Do comment and vote. It's a long chapter.

From that day, they grew closer. Arnav used to pick her up from work when his shift ends at evening. They used to hang out in evening. Khushi loved being in his company, he don't make her small when she see or try out new stuffs. He cleared her doubts in a very simple way. Sometimes she feel that she is talking to someone who is very old. She know that he is way more mature than his age. She loved the way he protected her when they go to crowded place.

For Arnav, being with her means being felt alive. He tried new things with her. He never knew that having street food is such a fun. He can't forget her sweaty face when they tried some spicy items. She looked damn cute with those sweaty face. She took him to crowdy spaces which he often avoided. Going there with her at evening was a new experience for him. He sensed the hesitance in her whenever they venture something new. He did his best to alleviate her tension. He got happy when she started to talk non-stop. He liked her chattering. For a person who lived most of his in solitude, her chattering meant a lot.

He loved the way she interpret things in the life. She sees life in a different shade than others. Unlike him, she is a keen devotee of her devimaiyya. A girl who is very much rooted into her traditional and moral values. Without her knowledge, he had watched her a lot of times. He have seen lot of women in different shade of colour and sizes. She is simply beautiful among those women who have captured his attention. She is not a beauty according to the standards of the society, but for him she is the most beautiful women he have seen.

She had her shares of pimples which makes her real among the plastic beauties. Her make-up less face screamed perfection. The honey coloured tan skin and the black curly hair made her stand out.

Skin

Hair

He loved how his car filled with the faint smell of jasmine scent emitted from her body. He tried his best to clear the doubts she asked him. He had understood the care she took not mention anything related to his past, which was her simple act to make him comfortable. He felt an immense urge to protect her from every bad things.

******

Arshi is in his car, travelling towards her hostel while making small chats.

"Ohh, I totally forget to call that cab driver." Khushi said all of a sudden jumping form her seat.

"Cab driver?" He asked her.

"Day after tomorrow is Teej. One of my colleagues give me this driver's number who would take me to the temple. I had to call him before someone book a trip." Saying this Khushi took his phone to call the driver. Arnav held her hand stopping her from calling.

"Khushi, which temple are you planing to visit?" He asked.

"Naina Devi temple."

"Khushi that's very far from here. Let's do one thing, I will take you there."

"No...no... Arnavji...it's ok... I will arrange a car and go. I don't want to disturb you."

"Khushi, it's not safe to take a cab there alone. Let me take you there." Khushi looked at him with a worried face.

"Hmm... My colleague know that driver, he told me that the driver is trustworthy." Khushi told him.

"Colleague? Do you know him well?"

"No, he is my manager's assistant. We greets eachother everyday."

"You shouldn't trust people like that. Do you trust me Khushi?" He asked her.

"Why are you asking such question? I do trust you Arnavji."

"Then let me take you there." He told her.

"Hmm...ok..."

"When do you want to reach there?"

"I want to attend the evening pooja, may be around 5 in the evening."

"Ok, I will pick you up around 2 after noon from your hostel."

"What about your work?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm free after noon."

"So any speciality for that say?" He asked her after sometime.

"Yeah, it's teej."

"Teej?" Arnav is totally clueless about teej and looked at Khushi.

"Seems like you don't know about teej. Hmm, it's a custom dedicated to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. It is believed that Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva were united on this day. For this Parvati had to endure penance. It is said that she took 108 births on Earth before Lord Shiva accepted her as his wife. Since then, this day is considered to be an auspicious day and it is believed that whosoever remembers her on this day will be blessed with a happy married life and all her desires will be fulfilled. Married girls fast for the well being of their husband while unmarried girls keep it for getting a good husband." Khushi told him everything related to the teej festival.

"So you are going to fast for getting a good husband?" Arnav asked her.

"Yup... Lord Shiva loved Goddess Parvati unconditionally. Just like that, I want someone in my life. Someone who will love me, who will respect me, who will want a family with me, who will grow old with me..." She said looking outside dreamily. Arnav heard what she said and realisation hit him hard on his face.

'He can never give her a family she want...he can't grow old with her. He is cursed to stay like this forever.' He thought. Both of their trance got interrupted by the ring of her mobile.
As usual the call was from the sim provider and she cut the call. Arnav decided to tell her about the case related to Shyam and dropped the idea. He thought it's better to tell it after the teej festival.

******

Arnav parked his car near her hostel and called her. Khushi told him that she will be down soon.

