Entwined - A #RuNak SS - 03/04/24 UPDATE: PART 6- Page 7

Hi everyone,

This short story continues from the episode where after knowing it was Jhanak who was Anirudh's attendant, the entire family insults her and Anirudh questions her who gave her the rights to do anything for him. This is intended to be RuNak SS and them finding their way to each other - at the moment the show is in now, the first few parts might be quite loaded in terms of drama, but this is a love story, so I will try to balance it out in the future parts.

Also, Anirudh is being quite a jerk now, but I, unlike LG, prefer my MLs to be nice men, and not the kings of jackasses. So Ani will get better as the story progresses.

Hope y'all enjoy, and do let me know what you think!

******************Part 1**************
Anirudh stormed into his room, a relentless storm pounding at his head and it had nothing to do with his accident or recovery.

"Damn it" he muttered through grit teeth, his fists curling at his sides. He could not remember the last time he had been so angry - never in his 28 years of existence had he been so angry.

Then why is your heart so heavy?

Anirudh clenched his teeth in annoyance - there it was, that damned inner voice, and he had absolutely zero tolerance for it's bullshit now.

Take a look at yourself, Anirudh Bose

Like an idiot that he was, he listened to it and lifted his eyes to glance at his reflection in the mirror.

Thats right, tears...

His eyes bore into his own reflection, as if imploring the inner voice to go on.

He waited.
Nothing.
Just silence.

Annoyed, he brushed away at his cheek which was,for some reason, marked by tears for he didn't know what

Yes, you do. It's because you were an asshole to the girl who saved your life.

Clenching his teeth, he grabbed his head, the pain getting worse with every passing minute. He should probably rest.

Knock.Knock.

Sighing, he walked to his bed, deciding to ignore whoever it was. He didn't want to talk to anyone now.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Not now, please" he said monotonously as he sat down on the bed, propping his elbows on his knees and letting his head drop in the cradle of his palms. Sighing once more he closed his eyes, as if willing for the pain in his head to wash out all the memories.

And promptly it all came flooding back.

Every.damn.thing

Saving her in Kashmir, risking everything for her. Bringing her home. Trying to do the best for her. Her running into danger willingly repeatedly, him trying to stop her only to be met by malice and insults. Meeting with an almost fatal accident. Her saving him. Him blaming her for doing that

Kisne haq Diya tumhe? He had thundered at her.

As the memories of their last few interactions came back, a sharp pain shot up his head, "ow" he winced, rubbing at the back of his head.

"Ani, what was that?" Choton's voice told him that he was standing near him, and was irked with him.

He didn't even open his eyes, "what was what, Choton?" He asked resignedly

"Anirudh" that was a warning.

At that, Ani's eyes flew open, he didn't know if Choton ever called him Anirudh. As far as he could remember he was always Ani.

Choton's eyes were drawn together as he was looking down at Anirudh in disapproval.

Ani could see that Choton was annoyed, and never had his uncle admonished him before - they had always shared a deeper bond that ran above being just uncle and nephew and Choton was the person Anirudh went to when he needed someone to talk to. There was nothing he had not shared with Choton. Successes, failures, heartbreaks, crushes, challenges, difficulties, Choton knew everything

Even your marriage with Jhanak.

He decided to ignore that.

"Ani, listen to me" Choton said, placing his arm on Anirudh's shoulder, sitting down next to him, "Jhanak -" he started saying
"I don't want to talk about her, Choton, in fact, I don't even want to hear her name" Anirudh said, cutting off his uncle before he could even finish what he was saying.

"How could you say that Ani, after knowing everything?"

That did it.

"After knowing everything?" Anirudh repeated incredulously, turning to face Choton, his anger bubbling up again, "you know everything Choton, everything" he repeated stressing on the word, "that girl wants to go with Tejas. I risked everything to get her out of that hell, got her here, gave her a home, and what does she do - run willingly into that hellhole - THRICE" as if to let off some steam, he broke off, shaking his head.

"So?!" Choton prodded, his voice egdy, the annoyance turning into anger now.

Anirudh's brows shot up, "SO?!" He probably shouldn't be shouting at his uncle, but -

No buts. You shouldn't be shouting at Choton, just like you shouldn't have shouted at -

"So what does that have to do with you saying all the things you just did?" Choton went on matter of factly.

Anirudh heard what Choton was saying, but he also heard what his uncle left unsaid - very loudly!

So what does that have to do with you being a jerk?

