Chapter Seventeen

To wake up in her room after such a long time, felt rather good for Khushi. The way sunlight would pour in through her windows to wake her up, hadn't changed. The way people bustled outside to get on with their day hadn't changed. What had changed, however, was that Khushi wasn't waking up and turning on her TV first thing, but rather gazing up at her husband.

Like other nights before, Khushi had found her way into his arms. It was strange how they curiously fit together perfectly, not to mention how much they moved and managed to make their way to each other in their sleep. It was simply strange - what was it that pulled them to each other almost every night in their sleep?

Arnav squirmed a little, taking in a deep breath before letting out a sigh and opening his eyes.  It took a moment for him to be aware of his surroundings and remember that he wasn't at his home but at Khushi's. He felt a familiar presence below his arm and looked down at Khushi.

"Good morning," he smiled softly.

"Good morning," Khushi replied softly.

"For a moment, I forgot where we were," he chuckled.

Khushi smiled up at him and glanced at her alarm clock. "We better get up, Amma will have breakfast ready soon."

Arnav nodded and Khushi pulled back to get up. However, her mangalsutra had caught onto the fabric of Arnav's shirt, causing Khushi to move back in. Her eyes quickly darted to Arnav's and then down at her mangalsutra. She was so close to him - much closer than before - and she could feel her nerves shooting up to the heavens.

Hai DM!

Arnav could see how nervous Khushi was. And like other times before, he felt that urge to kiss her. But this time, he held himself back. Instead, he helped her unhook her mangalsutra from his shirt. Khushi watched him in confusion as he did, somewhat surprised that he hadn't tried to kiss her.

I wonder why?

It wasn't that he didn't want to, no, not at all. He was very tempted to do it and he did want to, but he had only stopped himself because he didn't want Khushi to think bad of him. As he had told her the night before, he wanted for her to get to know him just as he wanted to get to know her. And to throw himself onto her as he had impulsively done before, just didn't seem right.

*~*

Heading down to the kitchen, Khushi thought of Arnav's actions from this morning. She had expected him to kiss her, as he had done so on other occasions before.

Why didn't he do it? He didn't before so why...? Well, there are the things we spoke about the night before... yeah, I think that's it. He did say he wanted to get to know me better, so maybe that's why... that makes sense... although, I wouldn't have minded one bit if he had kissed me- what am I thinking?!

"Laado?"

Khushi snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at her mother, who was looking at her curiously.

"Is everything okay?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah, perfect."

Khushi joined her mother to help finish up with breakfast. Although Sumitra was curious about what was going through her daughter's mind - especially when her daughter began burning the parathas.

"Khushi-! What are you doing?"

Sumitra quickly removed the paratha, bringing Khushi back to reality.

"Hai DM-! Amma, I'm so sorry!"

"Khushi what have I said to you time and time again, always pay attention when in the kitchen," Sumitra scowled.

"I know, I'm sorry, I just can't stop thinking about-"

Khushi stopped herself. Was she really going to share what had happened earlier with her mother? No, no way at all.

Sumitra arched her eyebrow at her but Khushi shook her head.

"I'll just... I'll go call Bapusa down while you finish up."

"Don't forget Arnav while you're at it."

Khushi nodded and left the kitchen.

What is wrong with me? Why am I letting this get to me? It's not that big of a deal! But then again....

Khusho went upstairs, heading to her parents' room.

I mean, okay, I want to get to know him and he wants to get to know me. But how do I do that? Where do I even take him in this tiny town?

Khushi arrived to her parents' room and knocked on the door before entering.

"Ah, Khushi, there you are laado," Nayan grinned.

"Breakfast is almost ready, Amma's about to set up the table."

"Okay. Where's Arnav?"

"Um... I think he's still getting ready."

Nayan nodded. "Come here laado, sit next to me."

Khushi nodded and went over to her father, sitting down beside him on the bed. Nayan placed his hand on Khushi's head, giving her a small smile.

"Tell me honestly - are you happy?"

Khushi nodded. "I am as long as both you and Amma are."

"That isn't what I asked laado," he said softly.

Khushi pursed her lips, looking down. "I am. Genuinely, I am."

"But...?"

Khushi looked up at him, curiously.

"There's always a but in these kind of sentences," he smiled lightly.

"There is no but Bapusa, honestly. Everyone there is so nice, they never give me a moment to feel sad that I'm not here with you and Amma."

"And Arnav?"

Khushi didn't say anything, looking down.

Nayan let out a small sigh. "Khushi, I understand that for many in your generation, arranged marriage is just a thing that old generations did. Many don't understand it anymore. Now, it's not that I'm against love marriages, I had told you that if you found someone, your mother and I would agree to meet him. But you told us that you would agree to whomever we chose, something many girls wouldn't think of doing.

"I know that the responsibility came down to me and your mother to find the right man for you, and after everything that had happened...."

Nayan looked down and Khushi took his hands in hers.

"Arnav is a really kind man Bapu," Khushi said softly. "Please don't think that you chose wrong."

Nayan lightly squeezed her hands. "You sure?"

"Positive. It's just that... I don't really know him all to well, that's all. But I'm sure in time things will change just like it did with Amma and you."

Nayan smiled and placed a kiss on her forehead. "You're right. I just worry, its what parents do."

"There's nothing to worry about," Khushi grinned.

"That's for me to decide," he winked, and Khushi giggled. "Now go, go get Arnav and bring him downstairs."

Khushi nodded and both got up, Nayan heading down while Khushi went to her room. She walked right in without a thought and was smacked with an eyeful of Arnav's ripped chest. Khushi froze and gaped at her husband while Arnav stood frozen, holding his shirt. Khushi's eyes darted up to Arnav's, to his chest, then his eyes again, before quickly turning around, her cheeks gushing red.

"U-uh, breakfast is ready," Khushi said quickly.

Arnav quickly put his shirt on, saving Khushi from the embarrassment. "Right... sorry."

Khushi's eyebrows met in the middle. "For?"

Arnav didn't say anything but Khushi understood.

"Its my fault," Khushi said softly. "I shouldn't have walked in like that without knocking."

"No, you have that right, it's your room."

Khushi looked down at the floor.

"...as for what happened back home..."

Huh?

"I shouldn't have done what I had."

Khushi immediately figured out what he was talking about, and she felt her heart pit. She slowly turned back around to him and when Arnav saw the expression on her face, he was surprised - she was hurt by his words.

"Khushi-"

"Everyone's downstairs, we should get going," and she left the room.

Arnav opened his mouth to call out to her, but Khushi was gone. To be honest, Arnav was surprised. He had only said that because he thought that she may have gotten the wrong impression of him, and he hadn't mean to exactly act that way. He didn't regret his actions, but he didn't want Khushi to think bad of him. After all, like they both agreed, they were strangers to each other, so to do such actions....

I... I didn't want to hurt you Khushi. Crap!