FF:Something About You Thread#2 *COMPLETED*

Arnav looked at Khushi as she stood huffing there glaring at him. & he felt like immediately just telling her about Akaash's feelings for Payal & put her mind at rest, but the loyalty towards his brother came to fore too. As it was, Akaash had only spoken elaborately about his feelings to Arnav three days ago & Arnav didn't think it was his place to disclose the news about Akaash's feelings for Payal to anyone else before they talked it out between themselves. So, Arnav just pulled his bottom lips between his teeth & stared at Khushi with what he hoped was a blank expression.

Khushi narrowed her eyes as he chewed the whole of his lower lip inside his mouth & internally fumed. Was he trying to seduce her again by doing that, because, if so, he was totally succeeding in making her swoon! Khushi angrilly stomped her foot. No! She couldn't afford to stay alone with the Rakshas, not even for her Jiji's sake. Whatever was going on between Jiji & Akaashji, she'd find it out from Payal herself. But right now, she had to flee the battle field, because confrontation may prove to be fatal.

Khushi spun on her spot & was out of the storage, leading out of the kitchen when she felt him tug at her elbow. & she turned in a fit of rage to give him a piece of her mind, as she had had just enough of his seduction techniques. But before she could say anything, Arnav said in an alarmingly gentle voice, "You were hungry? You even skipped dinner." Then he dragged her into the middle of the kitchen & pushed her down into one of the two wooden chairs infront of the small kitchen table that Garima used as a vegetable cutting station. As Khushi flopped down on the chair, she looked up at him & wondered what he was up to, but he wasn't even looking at her. He was scanning the shelves lining the walls as his head rotated like a drone, & suddenly it stopped rotating as if he found his target. Then leaving Khushi's hand he went & opened the fridge, & bending down, fished something out. When he came back to the table, Khushi saw he had the pan of milk in his hand, which he put down infront of her & then he went away & came back within seconds with a carton of cereals. Then he brought up a bowl & spoon from the nearby plastic shelf & putting them down infront of Khushi, commanded in a soft voice, "Eat."

But Khushi was by that time too amazed to even move, let alone eat, so after waiting a while Arnav proceeded to pour the milk into the bowl & the he put a lot of cereals in the bowl too. Then inserting the spoon in the bowl, he bowed down & came to Khushi's eye level, & then as Khushi looked up at him, she saw that there was a strange devilish grin in place of the usual stern mouth & the next moment the he said in a husky voice, "If you don't start eating in the next 3seconds, I'll take it to mean that you want me to feed you by my own hands. & believe me, I'd do that & I'd do that with such relish.. Cos you see Khushi, eating in the middle of the night can be such an exciting task, if you'd only..." Khushi was instantly moved into action. She grabbed the bowl with both of her hands & pulled it towards her. Then she started shoving spoonfuls of cereals in her mouth, & gulped them without even bothering to chew them up. As she was on her third bite, she heard Arnav's thoroughly amused low chuckle as he moved away, & she didn't even look up to see what he was doing next, cos as the food hit her stomach, she realized just how hungry she had actually been.

As Khushi was halfway done with the bowl, she felt him come around her & sit down in the chair beside her. She took another mouthful, & then looked sideways out of the corner of her eyes. & she saw that he had brought three Oranges from the fruit basket Naniji had sent with Anjaliji today, & was peeling them off neatly in the plate that he had also brought along. What? Now he was hungry too? The Laad Governor was surprising her more & more by the minute. Then she just shrugged & went back to finish off her cereal. As soon as she had finished putting the last spoonful in her mouth, the bowl was pushed away from before her & the plate of Oranges took its place. Khushi's eyes widened as she realized these were peeled off for her too. She looked up at him & started to protest, "No. I don't want-" But Arnav cut her off curtly, "When did you last eat?" Khushi's eyes flashed her annoyance as she flung her answer, "Just now! Right before your very eyes." Arnav's eyes narrowed at her deliberate obtuseness & he said in suffering voice, "You're not as funny as you seem to think you are. Before that?" Khushi glared at him for a couple of seconds & when he didn't budge, she averted her eyes & said sheepishly, "Lunchtime." Immediately the plate of Oranges was hoisted up below her nose with a voice that brooked no arguments, "Eat, Khushi!"

