||~Something About You~||#8 *COMPLETED*

Khushi watched at their hands clasped together, & at that moment she knew. The world inside the gazebo didn't matter as much as he did. She needed him, & she needed him to hold her & tell her that they'll find a way to make this work, find a way to be together. She squeezed his hand tightly & when he pulled, she went inside the circle of his arm like a homing pigeon. & she heard with pleasant surprise when a happy, whistling sound issued from the speakers. She heard with curious attention while biting onto her lower lip, trying to recognize the, not noticing the way Arnav's eyes lingered on her lips, & then she laughed up at him when the song started, exclaiming amusedly, "Even I don't know this song! But it's really good!"

Jo pehle huwa naa.. Abb hone lagaa hain..

Dil humko jagaa kar, kyun sone lagaa hain..

Yeh ishq hain, ya kuchh aur hain..

Ya bas khaali khaali shor hain..

Arnav also listened to the lines attentively with a thoughtful expression, & then he nodded in a decisive way, "Well, it's certainly better than the last song you were dancing with NK on! At least I get the wordings of this one!" At the mention of the other song, Khushi looked up at him with suddenly pouting lips as she complained, "That song was meant for you, by the way! Not that you could bother enough to notice!!" & it was really Khushi's bad luck that she didn't notice the sudden naughty gleam that entered Arnav's eyes, as he innocuously laid the foundation of his trap for her, "Achchha? For me?? It's good that I did notice then! What was it..? 'Jisko muhabbat ka teacher kehte rahein...?'" Khushi gasped as she looked up at him, amazed that he had noticed, so much so that even noted some lines to remember them still! But she was brought out of her stupefied silence as Arnav shook her slightly in his arms & prompted her finish, "Red! 'Jisko muhabbat ka teacher kehte rahein...?'" Khushi looked at him confusedly, unsure of what he really wanted, & finished stumblingly, "Wo.. Wo fattichar ek lesson mein fail ho gaya!"

Arnav suddenly pulled her flush up against his body, leaving no room for movement to her, & Khushi squirmed at the way their chests collided as he whispered directly against her right ear, "So now the novice is saying the master has failed the lesson? & you played out a whole song on me! Red, mujhe nahi pata tha tum mujhe itna kareeb se observe karti ho!" Khushi knew she herself had walked straight into this trap set by him, but for once, she was enjoying his teasing, & saying nothing she pressed her cheek against his shoulder. Arnav held onto her more tightly & started moving in small steps in rhythm with the springy tune, & appreciated how apt the lyrics seemed.

Tujhko dekhkar aakhein muskuraane lagti hain..

Tujhko milkar dhadkaane gungunaane lagti hain..

Aisa hota hain kyun, mujhko khabar nahi..

Pehle kabhi huwa aisa assar nahi..

Jo mere dilke paas hain, naaye jadoo, naaye ehsaas hain..

After a while the song ended on a high note, & Khushi raised her head, & said with dancing brows, "& don't make too much fun of me! Did you see me dancing up there? People loved me! When Khushi Kumari Gupta dances, people are too busy admiring to make fun, samjhe aap?" Arnav nodded his obediently, too readily, & said stoically, "Haan, dekha maine. If the West has Lady G, people of Chankyapuri had Baby G! I gotta say.. both Gaga & you are quite crazy!" & when he saw the mean look enter Khushi's narrowed eyes, he quickly amended, "& by crazy, I mean, unique!" Then seeing the way Khushi's face still remained petulant, he immediately went for damage control by changing the subject, "Leave all that, & admit it! You can't get enough of me! Hence, when you're not falling all over me, you're dancing on songs dedicated to me!" Khushi gasped loudly at his partially true, but very much conceited claim, & then a mischievous gleam came into her eyes that Arnav instantly recognized as danger.

But before he could do anything about it, he felt Khushi circling her arms around his body tightly & then she said wickedly, "I can't get enough of you?! Remember the Shagun day?" & with that, without a warning, pressing her hips to his, she shimmied them sporadically. Arnav looked at her horrifyingly, & then clutching her arms in an attempt to stop her insolent movements, he charged harshly, "What the f**k, Khushi?! I asked you not to do that! Don't you remember what happened the last time?!" & when she just returned his reproach with a non-fazed giggle, he swore softly & took her lips in his with such sudden force that Khushi couldn't keep her balance, & they both kinda toppled over on the side of the gazebo. But Arnav didn't let go of her & as soon as he got his footing back, he pulled her up against himself as his lips probed further into hers. Khushi parted her lips in a moan & she felt him slide his tongue inside her lips as he deepened the kiss. As the sensations got too much for her, Khushi let go & her hands rode up to circle around his neck. She felt Arnav's hand groping & shuffling about her waist restlessly, & just when she was about to ask him what he was upto, he wrenched his lips away from hers, & complained harshly, "Damn it, Red! You have wrapped this stole too tightly.. I am not getting any feel of you there!"

