IPKKND - Wretched Love - Note pg. 18 - Page 9

Part 5

"So di, are you going to tell us?" Anjali urged Khushi again.
 
"Will you f**king just shut your mouth Anjali! Are you serious? The girl is in pain, came home after seven hours and you can't god damn wait a f**king second until she answers, seriously are you a f**king impatient child? Give her a break! I don't wanna hear from any of you, all three of you go to your rooms while I take care of this knee, the girl is here for the whole month I'm sure you'll get your answers later." Arnav blew off at the three who were huddled around a pained Khushi. He just couldn't take it anymore, she was in pain and the three wanted their answers. What a bunch of overgrown impatient idiots. Arnav fumed as the three left for their respective rooms. He was still muttering curses at his family while cleaning khushi's knee when his finger brushed an open wound causing Khushi to hiss at the intrusion and instinctively clench her fingers around his shoulders as the pain got unbearable.
 
"Shit! Are you alright?" Arnav exclaimed extremely worried at the pained face of Khushi. She had her eyes shut so tight and her lips pulled in a grimace while her hands clawed further into his shoulder.
 
"Khushi..." he whispered calling for her attention. As she ever so gently opened her eyes he noticed that they had misted a little making her seem vulnerable.
 
"It alright Arnavji just stings a lot. I'm fine. Thank you." she calmly reassured him, and felt grateful for him caring about her. She couldn't believe a man she hardly knew and hardly interacted with understood her so well and was tending to her wound with utmost precision to not miss a scratch. The sincerity she saw in his eyes touched her heart. But all good things don't come to last, she noticed how the tenderness wiped away from his eyes and was replaced with a hollowness that gave nothing away of his inner turmoil.
 
Arnav noticed how she gazed at his eyes and remembered that he had shown his emotion and so quickly schooled his expression once again putting his mask of indifference on for the world. Going back to her wound again he gently cleaned the rest of the wound and disinfected the scratches. He took out a bandage from the kit and gently straightened out her leg; tenderly he wrapped the bandage around her knee and finished by securing it.
 
"Thank you Arnavji." Khushi said once again as Arnav was putting the kit away on the table. She tried getting up but painfully slumped down again. She didn't understand why her knee hadn't hurt on the way and only stung when she got home but now it was throbbing. Gripping the edge of the couch Khushi made to get up again with all her strength she pushed herself up with a painful grunt.
 
"What the..." Arnav turned to an adorable sight. Sure she was in pain but seeing Khushi like that was like watching a kitten lick its wound. She made the cutest picture ever that Arnav had to stop himself from kissing her then and there. Noticing she was stressing herself out by getting up, he went near her, bent a little and hoisted her up in his arms taking her by surprise. Her doe like eyes widened, lips formed an 'O' and reflexively she caught his collar in her one hand and the other arm went around his shoulders. Arnav saw her face and couldn't help but mentally aww at the image she created, could she get any cutter even when she had the sexiest features. He so wanted to kiss her but knew he couldn't so he started to take her upstairs.
 
What the two didn't realize was the three pair of eyes staring at them from behind in amazement.
 
"Sasuma, you see that?" mamiji asked with her comical shocked face.
 
"Monorama pinch me. Hume yakeen nahi ho raha hai." Nani said disbelievingly.
 
"Well would you look at that; here you two are making plans when fate has already gotten Khushi bitiya into Arnav's arms. I don't think you ladies have a thing to do but watch." Mamaji said in good humor to the two.

~~~

Khushi couldn't help but noticed how Arnav was carrying her so effortlessly up the stairs. She could feel the ripple of the muscles in his arms. She stared at him blatantly; she couldn't understand why she felt so aware of him so suddenly. He was so different from his brothers. Kept to himself and didn't preposterously ask her out. He had this superior aura around him that was attracting her. She didn't realize when they had reached her room and he was gently laying her down on the bed. When he made to get up he realized that Khushi still had his collar fisted and was staring at him dazed.
 
"Khushi, sweetheart let go." he said gently taking her fist in his hand and tugging at it. Still looking at her he saw the haze that clouded her brain break, coming to her sense she rapidly let go of his collar as if it burnt, avoided his gaze and visibly colored a little in the face.
 
"Sorry." she meekly murmured still avoiding his eyes. Turning her head by her chin Arnav open his palm to hand over a painkiller and brushed his body against her to reach for the glass of water placed on the bedside table. As she put the pill in her mouth he brought the glass to her lips and tilted her chin with the other hand so she could swallow the water with ease. Having swallowed the medicine Khushi pushed away the glass carefully from her lips. Putting the glass away, Arnav turned to her and saw a drip of water clinging at the edge of her lip. Boldly reaching over he used his thumb to wipe it away rubbing her soft lips in the process, jolting them both out of the serene trance that had engulfed them. Awkwardly Arnav retracted his hand and helped to tucked Khushi in bed and told her to rest as he left her room closing the door behind him.

Even after the door had closed Khushi was looking in its direction unconsciously raising her hand to her lips as they tingled where Arnav had touched it. She couldn't quite place the feeling it had her all in a frenzy, her heart was beating fast and her head pounded as all the thoughts of Arnav went haywire in her brain. He was so sweet to help her out yet it wasn't at all friendly, it was intimidating of sorts as he had unnerved her. Was that bad, she didn't know but she knew she had to keep him at bay or she would be crossing over unchartered waters. Slowly her eyes became drowsy and as she fell to sleep her last thought being what was between her and Arnav.

