Chapter 91

Batool Imran

@nav_bat

"But Chun.." Vivek started his voice audible but so pathetic Khushi felt like running to him, possibly socking him in the nose, cursing him but then hugging him tightly and get as far away from this nightmare as possible. But that really wasn't a possibility and she realized that fully, because no nightmare could beat this horrible reality that was her life right about, and her best friend was a part of it.

"I said leave!" She yelled sharply at him, her expression clearly furiously feeling bits of her chipping away at Vivek's rough intake of breath followed by the hurt on his face as he continued to look at her dubiously his face filled with angst.

"Gupta.." Arnav said in much somber tones though his voice was as heavy as Vivek's and clearly firm trying to make her see sense.

"Raizada for Devi Maiyan's sake listen to me for once!" She screamed at him now, barely stopping the tears from coming to her eyes and furiously blinked them away glowering at him or atleast that was her way of making him go but he stood stubbornly stood his gaze flickering on and off between Aryan Gupta who was studying this spectacle curiously and Khushi who clearly seemed unhinged by anger right now. Finally what was after a great many anguished seconds that he huffed a sigh of exasperation and backed away, reigning in his sense of irrationality and locked his hands firmly on Vivek's arms who refused to move his eyes still trained in uncontained guilt and distress on Khushi.

It wasn't that he wouldn't like to do exactly the same thing that Vivek was doing right now, being downright stubborn because God knows that was his most self expressed trait, but Arnav knew seeing Khushi's face that if they didn't leave Khushi alone with her father right now, no matter how much he felt like strangling that particular man and was clearly unhappy with this situation, things could spiral down even more if he did not drag Vivek away from this. So with that thought in mind, he dragged Vivek away from the scene with all his strength aided of course by Nikhil who was in reality really dragging both Arnav and Vivek what with Arnav's step's as hesitant to move as Viveks.

He stopped abruptly once they were a few steps away, throwing back a deathly glare at Nikhil for dragging him who just ignored it, and looked back at Khushi who had a crippling expression on her face like the life force out of her had been robbed. In that instance he almost back tracked from his thought of rationality and went to stand by her side but Nikhil's tightening hold on his arm brought him back to reality, though he wouldn't admit he was grateful for it even on his death bed.

"How are you going to come back?" He asked of her and she looked momentarily confused as if the idea of getting back hadn't even occurred to her. Before she could form a plausible answer though, a voice, that they had momentarily forgotten was there interrupted.

"I'll drop her back." Aryan Gupta answered simply in a tone that suggested this answer was not open to arguments, however Arnav being Arnav looked at him sharply and opened his mouth to snap but a firm urgent nod from Khushi effectively shut him up, and with Nikhil still holding on to a clearly depressed Vivek tightened his hold on his arm and dragged him away from the scene leaving no room for protest and tantrums what so ever.

Once she had made sure that the three boys had indeed disappeared, her heart actually sinking with dread at that loss of familiarity she turned around to face her father who was standing in the same position as before his hulking presence making her feel tiny and insignificant. He was unmistakably tall, though from the shadows where she and Arnav had seen him talking to Vivek and Nikhil he didn't seem so tall, since the two boys were just an inch or so shorter than him however Aryan Gupta's obvious presence was so hard to back away from, he easily towered over the two boys. . Khushi vaguely registered that this was exactly why he was one of the best Generals of the US military though how he seemed to pop up uncalled for all the time was beyond her.

"Where would you prefer to talk?" She finally broke the silence, clearing her throat so her voice did not sound choked up which it definitely was but if Aryan noticed this he did not give any indication, his expression as empty as ever.

"My hotel." He replied monotonously and she nodded without argument, moving to a side so he could walk in front, and quietly followed him back, buckling her seat belt once inside the car, fidgeting with her fingers out of nervousness or dread she wasn't quite sure which. The silence between them was stifling at best, Khushi obstinately looking outside the window, seeing the New York lights fade past her while Aryan looked at her curiously as if studying his daughter like a rare specimen.

"That boy is unusually protective of you...are you sure its really Raizada you want?" His skeptical voice echoed in the silence of the car, snapping Khushi out of her thoughts who whipped her head away from the window to look at her father in obvious shock at the complete randomness and bizzard nature of the question. Under his scrutinizing gaze she felt small and guilty like she did when she was 8 years old, her father giving her an all knowing look whenever she ate an extra candy without permission. Instantly she chastised her self for this ridiculous train of thought, beating the fog that was clogging her view, and revising the point that she was absolutely not guilty of anything. She wasn't the one at fault, she was the victim.

"Excuse me what? (Aryans face remained non responsive) Vivek is my best friend Mr Gupta! Rai..Arnav and I..(looking away uncomfortably) never mind that...we aren't here to talk about Arnav and Vivek!" Khushi cried indignantly folding her arms across her chest and reverting back to her looking outside the window activity.

"We should be. I want to know whats going on in my little girl's life." Aryan stated back in clipped tones, gaining Khushi's attention once again who looked at him in disbelief with a terrorizing sneer on her face.

"Didnt your spy update you on that?" She snarled at him, anger making her body quake, but her eyes were fixed on her father, whose demeanor remained as unmoved as ever.

"I want to hear it from you." Aryan expressed calmly, his eyes trained on the road ahead, curving into a sparsely populated street fully aware that Khushi had her eyes glued on him.

"Is it now? Remembered too soon didn't you? Could have saved you a lot of money on roping in a spy if you ask me." Khushi bit back, her voice mirroring the same calm, and tore her eyes away from him, feeling satisfied with her well thought out comment.

