Part 63:

Arnav sat there completely in lost state. How much ever he tried to forget the happenings, they are kept ringing in his mind. All the time, he saw only Khushi's face. Unable to control his pain, he left from home and went for a long drive. After spending hours outside, he came back to home at midnight. When he is entering inside the house, he saw Aman coming towards their house from his. So, without entering the house he walked to garden and sat on the couch. Aman came there and sat beside him without talking anything. Suddenly Aman felt Arnav's head on his shoulder. Sighing deeply he looked at tired Arnav

"This is high time Arnav. It's already month from her departure. You have to be strong for us. I can't see you like this Arnav. I know how much you are missing her. But do you think she will accept if you keep going into shell? No Arnav... she never does that. Please Arnav... come back to us, be normal, and be our Arnav... not this ASR. Please..." tears rolled from Aman's eyes. He already lost his sister; he doesn't want to lose his best friend.

"Hmm... I can't Aman. I'm not able to forget her. When I see you or mom, my heart will remember her. You know why? because she is the person where I can be at peace after Mom and you. When I was with her, I never felt tensed. She always gave me solace. In fact she gave me strength. She was the reason I decide to participate in YF. You know Aman, when I saw her first time; I was like... like a fool..." Arnav smiled thinking about Khushi completely lost "That day, I came to know how nice she is at heart. I had to hop the bus to go to college. Like an idiot I gave 1000 rupees note for 14 rupees ticket. She was the angel who saved me from being thrown from bus. She gave the change to conductor and helped me to continue my journey. Who will do that Aman? Who will help one stranger? She is the girl who given me immense relaxation with just one smile. I can't forget her Aman. I'm hers, there won't be any change in that" said Arnav

"But Arnav... How many days? You do have a life; don't you think your family will be shattered after seeing you living all your life alone? Do you think we don't care for you? Do you think we can see you like this? Do you think Khushi will accept this? No Arnav... she won't. At least for her you have to move on in your life. Think about this... we want your happiness Arnav, nothing else"

"Then don't ask me to move on Aman. I am happy with her and her things and her memories. Moreover If I'm alive then she will be definitely alive somewhere. She will come to me. She won't leave me like this. I know my Khushi. She will never leave me. She will come back one day. I will wait till that" said Arnav

"Stop this nonsense Arnav. Why can't you understand that she is no more... SHE IS DEAD DAMN IT... Come out of this trance... see the happenings... she left us... she cheated us... she never bothered about us... she is... she is..." Aman burst out in crying.

Arnav immediately hugged Aman and said "Shh... Aman...Why can't you all understand Aman? She is not a cheater, she didn't leave us. She is an Angel Aman. Angels never cheats anybody or they never will leave us. She is precious Aman... she is our Khushi... our Choti... see... we lost her in our childhood once... but didn't she come back to us? Like that she will come again. Trust me Aman... she is alive... I know... my heart says this. She is alive Aman... if she is dead, then I would have died by now. Don't worry, she will come to us. Relax Aman... please... control yourself... please Aman... please...." Both friends hugged each other crying their heart out in the process of searching for the solace to their tired souls.

******

Next day – breakfast table

"Chote... we want to talk with you"

"I know... what you all wanted to talk. But it will not happen. So, you better not to talk with me in this matter. I can't change my mind in this. She was and she is my life. She will remain like that. I can't give that place to any other girl or I can't spoil another innocent girl's life. So, I don't want anybody to talk about this matter again... that's final... no discussions. Do you understand?" said Arnav totally in ASR mode leaving everyone shocked.

"But Chote..." tried Anjali.

"I said... no discussions on this" he said in a cold voice. Seeing his serious face, Aman held his shoulder to make him relax.

"Commanding us with this serious face and arrogant attitude will never solve the problems Chote. You need to understand the things. You need to move on. You need to accept that she is no more... you need to understand she is dea..." Akul was stopped by Arnav

"EHOUGH..." roared Arnav. "Do you want me to back out from my responsibilities? May be for you guys she is dead, but not for me. She is alive somewhere. She will come to me one day. What if I marry someone else and she comes? What will you answer her? Shall I leave my so called wife and go to Khushi? Will you accept that? May be for you all she is my love, but for me she is my wife. She is my life. She trusted me blindly, I can't cheat her. I can't. I will wait for her. She will come..."

