The drive back home from her parents was quite uneventful. Khushi couldn't help but glance over at Arnav from time to time who had his eyes fixed on the road and didn't even seem to notice that she was sitting beside him but the quietness in the car was peaceful.

Her mind drifted back to the past few hours and she couldn't believe that Arnav actually decided to stay back with her. He had sat with her parents. Talked to his dad about hockey, football, basketball and whatever else sport that he knew about. He talked to her brother about all the new video games in the market and sat and actually played Madden with him. He had stood with her mom in the kitchen while she had made roti for all of them and actually served while Khushi had went to her room to shower. He sat with Priya and discussed the latest happenings in the business world.

A sense of pride filled her knowing that he was her husband. Maybe this is not how she had planned life. The difference between him and Karan was crazy. While Arnav had quietly went up to everyone in the house and talked to them individually and picked up on the different interests everybody had, Karan would have gathered everybody together and would have created a circus in their house. Karan was always loud and could liven up any place and she had loved him for that. So what did she do wrong in this whole thing? Why did he disappear without giving her an answer? She had almost been tempted to text him and ask if everything was ok but the rational part of her brain knew that would be inappropriate.

She was married now. Even though she could message him as a friend just to know he was ok, she knew under the circumstances that she shouldn't message him. If something was wrong with him, she would have heard about it by now. She knew that Arnav wouldn't be that ruthless and wouldn't tell her if something had happened to Karan. She had loved Karan like she hadn't loved anybody else and she almost wasn't sure if she could do it again. She had put everything that she had in that relationship and it came back and slapped her right in the face... actually more like punched her.

Karan must be ok. She was sure he wasn't dying or anything but still she couldn't accept the fact that he walked out on her. Maybe she just couldn't get over the fact that he dumped her. Maybe her ego was just too big to accept that he rejected her like that.

She knew Arnav would be a good husband, however the thought that he married her to save her reputation wouldn't stop nagging her. What had he wanted in a wife? She didn't even know what kind of women he had dated. He probably dated women that looked like celebrities. He was in the fashion world and with the looks that he was blessed with, she was sure he could get almost any woman, whereas she was just a simple girl who rarely even wore makeup let alone get dressed up every day.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt his cool hand touch hers and his fingers seemed to linger more than needed.

"You ok?" he asked and she wasn't too sure what he was referring to.

"Yap.. all good". Giving him a smile, she turned back in her seat and before she could consume herself in her self-destructive thoughts, he interrupted her again.

"I know we don't know each other well enough, but I can tell when your brain is going in overdrive. Talk to me Khushi. Is there anything you want to ask" he questioned fully knowing that she probably wanted to know about Karan.

And he didn't blame her. He couldn't imagine putting himself in her position. If his bride was to disappear on him like that, he probably would turn the world upside down trying to find answers whereas she was just quietly sitting there, absorbing everything around her and trying to get used to things.

"Nope, no questions" she replied shortly.

Not knowing how else to get across to her as she seemed to have put some sort of walls up, he slowly reached for her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. As his thumb slowly kept rubbing the side of her hand, her heartbeat increased. She didn't know how he could get her heart racing like that with such a mere touch.

"Karan is ok"

"I didn't ask" she replied curtly.

"I know you want to know"

"No I don't"

"It's ok Khushi. You can talk to me. Just because we are married doesn't mean you are not allowed to say his name or mention him in front of me". As he looked over at her, he realized she had her jaw clenched tight and the tears were ready to spill out. Slowly he slipped his hand out of hers and she almost choked at the coldness that took over her but the next instance, his hand was slowly moving her hair away from her face which she had conveniently left open so that she could hide her face from him if she needed to.

After tucking her hair back, his hand found hers again and he waited for her to start talking but when she didn't, he decided not to probe further till they got home.

Laying in bed, he looked over at the bathroom door at least for the 10th time. He knew Khushi had locked herself in there and wasn't planning on coming out till he probably was asleep. He waited for 10 more minutes and finally when he couldn't take it, he got up and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Khushi... everything ok?"

"Yes" he heard her muffled voice and thinking that she was crying in there by herself, he knew what he had to do.

"You have been in there for almost an hour now, you either open the door right now or I have the key to get in"

He decided that he needed to ask the next obvious question before he barged in on her.

"Are you on the toilet"

"What the! No!" she screamed back at him and that's all he needed.

"No please don't come in" he heard her muffled voice again but the next instance, he unlocked the bathroom door and barged in.

She was standing in front of the mirror in her pajamas and her bra while helplessly tugging on her saree blouse that seemed to be stuck in her hair.

"What the.." he muttered and walked towards her. Pushing her hands out of the way he tried to pull the zipper out of her hair when she screamed after realizing her state of undress.

"Stop screaming woman and let me help you!". Slowly, he pulled out parts of her hair out while she stood there with one arm crossed against her chest and the other across her stomach. She looked around frantically for her tshirt to cover herself but it was on the other side of the bathroom and her moving only caused her hair to get pulled even more.

When she wouldn't stop moving, Arnav snaked his arm across her back and lifted her up and placed her on the bathroom sink.

Absolutely embarrassed at being caught in this mess, she couldn't stop the tears that flowed down her cheeks. When he finally managed to pull her blouse out, he placed it on the other side of the counter and cupping her face, he gently wiped her tears.

"What happened sweetie? Why are you crying?" he asked slowly and as his hand moved down her back to hug her, it dawned on him that she wasn't wearing a shirt and she was shaking while her arms were clutched tightly infront of her chest.

Without thinking twice, he walked up to the other side of the room, grabbed her tshirt and pulled it over her head and arms and picking her up in one swift motion, he carried her over to the bed. Tucking her in, he sat beside her on the bed and before he could say anything, she muttered a thank you and tried to look anywhere but at him. Sitting beside her he slowly rubbed her head till he felt her breathing even out. She had had enough for the day. He couldn't believe she had just sat there in the bathroom for that long rather than calling him for help. When he realized she was sleeping, he walked over to his side and lay in bed trying to get rid of the images of her in that sexy red lace.

Looking at her sleeping so peacefully, he swore under his breath knowing this was going to be one restless night.

Damn his testosterone!

Ok guys, there is part 9. A few things that I wanted to clarify: this story is almost a love triangle (not quite) but Karan is an important part of it. He is the only person Khushi and Arnav have in common so he will be talked about quite a bit. But don't worry, this story is about Arnav and Khushi and their journey together . From now on I will only be posting the story in the Fan Fictions forum. Please let me know what you guys think!

Happy reading!

Pinki