Mitalchauhan8 A very happy belated birthday to you. I hope you had a great day yesterday and I hope you'll have an even better year up ahead! I love you and wish for nothing but happiness and mental well-being to you. God bless you!

Khushi was standing in the terrace area of their building, gazing into the wide oblivion of the sky. Her hands were wrapped around herself, in an attempt to shield herself from the cold wind that had suddenly picked up, seemingly out of nowhere. Another gust of wind blew past her, leaving her hair to fly free and her arms to tighten around herself, just in time for a warm pair of hands to wrap around her. "It's too cold out here, tu beemar ho jaayegi meri jaan." Arnav spoke, gently prying her hands away and wrapping her in a warm jacket. (You'll fall ill, my love!)

Khushi smiled, "Tum kab aaye?" She asked, pulling the jacket tightly over herself, holding both its ends. (When did you get here?)

"Jab tu taaron se baat karne me busy thi, woh bhi itni thandi mein." Arnav scolded her, "Kaamp rahi ho literally aur fir bhi yahaan pe hi ho." (When you were busy talking to the stars and that too in such a whether. You're shaking, literally and yet you're still here)

"Ghar pe mann nahi lag raha tha, ghutan ho rahi thi, toh socha terrace pe aa jauin." Khushi confessed, "Ab mausam kharaab ho gaya toh kya kar sakte hai na?" (I was feeling uneasy at home, that was why I thought I could maybe.. come up here. I can't be blamed if the whether suddenly got worse, right?)

Arnav sighed. "You're an idiot. If you wanted to come up here at this hour, you should at least have grabbed a shawl or something." He said disapprovingly. 

Khushi pouted, "What brought you here, by the way?" She asked. 

"Nothing, really. I just wanted to spend a few minutes with myself." Arnav shrugged. 

"My presence mustn't be helping much." Khushi stated softly. "Should I leave?" 

Arnav shook his head, "No, stay. I don't mind you being here. You're my heart, tumse kya chupa hai?" He said softly. (What is hidden from you?)

Khushi smiled. "When I saw you for the first time after I moved to Mumbai, I'd never thought I'd have the chance to be something more than a stranger to you." She said truthfully. 

Arnav laughed, "Why was that?" He asked softly.

Khushi shrugged, "I don't know. There's no particular reason." She said.

"You don't have to lie to me. I know you thought I was a snobby rich brat. You were scared of offending your highness!"

Khushi laughed. "You got it!"

Arnav pouted. "I'm not a snobby rich brat. I'm your Arnav." He said innocently.

Khushi smiled. "You are! You're my life." She said softly and kissed his cheek.

Arnav grinned, "You always had a strange pull to yourself, it was only just a matter of time before I would've lost my battle to my 'better judgment' and barge into your house like I did. I fell in love with you because of your smile, Khush.. that has to mean something!" He confessed. 

Khushi chuckled at that, "I'm glad you took the first few steps, or I would never have known such an amazing person as you." Khushi said quietly, making Arnav smile at her, bewitched. 

"The pleasure's all mine sweetheart." Arnav cupped her face, caressing her cheek lovingly. 

Khushi leaned into his touch, her cheeks heating up at the contact.

"I have so many things that I want to say to you." Khushi confessed, "So many things that you need to know." 

Arnav pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "We have our whole lives to talk to each other, love. Aaj uss sab ka waqt nahi hai." He told her sternly. (It's not the time for that!)

"Toh.. kis sab ka waqt hai aaj?" Khushi asked curiously.

Arnav smirked, held her gently by her shoulder and steered her towards the railing of the terrace. "Look up." 

Khushi looked up at the wide sky, filled with thousands of twinkling stars. "Beautiful isn't it?" Arnav whispered softly in her ear. 

Khushi nodded, mesmerized by the wide expanse of the sky. "Reminds me of you. The moon, lighting up everything in sight, the stars twinkling much like your eyes." Arnav spoke quietly, tracing a pattern on the canvas of the sky.

"Stars always fascinated me as a child. Mom was a space geek and she'd tell me 'bout the space, the stars, moon. It was magical." Khushi confessed, her eyes lighting up like the stars overlooking them. 

Arnav smiled, watching her talk about stars with such innocence and passion. He moved closer to her, entwining his fingers with her and looked up at the stars as she traced a constellation that her mother had told her about when she was younger.

"I don't know about the stars, but right now, watching you like this, is worth a thousand astronomy lessons out in the open." Arnav said sincerely.

Khushi blushed, "You could just have said that you're getting bored. I would have shut up." She said in a small voice. 

Arnav took her hand, cautiously into his own. "I'd never tell you to shut up, love. It gets boring around here when you're not talking." He said, his eyes wide and adorable like a puppy.

Khushi laughed, pulling his cheeks. "You're a dork!" She said. "A very cute one at that." 

Arnav smirked. 

For the next few minutes, they stood beside each other, perfectly silent. They gazed at the stars together, trying to find unheard stories among the billions of twinkling stars.

"My dad believed that when a person dies, he becomes a star to watch over his/her loved ones from up there. Mom was more of a practical kind, but she never quite countered this particular belief of my father's for some reason. Mom liked the science part of everything and dad made me aware of the fairy tale perspective, quite a unique family I had." Khushi told Arnav.

"Do you think they're up there?" Arnav asked curiously, "Do you think they're watching you?" 

"Yeah, I think so. It's a comforting thought." Khushi confessed. 

Arnav pulled her into his arms, snaking his arms around her from the back "Yeah." 

"I'm fine." Khushi said softly, leaning against his chest. 

"I know." He responded softly as he held her tighter.

Khushi closed her eyes, relaxing in his embrace just as a droplet of water landed on her nose. "Uhhm" She wrinkled her nose, making Arnav laugh at her cute expression.

"It's raining." Khushi announced as the water droplets began falling at a quicker pace. "Let's go baby." Arnav tugged at her arm. Khushi shook her head. "No, I want to stay here and play in the rain." She said with a cute pout. 

"You'll fall ill baby, already bahut thandi hai." Arnav said softly. "Please?" Khushi requested, giving him her best puppy face.

The rain had started to fall in full force at this point. Arnav sighed. "Khushi!" He looked at her sternly. 

"Khadoos kahin ka!!" 

Arnav rolled his eyes, "Chalo ander, we'll both get soaking wet within minutes. Sardi ho jayegi." He pulled her towards the inside of the building and dragged her towards the elevator amid the mild protest of the child woman next to him. 

"What are you? A toddler?" He asked as they entered their apartment and Khushi nodded cutely. 

Arnav laughed, "Oh. How old are you?" He asked curiously. Khushi chewed on her lower lip and looked at her hand. After a few seconds she held up five fingers making Arnav laugh out loudly at her antics. "You little devil." 

"I'm a cute little baby. I'm not a devil." 

Arnav shook his head, made her sit on the couch and went inside to fetch towels and a clean T-Shirt for himself. After returning, he dried his baby's hair with the towel and cleaned her face. He pecked her lips quickly before pulling her off the couch. "Now go & change." 

Khushi mock saluted him. "Aye Aye Captain." before going to her room to change. 

"I love you, Khush." 

"I know you do!" Khushi responded cheerfully from inside the room. 

Arnav shook his head fondly before he stripped his own shirt off in order to change into the T-Shirt he had brought with himself. 

I was busy like I had predicted last month. I hope you didn't lose interest again.

Let me know what you think of this one!

Do let me know what you think of this chapter in the comments below.

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