Khushi looked at him disbelievingly for the fraction of minute before she replied just as hotly, "What else was I supposed to do with this mockery of a blouse you provided? Go half-naked again like the engagement & then have you breathing down my neck like a hypocritical prude?.. & don't look at it like that, Arnavji! It took Jiji & I 20 minutes & 17 safety pins to wrap it up so tidily, it's gonna take me ages to take them off.. & no! I am not gonna let you take them off!" Their arms were still wrapped around each other & taking advantage of it, Arnav pressed a swift kiss on her parted lips & then he said hopefully, "Maybe I can just rip it off?.. I'll get Su to make you another one!" Khushi's mouth fell open as her eyes rounded to huge proportions as she looked at him as if he was medically insane, & then she began to shout at the top of her voice, "No! You can't just-" & more than anything just to stop her screams for reaching anyone inside the gazebo, Arnav quickly covered her mouth with his, & to make up for the loss of his hands, he cupped the back of her neck, & kissed her with fervent passion. & then with a short bite on her bottom lip, he started trailing moist, butterfly kissed down her jaw to the side of her neck.

& when he was raining kisses over her collar bone, he heard her defeated sigh, & then he heard her say in a moan, "Okay, fine! Rip the corner of the Dupatta at the waist off!.. Be careful though, don't let the safety pins graze my skin! Raakshas! Laad Governor!" Arnav raised his head with a sudden victorious grin, & just to show his gratefulness, he again took her lips in a smoldering kiss. Khushi moaned as she felt his lips moving over hers & she cupped his nape to press deepen the kiss, & her eyes fluttered open briefly as she tilted her to the side, & that's when she saw the movement. The person was half-covered by the material of the gazebo, but standing there, looking straight at them, she had a clear view of what Arnav & Khushi were upto.

Pulling instantly apart from Arnav, despite his protesting gestures, Khushi grabbed his left hand in her right, & without a word, pulled him inside the gazebo after her. Once inside, in answer to Arnav's shocked questions, she just said, she saw some movements & thought someone was there, but she didn't tell him that she had seen clearly just who it was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Khushi looked around the various tables filled to brim with guests. Her parents, Buaji, Naniji, Mamaji & Samiya's father were sitting in the front table overlooking the whole gazebo. She was sitting in a nearby table with her sibling & the Raizada siblings & Mamiji. Khushi stifled a laugh when her eyes fell on Arnav who was sitting directly opposite her on the round table & was trying his best to avoid the morsel Anjali was trying to force into his mouth, pledging the curry was not too hot & he will definitely like it. Then she looked around for the person she was actually searching for, & not finding her anywhere around, she abruptly leaned over to Payal on her left & excused herself, saying she needed a restroom break & she'd be back in time for the desserts.

She got out of the gazebo through the front decorated entrance gate, & right away saw the person she was looking for sitting at a nearby stone bench set beside a stone mermaid statue. Khushi hesitated a bit, not sure whether to go confront her not, & then gulping down her nervousness, she clutched her Lehenga at the sides tightly, & made her way to the bench. Once she reached, she sat down after a moment's hesitation, & she started in a passive-aggressive tone, "Look, we don't know each other too well, but what you saw out there was-" She was cut off as Samiya started speaking abruptly in a hushed, floating voice, "I am not one of those girls, you know, Khushi.. I can call you, Khushi, right?" Then not even waiting for Khushi to give her consent, she continued, "See, Khushi, I was never one of those girls, who falls for a guy & when he doesn't seem to  care about her, but bang every pretty thing in a dress, they cry on their fate! I never, for once, thought why am I not one of them? You know, when I saw Arnie with his girlfriends-slash-partners-slash-special acquaintances! Do you know why??.. Because I was always sure, that we, Arnie & I, were the best friend movie.. You know the genre, boy-girl best friends, boy's a manwh**e, girl's hopelessly in love with him, in the end boy realizes it was always 'her' all along, he'd fall in love with her too, "laugh in the sunshine, fade to black, show the names, play that happy song".. A regular teenage song!"

