Intertwined Fates -- An IPKKND FanFic

Explosions in the Night

Arnav was ready to explode. At Lavanya's insistence, they had kicked the plan up another notch.

For the rest of the week, he and Khushi didn't have a second alone. If they sat next to each other, somebody would make one of them get up. If he even said her name, someone would interrupt, preventing him from speaking. One night, they even took her away from his room so that the girls could have a "sleep-over."

It was driving him insane. He wanted nothing more than to be closer to her, to share moments like that night in the kitchen. But they weren't letting that happen.

Damn you, Daksh, he thought.

But hopefully, this wouldn't last much longer. Lavanya was coming to the house so they could implement the next step.

Arnav pushed his hair back as he thought back to what Lavanya had told them all in his office yesterday. "This is absolutely crucial. Subhadra must not suspect a thing."

Damn it. The pressure was on. What if he stumbled? What if he let something slip?

"Are you nervous?" Khushi asked, bringing him back to the present.

"Don't worry," Arnav said stiffly. "I won't mess up."

Khushi rolled her eyes. "I wasn't implying that. You've been doing a good job of acting up until now, and I'm sure you'll do fine."

He smirked. "That's because I haven't been acting."

She smacked his arm lightly. "You never give up a moment to flirt, do you?"

"Why would I? Especially when it's so much fun to see you blush."

"I don't blush."

"You should look at your face now," he said. "Even your nose is red." He reached out to tap it, but she dodged and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Bhai," Akash called from outside. "Lavanya Ji is here."

Arnav scowled. He was getting really, really tired of being interrupted. But in a way, it was good because these were the exact emotions he needed to channel.

"Officer Lavanya, what brings you here?" Anjali was saying as they walked into the living room.

"I called her here," Arnav said.

"Why?" Devyani asked.

"Because I'm sick and tired of not getting a moment alone with my wife. All of you are so overbearing!"

"Arnav Ji," Khushi scolded.

"Hello hi, bye bye," Mamiji exclaimed, offended. "What have we ever done to you? Payal and Akash are in this house also. You don't see them complaining."

"What do they have to complain about? They got to go on a honeymoon. They work together in the office every day."

"Well, what do you suppose we should do?" Anjali asked sarcastically. "Hire Khushi Ji in our office?"

"No, but you could at least let us go on our honeymoon."

"Arnav bitwa," Manohar pacified. "We don't want to stop you from going. But you know what the situation is right now; it's not safe."

"Actually Mamaji, that's why we called Lavanya here," Khushi said nervously. "We were hoping we could find a safe way to do something. Not much–just a few days alone."

"Unbelievable," Subhadra muttered. "Now the bahus of the house will shamelessly decide when they go on honeymoons themselves."

Everyone ignored her.