One look at Choton's face told him that his inner voice wasn't wrong - Choton was just too nice to say that out loud.

Anirudh sighed resignedly - he seemed to be doing that quite a lot this evening. He might as well tell Choton everything

"Choton, when I went to stop Jhanak from going with Tejas, she -"
"She insulted you" Choton chipped in softly, his voice laden with empathy and understanding, "I know. You mentioned, and in fact, she told me too"
Anirudh shook his head, "She..." he trailed off as Jhanak's spiteful words came back to haunt him, Haath kaise pakda aapne, Maine permission diya? Nafrat karti hu mein aapse. Suna Aapne, I hate you, "she made me seem like some kind of a creep", Damn that was hard to say, Anirudh thought looking away briefly.

There was an uncomfortable lump in Choton's throat as he took note of the very tangible distress in his nephew's face, doing this was hard enough as it was, but seeing the pain this confrontation was causing Ani, he almost stood up and walked away.

Almost.

Choton shook his head - no he couldn't do that. He didn't know what had transpired between the two of them, but he had been there when Jhanak did everything she could to save Anirudh. He had been there when Anirudh, instead of being thankful for what Jhanak had done, chose to blame her and insult her instead. And his heart ached at that, as much for Anirudh as it did for Jhanak, maybe a tad bit more, because a) Ani was like his son and b)he knew that Ani was much much better than this. Most importantly, he knew that no one would ever tell Anirudh that he was wrong - it had to be him.

And there was no beating around the bush - he had to do it directly.

" listen to me Anirudh" The tone of Choton's voice made Anirudh turn to look at his uncle once more, "that girl did everything she could to save you" at the look on Ani's face, Choton added, "I don't know what she told you, or why you are so angry. But she still came back. She saved your life. The least you can do is be thankful for that" with that, he stood up.

"aap yeh sab kya Bol rahe ho. You know everything" Anirudh said, stressing on the last word, didn't Choton know this was not as straight forward?

Choton put his hand up, "Nahi Ani - I am not talking about - your situation with Jhanak and Arshi. No. All I am saying is, that person down there" he said pointing to the door, "who was so consumed by anger that he couldn't, in the least, be grateful to someone who saved his life - that is not you, Ani" with that Choton walked out - leaving him with a pounding headache and a tornado of conflicting thoughts.

She still came back. She saved your life. Choton's words echoed back at him in the eerie silence on his room and this time he didn't even try to quieten it

So why did she refuse to come back when he asked her to?

******* to be continued **********

Author notes -

1.That was quite a heavy first part, mainly leading on from the events in the show, but I wanted to tap into the characters emotions, and someone had to give Ani the push to question his own actions and his 'hatred' for Jhanak. Who better than Choton to do that, yay go, Choton!
2. Next part will be Jhanak's POV.
3. Read and review please

Mridzy

I love it... but why is even fictional Choton not talking about the blood? 😭

Love love love this!!! Much needed

Originally posted by: Paulaonohi

I love it... but why is even fictional Choton not talking about the blood? 😭

Thanks! Ha ha - yes, why indeed?! 😁

Originally posted by: Anusha16

Love love love this!!! Much needed

Thanks!! Glad you enjoyed this - the toxicity in the show is too much right now!

So glad someone decided to write a fanfic on this couple…. Thank you for the little sneak peek into Ani’s mind which was missing in the episode ..Enjoyed reading it a lot.. Waiting impatiently for the next part.

Originally posted by: __VIHU

So glad someone decided to write a fanfic on this couple…. Thank you for the little sneak peek into Ani’s mind which was missing in the episode ..Enjoyed reading it a lot.. Waiting impatiently for the next part.

Thank you so much!! Will come up with the next part soon!

Waiting for the next part Mridzy!

Part 2 dear?

PART 2

Jhanak paced in her room lifelessly, hating the silence of the house. Hating that she was left to her thoughts now with nothing to do.

She much preferred being given chores all day as that meant her mind did not have the time to ponder over her life.

The basus were all at a wedding and she had been left alone in the house.

Not without questions though. No she wasn't that lucky, and she would have been stupid to expect otherwise

"Aye ladki!" The usual call laced with contempt and disgust rang out, and Jhanak looked up from the chore she was doing then.

Placing the washrag down, she walked cautiously to the living room where the entire family was present.

A quick scan of the room told her sir ji wasn't here - and frankly she didn't care.

Taking a deep breath, she turned to face the family, readying herself for whatever was going to be thrown her way, "ji?"