As Khushi put a whole piece of Orange inside her mouth at once, as soon as she closed her mouth, she felt it burst all of its juices in her mouth & before she could stop it, some of it seeped out of the corners of her mouth. She quickly looked for something to wipe her mouth with, & as she was about to get up to reach for a roll of kitchen towel in the other end of the kitchen, she felt Arnav's fingers closing around her hand, & he pulled her down in her place by a gentle tug. & as soon as she sat down again & looked at him, he leaned over & licked the juices off of the right corner of her mouth. Then as Khushi started shaking spasmodically, he proceeded to lick & suck the juices off of her lips, all the way to the other corner of her lips. Then he pulled his head back a little & looked on at her, as Khushi lowered her head & gulped the blasted Orange down her suddenly dry-as-a-hay throat. Then she felt his hand cup her jaw & he gently tipped her face up to make her face him. & as Khushi raised her eyes, she was almost knocked out by how close he was. & as her lips parted in a gasp, she heard him say, "You are shaking like a leaf. Khushi, that wasn't even a kiss & you're shaken to your very core." & as Khushi flashed him an accusatory look, he shook his head instantly to negate that he was being smug about anything.

"No Khushi, I am not trying to be cocky or anything. You're not the only one who's affected. You're not the only one who's feeling this way. & believe me when I tell you this, this is more than just chemistry. I mean, I know chemistry. & this is beyond chemistry. This isn't normal, Khushi. This doesn't happen every day! & when it does, you don't turn your face away from this. This.. This is just too precious to let go without exploring it all the way through." & as Khushi heard him talking & looked deep into his eyes, her face still cupped in his hand, she could almost believe that he was talking about love. That this 'this' he was referring to, was 'love'. But she had known too much about his past flings to just believe her heart & so she just had to ask, "Ex.. Exploring? All the way through? All the way to.. to what?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. Arnav suddenly dipped his head & trailed a hot, wet trail of open mouthed kisses from below her right earlobe through her jaw line to the base of her neck & Khushi just couldn't stop the moan followed by the hissing gasp that left her lips at this onslaught.

Arnav grinned at her confidently as he saw the effect he had on her, & said in a husky drawl, "To wherever that leads." Then after a pause he continued, "But I promise you, it'll all be very satisfying." & Khushi's eyes widened at his insinuation. & it was on the tip of her lips to ask him clearly if he was talking about premarital sex, when the little nagging voice in her head spoke up, "Khushi, premarital?! Premarital means there WILL be a marriage later. Did he say anything about a marriage in all his talks of exploration & satisfaction?" & Khushi looked up at Arnav's eyes, that looked honest & genuine, but in all the desire & passion that oozed out of them, there were no love in them. & Khushi shrugged out if his hand. She had to be out his spell, while the love that was missing in his gaze had to  remain far from her heart too. Because if she let it seep inside her heart once, she knew, that would be the death of her. She looked Arnav directly in the eyes & spoke clearly, "& what after all the exploration & satisfaction?"

Arnav looked at her confusedly. Does that mean she's agreeing to explore it further with him? But before he could say anything, she charged on, "& how long exactly does an exploration period lasts before the satisfaction goes out of it & you decide to call it quits? Six months? A year?" Arnav colored slightly as he got that she was asking about the duration of his flings, & he couldn't remember any of those in the last 5years extending below a period of more than 3months. At his lack of response Khushi stood up & carried on in a casual voice, "So we could go about this 'exploration' in two ways. We could do it publicly, in which case my Bauji & Bhaiya will force you to get married to me before you could even spell satisfaction! & we could do it secretly, in which case, even after we are done satisfying each other & you don't want me in your life anymore, I would be there in your life, forever. & you wouldn't be able to do a thing about it, as I am going to be related to you by marriage pretty soon."

Khushi could see how all this was clearly affecting Arnav deeply. & to Arnav's credit, it's not like he hadn't thought of all this in his head a couple times, but no one had broken them down for him in such starkly plain language. & he abruptly looked up at her with almost a hopeful look & said, "Great! So, you have this all figured out! Now just tell me the solution. How can we still.. explore?" & Khushi just stared at him for several seconds before she shook her head & started moving towards the kitchen door & at the doorway she turned & said in a sad little voice, "There's no solution, Arnavji. I am just too involved in your life for you to be messing with me." & then she turned & left Arnav sitting there at the table like a statue carved from stone.

