Rebel In The Rain P9 PG18 25/07

For the past ten years, Khushi has lived her best life, gotten the job of her dreams and has an amazing family to return to when all is said and done, to be honest, she has no complaints, well except one. Her childhood bully is returning from the army and seeing him again reminds her of the many years of torment she faced at his hands. She’s adamant on not allowing them to return to old times again and wants nothing more than to be as far away from him as possible.

But, Arnav has different ideas. The only thing that got him through the years away from home and fighting for his country was the thought of returning to the beautiful, brown eyes he’d fallen in love with when he was young. Now he’s back for good, he’s going to do everything he can to prove to her and their families that no one is better for him than her.

In the mix of two very close families, past memories and Khushi’s desperation to be anywhere but near him, will the duo ever find solace within one another or will the past hold too much pain for a future to ever be possible?

*Note* For the sake of this story, Khushi and her family are Muslim and Payal is Khushi’s younger sister, and Akash is Arnav’s younger brother- this is simply because on Wattpad this story is wrote on Adiya and I’m too lazy to change major parts of the story.

 ●●●

"It is in your best interests to return my possessions or Allah as my witness I will use my secret weapon against you" Khushi held the spatula up threateningly, her caramel toned hair floating in the breeze like she was a model on a catwalk, perhaps the only thing about her appearance that seemed put together since her baggy t-shirt was covered in cheeto dust and chocolate spread from a late-night binge.

Payal rolled her eyes "These are for my lunch tomorrow at college, you have already eaten four packs" she hissed between her teeth, curls bobbing around her as she shook her head in distaste.

"Payal, please?" She needed these crisps like a drug addict needed a fix, see the thing was, her high school bully was returning to the small village of Fordwich where not only did everybody know your name, they also knew your business and tended to know more about the secrets of your life than you did. Unfortunately, as if life couldn't get any worse, her family and his were the best of friends and since her younger sister was dating his younger brother, it wouldn't be long till her parents started dropping hints for the two of them to do the same. It wasn't like she was scared of him, but another round of mocking jokes, teasing and name-calling and she was sure her next night's sleep would be in the safe confines of a mental institution and now, to top it all off, he was returning from the army with a lot more baggage than he left with, both emotionally and physically which would only make her more of an easy target as she was as you'd call it, so unfit that even going to the bathroom from her bedroom made her breathless and he was likely able to run a few flights of stairs without breaking a sweat. The plan was to leave before he returned, but as it was becoming increasingly obvious fate was never on her side.

"Aapi" she growled, "It's just one party, it's been fifteen years, he probably won't even speak to you" she adored her older sister, more than she would ever admit to her of course, but this was getting silly, she couldn't understand what the big deal was, so what if he used to be a bit mean? They were kids then, he had to have matured while fighting for his country, right?

"Urghhhhh" she sagged against the side, an inch away from tugging her own hair out. "You don't get it, this man-made my life a misery, people like him don't change, seeing him again will only bring back the years of torment and it's not normal to have your sister fall in love with your bully's younger brother, what happened to hoes before bros? To woman empowerment? To girls stick together? Chicks before dicks?"

"Uh, Aapi, I believe it's bros before hoes not-".

"Oh fine" she threw her hands up, "Take his side, you know if this was 1903 you'd be one of the women sleeping with your rich husband's gardener rather than marching for our right to vote" with that she grabbed the crisps and ran back up the stairs. She was surrounded by fools, absolute fools. Was she really the only person who saw the issues with this?

●●●

"Khushi, time to wake up" Garima nudged her arm, "Come on, we have to start preparations for Arnav's welcome home party".

Really? Why was her whole family so obsessed with him? Grumbling, she faced the other way "Five more minutes".

She giggled at her daughter's antics "You said that two hours ago, now up" pulling the curtains across, she stripped the blanket from her body and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Ammi" she pled, lips in a pout "I'm ill, I can't go" she fluttered her eyelashes in hopes her mother would take pity and allow her to return to her private Netflix and binge time.

"Khushi, you're twenty-five, not five, that trick doesn't work on me anymore, Payal even got your clothes out ready, if I have to warn you again I'll invite Arnav over for dinner to-".

"Alright, alright" she jumped to her feet, body swaying as her head rushed, "I'm up, I'm up, don't say things like that, you'll give a young girl a heart attack". Slogging toward the bathroom, she grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste and got to work, at the very least she could show him that she was all woman now, no longer that little girl he picked on.