"Are you mad Chote? How can you be like this?" shouted frustrated Akul

"Chote... how can you say that she is alive? Nobody saw her Chote, please try to understand" said Anjali

"Did you see her dying with you own eyes?" asked Arnav seriously

"No... but police" Anjali stammered

"Did they give any proof? Did they saw her dying there?"

Anjali nodded her head in denial "But they saw the car Chote"

"Hmm... Di... so many things can happen before the car crashes. She might have jumped from the car or someone saved her before the car blast. Or someone admitted her in hospital and she might... she might be alive Di... I know... she is alive. There is no discussion about this" he said and started leaving from there

"Is this the way you fulfill your responsibilities towards you family Arnav?" came the frustrated, irritated, angry and helpless Akul's voice.

Arnav turned back and looked his father with unreadable expression. "What responsibility I didn't fulfill till now?" asked Arnav "Didn't I take care of the company when you were not well? Wasn't I with you when you needed me? Didn't I do anything whatever my siblings want? Didn't I do whatever my mother asked me? Didn't I do whatever you asked me? Do you really think I didn't fulfill my responsibilities towards this family?"

Akul didn't say anything, because he knew... his son is the best at fulfilling his responsibility. He sat there seeing Arnav.

Arnav went to Suraj and Saritha and held their hands "Mami... Can you live without thinking about her?"

Both Suraj and Saritha nodded their heads in denial. He turned to everyone and continued "Then how can you all think that I can forget her? If she is your daughter, sister, friend and niece, then she is my first crush, my first love and my life. How can you all think I can live without her? How can you all think that I will forget her and will marry another innocent girl? What if that girl comes to know that I won't love her then what will happen? Either she will cry or spoil her life or will spoil our lives. Why can't you all understand that I can't give that place to any other girl? The minute when I confessed my love to her, when I proposed her for marriage, when she accepted my love and proposal, she became my wife. I'm husband of Khushi Arnav Singh Raizada. Please let me fulfill my responsibility as a husband. If you all think she died then let me live as Khushi's widower. But, don't try to change my life; don't try to marry me to any other girl. I will wait for Khushi, no matter how many days, weeks, months or years or births will take to her to come to me. I'm her husband. That's all. No one can change that fact" Arnav is adamant in his decision.

"But Arnav..." for the very first time Saritha opened her mouth to make Arnav understand the situation "How can you live alone all your life? You deserve happiness Arnav. Please try to understand"

"Don't take me wrong... but tell me one thing, can you marry someone else if you are in my place?" everyone gasped hearing his question

"Watch your words Arnav... don't you have manners? Is this the way you talk with your parents?" asked Akshaya

"Why? What's wrong I asked? You only said right, I should marry some girl because my wife died. Then, why are you getting angry if I ask you the same?"

"Hmm... No I won't marry any other if I'm in your place" said Suraj and continued "But you are young Arnav. You have a right to live happily. You have to enjoy your life. How can you compare your life with us? We enjoyed our lives completely and we saw everything – good, bad, happy, sad, success and failure, everything – in our lives" asked Suraj

Arnav turned to Aman and asked "What about you Aman? Can you marry someone else if... if something happened to Di?"

"NO" that's the immediate answer Aman said. 'Something happened to Anjali' the thought itself scary for him. Now he understood completely what Arnav is feeling.

Arnav turned to Akash and NK and asked "What about you both? Can you marry someone else if something happened to Payal or Lavanya?"

"NO" came again the immediate answer from them

Arnav turned to their parents and said "Then how can I? It's not about the living life. It's about the living life with love. It's about living life with life. It's about living life with our soul. Maybe we can accept others as our life partner, but do we really can accept others like our love, our life and mostly like our soul? Maybe you can... but I can't. She is my soulmate Dad... I can't give her place to anyone. I WON'T. I DON'T WANT TO. So, you better leave this topic here. I don't want anyone to talk about Khushi or her so called death. She is alive and she will come to me. That's I'm sure... stop irritating me and let me live my life" he said and turned to leave from there.