After a few minutes, he saw her walking out of the gate. The site that bestowed him was quite mesmerizing. Khushi walked towards him in an orange saree. The saree enhanced her curves and the curly hair added it charms to her. For the first time in his life, Arnav Ranade stood there mesmerized by a girl.

Seeing him leaning on to his car her lips stretched into a bright smile. He didn't reciprocated the smile, instead continued to stare her making her blush.

Khushi reached next to him and stood in in front of him.

"Arnavji...hmm... Am I looking ok?" She wanted to know what he think about her. She don't know why she took time to get ready, but she felt that she need to look good for him.

"You look good Khushi...infact beautiful." He complimented making her blush.

"Get into the car Khushi, we have to move now." Saying this he opened the door for her. Arnav entered the car and started their journey towards Naina Devi temple.

******

They reached the temple after driving for more than three hours.

"Arnavji, I will go and buy the things for Pooja." Khushi said knowing that he don't believe in God.

"I can go and buy the stuffs Khushi. Just give me the list of things." He let her know his desire. Arnav looked at the atmosphere around him. It's his first time near a temple premises.

"No, it's ok Arnavji. I will go and buy things from that shops." She pointed at some shops near to the temple.

"Ok, I will wait here for you." Arnav stood under a tree and looked around. He saw people buying things for Pooja and walking towards the temple. The shops looked too colourful to him. He can hear a lot of sounds around him. His sharp hearing ability let him hear chants offered by the priest and devotees. He concentrated a bit more and found out her sweet voice among the noise. He heard her ordering stuffs for the Pooja and asking the price of some items there.

He stood there hearing the conversation and smiled when she negotiated the price with the seller. She had given him a lecture on how devimaiyya is watching the seller looting her devotees. The seller got fed up and agree for the price she quoted.

Arnav saw her coming with a thaali. She doubled checked if there is everything in the thaali or not. She looked up and saw him smiling at her. His smiling face gave her a shiver. He rarely smiles, when he does that she forgets everything around her.

"Brought everything for Pooja?" He asked her.

"Yes...hmm.. I should move towards the temple. What are you going to do till I return back?" She asked him.

"I will be here Khushi. Just call me when you exit from the temple." He let her know and she moved towards the temple.

Arnav stood there watching her take the steps. Suddenly she stopped walking and touched her forehead with her right hand.

He started to move towards her direction while the thali slipped from her hand. She felt like her mind getting blank and a numbness take over her body. She is getting collapsed when her body get support by his body. Arnav held her in his arms as she fainted onto his chest.

Arnav lifted her and made her sit on a bench, with her head resting on his shoulder. He checked her pulse and understood that she fainted due to fasting. Arnav took some water from the purifier placed next to them and made her drink the water. Khushi started to drink the water little by little. Slowly she opened her eyes and saw him sitting in front of her, making her drink a glas sof water.

Khushi opened her eyes wide and looked at him with shock.

"What have you done Arnavji? You shouldn't have made me drink that water." She asked with a worried expression.

"What the!! Khushi, you fainted, that's why I did that. What do you expect me to do now? You are weak because of fasting." He said feeling irritated by her unwanted worries when his concern for her is bigger than that of her worries.

"Hmm... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I was concerned for my Pooja and behaved like that. I should go now, the aarti will start now." Saying this she get up to move towards the temple. She felt a tug on her hand and turned around.

"Are you feeling ok now?" He asked her with lot of concern.

"Yes Arnavji, I'm totally fine. Don't worry about me." She said with a smile and walked a little before pausing for a moment.

"Ohh no, I dropped my thali and j have to buy another one." She said to herself.

"I will go and buy a thali for you." He said hearing her whispering.

"How did you hear that?" She asked turning around. She muttered it to herself and he is standing bit far away from her to hear that.

"I didn't hear anything, I thought you stopped walking when you realised that you don't have your pooja thali." He tried to cover up the folly he made.

"It's ok Arnavji, I will go and buy it."

"No, you just fainted now. So you sit here and I will go and buy it for you. I will call you when I reach the shop, then you tell me what all you needed." Saying this he brought her to the bench and made her sit there.

Arnav reached the shop and brought the things.

"Do you remember the girl in an orange saree who bargained with you?" Arnav asked the seller.

"Yup, how can I forget her that easily. She gave me a whole preaching about devimaiyya. Are you her husband?" He asked Arnav making his heart skip a beat for a moment.

