seeing her as something struck their minds. They looked at each other in excitement and they immediately knew their minds were on the same track.

"Are you thinking the same what I am?" asked Karan.

"I think so..." replied Lavanya.

"We know each other so well..." said Karan.

"No doubt!" said Lavanya and they laughed.

Lavanya's mother was amused to see them, not understanding anything.

*****

Arnav and Khushi stood silently resting their elbows on the railing by the pool-side looking down at the reflection of the stars in the water as gentle breeze brushed past their faces. As reality had dawned on both of them, they hardly had anything to say. Silence was all they had to share with each other at the moment. The rustle of leaves and the cry of insects was all that was audible. Khushi heard Arnav let out a sigh. She didn't look at him though. She continued staring at the ripples on the surface of the water. She observed how the water deep down was still though wind was disturbing it's surface. She realized that her case wasn't very different. She had to stay composed deep within though the outside world kept disturbing her. She needed to keep her mind, and now her heart too, steady whatever may happen. After all, she had no one to take care of her. She had to take care of herself as well as Shashi. She needed to be strong enough to face the challenges life threw at her. She couldn't just keep crying over her broken heart. She had to move on and she was determined to... for her Papa and for herself. Making up her mind, she filled her lungs with the cool night air and turned to go to her room.

"I have known Sheetal since childhood" she heard Arnav say and her feet stuck to the ground. "They have been our family friends since long" Arnav continued without shifting his gaze away from the pool water.

Khushi came back to stand beside Arnav like before. She knew Arnav wanted her to be there as he shared his story. She was eager to know more...