TejRan- Gehraiyaan

Part 1

Author's note

I know I know! I should be updating my other 2 stories. I will. I just had to get this out of my head first. Thank you for everything. I really appreciate the feedback. They motivate me.

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Karan kept silently chanting as his eyes remained on Tejasswi on stage. He hadn't even chanted like this a few minutes ago before he lost his chance to win the Bigg Boss trophy. Maybe he should have. If he had chanted harder than he would be standing on the other side of Salman Khan like he had dreamed, like they had dreamed. He was feeling restless inside. A nauseating feeling overwhelmed him. He felt he might throw up at any moment. He felt dizzy. Everything was blurry and he couldn't see him to see anything or hear anything clearly, except for her. Teja, in her beautiful black swan dress, standing beside Salman as a finalist, she still made sense. 

Salman Khan was taking too long. Once he would raise Pratik's hand and next second Teja's. Karan was feeling extra frustrated with the delay tactics, they felt cruel. They had given him false hopes before crushing them down.

"And the winner is Tejasswi Prakash"

Karan heard the words but it didn't register until the confetti were showering on Tejasswi and she was laughing from joy. SHE WON! He got up on his feet and clapped for her. She won! She actually won. He always knew she would win. He blew flying kisses at her. It took every bit of his strength to not run up to her and take her into his arms.

"Sabse bada thank you Sunny, I love you. Yeh puri journey kuch nahi hoti tere bina. I love you, I love you, I love you. Baby I love you!" Teja said, looking at him. Salman Khan was telling to end it and trying to take her mic away but she continued "This is ours. This is ours. This is our victory!"

If Karan didn't feel so pathetic at that moment he would've laughed. What a woman, his fucking Sherni. There was absolutely no one like this woman on earth. At least he hadn't met someone like her. He couldn't imagine anyone else on that set denying Salman the mic when he was asking for it.

A few moments later everyone was allowed on the stage. Teja's dad ran towards her first, then her mom. Vidhi went to her next, then Vishal, Nishant...everyone. He wanted to grab her and move to a corner where there would be no one but the two of them. He wanted her to look at him and tell him it was all okay so his heart would stop beating so fast. Her eyes met his amidst the small crowd of people in front of her. There was a smile on her face but the eyes gave away her true thoughts. She was as devastated for him as he was. Someone was talking to her but it was clear she was not listening. Just like he was not listening to what Salman Khan was saying to him. She was slowly making her way towards him. Suddenly he didn't know whether he wanted to run toward her or away from her.

"Sunny, are you okay?" her words must have been very low because he couldn't hear it over the music and the people. But he knew that is what she asked.

She leaned into him. He put his arm around her tiny waist and pulled her into his arms. He held her as tightly as he could without crushing her bones. He wanted to breathe her in, surround himself with nothing but her presence. He held her for as long as possible before she practically got dragged away from him by others. Everyone needed something from the winner tonight. Karan smiled at her reassuringly as she looked back at him. 





Karan was in another world when he entered his room. It was just as he had left it, except a lot cleaner. He collapsed on the floor by his bed and put his head between his knees. He didn't drink enough beer to be drunk. It's just after the night he had it had hit differently. Everything felt fucked up. This is not what tonight was supposed to be like. He was supposed to celebrate the night away with Teja at Salman's party but he couldn't even bring himself to attend it. He felt a type of misery he wasn't used to. It was a combination of anger, hopelessness, loss, self-doubt...everything. 

He should've been there by Teja's side, he should have plastered on his best fake smile and gone through the night with her. He knew she would have seen right through him like she always did. He didn't want his misery to ruin her night of glory. She had earned every bit of this night. One hundred and twenty days of struggle and perseverance got her to this victory. He wanted to call her but he realized he doesn't even have her number. They had parted before he had a chance to ask her. He realized he was missing her terribly. Karan almost laughed as he came to a new realization. Misery would've hit differently if she was here. Everything hits differently when she is around him.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. His mom called him to eat. It was 3 AM, he was a bit tipsy. Food seemed to be the last thing he wanted but he ate anyway. His mom made the best Idli Sambar in the world, however tonight he felt as if he couldn't taste anything. He finished dinner quickly and bid his parents good night. He changed into his night pajamas and got into bed.

The bed felt like a stranger. It didn't even smell like him anymore. These sheets were new. He thought about how he didn't make it into the top two. A type of self-doubt he never thought existed crept into his head. He thought of the headlines he would see tomorrow, 'Karan Kundrra, who has run so many reality shows, humiliated by coming third'. 'Karan Kundrra the mentor, loses to his student'. Karan didn't know when he fell asleep with his thoughts. He woke up when he heard his dad loudly calling his name. It was still pitch dark so he woke up startled. 

"Tejasswi aayi hai." He heard his dad saying. He must've heard it wrong, then he heard her voice.