'Husband' - He is not sure if he can be a husband she wanted. Someone who will create a family with her, someone who will grow old with her.

"I think you had a love marriage or else you won't tolerate all those preachings for your whole life." The seller told him.

"Well she did the right thing. You are looting the devotees." He told him getting offended.

"Jaisa patni, waisa pati.(Like wife, like husband.)" The seller muttered packing the stuffs

"Which statue she was asking about?" Arnav asked him and he pointed at a small statue of devimaiyya.

"It's made up of marble sir. When I said the price, your wife told me that she wasn't asking the price of my shop."

"Yeah, it's lit bit over priced." Saying this he paid the bill and walked towards her.

Arnav gave her the pooja thali and she went to attend the pooja. Khushi saw husbands breaking the fast of their wives. She couldn't help but remember how he made her drink the water and smiled. She realised what she had been thinking and closed her eyes. She looked at the idol and prayed to show the right path.

******

Khushi came out of the temple and saw him sitting inside the car. It's already seven at night.

"Arnavji can we reach before 10'O clock? We have time restrictions in the hostel."

"If we start now, we can reach there within the time."

"Ok, then let's go now." She told him.

"What about your food? You have to eat something Khushi."

"We can grab something on our way. Please Arnavji, I have to reach there before 10'O clock." She pleaded and he nodded his head.

On their way it started raining heavily with thunder and lightning.

"Arnavji, can we make it there before 10??" She asked him.

"Don't panic Khushi, you can make your hostel authorities understand our situation.." Arnav consoled her and drives the car in full speed.

"Arnavji, slow down or else we will end up in some accident." She said clasping her hands together.

"I'm an expert driver Khushi. You can trust me. ." He assured her slowing the speed. His echolocation skill helps him in driving in such circumstances, but right now the rain make it hard for him to use it. It's difficult to hear the echo resonating back when it rains. They reached a road and saw a big traffic block. Arnav asked someone who is passing by the road about the block. That man let them know about the land slides and it will take time to clear the road.

Arnav saw her distressed face and lightly squeezed her hand.

"Don't worry Khushi. I'm here for you. I will try my best to reach your hostel on time."

"No, it will be difficult to travel in this climate. There will be chances of land slides, it's better if we stay somewhere here for this night." Arnav think about what she told him and nodded his head.

"Call someone in your hostel and let them know about the situation." Khushi took her mobile and saw that it run out of battery.

"You can use my mobile Khushi."

"But I don't know the number." She said after taking his mobile in her hand.

"Also no signal is showing in your mobile." She saw the emergency call mode on his mobile.

"Seems like we are trapped here for tonight. Let's go and find some place for stay." Arnav takes a reverse motion and went to the opposite side.

After travelling for almost half an hour, they found a dhabha.

"Khushi, let's go and have our food now. I think we will be able to find a place here."

Arnav talked with the dhabha owner and got to know that there is only one room available. He is about to deny the offer knowing how uncomfortable Khushi will be,but then he saw her shivering and trying to cover herself with the pallu of the saree. He agreed to take that room. He don't want anyone to point finger at her, so decide to fill the form as husband and wife.

Arnav entered the car after making the arrangements.

"Khushi they have rooms here, but..."

"But??" She asked him.

"Only a room is available now and I reserved that."

"Ohh... I can understand why you did that... It's hard to find a stay here at this night. It's okay Arnavji, we can figure it out." She told him without trying to making him feel bad. He understood that she is uncomfortable with the idea of sharing a room with him.

"Let's go and have something Arnavji. I'm starving here."

"Let me park the car somewhere." He parked the car and opened the umbrella. He held her closer to him as they walked towards the dhabha. She shivered as his cold hands touched her arms, securing her in his embrace. They sat inside the dhabha and placed their order.

"Do you eat that much?" She asked seeing him order food as much for three people.

"Yup, I have a very huge appetite." What he order was only 10% of his usual diet. He can imagine her face if she see the amount of food he have daily.

"I thought your are very health conscious and won't eat this much of food."

"I eat pretty much everything."

"Seems like you eat anything edible which won't bite you back Arnavji." She teased him.

'No, I eat them too. I mean not like that, just drinks the blood.' He mentally told himself.

"You can say that." He commented.

After having the food they went to the room. Arshi stood near the king sized bed and looked at eachother.

"You sleep here, I will sleep in the car." He let her know.

"No...the bed is so large...we can sleep on our sides Arnavji." She put forward teh idea in front of him.