Then she suddenly looked sideward at Khushi, & Khushi bit her lower lip to stop the gasp that was about to fall from it as she saw Samiya's overly-glazed eyes. They shone with unshed tears. But not giving Khushi a chance to say anything, Samiya continued as she was obviously on some kind of a flow, "I actually came today believing this was the last act of the movie, you know? Di was getting married, those meaningless bimbos weren't in sight anymore, so this was it! He'd realize how he had always been crazily in love with me, he'd realize he never even thought of having a casual affair with me, cause he was saving me up as the one he'd marry one day! This was supposed to be our fairytale!" Then she bit her bottom lip hard, trying to contain a tremor as her eyes ran over Khushi's distressed face, & then she said in a hollow voice, "But what do you know? I was in the wrong movie all along! This wasn't the best friend movie ever. This is the childhood sweetheart movie, isn't it? I wish I grew up around here with you guys.. looks like a lot of young love was nurtured here." Khushi looked up from her hands clasped tightly on her lap into Samiya's eyes to realize that the question was directed at her! She gave a rueful laugh & said, "Actually it was more like the childhood enemies movie for Arnavji & me!" Samiya just shrugged in a 'whatever' sort of way & mumbled, "Star-crossed archenemies then!"

Khushi knew how much Samiya must be hurting. She had been there.. loving Arnav & feeling she'd never be able to experience his love. So she said in a compassionate way, "You know, maybe he's casual about me too.. Who knows, maybe this isn't the final act of his story too." At this, Samiya fully turned on the bench & looked Khushi straight in the eye, "Take it from someone who has had years of unfortunate experience of watching ASR in action that, this is his final act! Khushi.." Samiya sounded almost desperate at Khushi's obtuseness now, "Khushi, I am even happy somewhere.. I mean, seeing him with those girls, one no different than the other, throwing themselves all over himself, while he just laid back & let them do all the chasing, perusing, & eventually most of the hard work the affair required! Sometimes I used to think, he'd never care enough about a girl to even see her in a different light!.. But today? With you?? He's hounding you down! He's manipulating you to come to him.. That's why I first started noticing him, when he handed over the empty envelope to that servant! & there were you two!" Then she took a deep breath & said the next sentence pronouncing each word significantly, "In fact, he never even cared enough to try to sneak around with anyone before! He must be really into you!" & then after a brief pause, she whispered to Khushi, "& I think, you're really into him too, right?"

Khushi didn't know how to answer her. She hadn't revealed this truth about her being to anyone else, except herself. Even Arnav didn't know that she loved him, so Khushi started to say in a nervous rush, "Yeah, right! Have you spent 5 minutes with him? What's with all the 'What the-?'s, & the shouting, & the 'get out's & the grabbing & pushing.." But Samiya cut her off with a kind of shaky laughter in her voice, "You know, I think he had reserved the 'get out's & the grabbing & pushing exclusively for you.. Yeah, I know, it's as easy as breathing falling for him, isn't it?" Khushi looked at the bleak eyes & the shakily smiling lips & said concernedly, "Will you be OK?" Samiya shrugged her shoulders exaggeratedly as she almost shrieked, "Yeah! It's me! I am cool with it.. I mean, look at me.. I'd say, it's Arnie's loss!" Then she gave another breathy laugh & then immediately sobering up, she said slowly, "I'll be fine, Khushi. Life's too long to get ruined by a small heartbreak.. But you know what they say.. The first cut is always the deepest. So it'll take some time maybe, but I'll pick myself up & dust myself off!"

Khushi giggled at the girl's zeal for life, & he said laughingly, "Yeah, Arnav Singh Raizada isn't worth all this drama, right?" & Samiya half-turned towards her & said seriously, "Actually he is, Khushi! & I think you know it too! You've known already that he fell for you, didn't you? That's why you weren't surprised when I said so! Well, all I'd say is that, now that you know, don't let Arnav screw this all up for you both, OK? Call the shots, set the pace you want it to progress at. Don't give in without a fight, Khushi. If you fight, you can go all the way.. I have seen it in his eyes! Don't let him escape when the going gets tough & it all gets too deep & tangled for him, cause he will try! If it was left to him, trust me, by the time you guys reach the mandap, you'd both be walking with the aid of walking sticks!"