Payal was lying on her bed when she returned, arms by her side and knees bent "Arnav and Khushi sitting on a tree, K, I-".

"L, L, I, N, G" Khushi completed. "This is not a story you can spin into a romance, he hates me and I hate him and if we're ever stuck in a tree together, I guarantee he'll be pushing me off". It wasn't until later that evening that she learnt the very important lesson of never jinxing herself because the future had a very similar scenario in-store and twigs, curly hair, hairspray and wet leaves were never a good combo, especially when you're sat beside the Devil himself.

"Don't be such a killjoy, you can hang with Akash and I" once again that same old dreamy stare returned to her face.

Knowing that trying to converse with her younger sister anymore on the topic was futile, she trailed down the stairs. "Abbu, how upset would you be if I decided to run away?"

Shashi blinked, then looked over his lenses at her "Are you that worried about seeing him that you'd risk facing my anger?"

She didn't even have to think about it "Yes" she even nodded for extra confirmation.

He sighed, tapping the seat beside him "Khushi, I have always known that you and Arnav did not have the best of relationships, but for my sake, I would like you to at least try and get along with him in front of everyone else, things change, people change, the boy you knew before is no longer here, this is a man and I'm sure he wants to forget all about your past together just as much as you do".

Whereas she didn't exactly agree, she kept silent, she didn't want to bring him any embarrassment, but the way her stomach churned at just the mention of his name was enough of a warning that tonight would be traumatic at the very least.

Part 2~ Page 2

Part 3~ Page 4

Part 4~ Page 5

Part 5~ Page 8

Part 6~ Page 11

Part 7~ Page 13

Part 8~ Page 15

Part 9~ Page 18

Nice story plz continue 

Nice start, continue soon.

The sparks will fly soon when the sworn enemies face off again.

Originally posted by: Uzii

Nice story plz continue 

Thanks lovely, updating soon!

Originally posted by: kayarose

Nice start, continue soon.

Thanks lovely, updating soon!

Originally posted by: coderlady

The sparks will fly soon when the sworn enemies face off again.

You couldn't be more right!

*From Now Onwards Arnav's Mother's Name Is Amrita And His Father's Name Is Haresh, As I Don't Recall Their Names* 

[2] Stupid Thirty Year Old Man.

Khushi had bided her time outside for as long as she could, her family had entered an hour ago and she had remained sat on the very cold, very hard stony steps. Likelihood was, he was either in there or on his way, but she didn't really fancy being around a crowd at the moment. She knew people likely thought she was thinking too much, but all these years away from him had led to her imagining just how it would be to see him again and neither of those times ended in her being happy with the outcome. Even after he had left, a part of him stayed with her, his taunts became the voice in her head and now every little insecurity sounded like it came straight from him, sure he had left, but in a way he hadn't, not really, anyway.

Akash shuffled beside her, shoulder against hers and a warm smile on his lips "Thinking about my brother?"

She scoffed "Unfortunately" wringing her hands, she sighed "I know it's worthless, I guess I just didn't realise how badly I didn't want to see him until yesterday, now there's nothing I can do about it". She'd always liked Akash, he was calm and kind and a million miles away from being anything like his older brother, he also treated Payal well and if she was honest, she couldn't imagine anyone else better fitting.

"If it helps at all, he won't be expecting to see you looking so grown up, you have the element of surprise here, it's been ten years, reintroduce yourself, now is the time for you to be whoever you want to be".

His words soothed her racing heart, turning she offered him a soft smile "Thanks, Akash, I didn't really think about it that way". Dusting off her dress, she took a deep breath and faced him "How do I look?"

Taking note of the small silver gems on the pleats of the purple skirt and then up at the attached cream top, he nodded "Beautiful" holding out his arm for her to take, he began to lead her back through the double doors when a shout stopped them.

"Now, now, Khushi, is that really how you're going to greet me, with your back turned? Can't say I mind the view, but I'd much prefer to see those big brown eyes of yours" a husky voice called out making her whole body freeze.

She knew that voice, knew that sarcastic tone and more than anything she knew just how he always wanted her to keep her head up so he could see her eyes. Dropping her hand from Akash's arm, she slowly began to turn around as guests crowded around them, but before she could speak, she was falling back at the sudden strength of freezing cold water being sprayed onto her body.