Suddenly he felt someone engulfed him in a tight hug. Recognizing the person he also reciprocated the hug

"I'm proud of you Arnav. I'm proud of Pooh for selecting such a wonderful soul as her man. But she is unlucky for missing you. I hope and wish your belief is true. I hope she will come to us" said Shyam breaking the hug. He kissed Arnav's forehead and said again "God Bless you... you know... you are behaving like Pooh. She was also very stubborn like you. She always got what she wanted. You remind me of her" both smiled on this statement. Shyam continued saying "But she won't be happy with you wasting your life, because I know her better. She never wanted her people to waste time on her or for her. She will be definitely angry on you for this decision of yours. But I won't force you like others. I won't ask you to marry other girl. Not because I'm Khushi's brother, I won't force you because I know the pain you are undergoing now. I know how it feels when we lost our loved ones. I know how it feels when we lost our wife. I can understand your pain Arnav. I can't force you or even I can't request you in this matter. At the same time, I can't see you like this. I'm sorry... I'm sorry for our stupidity. I'm sorry..."

Nodding his head Arnav hugged Shyam tightly and tried to sooth his pain "Shh... Bhai... please control yourself. It's not your fault. We are unlucky to lose her. But don't worry Bhai... she will come to us... she have to. Trust me... she will" said Arnav

"I really hope she will come to us one day. Fine... now go and take rest... You don't strain yourself much. It's not good for you. Take medicine and rest. Okay? We will talk later. You are looking so tired. Go... have some sleep. Don't forget we are here for you" saying this Shyam kissed his forehead again and send him to his room, making everyone astonished by showing his way of controlling Arnav.

Shyam went to Suraj and Saritha and knelt before them. He said holding their hands in his "I don't know whether I can call you like this or not. But I really wanted to, because you are Khushi's parents, MY baby sister's parents. So, can I call you as Amma and Bau Ji? Please...?"

Suraj hugged Shyam immediately understanding in which state he is in. Saritha caressed his hair and said while sobbing "If Khushi is your sister then you are my son. No need to request us, you can call us what you want. You are our son dear. Don't worry... you have us as your family"

"Not only them Bhai... you have a brother too..." said Aman hugging him sideways overwhelming Shyam. He looked at others in the room. When his eyes fell on Akul and Akshaya, he immediately understood their pain. He went to them and said "Don't worry Mr. Raizada. Arnav will be fine. Just give him some time. You don't know how difficult it is to lose your love. He needs time. If you force him for anything he will become more stubborn. Trust me; I will take care of him. I will be with him always. Don't worry about him. We can take care of him. He is in a loss Mr. Raizada, he needs your support. He wants his family to understand him and his love. I know how it feels when we don't have anyone or anyone's support in the form of family. That is the reason I wanted them to accept me as their son. I need my family, but I can't get them back. So I found them here. We need support now. Please... don't force him for anything. Give him time to digest everything. You please don't take much stress. It's not good for you health. Everything will be fine. Please Mrs. Raizada... you also have to be strong in front of Arnav. Don't make him feel that you all are sad because of him. It will make his condition worst. Please trust me... everything will be fine"

Both Akul and Akshaya nodded their heads understanding Shyam's words. They both felt little relaxed after Shyam's words.

"Thank you beta. For understanding Arnav well. Thank you... and ha... one more thing... it's not Mr. and Mrs. Raizada. It's Mamu and Mami for Suraj and Saritha's kids. If they can accept you as their son; if Aman can accept you as his brother; then why can't we accept you as our nephew? We will, for sure. Don't dare to call us as Mr. and Mrs. Raizada, do you understand?" asked Akul in a fake anger which made everyone smile a little. Shyam hugged Akul with tearful eyes.

"Shh... beta... don't cry... we can never change what happened, but we can make new relations and memories. We all are with you, we are your family. Don't think that you are alone in this world. We all are together. Relax... don't worry... shh..." said Akshaya while caressing his head.

Shyam nodded his head while thanking God for giving him a wonderful family.

...to be continued

If I take long time then ask for update, but not immediately after reading this. Few readers are not even telling me how the update was, but asking for next update. How fair it is? Think before you comment.

Thank you.