Skin

Part 22- Same But Different

"What the hell do you want?" Khyati asked rudely as she opened the door to see Rishi standing in front of her.

"Is this any way to talk to your husband?" Nirmala asked sternly, as she came out from behind Rishi.

"Uh- Mommm-." Khyati said with an awkward chuckle, semi-glaring at Rishi for not telling her that Nirmala was there too while Rishi gave her an 'I did try to tell you but you didn't let me' look.

"Uh, Mom is that all you have to say?" Nirmala asked sternly as she entered the room fully, reaching over to grab Khyati's ear.

"Oww Mom it hurts." Khyati said wincing in pain as Nirmala twisted her ear.

"Good, it should. What did you just say to him?" Nirmala asked as she twisted her ear harder, Khyati trying to get out of her hold but with no success.

"Maaji let her go, she didn't mean it like that." Rishi said coming to Khyati's aid, while Khyati tried to not let her surprise show.

"Then how did she mean it?" Nirmala asked curiously, still holding on to Khyati's ear, but no longer twisting it.

"She's always doing things... for me... so when I came she probably thought that I was going to ask her to do something... and it's very late at night so she's sleepy... and cranky." Rishi explained awkwardly, as Nirmala smiled softly and let go of Khyati's ear, knowing what Rishi was trying to do, while Khyati just looked at him with an undefinable expression.

"But still what about the ice cream you know how bad it is to eat ice cream in the winter?" Nirmala asked sternly, confusing Khyati.

"Oh... actually Maaji... I lied... the ice cream was for me." Rishi explained awkwardly, nervously running a hand through his hair.

"Oh, so that's what was going on here." Nirmala said knowingly with a teasing smile.

"Well, it doesn't matter who wanted it no one is getting the ice cream." Nirmala said as she took the ice cream container from Rishi's hands, quickly leaving the room with a soft smile, while Khyati and Rishi just gave her confused looks.

******
Meghna and Kunal did not how they got here, but they had moved and now suddenly they were standing in the middle of the room that was once theirs, taking in their surroundings with tears streaming down their faces but with bright smiles.

"Everything is the same, nothing has changed." Kunal said happily as he looked around the room to see everything just like they had left it.

"Nothing has changed." Meghna said in a mere whisper, shocked for some reason, to which Kunal looked at her in confusion for a bit, but then his lips lifted into a bright smile as he realized what she had noticed.

"You're right, my Topper. Nothing has changed nor this room nor your Cheeku, because she didn't remove anything from this room like you thought she did." Kunal said happily as he back-hugged Meghna, while she just looked at him with an undefinable expression.

And unbeknownst to Kunal and Meghna someone was standing outside the room, listening to their conversation, and when the person turned around to leave it was none other than Sandhya.

'No, no, this can't happen, the misunderstandings that I spent months creating, can't be resolved in a day.' Sandhya thought to herself determinedly as she angrily walked away.

******
"Bua ma, what kind of question did you ask me?" NK asked with a heavy sigh.

"The right question. Tell me what is wrong. What happened to this family?" Dadi asked worriedly.

"I don't even know where to begin to tell you that." NK said as he looked down at the floor in guilt.

"Start from the beginning. My Nanu tell me what is wrong?" Dadi said worriedly as she cupped NK's face in both hands to get him to look at her.

"I can't." NK said in a mere whisper as he lightly shook his head in a no gesture, a few tears falling from his eyes.

"You call me Bua ma, don't you? But you must not think of me as your mother if you can't tell me what happened, children don't hide things from their mother." Dadi said as a few tears fell from her eyes too.

"No- Bua ma I-." NK began to say, trailing off mid-sentence, surprising Dadi as he put his head in her lap, his tears falling freely now.

"Everything is wrong, everything is wrong Bua ma. Nothing is right, and I have no idea how to make it right." NK admitted guiltily, tears streaming down his face, as Dadi gently ran a hand through his hair repeatedly to get him to calm down.

'Even if it isn't, we will make it right.' Dadi thought to herself determinedly, as she worriedly looked at NK's broken state, asking no more questions for the time being.

******
"Naina shush, Meghna bhabhi didn't mean it, she didn't mean it." Karan whispered reassuringly into Naina's ear as her body shook from the force of her sobs in Karan's embrace.

"Yeah there... calm down you're okay." Karan said with a small smile, gently stroking the back of her head as he felt Naina relax a little and heard her sobs turning into small hiccups from where her face was hiding in his shoulder.

But then Karan's smile fell, his gentle hand behind Naina's head stilled, and he slowly unwrapped his arms around Naina, turning away from her with a conflicted expression.

"Karan-." Naina began to say hopefully.

"Not a word Ms. Chauhan. I'm tired, I'm going to bed. You can sleep on the couch until Kunal bhai and Meghna bhabhi are here, I don't want them to be suspicious." Karan said leaving no room for argument, as he quickly walked inside the bathroom and shut the door behind him before Naina could even say anything.

*****
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