FF: It's Not Right - Chapter 45

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Chapter 45

Arnav had been unable to deny that his feelings towards Khushi had by far surpassed any sort of attachment he'd had for previous girlfriends. He longed to be with her, was considerably more irritable than usual when he didn't see her and thought about her multiple times throughout his day. Not in the sexual way he would usually think of his girlfriends, just about conversations they'd had or something she'd said. Which was in itself a major feat; never had Arnav been in a relationship of this length without sex.

Sex had been a major part of all his previous relationships and usually when Arnav got bored with a woman, good sex could usually sustain the relationship for a few extra weeks. Khushi had instead managed to captivate and keep Arnav interested for much longer than any other woman without sex being involved at all. Not that he hadn't thought about sex with Khushi, he had of course he was only human. But with Khushi, Arnav had never felt a need to push for more. In fact he had been surprised at her willingness to kiss him at all when he remembered her disbelief when Lavanya had kissed him on the cheek once.

Despite knowing all these facts and knowing that his relationship with Khushi was different, Arnav had never before associated 'love' with his intense feelings for Khushi. Love was something he didn't believe in. He had seen what it did to his parents and more recently to his sister so the idea of ever falling in love himself was not only laughable it seemed impossible.

Yet as soon as he realised what he'd said he also realised just how right it sounded. He loved Khushi. That was it, plain and simple. Khushi was still looking at him like a deer caught in headlights and suddenly Arnav was very nervous. He had never told someone he loved them before. He didn't know the protocol, but surely she should reciprocate, or at least say something instead of looking at him as if he'd gone mad. He could feel his hands getting clammy and so he dropped her hands and turned back towards the steering wheel.

'Right, well yes. Exactly. There you go, that's why we're not breaking up. Yes,' Arnav mumbled more to himself than Khushi as he began to drive again.

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Even if Khushi did have something to say she would have been unable to. She was having trouble forming coherent thoughts as her brain tried to process if the past few minutes had been real or a figment of her imagination. Although she had never before imagined Arnav saying those words to her, Shah Rukh Khan, yes: multiple times but never Arnav. But now that he had...

She hadn't meant to suggest a break-up, the words had just spilled out but once they had she'd realised she meant them. Being with Arnav was beautiful and amazing but the word 'babe' had an unintentional effect on her. It was not a word she would have ever thought associated to herself and her mind had quite rightly flashed an image of Lavanyaji in her head upon hearing it.

That then had the resulting effect of reminding her just how Arnav and Lavanyaji's relationship had ended with Lavanyaji. Khushi knew she had her hand in influencing Lavanyaji's thoughts towards marriage but no one would need to influence her. Khushi had been dreaming about her wedding since she was a little girl, planned the type of outfit she would wear, the music that would be played and the food that would be served but the groom had always remained faceless until last night.

Khushi didn't want her life to turn into a repeat of Lavanyaji's, clutching at her relationship with Arnav, asking him to make a commitment he had always maintained was impossible and almost begging him to marry her because she knew how that scenario ended and it wouldn't be a pleasant ending. Breaking up with him before her heart had the chance to finalise him as the groom in her mind and set itself up for inevitable heartbreak therefore seemed perfect.


Until he'd spoken and completely confused, shocked and surprised her. She didn't know how long she stared at him before he looked away and started driving again but only when he did so did her mental faculties begin to return. He loved her. Arnav Singh Raizada loved her.

His love was reciprocated, that was certain. It wasn't something that Khushi needed to think about for a prolonged period of time, she just knew it. She had come to love Arnav a long time ago in the same manner that she loved all of the Raizadas and her friends but when exactly that love had evolved into something deeper, into romantic love she couldn't say but she just knew it had.

As she watched him drive she could see the muscle at the side of his strong jaw tensing and his eyes almost unblinkingly focused on the road her lips lifted up into a smile.