"Khushi..dont test me." Aryan warned her testily his grip on the steering wheel tightening causing the rubber to cut his fingers but he didn't react to it, and instead kept his gaze fixed on Khushi who was stubbornly refusing to look at him, though at this comment, she looked back at him sharply her expression furious.

"Are you really saying that to me Mr Gupta? After you sent a spy on me and abandoned me 7 years ago, are you actually telling me not to test you?" Well that is wonderful. Simply wonderful."

"I did not abandon you Khushi. You chose your mother. The court voted in her favor." His tone was as unfeeling as ever though it was definitely not as sharp as before.

"Right lets blame 9 year old Khushi then shall we for her misery? Self inflicted isnt it?"Khushi stormed glaring daggers at him, her face red with rage.

"Khushi..you are making this hard." He declared irritably taking a turn into another street.

"Am I now? Surprising." She mocked back keeping her tone as chilly as possible.

Wisely, Aryan chose not to dignify her answer with a response and after 5 mins stopped the car at the entrance of a rather posh looking hotel. Of course, Khushi scoffed mentally. Nothing but royalty for Mr Aryan Gupta. Pfft. Biting her tongue she reluctantly got out of the car and followed him inside to the hotel barely functioning enough to take in the exquisite dcor of the hotel. In other circumstances that did not involve a one on one with her father in this hotel she would have spent a generous amount of minutes admiring it all, after all Hotel Le Jolie really was a sight to take in, but right now her mind was so messed up the only thought that visibly cheered her was the thought of her own bed in the cozy room at Hotel Indigo.

"Do you want to eat something?" Aryan asked her once they were inside the rather posh room color coded in white and blue, twice the size of Khushi's own room back at Stanford. At the thought of food she perked up visibly and nodded seating herself on the bed while Aryan placed himself next to her much to her irritation.

"Bolgonese Sandwich." She told him blandly though really her mouth was salivating at this point and 4 cheese burgers looked like a wicked deal right about now, but she knew if she had to at least maintain her shape for that damnnit dress she would have to settle for just the sandwich right now.

"Thats it?" Aryan asked her surprised, the first sign of any visible expressive reaction from him taking Khushi slightly off guard but she immediately recovered her composure and stared at him stonily.

"You would know I dont have much of an appetite if you lived with me." She told him crisply, though that was a blatant lie because nobody hogged down food like she did, possibly Vivek, but no one else she knew of. Ofcourse her father didn't really have to know any of that, and just frowned at her answer, the signs of lingering anger just around the corner, but for once Khushi couldn't bring herself to be afraid or tired of this. There were other things that took priority, say like having a heart to heart civil conversation with her bigoted father.

"Khushi I am trying not to make any remarks on your unwarranted rudeness. Please try to cooperate with me here." Aryan remarked impatiently, his eyes narrowed to slits and nostrils slightly flared, signs that only Khushi could pick up on being his daughter, but with new found confidence she had no idea where it was stemming from she met his coal black eyes and stared into them with mock humor.

"Oh our favorite topic. Lets reprimand Khushi for her manners. Lets blame her useless mother for her manner's. (folding her arms around her chest) Go on Mr.Gupta I am ready for the abuse. " Khushi drawled on bitterly with a guarded look of defiance on her face, not bothering to hide the hurt and anger that were defining qualities of this entire exchange.

"Whats with the snarkiness? Is it your new friends rubbing off on you?" Aryan commented tightly, his voice only an octave higher than before but Khushi seemed unperturbed.

"I pride myself on natural talent." She replied with a twisted smile, and a fake air of casualness, backing away a bit but making it look like she was just scuffling around like a casual care free teenager.

"It's not a trait you should be proud off." Aryan told her tonelessly getting off the bed and loosening his tie depositing it on the lavish sofas that adorned the pseudo living area of the large room, fishing out his Black Berry casually and diverting his attention to it, much to Khushi's increased irritation.

"You defy your words Mr Gupta. You dont seem to be following your own rule book." She said stubbornly, miffed by his show of ignorance, more than a bit of resentment in her tone, successfully gaining her fathers attention who abandoned his cell phone and pinned her with a fiery glare, his anger plain on his face.

"Khushi Kumari Gupta. For the last time. BEHAVE." He near yelled at her, his tone dangerously wavering sending a wave of fear down Khushi's spine and she almost cowered under his gaze, but then she remembered her purpose here, what he had done, how she was a victim, how she didn't deserve this, and with those uplifting thoughts in her mind she stared at him with a poker face meeting his eyes boldly. They stared at each other for a few silent minutes, father to daughter both flared by anger and other unnamable emotions battling it out with their eyes, but Khushi was the first to look away, not because she was frightened but because she knew if her father was going to act like a petulant child she possibly couldn't.

"Look Mr Gupta stop tailing me okay?" She sighed in annoyance making those appalling cat like scratching motions on her ratty jeans before continuing. "Stop trying to find out things about me by all these warped up methods, and dragging unsuspecting people along in your games. We dont need any more victims in this self originated war of yours. You don't need to know me. Or look out for me. I am fine. Maa and me we are both fine." Khushi told him brashly without fear of consequence for what might happen now that she had stretched her father's patience to the point of snapping, but in all honestly she couldn't bring herself to be concerned for him. Hell she really did not care if she strangled her to death right now. Atleast she had the satisfaction of her last act being that of defiance.

Disappointingly though following her speech Aryans face had morphed back into a perfect poker, analyzing Khushi with his beady eyes and sighing as some sort of internal realization hit home.

