Chapter 12 - In His Protective Bubble

~ No harm will ever come to you. Not from me, not from anyone else. And while I'm here, no word of mine will ever hurt you - Edge of Love ~

"WHAT!?" Arnav exclaimed, his eyes a charred caramel, burning with anger, his hands clenched into fists and controlled at his sides for fear that if he loosened his muscles for even a second that he would pounce forward and throttle Shashi with his bare hands. He looked down, away, not wanting to lash out just yet, keeping his irrupting anger at bay.

Shashi stood in mortified silence, the only audible sounds his pounding heart and Arnav's loud raspy breaths. He felt his feet slowly edging away, on their own accord, ebbing away from the man standing in front of him, only the contours of his face alighted by the cutting beams of his SUV. But his eyes stood out, the dark molten lava like orbs danced with fury and it feared Shashi to the core. He was not new to Arnav Singh Raizada's anger, nor what he was capable of doing but he would surely spare Shashi for need of sorting the more important issue at hand. Shashi felt his heart stutter and splutter between beats as he anticipated for what Arnav would say or do next.

Arnav closed his eyes, his breaths loud and ragged whilst his heart hammered in his chest, its beats echoing through his ears. "Think Arnav think, breathe Arnav. Khushi needs you right now, you can sort this man out later," he thought to himself, attempting to clear the blinding rage that was only seconds away from engulfing him completely. His eyes snapped open, his heart beat slowly pacing back to normal as he zeroed in once more on Shashi Gupta.

"So let me get this straight," he spoke through gritted teeth, his whole body pulsating with controlled anger, "you," he took another deep breath in, controlling himself even further, "you sold your daughter so you could keep your COMPANY?!" His voice becoming louder with each word until at the end of the sentence he was at the same level of anger he had attempted to control only seconds ago.

Shashi moved a shaky step back as Arnav took a threatening step forward, "no... no," he stuttered.

Arnav stood seething with anger, his every muscle flexed, like a lion awaiting to attack its prey.

"I...I," Shashi continued, trying to find the best way to put it forward without enraging Arnav even further. "Arnav," he struggled, his words shaky and quiet, "I thought they were in a relationship... I... I didn't think there would be anything wrong in agreeing to get them married off," he finished off finally, the last few words coming out a shaky whisper.

Arnav pounced on Shashi suddenly, Shashi's knees nearly buckling from the impact as Arnav took a hold of him by the collar, his hot breath on Shashi's face, beads of sweat trickling down and his breath almost halting. Shashi looked into dangerously dark eyes as they bore into him. "And so you signed a FUCKING CONTRACT!?" Arnav screamed, not loosening his grip even for a second, every brink of self control completely leaving him. Shashi placed his hands on Arnav's, attempting to calm him down, "Arnav..." He choked out, "Kh... Khushi," and felt Arnav's hands loosen almost immediately, before he was pushed back and let go of completely. Shashi stumbled back and fell to the floor and watched, a slow relief washing through his heart as Arnav walk off and got into the SUV...

****

"Khushi, can I meet you somewhere?" Khushi's eyes flew open as instant anger flared through her, the cheek of this man!

"No! You cannot!" She exclaimed into the phone, already taking it away from her ear to disconnect it.

"No Khushi... Just listen to me," she heard his voice and her blood boiled with anger and disgust, how dare he? And why had she even picked up the call? She had thought that at least he'd been phoning to own up to his mistake, to call off the wedding. She took a deep breath in, then placed the phone to her ear once more, maybe he was calling to explain himself.

"What is it? Say what you have to say on the phone, I don't have time to meet you in person!" She snapped back at him as she stuffed another folded pair of jeans into her bag.

"No Khushi I need to meet you now. And why are you in such a hurry?" His voice came through gruff, his tone now changed to demanding, controlling once more. Khushi's eyes narrowed to slits, anger spilling out of her once more.

"WHAT?! You want to meet me now?! I'm going back to Aberdeen! So say what you have to say and be done with it!" She wiped away angry tears from her face and placed another three tops in her bag.

"WHAT?!" Aakash shouted back in an equally loud tone, his eyes widening in disbelief. "Khushi how dare you leave without even telling me? Don't forget that we are still getting married!" He exclaimed, fury building up inside him. Why was it always difficult with Khushi?

Khushi's eyes widened instantly and her hand gripped tightly around the phone as she threw the items in her hand to the floor, turning around to face the window. "HOW DARE YOU?!" She screamed, "HOW DARE YOU still expect me to get married to you! You know what?!" She heard him attempting to reply but cut him off, she didn't have time to play stupid games, she had been playing enough! "You can get to hell! You and that slut that you spend every night with! And make sure you don't ever! EVER show your face in front of me again unless you want your fucking eye balls clawed out!" She yelled into the phone and without listening to any further cut the call off, her whole body racking with the anger flowing through her.

****

"Ma! It's not working! She won't come!" Aakash shouted into the phone, his words coming out in a jumble, his breathing fast and the bones of his body nervously racketing off of each other.

On hearing which Arundathi immediately stood up, clenching tightly onto her phone for fear that it may otherwise drop to the floor "What!? What the hell are you saying Aakash? Why won't she meet you?" Arundathi exclaimed into the phone, her heart pounding with anxiety.