"We are all going for a wedding tonight - we'll be back in 2 days. Take care of the house, understand?" Tanuja ma'am bit out

She nodded, "ji.ji" she muttered, nodding her head.

"What ji. Kaki ma, I bet this girl is thinking she has won the lottery. We were going to send you away for the next 2 days"

Really?

"But Ani convinced us that you should earn what we are giving you. Thoda sa kaam Kiya aur itne bade Ghar mein aaram se reh hai ho"

Jhanak wasn't really paying attention to anything beyond the first line.

So this was sir ji's new way of torturing her.

"Don't think we trust you enough to leave this house at your care. We don't. And don't think this is your chance"

She didn't understand what Bipasha ma'am was saying.

"Listen. All our valuables are in lockers and they are very safe. Don't try anything smart"

Her eyes widened in disbelief - they thought she would steal?

But before she could answer Chotton spoke up for her, "Bipasha, Jhanak would never -"

"Chotton, har jagah apna naakh ghusana zaroori Nahi hai"

The disappointment at being treated this way was visible on Chotton's.

Eager to stop this from escalating further, Jhanak quickly spoke up, "sir.ma'am, I'll take care of the house" she said looking at them,"and ma'am" she turned to Bipasha now, who was scowling at her, "I won't try taking anything. I don't want to spend my life in jail"

She hoped that the tinge of sarcasm she had tried to keep away from her voice wasn't too evident as she had lied

She would absolutely, very happily spend her life in jail.

Anywhere but here.

Maybe she should try stealing.

"Look at that attitude - you should be thankful we put a roof above your head and -"

Her patience was running thin, and she figured it would be best for everyone if she put an end to this, "thank you" she said curtly, "sir, ma'am if there's nothing more, I have to go - bahut kaam hai Mujhe aur agar lunch mein Kuch gadbad ho Jaye toh Aap sab ghussa ho Jayenge"

Not even waiting for anyone's reaction, she turned around and started walking to the kitchen.

She heard an indignant, "how dare she" from Bipasha ma'am, but thankfully Tanuja ma'am said, "chodo na Bipasha, why are we ruining our day..."

And that was the last she heard before she immersed herself in her work, shutting out all the noise like she had trained herself to.

She had thought a quiet house, devoid of taunts and insults would be akin to a drop of water to a parched throat.

Only it wasn't. It didn't matter that the house was quiet.

It didn't matter that there was no one to throw nasty accusations at her.

Because the memories of the last three days haunted her, every single accusation, every single snide comment tearing at her heart in ways she did not think was possible.

Which did not make sense at all.

She had been treated this way ever since she stepped foot in Basu badi - and by now she should be used to it. By now, it should have stopped mattering to her.

But god, it hurt, it hurt so much.

Why? This has always happened hasn't it?

Yes it had - and maybe she deserved it.

She had told Chotton as much, and she believed it – girls like her probably deserved everything thrown her way.

Ever since ma had left, she had resigned to her fate, and accepted whatever came her way – she just did not care anymore.

Tears that were pooling up in her eyes threatened to spill over, breaking her resolve to not let things affect her to the point of tears.

She blinked furiously, "Get a grip, Jhanak" she muttered under her breath, "girls like us deserve this" she repeated as she quickened her pace around the room.

She needed to push away everything as she had done all along. That was her way to cope.

Push.it.away.Jhanak she told herself.

All the injustice. All the insults. All the accusations. All the hatred.

The hatred.

"I hate her. Nafrat karta hu ussey"

And with that the floodgates opened, and it brought with it echoes of every single thing Sir ji had thrown at her in the last 3 days. The harsh words. The anger. The hatred.

It felt as if a knife was plunged to her heart as her mind sadistically played back the memories she was trying to push away.

"Maa...." her voice was a mangled cry echoing in the silence of her room as she sunk down to the floor in a heap, shaking with sobs.

Kisney haq Diya tumhe ki tum mere liye pooja Karo. Kisney haq Diya ki tum mere attendant bano he had thundered at her.

She thought this wasn't new to her?

She was wrong.

This was entirely new to her.

Sir ji's hatred.

***********************************

Anirudh pulled up outside the house, his body screaming at him to take rest.

The work load over the last 2 days had been absolutely mental - he had literally lived at the office, coming home just to shower and change.

Sighing, he let his head rest on the steering wheel, silently willing the horrible headache pounding at his head to leave him the hell alone.