"If you talked to me like all girls do with their fathers I wouldn't have to get to know my own daughter from a third person." He told her calmly, though his voice wavered with emotion something that was quite unlike him and something that Khushi hadn't come prepared for at all. Khushi looked at him skeptically, at this unexpected show of vulnerability her stone face cracking at this and she felt unease begin to stir in the depths of her stomach, almost like the guilt she had earlier reasoned herself out of clawing back inside her.

"Why do you care? (Mr Gupta is about to answer) No..No not the I am your daughter crap. I have had to come to terms with that bitter fact of my life unfortunately. I meant to say, why the sudden interest?" Khushi asked curiously, vaguely realizing how informal she sounded, and at some other time her father would have reprimanded her for it but seeing the look of disbelief on his face she knew he wasnt paying attention to his rule of etiquette right now.

"Sudden interest you say? I have always wanted to know about your life Khushi. Everytime I ask, you dodge my questions, or throw a tantrum. There is no getting one straight word out of you that way." Aryan exclaimed his voice tinged with depression and surprise at Khushi's accusation. It had never even occurred to him that his daughter thought his interest in her life was sudden. How could she possibly think that? The only thing he had been doing all these years besides working for the military was trying to find out about his little child through her pre teens and now prime teenage years since she refused to even spend a single minute in the same room as him, the same Khushi who would cuddle by his side and prattle on and on about her days at primary school whenever he came back for brief visits.

"Am I really to blame to keep my distance from you? After all your secrets? Why do you think I should trust you at all?" Khushi asked him flabbergasted thoroughly taken aback by his undisguised show of emotion and fell tears rise behind her eyes but blinking furiously she cleared her sight and looked at him in confusion his own face mirroring the same expression as her as if he didn't know what was causing this out burst at all.

"My secrets had nothing to do with you directly Khushi. You are my only daughter. My only child. That is the indefinite truth. The marriage between your mother and me did not work out, but my love towards you has been constant Khushi. How can you not understand that? I am still your father. I have always been your father. And I always will be." His military demeanor had completely vanished right before Khushi's disbelieving eyes as for the first time in 7 years she finally saw the person who was her father , the father she loved, the man she called Paa not Mr Gupta. The sudden surge of emotions inside her rattled her thoroughly making her cling desperately to the bed sheets clumping them in her hands as she looked at the naked emotions displayed on her fathers face. He was miserable, so very vulnerable and for a few brief seconds she had the overwhelming urge to walk up to him and hug him, to tell him that it didn't matter, the past was the past, they could be like they were before everything happened, but one memory of all the nights she had spent year after year seeing her mother cry herself to sleep, wallow in misery was enough to quench that brief moment of empathy in her heart, and go back to looking at the man in front of her hatefully.

"What do you mean it had nothing to do with me directly? By having an affair with another women, by getting a separation from my mother, by having me brought up by a single parent, all of that effected me directly! How I ask, can you not see that it does not affect me? You dont have to deal with Maa's sorrow everyday do you? You dont have deal with the fact that I have to keep my emotions in check for her sake do you? No! The only thing you see is the show of meekness and obedience she puts up with you around! You have robbed the fight out of her Mr Gupta! You have destroyed my mother! And you say this does not affect me?" She screamed at him not bothering to keep her voice down because right at this moment she was border line hysterical and fully consumed by the flurry of emotions that had earlier knocked her over.

"And what about me? Do I not get any of your sympathy? Have you not ever considered for a second that how all of that might have had an effect on me?" Aryan questioned sharply, feeling anger rising inside him yet again at the huge show of sympathy his daughter had for that woman..for her..for Aparna..HIS daughter, his blood, and all he got was the bitter end of the deal? Hatred and negativity and lose it to who? Aparna? Aparna bloody Khanna?

"Sympathy you say? Effect you? You made all of this happen! What the hell are you talking about? And lets say even if I could sympathize with you how would I? I don't even know why you did what you did!" She yelled madly seeing her fathers unwavering eye contact with her and calming her nerves only fractionally she met his gaze with mistrust evident in her eyes. "I have wracked my brains, made excuses for your behavior all these years, taught my self to hate you, schooled my emotions to be blank when it comes to you, because you never told me why! You never told me. (Her voice cracking eyes filled with unshed tears) You..you never told me Paa" her voice so quiet, her strength so low she was sure she would fall unconscious the very next minute without any prior warning but much to her own surprise, her body had enough decency to keep her conscious even if her senses were more than a bit hazy now.

"You have never wanted to listen." Aryan told her plainly falling back on the couch and looking at Khushi with naked emotion.

"Fine. Here I am. Listening. Go on tell me then why? Why Mr Gupta Why?" She asked desperately, folding her arms around her chest and steading her back against the head rest of the bed not trusting her back to keep her upright any longer. Aryan stilled hearing her questioning the blood inside him freezing as an influx of memories threaten to drown him, flashes of his life playing in his mind like a broken record consistently highlighting three faces, but more prominently just one, making his expression take on an extreme look of hatred and venom.