"Are you sure?? I dont want you to be uncomfortable."

"I trust you Arnavji. So let's sleep now." Saying this she lie down on the right side. Arnav smiled and lie down on the left side. He gave her the blanket and took the additional blanket from the shelf.
She lie down on the bed and recalled everything that happened today. Her respect for him increased with each passing seconds.

Meanwhile he lie down on the bed thinking about the challenges he had to face tomorrow. This area seems to be residential one and it's hard for him to find his food. Two or three normal meal can't satisfy his hunger and he need to find a way to alleviate his hunger before his secret gets revealed. He have an emergency mini fridge installed his car where he keeps some bags of blood plasma for situations like this.

Arnav is already hungry, that meal he had did nothing to eliminate his hunger. He waited for her to sleep, so that he can go and have the plasma which will give him a relief.

It's around two in the midnight when he stepped out of the room. He locke dthe room properly and walked towards his car. He raised the driver's seat and opened the mini fridge. There was only two small bags of plasma in it. He used to drink these before he have any surgeries for extra precautions. He don't want his animalistic side to mess up the life of a human.

Arnav looked at the two bags of plasma and decided to drink it tomorrow. That will keep him in control till noon. He decided to find something in the premises and concentrated on the sounds around him. That's when he heard the barking of a dog near by. He worn his jacket and walked towards the direction of the sound. He saw a giant rottweiler standing in front of him barking.

Arnav flashed his red eyes at him making the dog stop his barking.

"I'm very sorry." Saying this he dug the knife into the neck of the dog. He collected the blood in a bottle and walked towards the car. After having the blood, he cleaned his hand and the bottle. He reached the room and saw sleeping peacefully. He lie down next to her and looked at her innocent face.

'She is so innocent. She don't know that she is lying with a monster now. Will she get terrified if she gets to know what I just done now?? Of course, any human will get terrified for sure. Will she hates me if she gets to know my real identity? Will she behave like this if she knew that? I won't be able to tolerate her looking at me with hatred.' He mentally debated and took hold of her warm hand in his cold hand.

"I will never hurt you Khushi. Please don't hate me." He mumbled and saw her pulling her hand out if his cold hand. He gave a light smile and look at his cold hand.

'Leave her Arnav, you don't deserve her. Don't you see the way she pulled her hand out if your cold hold? That's the reality...open your eyes and see that. She needs a human, not a product of lab experiment. Stay away from her.' He heard his conscience telling him.

"I wish I'm the one for you, but I'm not." He told her and turned around to sleep.
He decided that when they return back he will be going to stay away from her for her betterment.

******

Next day, Khushi woke up from her sleep and saw her hugging Arnav who slept on his side. She moved her arms and legs which is wrapped around his torso. She sat on the bed blushing about what just happened now.

'You and your taekwondo poses!!' She hit her forehead and looked at him.

He is sleeping like a baby. His lips lightly parted as he took shallow breathe.

She felt that her heart will burst out of her rib cage and placed her hand over her chest. It's beating like crazy. That's when something striked her.

'His heartbeat weren't like this. Was that too slow?' she thought and shook her head in denial.

"You have gone crazy Khushi. Is it possible for a heart to beat like that?" She questioned herself and decided to check again.

She lean closer to his chest when she heard his sound.

"What are you doing Khushi?" He asked not knowing what she was about to do.

"Nothing. It was some excercise....yeah excercise to keep myself awake." She started her blabbering.

"But you are already awake now." He asked getting up from the bed.

"I'm...ohh I forget to wish you. Good morning Arnavji. You know...." That's when something caught her eyes.

"What is this??" She asked pointing at two red spoting on his tshirt.

"Nothing...may be some food stain." Arnav tried to coverup while it's indeed his food stain.

"It doesn't look like food stain Arnavji. It look like blood...are you hurt somewhere?" She asked him.

"Khushi, I told you that its nothing." She said getting irritated by her questioning.

"I'm sorry Arnavji, I was just concerned for you." She said moving towards the washroom with disappointment.

'Sh*t, you hurt her moron.' He mentally scolded himself.

******

When she went for shower, Arnav walked towards this car. He took the plasma bags and drank it.

Both of them get ready and went to have the breakfast. After their morning encounter, they didn't talk anything.

Khushi sat there without looking at him. She then heard his sound.

"I'm sorry Khushi." She peeked at him and saw him placing a big chocolate in front of her.