He knew his family was his cousin's wedding - his ma was mighty pissed when he told her he was going to miss the wedding due to work commitments.

Only when he had told her how strenuous it was, going into detail on the upcoming go live his company was planning had she reluctantly let him off the hook.

"Promise me you'll drop in for the wedding ceremony at least. You can't come with us, but you can join us there, can't you?"

He wasn't even sure if he had paid proper attention as she was telling him the schedule of the wedding, he had absentmindedly nodded muttering something along the lines of "hmmn, ji maa, I'll join whenever possible"

But frankly, he had absolutely zero interest in going.

One. He had not spoken to Surbhi for years. He hardly knew her.

Two. He needed a break.

He didn't know how, but he was sure boudi or maa or Baba would bring up Jhanak at some point of time, and he would have to play along - saying stuff he never intended to, saying stuff he didn't think was true.

If there had been another way, he wouldn't have done this.

He wasn't blind to the pain every hateful word of his caused her - he could see that clearly in her eyes.

And yet you kept doing it.

Yes, because he needed to ensure that she was safe - he needed to ensure his family wouldn't send her off behind his back. He needed to ensure she wouldn't fight him every step of the way as he tried to protect her.

By hurting her and insulting her? Some sick plan this came the prompt taunt.

He ignored it this time and decided to focus instead on his train of thought, it was essential to protect her - especially when that goon Tejas was around and could get to her so easily.

He shuddered to think of what Tejas could do to her.

An unexplained anger coursed through him at the mention of Tejas - how dare he lay a hand on her?

"How dare???"

He waited for it to go on - maybe it could give him insights into why he was so angry?

But to his annoyance there was silence.

Frustrated, he slammed the steering wheel hard, "oh for gods sake" he muttered, exasperated, ramming his hand through his hair.

Tejas.

Anirudh sat up straight at that name - how had he missed this? Why hadn't he thought of this before?

"Duffer" he scolded himself.

How did Tejas know where Jhanak was to find her on the bus? Did he follow her?

But more importantly, Jhanak risked her life to escape from the clutches of Tejas in Kashmir - She was willing to do anything just so she could be free from Tejas

Like marrying you?

Gritting his teeth, he brushed that snide comment aside - she was ready to go with Tejas now?

Nothing made sense.

And he couldn't talk to the girl who could answer these questions - because talking to her meant letting his guard down, and if he did that she would fight him back, stopping him from doing anything for her.

Why do you want to do anything for her?

He didn't answer

You do know she is alone inside, right?

He still didn't answer.

So it's just you and her for -

Rolling his eyes, he locked the car, grabbed the keys and kicked the door open. Swinging his long legs out, he called out in a sing song voice, "Shuuuuut upp"

*************

Swinging the towel over his shoulders, Anirudh tousled his damp hair, the hot shower had given him some reprieve from the body pain, but the war going on inside his head had not subsided.

He rubbed at his hair with one end of the towel, lost in thought.

Try as he might be could not get the nagging questions out of his head and he knew that he would not be at peace -

Peace.snort.

Ok fine. He wouldn't truly be peaceful until -

Until?

He could almost see his inner voice lifting his brows at him, almost as if challenging him to go on.

He paused rubbing at his hair - realising how absurd he just sounded.

Scowling, he looked into his reflection in the mirror, "idiot" he chastised.

"Let's try this again" he muttered out to his empty room,

great now he was talking to voices

"I wouldn't be satisfied until I know why Jhanak was willing to go into a life which would give her only pain"

And you think living in Basu badi is giving her only happiness?

He opened his mouth to answer, but realising he had no real answer to it, shut it close very quickly.

Somehow feeling worser about himself than he had felt 5 minutes ago, he removed the towel from him neck and threw it to the floor.

Walking slowly, he crawled up his bed, deciding to give his body and hopefully his mind some much needed rest.

His eyes were starting to feel heavy and he had just closed his eyes when -

THUD

His eyes flew open, and he shot up from the bed within a second - there was no one in the house. It was just -

"JHANAK!"

**************************************
Authors notes

1. This part was intended to include what follows too, but as I started writing it kept going on and on, so had to cut it short here.

2. I'll post a short promo of what's coming up soon

3. Do let me know what you thought - was that too heavy? Would you like it to be lighter?

4. I am hoping for the next part to be lighter and RuNak loaded.

5. Read and review please. Leave your comments as it helps with proceeding with the story. Criticisms more than welcome.

Mridzy.