"Arjun Raizada. I married your mother to spite Arjun. I wanted him to suffer. Like I was. After he took Anita from me. I wanted him to know how it was to lose that one person who is your everything. I wanted that bas***d to know! (Khushi looks at him with a look of undisguised disgust) I..after I married your mother and she severed all contact with Arjun and her family I thought I would be satisfied. But I wasnt. I hated Arjun. I hated Aparna. They took my best friend from me. I hated your mother. (Backtracking uncomfortably) I..tried to hate her. I desperately wanted to because I blamed her for my sorrow along with that insolent best friend of hers. But..she crept on to me..your mother and I didnt know how..but I had to fight it. I hated her. I couldnt like her. I couldnt love her. After three years of struggling with this we had you. I decided I didnt have to deal with my feelings for her now. I had you. My world. You were mine. You were my daughter. You were the only thing that was mine. But every single day that you grew..I..realized that that women..she was your mother. And you were hers as much as you were mine. That women who I hated! Who was my wife! Who--

"Who loved you. Who still loves you. Who you broke. Because you were scared to love her back." Khushi cut in crisply not flinching at fierce way Aryan was looking at her and continuing her tirade, " I am right arent I? (Aryan looks away from her unflinching gaze) You were scared to fall in love with the women you had vowed to hate. Is that why you were with an another women? So you didn't have to love my mother?" Khushi demanded sharply, the inner reserves of strength that had been pushing her up till now waning dangerously but if she felt the effects she didn't let on because her entire being was conserved at trying to blast this demented excuse of a father into smithereens.

"Yes." Aryan answered after an unbearably long pregnant pause, his gaze away from Khushi and expression if Khushi wasn't highly mistaken or perhaps blind, embarrassed.

"Why..Why..didnt you just tell her the truth?" Khushi asked him in a small voice, choking on her words barely getting her words audible but the flash of rage and even more mortification if that was even possible on Aryans face told her that he had indeed heard her.

"Because I didnt want Arjun to have the satisfaction to be right. I didnt want her to go back to him because I knew Anita was lost to me. She was never coming back. How could I then give him Aparna back?" He replied harshly, but seeing the undisputed disgust on Khushi's face at his words, something twisted horribly in his stomach like a part of his soul, if there was any left was being robbed from him.

"I can't believe you have that much hatred in your heart. That much spite. You are that..hateful. You destroyed 5 lives including your own because of a petty jealousy! You..Devi Maiyan I cant even look at you!" Khushi spat sickened and looked away from him letting the tears she had been holding back stream down her eyes offering a release of pent up emotion as she buried her face between her knees wishfully trying to apparate herself from this place and the vile company she currently had.

The atmosphere in the posh white-blue room was errily tense and quiet, as Aryan stared blankly outside the window, the stars outside twinkling making him wish he could blast the blasted shiners out of the sky in the same gloom that he was engulfed in. Khushi on the other hand had firmly buried her face between her knees and refused to look up still willing to believe this was a horrible nightmare and none of this had happened. But the more she denied it the more she found herself accepting it, because somewhere in her heart she realized that this was exactly what she had expected the truth to sound like. She had had her theories about her father's side of the story, and if nothing today had to her dismay validated them all.

Not so shockingly when the room service knocked on the door 10 minutes later, both occupants were understandably startled, recovering their composure though Aryan beat Khushi at it by a huge margin and marched up to the door with a stony expression letting in the room service without a word, his shoes scraping against the rug underneath and the closing of the door the only sounds heard in the room for the next 20 minutes.

"Khushi you asked for the truth. And I gave that to you." Aryan said sternly in his most commanding tone, successfully raising Khushi out of her depressed stupor but if he had expected her to cower in fear or at least see things his way he was severely disappointed.

"I want to say I wish I hadn't asked..but I am glad I did. Atleast now I know why Maa is suffering. Why I am suffering." Khushi replied in a raspy voice not bothering to keep the venom and pain in her voice at bay.

"Khushi..it doesn't have to be this way all the time." Aryan stated hesitantly, fearing his daughter volatile reaction. Again he was disappointed.

"What do you mean?" She looked at him skeptically, her eyes narrowed at him as if she was daring him to spring more horrible truths at her. Inwardly he scoffed with sadness at this reaction, the distrust on her face particularly paining him but he showed no signs of such thoughts and attempted to collect his thoughts in a presentable way.

"Whatever..there is..was between your mother and me, its over now. But we can still make repairs with you and me if you want." He proposed in his usual rock solid voice, though this time the lingering desperateness of hope shown clearly and Khushi did not miss it.

"And why exactly would I want to do that Mr Gupta? How exactly do you think I should trust you when I am absolutely positive you could have Arnav or Vivek or any of the people who love me, including the Raizadas blown away if they come in your path? Why would I put anybody's else's life on the line?" She questioned acidly, weariness that had earlier consumed her fairly gone after her fulfilling meal.

"Khushi..you will have to trust me."

"Well News Flash Mr Gupta, I DON'T." She snarled at him viciously daring him to challenge this. Thankfully for her he did not argue instead escaped into a thoughtful expression much to her puzzlement.

"Staying away from the rest of the people in your life is your condition to have me in your life?" He asked wistfully after a while, clearly unhappy with the question. Khushi blinked at his question not fully registering it, and a took a while before she took in a deep breathe.

"Yes." She said aggressively, though she was clearly confused where this conversation was going from this point.

"Alright." Aryan replied plaintively locking his gaze with hers that was beyond confused now.

"Huh? What?" She asked back baffled not making head or tails of what in the name of everything dead and alive was he talking about. Was his insanity finally riddling his rationality not that there was much to begin with?

"I said alright. I won't interfere in your life but I want to know what's going on regardless. I want you to tell me what's going on with you. I want to know you Khushi and I am willing to do what it takes to know you." Aryan explained impatiently, clearly second guessing his own decision but he was nothing if not a man of his word, and so now couldn't back off from his answer.

"Excuse me what? What gave you the impression that I wanted you in my life AT ALL?"Khushi asked him back fiercely though her voice was so uncertain it seemed like she was questioning herself rather than him. Did she really not want her father in her life? She didn't know. Not after that confession. She missed him terribly that much she was certain of..but the way he had handled things up till now..was she really willing to give him a free pass? To make peace after knowing the truth? She really didn't know.

