OS: Midnight Plans

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OS: Midnight Plans

'Boyfriend?!'

Arnav stopped outside of the study as he heard Khushi's exclamation. Boyfriend? If that N.K was trying to convince Khushi to be his girlfriend he was going to kill him! He opened the door quickly to find Khushi sitting alone on the sofa with her back to him talking on the phone.

'Well yes Lavanyaji we went on a date but that was only because...' Khushi stopped as Lavanya interrupted her again trying to convince her that she liked N.K.

'So because I call him Nanheji that means I like him? But I also... Lavanyaji are you going to let me talk at least?' Khushi sighed and listened while Lavanya explained that giving somebody a special nickname that only you used meant they were special to you, just like 'Chamkili'. Khushi immediately thought of 'Laad Governer' and she blushed.

Arnav watched her blush and grit his teeth together at what he was hearing. It had been blatantly obvious yesterday at the dining table that N.K had a crush on Khushi but he hadn't expected it to be reciprocated. And why was Lavanya even encouraging it? Didn't she know...

'KISS?! You want me to kiss Nanheji?!' Khushi's face grew even redder as she listened to Lavanya explain how it was customary to kiss at 12 o'clock when the New Year began.

'Come on Chamkili, just a kiss on the cheek. He's from Australia, that's normal for him. He'll be angry if you don't do it!' Lavanya smiled to herself sadly as she heard Khushi splutter over the phone. She knew Khushi would never actually kiss this N.K but at least maybe it would get her thinking about people she wanted to kiss.

'But... but... Lavanyaji are you sure?'

Arnav's eyes almost fell out of his head in shock at what he was hearing. Khushi was actually contemplating kissing that idiot? A voice in the back of his head tried to remind him of Diwali but he silenced it and pushed it back.

'Khushi!'

Khushi dropped the phone onto her lap in surprise at his voice. 'You?'

He looked at her face which was now almost completely red and he could tell she was blushing. 'You... What are you doing here? Why aren't you downstairs practicing with everyone?'

Khushi stood up nervously hoping she hadn't said any of her thoughts out loud when she'd been thinking about kisses and nicknames and meeting people at midnight. 'Erm... Nanheji is preparing something for tonight, you know for midnight. A surprise, he said he has a way to get Akashji and Jiji to meet so I was just...'

'Get out of my study!'

Khushi picked up her phone muttering to herself 'Laad Governer kahika,' and then louder to him, 'There's still plenty of time until 12. Don't worry, there's no chance of me turning up then.'

'Good! I don't want to see your face tonight or I'll never get away from you for the rest of my life!'

'As if I want to see yours!' Khushi said as she stormed out of the room.

Lavanya listened to their conversation through the phone before she put it down as a tear silently fell down her face. She wiped it away quickly and got out of bed. Time to get ready for that amazing New Year's party she was going to tonight.

Arnav threw the file he'd been reading onto the desk and slammed his hand on it in frustration.

---

'But why can't I go? Khushiji's waiting for me; we had a special plan for midnight!'

'You're not going and that's final!' Arnav said as he buttoned up his suit jacket. 'You stay home and keep an eye on Nani and Di. I'll take Akash to meet Payal and... and then we'll come back straight away.' He didn't wait for an answer but strode away towards the door leaving Akash looking apologetically at N.K before he followed behind Arnav.

Arnav drove angrily. He'd managed to stop N.K meeting Khushi, but the fact still remained that Khushi had wanted to meet N.K, had wanted to kiss N.K while praying to her Devi Maiyya to make sure she didn't see his face at midnight.

'I'll wait here,' he said to Akash who ran out of the car almost as soon as they'd reached the house. Arnav sat for about 5 minutes, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel before the slowly changing time on the dashboard, getting ever closer to midnight began to annoy him. He slammed the car door shut before he leaned back against the door to look up at the stars and try once again to find a star he could associate with his mother.

'Nanheji? Nanheji? Where are you? It's almost midnight!'

Arnav looked over the car bonnet to see Khushi whispering and looking into the car trying to see into the darkness. 'Khushi Kumari Gupta!'

Khushi paused in shock as she heard his voice and looked up to see him striding around the car towards her. 'Aap? What are you doing here?'

Arnav stopped in front of her, eyes blazing in anger, 'expecting someone else, were you?'

'Well... Yes, Nanheji and I were going to...'

He stepped closer to her holding her arms and pushing her back against the car, 'going to what?'

Khushi felt her heartbeat increase at the proximity and the intensity of Arnav's gaze. He looked as if he was ready to kill her, 'at midnight, Nanheji and I were going to...'

Arnav cut her off before she could finish her sentence. He couldn't bear to think about it and hearing her say it out loud would be impossible for him to forget.

Khushi's eyes remained open in shock as she felt his lips against hers, harsh and demanding at at first but they slowly fluttered closed as it turned gentle and smooth. Her hands flew up to his chest and clutched at his jacket as his tongue met hers.

The sound of fireworks and shouting in the background made Arnav aware of where they were, standing outside her house, in the middle of the road, shielded only by his car. He moved back slightly, and looked around relieved that there seemed to be nobody around. He tried to appear unaffected as he lifted his wrist to look at the time, smirking as he realised that midnight had come and gone. 'Happy New Year, Khushi Kumari Gupta. I hope I didn't spoil any plans you might have had.'

Khushi blinked her eyes, trying to come out of the daze that the kiss had left her in and trying to process his question, '...plans?'

'Yes. Plans with my cousin N.K? Remember him?' Arnav felt his anger rising again as he thought of the kiss he had just experienced. The most amazing kiss in the world and she'd been planning on sharing it with N.K?

'Oh,' Khushi said softly as she removed her hands from Arnav's jacket and back to her sides. 'We were... we were just going to set off some fireworks at midnight but...'

'Fireworks? You and N.K were going to set off fireworks?'

Khushi looked up at him and nodded, her eyes still glazed over trying to make sense of what had just occurred.

Arnav mentally sighed in relief before he stepped closer to her again, predatorily. 'How about you and I set off some fireworks of our own,' he said as he cupped her face in his hands as he had done on Diwali.

Khushi closed her eyes beforehand this time, shivering in anticipation. 'Happy New Year, Arnavji,' she whispered before he silenced her again.