A re-imagining of New Year's Eve where Khushi and Arnav are in a secret relationship.
This is the first in a four-part series set in an AU where Arnav and Khushi are in a relationship that they're hiding from everyone.
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Later, Khushi stood next to him at the window, her hands wrapped around his bicep as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"This is what you call love. Aakash-ji did all this for Jiji."
He froze in the middle of replying to Aman's latest email, wondering if she was chiding him for not doing the same. Khushi noticed his sudden stillness and looked up in concern. Whatever she read in his eyes made her blink and step back, stumbling her way through an explanation.
"I just... I just m-meant that Aakash-ji must ... must l-l-love Jiji a lot. He t-took Jiji out tonight so th-they could see each other's faces at midnight."
"It's all filmy, stupid nonsense," Arnav untangled himself and took a few steps away from her, suddenly needing space.
Do you need a declaration? Do you need those stupid romantic gestures as proof of how I feel? Isn't it enough that I'm here tonight, that I snuck into your house and hid in your bedroom just to see you at midnight? Wasn't my offer of marriage enough?
"Arnav-ji?"
The way she took his name - softly, hesitantly - compelled him to turn around. Khushi tried to explain again, unaware that her every word was breaking his heart.
"It's the first night of the new year. Everyone is wishing their loved ones good fortune for the new year. They're making wishes for themselves and for those closest to them. They're forming new hopes and dreaming new dreams on this, the first night of the new year. And you ... you still think love itself is nonsense?"
Arnav swallowed convulsively.
Nonsense? How do I explain it to you? What I feel for you transcends your filmy, romantic idea of love. It changed me, inspired me to become a better man. A simple thing like love will never encompass how I feel.
He returned to Khushi, standing so close that she took a hasty step back, and explained in a low voice.
"The entire world is asking for something because the entire world is mad," he wondered if she heard the pain in his voice, "No one gets anything by asking for it. It's all nonsense. The world isn't made beautiful by some fake flowers and some stars. The world is as unfeeling and cold-hearted as it always was."
He watched as she processed what his words, watched as Khushi realized the depth of his mistrust in the world. When she opened her mouth to speak, he realized he didn't want to hear what she had to say.
