KHUSHI

Currently I was at the hospital with Arnav, it wasn't really hard for me to convince him to come along with me to see a psychologist, I just talked to him calmly and told him he needed help and he agreed to come with me, I liked this a lot about him, he always understood things.

We talked to the doctor, Mrs. Roopa, she was the best in the field and quite experienced, we explained the problem to her and she listened to us keenly.

Later she asked me to leave her alone with Arnav as she wanted to talk to him privately so I waited outside while they had their discussion and when they were done, Arnav was told to wait outside while she talked to me about whatever that was going on with him.

"So? Do you think you can help him?" I asked nervously, I really hoped she would help him, Arnav and I loved each other so much, we dint want anything to come in between.

"I can help him Khushi, but I'll need to understand the root of the problem, I talked to him asked him a few questions and all so I do realize that the root of the problem is his family. They are very orthodox, that's what he told me." Roopa said.

"Yes they are."

"So I guess that's the problem, according to the conversation I feel like Arnav grew up differently than his whole family, but then he still grew up with them, and he is very sure in his mind he doesn't want to be like them, but yet there is one part of him that believes he is like them and sometimes he tried to act like that.

I am still not sure but he can be having a split personality disorder or a multiple personality disorder too, like he explained to me, he doesn't want to do certain things but he ends up doing it anyway, it's like he's split up on what to do and what not to, given the kind of family he has and how he grew up, it is quite possible he has a disorder to cope with the situation, and it might have been there for long, maybe it showed up once you came in his life and he became very possessive of you.

But right now it's all a theory, I still need time to work on him, learn about him, run a few tests and then I can finally tell you why things are happening and once we find the problem, we will find a solution too, so you don't have to worry, I am here to help." She smiled.

"Okay, so what do I need to do now?"

"You'll need to bring him one more time, maybe on Friday? And can you convince this friend of yours, Aditya right? If he can come a long? I need to see a few things."

"Sure, I'll be here on Friday, thank you." I smiled as I stood up.

"Khushi. Whatever the case, don't leave his side, all he needs is just a little help and right now I think you are the only one he trusts." Roopa said to me.

"I am not leaving his side." I assured her with a smile as I headed out where Arnav was pacing around nervously.

"What did she say?" He asked as he rushed towards me when I walked out.

"She said there's isn't anything to worry about, we need to come back on Friday and she will see how to help us." I smiled at him.

"I am going to be okay right? I hope I'm not going crazy, if I am please don't leave me." He looked at me with moist eyes. I cupped his face and looked him into the eyes, I couldn't believe for a moment how much he loved me, even in all this he was worried about me more than himself.

"I am here with you Arnav and I'm not leaving you. You might love me a lot but I love you too, maybe less than you do but I am staying, I promise." I smiled at him.

"Thank you Khushi." He hugged me happily. As he held me into his arms, all I hoped was for things to turn out okay for us, I hoped he was going to get over whatever that was disturbing him and go back to being the Arnav I fell in love with.

*****

Arnav and I walked inside his house, his whole family was in the hall as usual, everyone staring at us like we were some criminals or something. Seriously I could understand why Arnav was like this, with such kind of a family, anyone could lose their mind, yet he was here, still living with them, still trying to love them despite all their flaws, what could be better than that?

We started heading upstairs when his father called him out.

"Arnav! Wait." There was dead silence after that, it seemed like everyone was scared of him. Arnav stopped and turned to look at him as he paced towards the both of us angrily.

"We need to talk about your behavior, it's getting out of hands." Mr. Ratan said.

"There's some confusion I think, it's not my behavior that's getting out of hands but yours." Arnav said as he looked back at him, he dint look like he was scared of his father like everyone else.

"This behavior will no longer be tolerated in this house. You can't just come with this girl here whenever you want and leave whenever you want or take her to your room and spend alone time with her.

How was she even brought up, how can she go into a man's room just like that, so respectful." He looked at me with utmost disgust.

"That's it! No one will ever utter a word against her." Arnav shouted angrily, for a moment, I was scared of him too.

"I am really ashamed to call you my son Arnav, you were always a rebel but now you've let me down very badly." He said.

"I am ashamed to call you my father too Mr. Ratan Raizada, if it were in my hands, I wouldn't but what can I do, I love you all despite everything, the bad part is, you never learnt to love me the same way. But you know what? I've got that love from Khushi, and I'm not going to let any of you take that away, not even you Ayush." Arnav said as he let my hand go and he walked towards Ayush, he stood face to face with him.

"Next time I find out you tried to put some nonsense in my mind by playing your stupid games, I promise I'll forget that you are my elder brother and punch you really hard. The only reason I am respecting you all is because no matter how horrible thoughts you have, you still are all my family." Arnav looked so sad and disappointed.

"All this years, I kept hoping that one day you will change, you will move forward like the entire world but now I am losing the hope." Arnav sighed.

There was a short silence and then he turned to look at Ishani.

"You aren't weak like me Ishani, you aren't tied to this Family like I am, I just wish you could stand up for yourself, please do that, because no one is going to give a damn about you in this house otherwise, not even your husband." Arnav said to her as he walked back towards me, grabbed my hand and pulled me along.

We both headed upstairs to his room, once we were inside, he fell down on his knees and broke down into tears.

This was the completely raw and vulnerable side of Arnav, the one that was trapped between loving his family and leaving his family, the one that dint know what to do, the one that was hurt today, too hurt that he broke down like this. Everything Dr. Roopa said was now making sense, whatever that was happening to him was because of his family, only if his family could see what they were doing to him.

"Arnav, you have to be strong please. You have always been, you can't get weak like this." I bent down on my knees.

"I am tired Khushi, all this feels like a heavy burden now. You see why I was battling myself whether to be with you or not? Because I dint want this for you.

I dint want you to go through all this drama, all the pain and to make it worse me becoming like them, I just don't know what to do anymore." He said sadly.

"You can't give up Arnav, I promised I will be with you, you have to be strong, we will get through this eventually, I promise." I assured him.

"No matter how many times I try, my family is always going to demotivate me, to pull me down Khushi. It's like I'm trapped in a cage and you know what the worst part is? I don't want to leave the cage no matter how horrible it is in there.

Do you think you'll ever be okay with that? Do you think I'll ever be the Arnav you loved?" he asked.

"I am sure you will, we have Dr. Roopa to help us Arnav, we will get over this and I will get back the Arnav I fell in love with."

"I don't even know if that guy exists Khushi. Maybe I was just this person the whole while wearing a mask, and now the mask has come off."

"Why would you say that Arnav?"

"Because I've done terrible things in the past too Khushi. I literally had you and Aditya break up. I planned it all, I hired that girl to kiss him. I was so obsessed with you like I am right now and I just wanted you so I did all I could to separate you two."

"What?" I looked at him in shock, did I just hear the right thing? No it couldn't be? Arnav wouldn't ever do anything like that. But if he wouldn't, why would he confess it? What was I supposed to do with this new information I had found out?