Khushi stared at Samiya for a long time who was looking down at the  heavily embroidered folds of her Lehenga & only came around when she heard Arnav's astonished voice exclaiming loudly, "What the-? Everyone is looking for you two! What is this?! What are you guys doing here?!" Samiya stood up before Khushi had a chance to shake off the air of poignancy from around her, & Khushi heard her saying to Arnav in a flat voice, "I just told Khushi how much of a jerk you were that one time! Remember?!"  Arnav looked at the back of Khushi's head, & then back at Samiya, & said in a suspicious voice, "Sammy? Which time?" & then without even waiting for a reply from Samiya, he said to Khushi, who had finally stood up to face him, "I promise, its all in the past!" & then he barked at Samiya again, "Damn it, Sammy, she is.. I mean, she is Di & Akaash's sister-in-law.. Don't go around feeding her stories!" Khushi chuckled & hid her grinning face from Arnav as she preceded them both to go inside the gazebo to bid the guests good bye & put an end to the night, suddenly feeling a lot lighter, & she heard Samiya say to Arnav dramatically, "Of course, Arnie! That's all she is!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course we need Sami!

She explained Arnav to Khushi. Just like that letter from his mother was supposed to but unfortunately was never delivered to her'

Sami told Khushi how to handle Arnav when things get tough. She asked her to take the onus of the relationship on her. She asked her to even fight against him if need be. In short, Sami advised Khushi on how to live with Arnav, be with Arnav.

And that is great coming from a person who has loved Arnav since years and wanted her own romantic story with him. But she is a better human being than most. Bas!

And yes, I also agree that Sami is needed otherwise.

Who will otherwise make Khushi realize what is it to love Arnav and not be loved back?

Who will make Khushi realize what is it to love and lose Arnav?

Who will make Arnav realize that what he has with Khushi is different, more permanent, more cherish-worthy than what he had with any of the other girls around him?

Who will make Arnav realize that he can live his life without the female species all his life but if Khushi is not there toh uski saansein hi ruk jaayegi?

SO WE NEED LOADS OF SAMI.

PS: I loved the 'observe karti ho' wala dialogue in the show and you used it perfectly here.

PPS: Sorry if my comment didn't make sense but this is how I perceive Sami here.

First of all Congratulations Farah! This thread is really special! This FF has completed 1000 pages!👏🥳 Vow! Just ah-mazing! May many more threads follow!

Yeah Samiya's entry makes sense now!

Yeah how could I forget the title track of the show? It is so apt to the situation they are in...

Even I was wondering how Khushi's efforts on the dance would go in vain when it was exclusively planned for Arnav Singh Raizada. You didn't disappoint there.

The situation from the show about Khushi imitating Arnav and him questioning her has been embedded so well here.

Lady G! Baby G! Vha! Kya comparison lekar aayin aap! Epic! Now Arnav can't afford to make her angry, right?

Khushi is getting crazier by the day when she is with Arnav.

Samiya, my heart goes out to her! I agree, expectations hurt, a lot! But now we can't see such a beautiful girl heart- broken just because she was late by a few years to enter ASR's life. Use mat rulao yaar!

Yes Khushi knows Arnav loves her. But she needed an assurance that it is indeed the case. That he is in love with her!

Loved the update!

Farah I agree 100 % with sayu this sami is arnavs mom letter from ipk

Ur fab and genius- horlick pethe hein kya

I loved the update and esp sami –khushi convo

You know I love sammy dammit

She is so cute I mean her character

I loved the dialogue when she says to khushi

Don't let him escape when the going gets tough & it all gets too deep & tangled for him, cause he will try! If it was left to him, trust me, by the time you guys reach the mandap, you'd both be walking with the aid of walking sticks!"

Ha ha so true

She knows arnav well from head to toe

I will decidate today song to my love sammy

chhupana bhi nahi aata,

jatana bhi nahi aata hame tumse mohabbat hai,

batana bhi nahi aata

chori chori chupke chupke,

tumko dekha karte hai -

hal-e-dil sunane se naa jane kyon darte hai

kitna pagal dil hai meraa

manana bhi nahi aata

hame tumse mohabbat hai

batana bhi nahi aata

one more thing

about the pace no complaint  do it as you wish im with you

koi jaldi nahi hein

 shami😃