A Familiar Love- A Radhakrishn Retelling

7. 𝖴𝗇𝖺𝗇𝗌𝗐𝖾𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝖰𝗎𝖾𝗌𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌

"Maiya, is Kanha home?" A masculine voice rang through the house and a shuffle of footsteps was heard as Radha turned towards the source.

As soon as she saw him she was reminded of wrestlers, he had muscles the size of her face and looked like he could crush her skull with one arm but the sweet look on his face contrasted with that thought.

It was Krishn's brother.

"Yes dau, I am home" Krishn replied from beside her.

'Dau'? Why is this family living in ancient times? Next thing she's gonna find out that his elder brother's name is Balram, she thought, chuckling to herself.

"Hello, I'm Radha, your neighbour"

She watched as his eyes widened with recognition and his smile turned nostalgic, he looked at her with moist eyes. She grew increasingly frustrated when the familiar confusing feeling bubbled inside her.

"I'm Balram, Krishn's brother"

Radha felt faint, this seemed all too familiar, her eyes were wide as she stared at everyone in the room one by one. This cannot be a coincidence, yet her mind refused to believe what she already knew deep in her subconscious.

"Bal-? Krishn-? Par tum-, Oh my god" She grew hysterical as she pointed at them one by one.

"Radha beti, calm down. I know what you are thinking, I can't have you faint on me as so many before already have. It's a pure coincidence that I named my sons that."

Yashoda Maiya interrupted her chain of thought before it could escalate any further and brought her a glass of water.

Radha let out a sigh and relaxed a bit, but she could've sworn she saw Krishn wink at Balram before he turned to fully face them with an innocent look adorned on his face.

"You don't even know how many people have fainted and even tried to worship us before." Balram said while patting her head slightly.

She felt an overwhelming sense of deja vu as he did so but she felt happy at his brotherly aura, she always did want an elder brother.

"You can call me dau too if you want" He gave her a smile, as if reading her thoughts.

Radha smiled and nodded, she could feel a headache coming on so she took their leave and started the walk back to her house. Her mind was swarming unanswered questions that only kept growing day by day, all related to one single person, Krishn.

~

The next morning was no better, it was Monday and she hated Mondays and all these questions weighing on her mind about Krishn didn't make it any better and not being able to get much sleep did not help either.

She reached her bus stop to see Krishn, it had become sort of routine for him to always be there before her. He had his signature smile on his face, his hands were shoved in his pockets and his long hair flowed backwards as a gust of wind passed them.

It annoyed her how he always looked just so utterly mesmerising.

"You know, it's become a habit of yours to stare at me every morning" He smirked having caught her staring.

She quickly averted her eyes and cleared her throat.

"I wasn't staring" She mumbled as Krishn let out a laugh.

They boarded the bus and Krishn as usual took a seat next to her, she sighed and leaned her head on the window not noticing Krishn's concerned gaze. All she wanted to do was fall asleep but she knew she wouldn't fall asleep, she just couldn't in moving vehicles specially buses but somehow that day her eyes closed on their own and she found herself sleeping soundly.

She was woken up by a hand shaking her ever so slightly, still sleepy, she gazed up from what she thought was a comfortable pillow to see his honey gold eyes staring at her with that look again.

She quickly got away from his shoulder, her supposed pillow, and looked around the bus hoping no one saw them in that position. The last thing she needed right now was rumours building up. She let out a scoff, she was angry at herself, she couldn't believe she had ended up in the same situation twice now.

"We're about to reach school." Krishn informed, a small sentence filled with so much longing, almost begging her to remember, remember the time she used to lay her head on his shoulder and not care about the world.

Radha nodded and looked out the window, her mind confused. How had she actually managed to fall asleep on a bus and that too on his shoulder? Again? She glanced at Krishn, eyes swimming with questions that he couldn't answer, not yet.

~

"She's so wary of you Kanha, how are you gonna make her remember?" Balram asked when he saw Krishn resting on the swing on their terrace that day. He laid in a reclining position as the swing moved back and forth, swinging his flute between his fingers.

"She'll remember dau, but for now, I'm going to have some fun" Krishn let out a mischievous laugh, the one that makes Yashoda Maiya get a headache.

"Achha Kanha, have your fun, but if Radha comes to me for help I will not hold back"

"Haan haan, of course, she's the one you actually love, I'm just a placeholder." Krishn said, mock anger on his face.

"Oh shut up, you always throw me under the bus whenever you get in trouble, of course I love Radha more than you" Balram laughed and went inside the house.

Krishn smiled as he looked at his flute and stared at the starry sky.

"You've yet to hear this flute Radha, the one which only ever calls your name, the one which you made for me, all those years ago in Vrindavan. You made me promise before you left, that the first time you hear this flute should be magnificent, that moment is near now Radha. Just wait a little more."

He smiled, his eyes reflecting the twinkle of the stars above.

Radha too sat on her terrace just three houses over, unable to sleep for the second night in a row she had sneaked up to the terrace to clear her head. Her eyes were locked onto the sky in wonder, she had never seen so many stars in the sky, it looked absolutely magnificent. She leaned back on the small cot and thought about him and all the overwhelming feelings she had felt since she had met him.

A strange sort of peace had settled over her heart since she had met him and she couldn't understand why when all he did was pick fights with her. She hated feeling so confused all the time, she hated all the things he made her feel, she hated how he brought out the anger she so desperately tried to hide, she hated how their names complimented each other, she hated how peaceful she felt in his arms. She sighed in frustration and decided to stop thinking about everything so much, she will now allow things to flow and will go with it.

~

Author's Note,

Hello, I decided to update this chapter way before I planned to because I just got so happy to see the response for this book. Thank you for all the support, keep voting and supporting.

This is just a filler chapter, a lot more exciting things lie ahead so please be patient as I finish up my exams, once again thank you so much for the support lovely people.