Craving You- ARSHI

Part Eight

Italics- Flashbacks
Bold- Singing

Read with caution

Arnav skidded back on the floor, he stopped as his back hit something, he looked up slowly to see Khushi looking down at him.

What would she think of him? Would she see him as less than a man.

She looked up, scowling at the man at the door.
So this was the man, if you could even call him that.

She stepped around Arnav, toward the door "Get away from my house and dont you ever come back"
He cackled loudly

"Always had to get someone to fight your battles didnt you" he peered down, turned, then walked away.

Khushi slammed the door, locking it, she rested her head against it, trying to calm down her racing heart.
Then she turned around, not expecting the image she saw before her.

This was not the time for her to break down, he needed her now more than ever.

Arnav had stood up, his brow sweaty, he leaned against the wall "I just remembered I had work to do"

Work would help him forget, he wouldn't be a burden to her that way

Khushi stepped closer, very slowly
"Its okay, he's gone now"

The cold look in his eyes faded slowly to a broken one.
"Lets go sit down" she said calmly, though she didnt feel calm at all.
She had to be. For him.

XXX

Arnav gripped Khushi's hand tightly, his eyes shut, all he could see was him. The man who had taken away everything from him.

"Its okay to cry Arnav" she whispered

"Are you gonna cry now" he laughed

"It doesn't make you less of a man, you are the strongest man I know" she soothed

"Look at you, crying like a little girl, so weak, do you want me to stop" he crowed

Arnav opened his eyes, he looked down at Khushi, then led down in her lap, his shoulders shook as his sobs began to consume him

She raised her hand, stroking his hair, tears silently made their way down her cheeks
"Ive got you Arnav, I love you, I will always love you"

XXX

"So I heard you thought it was a good idea to try and tell your mother about our special nights, that wasn't a good idea was it, what will she think of you, she thought she had a son, and really she had a weak little girl"

He lowered himself, kneeling before Arnav, he grabbed his chin
"Oh dont cry, it wont make any of this better, but it may make things more enjoyable for me" he smiled conceitedley

He stood up then, his hand on that worn out leather belt, the smell of alcohol and leather the first sign it was another night his uncle would ruin for him

XXX

It was at times like this, he was that five year old boy who didnt understand his uncle's malicious glares and inconspicuous touches.

Then he was eight years old, lying on that bed, frozen in fear, all energy to fight completley drained out of him.

Then he was ten years old, being told he was a child that misbehaves and tells lies
"He'll grow out of those silly imaginations" he heard his family say when they sent him away to live with the only man who claimed to be able to handle him, his uncle