"Why Arnav ji? Why does it matter to you? It was my accident, my pain. Aapko kyun farak padhta hai? Why does it matter to you?"
Arnav walks closer, unable to do anything but yell, a defense mechanism he had mastered over the years.
"Mujhe farak padhta hai! It matters to me! YOU MATTER TO ME!"
"Kyun? " (Why?)
"KYUNKI-" (Because-)
A heavy silence fills the room as two tormented hearts search each other's stormed gazes for answer.
Khushi waits for him to yell some more, to blurt out his feelings, to possibly stay silent. He does none of those things. Instead, with one last look at her, Arnav walks away.
---
He curses under his breath, mentally kicking himself for walking away from her yet again, as he usually does when he's clueless or stupefied.
What would he have said to her in response anyway? Why did she matter him? Why, damn it?
Suddenly his Di's words reverberate in his head in an ongoing echo.
"Dekhna... Jis din tumhari zindagi mein vo ladki ayegi na, jiske bina tumhari dhadkanein ruk jayengi. Jiske bina tum jee nahi paoge. Tumhe aisa lagega jaise agar vo tumhe na mili na... Toh tumhari saansein hi ruk jayengi."
("You'll see... The day that girl comes in your life, without whom your heartbeats will halt. Without whom you won't be able to live. You will feel that if she doesn't become yours... then you won't be able to breathe.")
Back when his elder sister had dreamily said this to him, he had smirked and made fun of it. Now, his eyebrows scrunched in doubt, he thinks about the deeper meaning behind it. He breaks it down, word by word, piece by piece, connecting it all together only to realize that his Di was right all along.
He shakes his head right then, a huff of air puffing through his lips in incredulity.
Arnav Singh Raizada – in love? He's not sure he even knows what love is. He's definitely not sure if he's ready to find out.
Utterly and helplessly confused, he decides to go to the one person who may be able to help.
---
"NK?"
"Nannav, mere bhai! (Nannav, my brother!) Come in,"
"How's your leg?" Arnav asks, sitting beside him on the hospital bed.
"Much better than before," He replies, to which Arnav smiles, thankful.
Sensing the slight awkwardness on is features NK questions him, urging him to spill the beans.
"Well, this is kind of personal," Arnav slowly says, contemplating going through with this seemingly uncomfortable (at least from his perspective) conversation.
"Go for it, Nannav, tell me already!"
"Have you ever been in love?" He lets it slip in one breath.
NK's expression goes from curious to surprised to totally and completely amused.
"Nannav aur pyaar ka chakkar? (Nannav and the matter of love?) This is definitely a first!"
Arnav rolls his eyes, choosing to ignore NK's teasing tone.
"What does love feel like? I mean, how do you know if you're in love?" He asks nervously, the only single time he has ever lacked confidence.
NK sits up excitedly, rolling a hand through his hair. "You've come to the right person my friend – they call me Love Guru,"
Arnav raises one eyebrow at that, secretly amused. But before he could say anything else, NK continues without a cue.
"Love is the most beautiful feeling in the world. It's what poems, books and movies are made of,"
Arnav nods non-commitedly, not knowing what to say to that. He absolutely hates all romance novels, has never watched a single so called rom-com movie, has never really listened to a sappy love song. God, what was he doing?
"Tell me Nannav," NK says, shifting closer in curiosity. "Have you ever felt the winds blow out of nowhere all of a sudden? Have you ever felt like everything around you is a blur? Have you ever felt like you could actually hear your heart beat?"
Arnav looks to a distance, a shadow of a smile on his lips. He had felt all of those sensations and more. Sometimes when she's in his arms, he's almost sure he can even hear a weirdly romantic background music play – something close to "Rabba ve..."
He shakes himself out of his thoughts. Of course, he's not going to tell his cousin all of this. What he needs to do is man up and tell her, the person who needs to hear it.
Yes, he'll tell her.
"Alright, thanks for the advice NK," He smiles wide, standing up to leave.
"Wait, wait – at least tell me who the lucky girl is?"
Arnav smirks before silently walking away.
---
Go Arnav, say it. Say it god damn it.
He's been pacing around the hallways in front of her room for a solid seven minutes now – partly nervous, partly clueless as to how to go about telling her how he feels. This is no ordinary girl. This is Khushi Kumari Gupta, the girl who made his life hell at one point, the girl who reminded him of his character flaws at every given chance, the girl who challenged and taunted him, the girl who poured orange juice in his shoes and later sobbed out a snot filled apology.
He laughs inwardly. This girl is crazy, but that's exactly one of the million reasons why he... he loves her.
Come on Arnav, just go!
He storms in finally. Khushi looks up in surprise, not expecting his sudden entry. He stands there, staring at her silently while she looks at him with questioning eyes, confused.
"I- I lo-"
Khushi feels her heart stop. Is he going to say what she thinks he is? Her breath comes out heavy in anticipation.
"I... I l-" His tongue ties right in the middle of the word he's been running from for all his life. If there is one thing Arnav fails at, it would be the matters of the heart.
Khushi starts to feel annoyed, not understanding why this is so difficult for him.
Say it Arnav ji...
"I lo- I love pizza," Shit.
"Heh? Pizza?" Khushi frowns, irritated and confused.
Arnav has always known his own love for Italian food, but this was definitely not the moment to declare that.
"No, no. I meant... I l-"
"Maybe you're trying to say Laad Governor? Because that's exactly who you are," She teases, scrunching her nose.
He squints his eyes at her remark, when his phone begins to ring.
"You should pick up. Aman ji ka phone hoga," (It must be Aman ji) Khushi says, her tone filled with sass.
Arnav clenches his jaw in annoyance and picks up. With one last look at her sinfully beautiful face, he walks out.
"Hello, Aman..."
---
A/N: This has got to be one of my favorite chapters to write :D
- Rain
YOU ARE READING
ArShi FF: Homebound
RomanceWhat if Khushi really was in the ambulance Arnav was running after?
