A series of 21 one-shots (or moments), which span just under four months and show how Arnav and Khushi came to be in a secret relationship.
This is the second in a four-part series set in the Secret Romance AU. I highly recommend reading Happy...
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25th November
Khushi was waiting on the porch when he parked in front of the house the next morning. This unexpected change in their established routine answered many of the questions that had kept him awake until dawn. Arnav didn't step out of the car, unsure whether her request for time included his customary greetings at the door, but certain that it included the caress of his fingers as he helped her into his SUV. She hauled herself into the car using a series of clumsy movements that had him yearning to place his hands on her waist and lift her into her seat. Instead, he curled his fingers tighter around the steering wheel, the only outward sign of his inner battle for restraint.
Arnav watched her struggle with the seatbelt for two minutes before deciding to intervene.
"Khushi ... may I?"
When Khushi nodded, her eyes wide, he stretched out an arm and buckled her in, careful not to touch her at all. Their eyes locked, a vibration of longing - of apology, of want - passing between them in the heavy silence. She, as usual, broke eye contact first, her gaze skittering away to rest on something beyond the window. Leaning back into his seat, Arnav let out a heavy sigh.
In the past fortnight, the midnight musings of his mind had taken to presenting him with an alternative reality. A reality in which he'd accepted Khushi's peace offering that night on her verandah - "Thank you for returning my wallet" - a reality in which he'd never uttered the words that'd destroyed almost everything between them - "This night, and you, hold no significance for me". A reality in which he'd been able to answer her breathless, confused question after he'd bandaged her wounded finger - "What do you want from me?"
He had no right, he was acutely aware, to expect another chance to prove himself to her. It was nothing short of a miracle that they'd clawed their way back to some semblance of a friendship while bringing his brother and her sister together. And yet ... she'd asked for time, time to gather herself, time to think. She hadn't denied him outright. And this small truth caused hope to bubble inside Arnav. He could be patient if Khushi Kumari Gupta was to be his reward.
He would have to be.
They spent the day avoiding each other, some unspoken pact between them forcing one to leave the room when the other came in, but they couldn't keep their eyes from straying. The restless wandering of fingers had ceased, the pointed meandering of conversation had disappeared, but soft touch of their lingering regard would not be curtailed.
He watched her as she served lunch at the dining table. She watched him as he came down the stairs.
He watched her make tea in the kitchen. She watched him take a call in the living room.
He watched as she frowned at a sample menu for the reception. She watched as he helped his sister finalize the guest list.