"Ma she seems to have found out about me and Payal," his fingers were clammy against the phone and he wiped his forehead from the sweat now gathering on it, threatening to trickle down his face.

"I give you one thing! One thing to do and you mess it up?! You jackass?! Put the phone down! Now I need to come up with another plan!" She screamed and cut the phone off, immediately tapping in the number that she now knew off by heart. "Shyam? Yes forget about Arnav, we'll sort him out another day. Right now I want the same thing but the target is Khushi Kumari Gupta," she whispered the name, not sure if Arnav was lurking about in the house or not. She could never be sure but she would finish this game today once and for all!

****

"Khushi!"

Khushi turned around suddenly, her heart hitching in her throat for a second as she looked on at the figure that had just stumbled in through the door, the tears trailing down her face obscuring her view of his chiseled face slightly. She looked from the broken door to the tall form in front of her, taking in his face dripping with concern through tear-filled eyes as they brimmed up further with relief. She looked into those melting pools of brown, how they glinted ever so slightly in the light and time seemed to come to a stand still. She felt her heart thud and then begin to gallop in her chest, the speed of it almost painful, the pulses it created loud and pounding on her skin. She closed her eyes momentarily, letting the tears that had gathered spill out and streak down her cheeks, a slow hopeful smile spreading over her lips and without so much as a second thought she ran into his arms, breathing in his smell as her hands grabbed at his shirt, reassuring herself that he was in fact there in the flesh, that he was there to save her. She rested her head on the hard planes of his chest, her body already moulding into his as she felt his arms wound protectively around her slender body, pulling her in closer, his face resting in the hollow of her neck, his breath against her skin, their heart beats thudding in the same reckless rhythm.

"Khushi," Arnav whispered, his husky voice breaking through her muffled sobs as he pulled her closer, his fingers running through her hair as a slow smile of relief played over his lips. At that moment he wanted to hide her in his arms forever, protect her from his world. He took large, loud breaths as he let her warm tears seep through his shirt, he let her subtle floral smell engulf him, opening up his every pore, true relief washing over him, his face moving into her hair and placed a slow gentle kiss as her fingers tightened around his shoulders, her nails almost digging into his flesh.

He's not who I love

When suddenly her words from earlier came back to him once more, his head automatically moving away from her hair.

For once properly look into what I just said

He tightened his eyes closed, willing the words to leave his mind but felt his arms loosen around her of their own accord, sure that she was taking it the wrong way. He tried to pull away but her soft fingers dug into his flesh, her arms instead tightening their grip on him as he felt the anguish of a torn mind burn through him, but he'd control himself this one last time and then tell her of his decision. If he could.

"I don't know what she'll do Arnav!"

"What if she kills her?"  

His arms tightened around her once more, out of fear, needing to feel that she was still there.

"What if they do something worse?!"

His eyes snapped open as Shashi's words echoed through his mind. What was he doing? He needed to act fast! He started pulling away again, attempting to remove her hand from his shoulder when she pulled back and stared back into his eyes. A distant fear lurking in them, her confidence now wavering as she looked at him almost accusingly. He opened his mouth then closed it again, for not being able to find the right words, his eyes leaving her gaze and aiming to the floor, suddenly needing more space to breathe. Her hand moved up to his face, the softness of her warm fingers against his rugged skin sending ripples of calm through him and he watched from the corner of his eyes as they trailed up his jawline then froze.

"Khushi Arnav!" Garima's scream tore through the room as they stepped back suddenly, Arnav's eyes quickly took in the look of sheer terror in Garima's face as Khushi stared on in shock and confusion.

"Someone's at the door! Leave! Now!"

Arnav's eyes almost shot out as he took in the words, the meaning of them hitting him a few milliseconds later as he rapidly sprang out of the slight daze, harshly grabbing at Khushi's arm. She looked up at him now, the confusion building.

"Now! Leave! Please!" Garima cried as the pounding on the door increased.

"Wh..What? Wh...Where are we going?" Khushi croaked out, her throat suddenly dry and parched, not able to comprehend anything that was going on.

"I'll explain later. Right now we need to leave!" Arnav almost shouted, tugging her arm and as she refused to move, forcefully pulled her towards the window.

"No! What the hell is going on?!" She managed to shout, grabbing at his hand to loosen his hold, her feet dragging beneath her when he stopped, abruptly.

"Just!" He took a deep breath, "Just trust me okay?" He finally sighed out, those burnt caramel eyes saying it all and she nodded in silence, tears spilling out of her own eyes.

"Aunty?" He turned around suddenly, looking Garimas way but Garima shook her head, tears pooling in her eyes. "I'll be fine," she assured him and gestured for them to leave.

"Khushi," his voice was hoarse as he hoisted her up and placed her on the windowsill, then pulled himself up next to her, he then lifted her and placed her on the other side, then jumped out himself, seconds before a group of men led by Shyam Jha broke through the doors of the Gupta house.

~ A fight is like a fire. You think you have it under control, you think you can stop it whenever you want, but before you know it, it's a living, breathing thing and there's no controlling it and you were a fool to think you could. - Jenny Han, We'll Always Have Summer ~