Addicted to you

Chapter Thirteen

This overwhelming, encompassing feeling is love. It's not perfect and it's messy as hell. And it's exactly what I need.

~~ Katie McGarry, Dare You To ~~

Present Day

Spain

The tens of hundreds of days and nights of relentless restlessness and loneliness that had been her sole companion for all these years vanished out in the thick air in an overnight. One glance, one word and one feather kiss was all it took for the dark clouds filled with confusion, insecurities, endless doubts and what ifs to burst out, cleansing her soul with its downpour. How her life in that moment stood out, contrasting every fact that had been tale-telling for centuries now, so long since the man had his first steps into this world?

Time – It heals all kinds of wounds. It helps you to move on. It teaches you everything and anything you'd ever need in life. It makes you strong. And it waits for no one.

No. Khushi thought vehemently. It was not time that helped her. It was never time. Twelve years were long enough to achieve those things that time promised. Yet, it was futile. As the handsome teenager once whispered to her as they watched the horizon at the distance through the window of her bedroom that late February evening – Time is a bitch disguised as an angel.

It was love that helped her to break up with Karan. It was love that made the decision and board the flight. It was all long his love that helped her to reach him.

Khushi stared at him as he extended his hand. This was the man she had loved when he was only a boy. This was the one she had blind faith in – that he would have everything in life that he ever desired for. That he would prove his worth, be the best in whatever it was that he did. And this was the same person who irritated her, annoyed and made her fall in love. She had expected him to be successful man who was a son who helped his father overcome the loss of their company and turned it into profits, a brother who had been the mother and father for his infant baby when he was hardly in his mid-teens – a friend who fights for and stands in front of his friends against the whole world – and a lover that respects and supports his woman, never letting anyone to point at her, even when it threatened his father's reputation.

He was the most beautiful person one could ever find – inside and out.

In all these years, she had drowned in her sorrows, immersing herself in guilt and self-pity. She loathed her very existence for not having the courage to stand up in front of her own family. She had failed as a daughter – for placing her parents in a situation where they bowed their heads in front of their families when the news of her kissing a boy was published. She had failed as a sister –not caring about her brother when all he wanted was to spend time with her. She had failed as a friend who was never there for her when Lavanya struggled with Rohan's indifference during his Med School. And she failed as a lover by not standing with Arnav when he needed her the most.

She was stupid and certified fool one could ever find – inside and out.

"Khushi"

She looked up at the low, painful whisper. She closed her eyes, feeling the warmth his palms provided as he cupped her face, his thumb wiping a lone tear she hadn't realized escaped from the corner of her eyes, a small smile dancing on his lips as he leaned in, rubbing her nose with his while his body rumbled against hers to his silent, suppressed chuckles.