~~~

He had messed up. What the hell was that, he did not know. He was known for his self control. He had convinced himself this morning that being near the girl would be a bad idea but no he just had to mess up all that. Why did he do it, his brain was against the idea so what the hell was compelling him to be drawn to her? The worst part of this all was the feelings; he had felt drawn to many women but Khushi she was stirring something deep within him. He couldn't even remember the last time he was so caring towards a person, sure his family but even that didn't feel like this. The whole time he couldn't think of anything better than to kiss her thoroughly till they both were breathless and he knew one of these days he was going to do just that if he didn't gain some control over his desires.

~~~

Khushi jolted upright on the bed panting desperately trying to get air to her lungs. Once calmed she remembered her dream. She had kissed Arnav. It wasn't so gentle either she had been fully making out with him. With her legs around his waist as he held her up, her hands tugging at his hair and making their way down his shirt collar to rub his taut muscles by his neck and shoulders. Making her way further she had then started to open his shirt buttons as she came up for air as he nibbled at her tender skin by her neck and then kiss it to sooth the sting. At that point Khushi's dream had broken and all she could do now was curse herself for being so affected by the man. He was weakening her hatred that she had harbored for her whole life. She had to avoid him at all cost. With that in her mind she went to freshen up for dinner.

~~~

"HPji where is everybody?" Khushi asked as she entered the kitchen.

"Pata nahi didi. They must be in their rooms. There is still time before dinner." He answered over his shoulder as he cooked.

"Oh Okay then. So what you making." Asking that she neared HP, propped herself on the counter and peeked into the bowl placed on the stove top.

"Wow, looks yummy."

"Aacha didi this is done, hum chalte hai. Hume aur bhi kaam hai dinner ke pehle." With that HP cleared the stove and left the kitchen leaving Khushi inside by herself.

"f**k!" she exclaimed as jumping off the counter put stress on her injured knee. She waited a couple of seconds for her knee to recover before clipping her hair back and setting out to work. Mixing the batter she prepared hot oil and sugar syrup for her favorite stress busting activity. Making jalebis has always helped, she didn't know why, it just did and right now Arnav wouldn't leave her head. It was driving her up the wall and seriously she didn't give a f**k that this wasn't her house. All she knew was that she had to get Arnav out her system before he did damage. Pondering over why he was affecting her so, she made a pile of jalebis, she had a little batter left yet her thoughts weren't finishing. She was brought back from her reverie when someone from behind tucked her fringe back.

"Careful sweetheart." Arnav whispered in her ear. She was dangerously close to the oil and it was about time he warned her. He had come down for a file he had forgotten in the living room when he caught a whiff of a sickeningly sweet smell coming from the kitchen. There were not many occasions when sweets were made in the house as he was diabetic so he decided to see what was up. The sight that greeted him was something different altogether. She was wearing grey sweatpants that were rolled up to mid shin and a black sports bra that could be seen through the large sleeve opening of her sleeveless hoodie. With her hair secured and a couple fringes escaping she was a sight as she rapidly made orange sweets in a trance. He watched perplexed as she made and ate them at the same time running thought after thought through her head. He watched until the pile of jalebis grew and the batter run out until he intertwined as he realized she was starting to move close to the oil.

After warning her he left the kitchen to freshen up for dinner as the file had been long forgotten.