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1. Abhi

It had only been a day since they returned home after the kidnapping, but Abhi was already missing life in the jungle.

At least there he'd had time and space to just breathe.

Ever since he got back, people had been crowding him and asking him questions and trying to take care of him. If it wasn't Daadi pinching his cheeks to see how much weight he'd lost, it was Purab talking his ear off about how he should get a security team. Or it was Aakash wanting to tell him about the new endorsements coming in, or Mithali Bhabhi with some nonsensical home remedy for chest wounds. Or worst of all, Tanu with her excessive tears and too-tight hugs and overwhelming perfume.

The only person who gave him space was Fuggi, which he was glad about, because he had no idea how to behave with her anymore.

What she'd said at the lake hadn't actually surprised him. He already knew that she loved him. Ever since he'd gone to jail for her mother's hall, Fuggi had become more tolerant and forgiving of his every slight. She met mockery with sweetness, contempt with understanding, and impatience with a serenity bordering on sainthood.

She'd even been willing to leave him - for his own good, not hers. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the woman was far more attached to him than she should be.

What he hadn't known was that she...wanted him.

When he'd walked in on her clutching his shirt, daydreaming with that faraway look on her face...he hadn't wanted to believe it meant what it looked like. But then her cheeks had crimsoned with embarrassment when she saw him, and she wouldn't look into his eyes.

That was when he realized, Fuggi actually desired him. As a man, not just as her husband.

And from the way she tried to hide the fact that she'd been fantasizing, Abhi knew that Fuggi was never going to just come out and tell him that she wanted more from him. She was never going to make a move on her own, despite his jokes about her endangering his virtue.

She was never going to make it a problem for him.

And yet it already was.

Because what was he supposed to do now?

He couldn't imagine his life without Fuggi anymore. At least to himself he could be honest - he too had somehow grown more attached to her than he should have done. The thought of losing her - for any reason - was more than he could bear.

She was Fuggi, and she was meant to be at his side, simple as that.

But it was also true that she was never supposed to have been at his side at all. Their whole marriage was a mistake, a plan gone wrong from day one. How could he commit to a woman he'd never meant to choose in the first place?

She wasn't supposed to be his wife.

He'd never even wanted to have a wife.

And now to have one, who wanted him, but he wasn't sure how much he wanted her in return...Truth be told, it made him mad at Fuggi. She wasn't supposed to fall in love with him, and she wasn't supposed to make him get attached to her. Why did she have to...be herself and ruin everything?

And then of course there was the problem of Tanu.

Actually, Fuggi's words in the jungle had clarified the matter for him. Before her confession he'd been thinking that there might still be a way for him and Tanu to have a future together. But now that he knew exactly how Fuggi saw him, and now that he couldn't see a life without Fuggi in it, it was clear to him that there was no room for Tanu in his life anymore.

He knew he'd come to the right conclusion when his first reaction was not regret for having to disappoint Tanu, but relief that he'd no longer have the headache of dealing with two women in his life.

He wanted to tell Tanu that things were over between them, but there just hadn't been a chance yet. So she kept hanging around the house, kept trying to be alone with him, kept throwing herself at him and making him look bad in front of Fuggi and the rest of the family.

Obviously he had to find a way to end that relation before settling things with Fuggi.

But that still left Abhi in a dilemma about how to interact with Fuggi in the meantime. He just felt so awkward, knowing that she had such deep feelings for him, but he couldn't say he had the same feelings for her. On top of that, knowing that she wanted physical attention from him made it impossible for him to just be neutral around her.

Until he could face her with a clear conscience, he felt like he couldn't face her at all. But it felt stupid to act like a thief in his own house, hiding from her and playing cat and mouse games of avoidance.

And also, there was this small problem at the back of his mind...he realized that he could be attracted to Fuggi. Maybe, just a little. Or a lot.

That stupid red sari...he'd been in no condition to do anything about it but...it had definitely inspired some dangerous thoughts.

It showed more of her than he'd ever gotten to see before, even though she was technically fully dressed while wearing it. The curve of her waist, the smooth skin of her bare back, the confusingly long lines of her petite body...he couldn't un-see any of it.

She was back in her chatris now. But that didn't help, because he knew what they were hiding.

And he couldn't let himself have such thoughts. Fuggi was not the kind of girl you could go to just for...physical fun. If he wanted that with her, he'd have to have the rest with her too. Really accept her as his wife, for now and for always.

And he just...wasn't ready for that.

And he wasn't free of Tanu yet anyway.

So all he could do was avoid. Avoid the question, avoid the answer, and avoid Fuggi.

So in a way it was good that his house was full of people who wouldn't leave him alone.

And yet, he did still wish he could be back in the jungle, where life had been so much simpler.