"Khushi you cannot fight your nature. You want me in your life. You want your father back. You..crave normalcy Khushi. Please Khushi." His voice sounded tired, confident of his words but tired nonetheless like he was on the losing side of a battle only because Khushi was too stubborn. She chanced a look up at him and saw the sincerity in his expression her resolve wavering yet again about not wanting him in his life. Was...was she really willing to pass up this offer?

"It's not that easy. Can..can you really keep away from the Raizada's when I am so closely involved with them? Can..you actually treat my mother right for once? (Aryan opens his mouth to protest) No..not to love her. I got the memo on that. I..treat her as a human being? Treat her as my mother if not your wife. Can you really do that for me?" She asked uncertainly though her expression was distantly hopeful now, searching her fathers face that seemed to have emotions flickering on it 1000 miles/second making her difficult to keep up, but in the end she saw his resolve strengthening his chin, jaw tight and expression determined.

"Yes I can."

She remained absurdly quiet after his assurance juggling with her options which weren't a lot to begin with. It was a simple choice. Take up his offer or not. Though her heart protested hostilely against this proposition the more rational part of her brain knew this was the best deal she would get. Not that she really want a deal. No Sir No. But..oh bugger it!, she thought furiously why does she have to be in life changing decisions like that one after the other? It was so ridiculously hateful of her fate to test her like that all the time. Not cool.

Khushi could feel Aryan's gaze boring into her intently, pressurizing her to make a decision without explicitly saying so. Collecting her thoughts she finally made a huge show of gaining her confidence except faltering at the very last second and not looking at her father at all while giving her answer.

"Then..I guess I..I can give you another chance P..Mr Gupta." She answered quietly, looking away from him not knowing how to react now that tables had flipped so unexpectedly in the span of 20 minutes. She distantly observed that her father was portraying a relieved expression on his face, even a ghost of a smile if her eyes weren't playing games on her but she didn't have a lot of energy to sort out her own muddled up emotions right now. It was too much of a strain on her quite fragile sanity.

"One last question. Why does Purab not know that I am his half-sister?" Khushi asked suddenly, out of nowhere catching on this particular brain wave of questions, startling Aryan who was studying at her with a queer expression.

"Why should he know? He has got nothing to do with you. That boy is stupid even by a teenagers standard, I don't want you anywhere around him. Rita did a poor job with him. Very poor." He commented disapprovingly scowling at the thought of his step son like he was a rabid animal.

"Glad we agree on something." Khushi replied with the echo of a grin on her face though her body was so exhausted at this point she could barely summon energy to even think of grinning let alone actually grinning.

"He..he..has an absurd perverted crush on me." She informed him out of nowhere, who didn't really look taken aback by the information though his frown deepened at this piece of information. She felt like smacking her head on the bed rest until all her brain cells corrected themselves and permanently shut up. What was with her and blabbering? She really needed to shut up for good right now.

"I am not surprised. Tell me more about it." Aryan egged her on sounding interested much to Khushi's surprise but she took the cue anyway. She related to him about her second week at school and first day of section change how Purab had shown a weird interest in her and Vivek had glared at him, how at Aakash and Anjali's party he had tried to get her drunk by giving her tequila instead of apple juice and making Arnav sick by accident. She had been distantly pleased that Aryan hadn't made a cutting remark about how deserved it or something equally horrifying even though she could see he was struggling with himself not to. Regardless she appreciated his sincere effort and proceeded to tell him about the bus trip to camp where Purab had downed her in water and she had punched him, almost killed him but Arnav had stopped her. Hesitantly after a while she told him how Nikhil had confessed that Purab wanted to know more about her Nikhil had refused to share his information or let him anywhere near her. Aryan grunted at this, and looked distantly chastised again a reaction Khushi wholeheartedly welcomed.

"Seems like those two boys aren't as useless as I thought." Aryan admitted grudgingly and Khushi gave him a brief smile even though she was savagely angry at those two idiots right now, the point remained, she was very lucky to be blessed with them both. She stirred back to her father who was looking at her cautiously. "I will..do you want me to talk to Purab about this?" He asked her tentatively, searching for her reaction but she shook her in a movement he realized was very similar to his own when making a stand.

"No." She replied promptly and thankfully Aryan did not press any further. There were a number of thoughts running through her mind but basically the gist of it was, if they were talking right now, then why not? It wasn't like she had forgotten about the spy situation completely or Nikhil's ulterior motives to do it in the first place.

"About Nikhil.." She began hesitantly.

"I have no business with him anymore." Aryan cut her off mid sentence with a sharp tone that was stern and bore no argument. Khushi being Khushi pressed on regardless.

"But his girlfriend..the money.." She pointed out worriedly certainly surprising Aryan with that trail of thought judging by the wide eyed look he was giving her. The boy had spied on her, exploited her secrets to a complete stranger since he admittedly didn't know he was her father, and yet here she was compassionate as well as worried about him. That was one trait he recognized that he reluctantly admitted was not something she got from him definitely.

"He wouldn't cross me if he hadn't sorted that issue out to some considerable degree. Let him deal with it." Aryan told her stiffly, still trying to cope up with the fact that his daughter was capable of such a degree of compassion. Her mouth opened to protest but perhaps she thought better of it and nodded half-heartedly letting out huge sigh to show she had accepted his argument if not agreed with it.

"How is Aparna now?" Aryan asked her after some time, the mention of Aparna perking her up visibly but she looked at him suspiciously before answering in him tight tones.

"Much better than the last time you saw her at the hospital." She informed him tersely, even though she knew right about now her rudeness was unwarranted but she couldn't help it. Really she couldn't just flick her emotions on and off in a matter of minutes could she now? No she couldn't, she reasoned with herself stubbornly. Aryan however did not comment on it and just nodded in response.