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When Khushi came down for breakfast around 9 next morning, for a second she was shocked to see the hustle bustle around the kitchen. Anjali was squeezing Orange juice in a jug, & Payal was efficiently rolling out Paranthas, while Rohan was cutting up tomatoes & adding them to the high pile of finely cut onions & Akaash was whisking eggs in a big plastic bowl. & as she felt a sudden prickling sensation down her spine, Khushi sharply spun her head to her right & saw Arnav lazily sitting on the same chair she had left him on last night & sipping from a big coffee mug, & his eyes steadily boring into her form over the rim of the mug. Khushi hastily looked away & announced, "I am hungry." No sooner had the words left her mouth, that a flurry of activity issued from both her siblings. Payal started frying up Paranthas & Rohan started on the Spanish omelets. & as soon as Khushi took the chair from beside Arnav & placed it in front of the counter farthest from where Arnav was sitting, she was shoved down into the chair & plates of Paranthas, & Spanish omelets, with a bowl of yoghurt, & a glass of freshly squeezed Orange juice was placed in front of her, accompanied with the order that, she was to finish all of that & possibly some more as she skipped dinner last night.

Arnav looked down from the picture before his eyes at his coffee cup, & tried to think just what he would say to Rohan if by chance he had caught Khushi & him in the kitchen last night. & he came up with nothing. Sure, Khushi was different than every other girl he had ever been with. Obviously she was. Half of them weren't even Indian & none of them were even remotely connected to his family. In that sense, Khushi was unique. & well, she was unique in the context of how he felt towards her too. There was this blinding force of attraction towards her that he hadn't felt yet towards any other woman he had dated before. But even if he had done a lot of soul searching till that kiss in the farmhouse, nothing in the way he felt about her told him that, he was in any way closer to being in a committed relationship than he had been before he came to India. Physically, the pull he felt towards her was beyond anything he had ever felt, but emotionally, he didn't feel even close enough to commit himself to the kind of relationship that Khushi & her family wanted for her. Maybe he never will.

& the way things were progressing between their siblings, Arnav didn't think it would be a smart idea to seduce Khushi into something temporary & then face the wrath of Rohan & Shashi uncle & their combined families later. But the idea sure was tempting, if not smart.

But as Arnav again looked up & watched Payal & Rohan hovering over Khushi like a pair of mother hens, as she continued to eat her breakfast, he suddenly started to feel very uneasy. He looked at how reverently Anjali was eyeing Rohan as he broke a piece of Parantha & fed it to Khushi while Payal stood with the juice glass poised ready in her hand. Arnav didn't believe marriage was for him, but as he had known all the persons present in this room for virtually all his life, he knew all of them were gems of a person. One of a kind. None of them would have any problems committing their whole life to that one person that they would love beyond everything. He knew for a fact Akaash's intention for Payal was entirely noble. & Rohan had called him up & cleared his intentions about Anjali to him as Anjali's brother, even before he had  proposed to Anjali for the first time almost 9 years ago. & here he was, lusting after that same Rohan's baby sister, & grabbing her allover whenever he had an opportunity, under Rohan's own roof. & after all the courtesy Rohan had shown in his whole courtship period with Anjali, & the respect he still showed to Anjali & their whole family, what Arnav was doing & the thoughts he was having were plain despicable.

At that thought, Arnav put down the mug with a dull thud & got up, saying to Anjali, "Di, I am heading home. Need to get ready for office in time." Anjali moved towards him worriedly as she said, "But, Chotte, breakfast.." But by the time she reached the kitchen door, they all heard the main door getting shut with a loud clash & Khushi just felt whatever appetite she had dying down with that.

Fact was, he had had enough evidence in the ten years that he might just was like his father. That the fruit, in all probability, hadn't fallen too far from the tree. No matter how attractive he might have found someone initially, nobody held his attention for more than 3-4months, tops. He had no qualms discarding women after he thought their association had run its course. He even didn't have any prick of conscience during the frequent occasions he had been two-timing his girl-friends, & when he had been caught, to his immense disappointment in himself, he hadn't even felt necessarily shameful. But to his credit, he wasn't a hypocrite. He had never demanded nor offered exclusivity in his flings. He believed, the moment any one in an affair found their attentions wavering, it was time to move on. When he had found about his girlfriends' moments of shame, he had never reacted in any way, violent or otherwise. In fact, he hadn't reacted at all. None of the times. But that may be due to the fact, that he just wasn't the jealous type.