"It's hard for me to sleep in new places and I didn't get a good sleep yesterday. That's why I behaved like that in morning. I'm really sorry about it." He told her.

"I'm also sorry too. I shouldn't have behaved like that in morning too. I know I blabber a lot and you might not like that."

"I like your blabbering" he told her making her blush.

"Hmm...I was concerned about you too." She said after controlling her blush.

"I got a small cut on my chest from falling, nothing serious Khushi." He told her not wanting to mess it up by telling a lie that it's not blood.

"Are you sure you are okay?" She asked him.

"Remember I'm a doctor and I'm damn sure about it." He told her making her smile.

They were having the food when the dhabha owner's son came and told his father about what happened to the neighbour's dog.

"I think this area is not that safe. They are having animal attack Arnavji. We should leave as soon as possible." Khushi said overhearing what the son told to his father.

"They must be totally devastated. A pet is like a family member. I too had a small cat when I was small, you don't know how much I cried when he died all of a sudden." She said making him choke.

"It's okay Khushi, they can buy another pet. May be that animal was hungry." He told her.

"Yeah, that's another side of story. We can't blame these poor wild animal for coming to our land, because we do the same thing to them. We encroach their land and they come here for food." Khushi reasoned.

"So you don't have any problem if it happens again?"

"When did I say that? I mean it's happening because of men's greed itself. God has created the world in a balance. When we try to go against it, all these happens. The forest belongs to the animals, we shouldn't interfere in it." Saying this she started to have the food.

"What will you do if this ani...animal come in front of you?" He asked hopefully.

"What do I have to do?? It's the animal who have to do something to me, probably biting and eating me." She teased him for asking such question.

"No...I wont do that to you." He said when he heard her answer.

"What??" She asked not understanding his answer.

"I mean I won't let anything happen to you." He tried to cover it up.

"I know Arnavji. I trust you." She continues to have her food while his mind got filled with what's he said now.

After settling the bill they returned back to her hostel.

******

"Khushi, do you want me to come and talk with your hostel people??" Arnav asked her as he dropped her in front of the hostel.

"No Arnavji, I can manage it. Don't worry about me. You should go and catch up on your sleep. I will see you soon. Bye." Saying this she walked towards her hostel and he drives towards his house.

******

Khushi reached the warden's room and saw her stuffs placed on the floor.

"We were waiting for you Ms. Gupta."

"What happened ma'am? I can explain what happened yesterday."

"You don't need to explain anything. We have a reputation. You are going in and out with that man and we can't let you stay here. We got to know why you were kicked out from your previous landlord.".

"What did he tell you?" Khushi asked the old lady standing in front of her.

"That's you tried to seduce his son and tried to blackmail them for money. Look you can't carry out your business here and...."

"Shut up... I don't want to hear anything and I don't want to stay here anymore." Saying this Khushi took her bag.

"Make sure that you take everything with you." The lady said to her.

******

Arnav is driving back home when he saw her phone lying on the seat. He decided to go back and give it to Khushi. As he reached near her hostel, he can hear a lady taunting Khushi. It made him boil in anger. He accelerated the speed and reached in front of her hostel.

******

Khushi took her luggage and came out with a brave face. She don't want them to see her crying face and walked out of the hostel.

"Try to live with dignity than being someone's mistress." That's warden said to her.

"Before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean." She shouted at her and saw Arnav standing near to the hostel. Khushi dropped her luggage and ran towards him. She hugged him and started to cry on his chest, wetting his tshirt. He held her close, stroking her head.

"How can they say something like that? They talked to me as if I'm a characterless girl." She sobbed and looked at him.

"Do you also think that I'm a characterless girl for sleeping with you yesterday?" She asked innocently and he shook his head in denial.

"You can never be characterless Khushi. You are a strong woman, I know that." He consoled her.

"She said that I'm your mistress."

"We know what we are, we don't need to prove that to anyone." Khushi nodded her head in agreement.

"Come with me Khushi." He asked her

"Where?"

"To your new place of stay."

"Is it safe? Will I have to encounter the same fate as this? And where is it?" She asked him with worry and a lot of hope

"It's the most safest place where you can be. Nobody will judge you like this and it's in XYZ road." He told her and made her sit inside the car.

*******

They reached the place after driving for more than half an hour. The house is situated little bit deep inside the woods. He stopped the car infront of the house and looked at her.

"Hai, I'm Dr. Arnav Singh your new landlord." He said forwarding his hand in front of her making her eyes wide open.

******
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