"Are they coming here for the play?" He questioned her again, trying to feign the detachment but the stiffness in his body told her that he was really rooting for the answer to not be in the affirmative.

"Maybe. Maa didn't say." She told him truthfully, since she had no idea except for vague speculation on Arnav's part. He nodded at her tautly and got up from his seat buttoning up his collar button, a clear signal that their time today was to an end. Khushi followed his cue and sprung up from the bed as well getting momentarily dizzy but steadied herself instantly having had too much practice with dealing with exhaustion lately and wordlessly followed him outside the room and back to the car, the journey back to her own hotel passing in complete silence though not nearly as uncomfortable or hostile as the one before. Soon the oak and white building on the hotel indigo came into view as Aryan stopped the car at the front gate.

"Good night Khushi." Aryan bid good bye, in the fatherly affection that Khushi recognized though someone else would see it as a rather formal way of bidding his only daughter good night.

"Good night Mr Gupta." Khushi replied just as formally though her voice was a few octaves quieter than usual. With that she stepped out of the car and closed the door behind her, climbing the steps up to the hotel and moving towards the elevator with brisk efficiency eager to get back to her room and just doze off for the remainder of the night which actually to her happiness had a considerable amount left since it was just 9:30 right now. Her eyes lingered restlessly on the closed door next to her almost expecting it to spring open and Arnav and Vivek to start pounding on her skulls for answers or maybe in Vivek's case apologizing, but the door remained firmly shut and with a sigh she opened the door of her own room knowing it would be open. The sight that greeted her was not a welcome one.

"Chun." Vivek got up instantly from where he was sitting dismally on her bed, walking in towards her as she took her time seeing the startling collection of the three boys instead of her two room mates. She cursed under her breathe and looked at the three of them furiously, Nikhil having the decency to look abashed while Arnav seemed to be wrestling with invisible bonds to not just walk up to her this instance and rapid fire her. Vivek though was the immediate recipient to her anger as well as hurt who was now standing in front of her, rather towering over without meaning to, an expression of worry and a subdued one of annoyance on his face.

"What do you three think you are doing here? Where are Casey and Priyanka?" Khushi demanded angrily, placing her hands on her hips, trying to look intimidating and possibly succeeding because Vivek looked at her embarrassed which was rare since he never bothered to look like that in front of her.

"We convinced them to exchange rooms with us." Vivek explained, Arnav nodding stiffly behind him though much to his relief not badgering Khushi with questions of his own something he was very grateful for the olive skinned boy for doing for him.

"Of course. Why hadn't I thought of this happening? My bad." Khushi mumbled caustically glaring at the three of them individually much more longer at Vivek who actually winced and took a step back from her.

"Are you okay?" He asked urgently though his tone was tinged with shame, which Khushi obviously didn't miss but rolled her eyes at him regardless and looked at him like this was the most idiotic question he could possibly ask.

"Did that man.." Arnav spoke up right after him before being cut off harshly by Khushi who looked at both of them as if she preferred they jump from the window this instance and leave her alone for good.

"He's my father! He wouldn't have murdered me!" Khushi exclaimed heatedly, taking both Vivek and Arnav by surprise, even Nikhil though he probably was as surprised as them just not as emotive as the former. An uncomfortable look passed between Arnav and Vivek clearly at loss of how exactly to react to her defending her father however crudely she was doing.

"Gupta are you alright though?" Arnav butt in again before the silence stretched between only awarded by a glower from Khushi.

"I said I am fine! Really what would you think would have happened? My body delivered to you in pieces, or maybe my head on a pike or.."

"It's not funny!" Both Arnav and Vivek shouted together with horrified and in Vivek's case somewhat chastised expressions on their faces.

"I cant deal with you two..(looking pointedly at Nikhil) three right now." She announced exasperated but mostly that was a cover to hide the pained look she was sure would come on her face if she looked at the worried frowns on Arnav and Vivek's face anymore. She loved them, and she loved the fact that they wanted to protect her, but baby-sitting her? That was going way too far.

"Khushi..I am sorry.." Nikhil spoke up in quiet ashamed tones for the first time diverting Khushi's attention to him, who looked at him vehemently.

"You sure as hell are Nikhil! Next time there is news about ME it would be nice if you told ME directly instead of these two dunderheads!" She yelled at him, her tone sharp and words cutting, the ashamed demonstration on his face deepening, nodding his head in response.

"Chun..listen what happened..." Vivek began slowly, collecting his courage to explain but before he could get past the initial conclusion Khushi had cut him off backing away from him and letting the irritated expression from her face drop to the wounded one she actually felt.

"I don't care why you did it Vivek I don't care! You have been doing things left right and center, keeping secrets from me, but that's your secret so I cant press it..but this was not your secret to keep! This was not your talk to have! He is my father! You had no right to keep me in the dark about this!" Khushi screamed at him, her entire body quavering with the effort, Viveks face becoming positively pale and possibly sick like someone had stabbed him in the stomach repeatedly. Khushi however did not stop to register his expression fully in case her resolve faltered and she fell to the floor in tears, instead rounded up on Arnav with a acid look. "And you? You knew didn't you? Put up a convincing show to make me think you didn't. Great job on that Raizada." She complimented viciously, but if she expected Arnav to look miffed after her outburst she was wrong, instead he looked at her offended.

"I told you I didn't know anything! I definitely did not know that your father was coming!" Arnav bellowed defensively not that it made any difference to Khushis opinion who looked at him just as savagely as before.