When he finally pushed himself off of leaning on his motorbike, he turned off the hose and jumped up the stairs. "Better go and change, white is see-through when wet and there are a whole lot of men here who may get the wrong idea" his jovial tone soon dispersed, smirk dropping when he saw the tears welling in her eyes. Arnav lifted a hand to touch her, but she only shrugged him away, his chest panged at the expression on her face, all he had ever seen was her anger and annoyance, never her tears and if he'd known this would upset her he wouldn't have done it at all, truth be told he just wanted to remind her of old times, remind her that they shared something she didn't share with anyone else here. "Khushi" he whispered, "I'm".

Lifting her head ever so slightly she swallowed back the ache in her chest and tried to focus on just how different he looked, his jaw was sharper, his form fitter and his muscles clenched nicely against his leather jacket, he was all man now but his actions were that of the young boy who’d made her life a misery, any hope to move on shattered before her and she wasn’t about to wait around for it to get worse. Shoving past him, she ran back into the car park and down the empty road, ignoring the voices pleading for her to come back, she kept going, even when her legs burnt and her feet ached. She did not want to have to go through it all over again, as she'd expected nothing had changed and it would only get worse from here, that she was certain of.

“Bhai” Akash shook his head as he patted his back. “Was there really any need for that? She’s been so worried about you coming and now-“.

“She has?” He turned back to face him, face dropping at the thought of what he’d just done. “I didn’t really expect her to react like that, it was just a joke” he seemed far away as his mother pulled him into her arms.

“Arnav, I’ve missed you” Amrita ran her hands down his arms, checking if he was as well as he made out.

“Ma” he rolled his eyes, “I’m fine” he bent lower to take her blessings, did the same with his father then turned to gaze at the car park. He was fine, but she wasn’t and he wanted nothing more than to go and see her after his own stupid actions. “I know you hosted this party for me, but I, there’s something I need to do, I’ll be back”.

“And bring Khushi back with you” Haresh chuckled, arm around his wife’s waist, “Let him go, we all know he’s been more excited to see her than he has us, we have a long time to catch up with him”.

●●●

“Here, kitty, kitty” Khushi kept her gaze upwards, snapping her fingers at the cat up in the tree “Come on, come on” she’d been stood there for what felt like forever trying to get this cat down, but the damn thing was adamant the jump was too big. “You have nine lives, I have one” she hissed as she began the climb up the tree, Allah better remember this sacrifice, she wasn’t ready for death yet. Stumbling on the nearest branch, she hit her head at the sound of a rough chuckle from the ground.

“Munchkin, are you stuck in a tree?” He bit on his fist to stop yet another round of laughter at her expense.

Rolling her eyes, she mimicked him silently, the nickname was a stupid one, when she was younger she had chubby cheeks and ever since his nickname had remained. “I’m not stuck” she retorted. 

She was indeed stuck, especially since her arrival made the cat finally take a leap of faith, pulling a branch from her hair, she nearly toppled backwards.

“Well, come on down then, don’t make me come up there and get you” he rested his back against the tree.

Why on earth couldn’t this be an apple tree? One apple dropping on his head and perhaps like Einstein he’d make a discovery that this world did not revolve around him. “I will when you leave”.

Arnav shook his head “Don’t you remember this tree? We always used to climb it”.

“Nooo” she corrected, “I used to climb it to get away from you and you’d follow me up here” at the silence in response, she was about to cheer only to see his hand an inch away from her foot, only Allah knew the strength it took not to dig her heel into his palm and watch him fall the same way she always did.

His grin was wide as he swung to sit beside her “Thought we should relive old memories, so, shall I push you or do you want to jump?”

Khushi tugged at her hair, wondering if it was long enough to form a noose she could hang herself with while she faced away from him. “How about I push you and then I’ll jump?”

“You’re into some kinky shit, Munchkin, but I’ll let it slide, you always were odd” he eyed her drenched clothing as he slid closer. “Just one question, am I the first man to make you wet?”

At that she finally lost it, shoving at his arm so he would fall backwards. It was just her luck that this stupid thirty-year-old man was determined to take her with him as he fell onto the grass and offered her a cheshire grin as she fell atop him.

Originally posted by: shils28

Great! ❤️❤️

Aw, thank you!

So arnav here is going to annoy khushi more. Nice update.