"He didn't know Khushi." Vivek supported Arnav's claim firmly but miserable at the same time, Khushi refusing to make eye contact with him and kept her gaze fixed on Arnav.

"Then why did you stop me from going after them?!" She challenged unabashed letting her anger giving her strength to argue.

"Because I figured if Viveks not telling you then there's something serious going on. Something he didn't want you to know." Arnav explained feebly, shooting a dark look at Vivek who looked even more glum if that was possible at that proclamation.

"Glad to see the brotherly bond evolving. Maybe you can replace me with Arnav now Vivek, since you guys have a heart to heart connection and all that." Khushi remarked venomously, the jealousy and hurt of being out of the loop yet again evident in her tone. Vivek snapped out of his misery at this, to look at Khushi disbelieving like he couldn't believe Khushi had actually suggested something that preposterous.

"WHAT? Nobody is replacing you Chun! You can't be replaced! (calming down significantly) Look Chun I was just.." Vivek began uncertainly not sure how to express his intentions without offending Khushi though he was definitely more than a little bit horrified at Khushi's wayward suggestion of being replaced. Before he could continue his trail of thought Khushi had cut him off abruptly mid sentence and was yelling with new founded vigor once again, every word she spoke acting as a sharp punch in the gut to him.

"Trying to protect me? Oh Shutup! Shutup about that for God sakes! I CAN take care of myself. I don't need your God forsaken protection, Thankyou very much. I have been doing just fine since these last 6 years, I would have been fine now too. (Meeting Viveks stunned painful look dead pan) You know what Vivek? Come find me when this Khushi protection club is disbanded, and if its not..then don't..dont find me at all." She said forcefully, her lower lip trembling with the surge of emotions that threatened to overcome her, traitor tears almost springing to her eyes but she furiously blinked them away and spun around, her back to Vivek not meeting anyone else's eyes. She was halted in her tracks almost instantly when she felt a slightly cold hand gripping her wrist. The thought that his hand was that cold stirred red signals in her head but she forced her self to not look at him and instead put in an effort to yank her hand out of his grip.

"Khushi please..you can't just leave." Vivek voice was small, so small, she had never heard him like that, but she refused to look up at him taking her chance to free herself when his grip momentarily slackened making her way back towards the door and turned the knob.

"Good bye Vivek." She said in a steely tone though her voice shook dangerously and with that she opened the door and closed it behind her forcefully leaving behind a pitiful silence in her wake.

Arnav felt his heart constrict as the situation spiraled down right before his eyes, the look of defeat on Vivek's face, and the eventual exhaustion and sickness of his body catching up to him more rapidly now, since he wasn't fighting it anymore, his posture hunched and body losing its usual power as he slumped down on the bed with a haunted expression on his face. He dragged his eyes away from Vivek's dejected form to Nikhil who was looking at Vivek with a concerned expression and standing up to make his way towards him only Arnav was faster and had his hand on Nikhil's collar pinning the wide eyed sandy blonde to the nearby wall his expression downright deadly.

"No you don't! This is all your bloody fault!" Arnav shouted his anger barely curbed holding on to Nikhil's shirt tightly his gaze shooting daggers at Nikhil. Nikhil struggled against Arnav's force however being almost an exact physical match to Arnav was quickly able to extract himself from Arnav's grip shooting him a back-off-Raizada' glare.

"What the hell is your problem Raizada? Are you bloody bonkers for f**k's sake? I didn't do anything! How come it's me you end up pinning everything on every bloody time for the last two week? Who the f**k do you think you are berating me like that? Its not like you have no taints in your golden-boy avatar! (Arnav takes a step forward to punch him, Nikhil moves out of the way his eyes flashing dangerously) DON'T. Just DON'T. Not anymore Arnav. I am done being bullied by you for a crime that wasn't even directly linked to you. Stop with the defending Khushi's honor, she very well can do it on her own! That girl can handle her baggage, and very well kick your arse or anybody else's she wants, so stop being an asshole just because you don't know any better!" Nikhil barked violently, taking in Arnav's momentarily surprised expression at his outburst with satisfaction though it had quickly morphed back into unlimited rage targeted in full power at Nikhil who remained steady with the fierce expression firm on his face, his jaw set fearlessly. He would not be bullied by Arnav Singh Raizada. He would not be an echo of himself. Vivek was right. He didn't have to be one. If Arnav couldn't be civil with him than he didn't have to put up with his petty violence either.

"He told me to tell her." Vivek interjected from behind them still sitting on the bed, his expression was angry though it was nothing compared to the intensity with which Arnav and Nikhil were glaring daggers at each other.

"WHAT?" Arnav bellowed at Vivek who nodded shamefully not meeting Arnav's eyes but right now Arnav couldn't conjure any sympathy for Vivek's pathetic state. "This lying piece of scum (pointing an accusing finger at Nikhil who grunted in response) had the sense to tell her and you didn't? What the hell were you thinking keeping this from her Vivek? What were you thinking keeping this from ME?" Arnav yelled, his voice hoarse with all the screaming but he couldn't see himself reigning his anger in anytime soon.

"Maybe the fact that your rationality is over ruled by anger more often that not and that you would have pounced on that man before having even one civil word with him?" Vivek said cuttingly, his eyes alight with anger at Arnav's words since they directly hit home. He really did not have it in him to deal with Arnav and pickiness right now. He knew he was wrong for heavens sake! Was it really necessary to push it in face every five seconds?

"You know I can be civil and win an argument when I want to Vivek. Don't give me this crap about my hot-headedness because you and I both know that can't be the only reason for keeping me out of the loop." Arnav replied tersely, pinning Vivek with his unwavering gaze.

"That might be true when you are dealing with one person you don't like. Not two. You hate me as much as you hate her father. (Arnav glared at him incessantly) Plus Mr Gupta hates you almost as much as you hate him and would have stopped at nothing to egg you on. He doesn't particularly like Vivek but at least he wasn't opposed to talking to Vivek. He would NEVER talk to you. And you would NEVER talk to him." Nikhil pointed out logically, missing out on the grateful look Vivek threw him, getting a series of rather heavy duty glares aimed at him by Arnav who seemed ready to burst into flames right about now.

"Nobody asked your opinion Ahuja!" Arnav snarled back dangerously, but even Nikhil could see that however grudgingly Arnav could see the sense in his words and had somewhat backed off which was clear with the haggard expression on his face now though he did not acknowledge it openly and instead just sat on the empty bed at the corner of the room kicking his shoes off and stuffing them unceremoniously at the corner. He was normally very organized, Nikhil knew that of course, out of the three of them Arnav was the only one who was half way decent at keeping his end of the room clean. His and Vivek's sides looked more like a pigsty than anything else in just one week.

Vivek still sat desolately his usual buff of energy gone, replaced by something that you could describe best as if he was attacked by ghouls or ghosts or a combination of both.

"She'll come around. You are her best friend. She can't stay angry with you for too long."Nikhil comforted Vivek as he sat down next to him putting a hand on his shoulder but Vivek just shook his head dejectedly.

"She can. And she will if she wants to. You don't know her as well as I do. Khushi can keep a grudge like there's no tomorrow, when she wants to. Arnav would know." Vivek told him his eyes flitting over to meet Arnav's who seemed fairly calm now and nodded at Vivek's statement.

"Yeah Gupta's a mean grudge holder. But. You are Vivek. (reluctantly) I agree with Ahuja on that. (Nikhil's eyes fractionally widen at the admittance but he ignores it) She cant stay mad at you for long. It's different with me. We are always mad at each other for something or the other and that's normal. Not you and her. She'll come around eventually." Arnav told him confidently.

"I don't have time for eventually! The play's in two days! She can't have such things running in her mind right now!" Vivek exclaimed restlessly, insinuating a troubled expression on Arnav's face and a neutral one on Nikhil's.

"I don't get why she despises the two of you together. She told me she wanted it that way."Nikhil voiced out his immediate question instead diverting attention from the immediate tension to the not-so-immediate tension. Arnav snorted in response and rolled his eyes, while Vivek shrugged like that wasn't even a big deal at all.

"Chun is nothing if not territorial. And also because she doesn't know about my medical condition and he does." Vivek enlightened Nikhil on the workings of the mind of Khushi Kumari Gupta who nodded understandingly like he knew exactly what it was like to deal with someone like that. Arnav's posture though tensed at Vivek's statement his temper flaring back up but he controlled it more for Vivek's sake than his own and definitely not for that vile Ahuja's.

"He knows too? (Vivek is about to interrupt) Don't tell me he bloody figured it out on his own too because that is turning into a first degree crap excuse now!" Arnav barked offensively though his tone was only a few octaves higher than usual which was a good sign since it meant he wasn't downright murderous just yet.

"I overheard him and Casey talking." Nikhil told him, ignoring the snub at his intelligence knowing that since it was Arnav he honestly couldn't expect anything less offensive.

"Way to go at keeping this a secret Vivek." Arnav muttered ominously under his breathe shaking his head, as if he really couldn't believe this nightmare just kept getting better and better. He couldn't fathom what would happen when Khushi finally would know, seeing as so many people now knew about her best friend's disease. She would never believe that all of them knew it accidently; it was like he had already pointed the most crap excuse in existence. Vivek didn't respond to his comments, having had already come to terms with Nikhil's knowledge of his disease disturbing as it was he wasn't terribly worried about Nikhil knowing.

"She will never forgive me when I finally tell her." Vivek mused out loud his voice small, and at this not even Arnav and Nikhil could say anything to comfort him, not that those two were the brightest rays of sunshine anyway. 5 minutes later Nikhil was on his own bed, formerly owned by Priyanka as they had found out when they had usurped the girls room, Vivek on Casey's and Arnav on Khushi's though none of them had called dibs on the beds it just sort of happened to pan out that way.

"Your meds." Arnav extended his palm towards Vivek who was lying flat on middle bed staring up at the ceiling probably conjuring up some math problem to put his irate mine to rest.

"You don't have to baby sit me Arnav." Vivek said annoyed but sat up and took the medicines from his hand anyway downing them promptly making a foul expression as the bitterness registered.

"Writing eulogies isn't my idea of fun." Arnav replied back, his sign of showing fondness perhaps something Vivek had picked up on and rolled his eyes at him slumping down on his bed though they both were well aware that none of them were getting any sound sleep tonight.

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Anddd..thats all for Part 1 folks! I am not going to go on blabbering too much because damn do I not know how pissed everyone is at me? Well...lets just say a writing internship, dance practices, and other life changing shit happened to me. Oh and I just found out about the IPPKND-Ek Jashan thing! OMG! This is freaking awesome! Today I remember, 3 years ago the last epi of IPPKND aired..and really I..am hyperventilating. SaRun in back! The first two episodes were so amazing. 👏 Barun... Aaahh Barun..that hottie..is it just me or is he infinitely more hotter now?

Anyways read up and leave back comments yeah? They are the cherry to my well days really (if that even makes any sense probably doesnt)

Until Part 2 (Hopefully next week or so) Part 2 is the real cream. Really. 😉

Love,

Batool 😳