Khushi walked to the front confidently posing for the camera. A nervous yet beautiful smile graced her lips. As soon as she reached the edge of the stage, She stepped on something uneven. Arnav chose that exact moment to look back at the stage only to find Khushi stumbling on her step. Arnav widened his eyes, running into the direction of the stage.

Khushi fell right into his waiting arms, 

Eyes Closed

Lips trembling

Arnav's hold on her petite form tightened on instinct and he pulled her closer. Khushi's hand flew to the lapels of his coat. 

A current passed through both their bodies all at once.

Khushi opened her eyes, only to reveal the exact same shade of hazel that had been haunting the dreams of Arnav for over a decade.

Khushi opened her eyes, only to gaze right into the exact same shade of chocolate she had been dreaming of before she had caught onto the concept of dreaming.

And the world fell silent.

The two froze.

***

The four siblings rushed to the front stage, "Arnie.." They exclaimed in unison breaking the trance that their brother had slipped into.

Arnav looked around, the ground was filled with spectators who were by then engrossed in hushed whispers. He looked down at the girl he was holding, a curious mix of innocent fright reflected in her hazel orbs. 

A strange sense of Deja-vu hit him as his hold on her tightened even more. 

Alok tapped his shoulder, "Arnav--" 

Arnav sighed noiselessly, unwilling to let go of the girl in his arms, but he knew that he had to, for he couldn't risk creating a scene. 

Arnav lowered her to the ground, gently and held her hand.

"Are you okay?" He whispered to her, concern overpowering every other emotion that he felt at the moment. 

Khushi nodded shakily, "I don't know.. how--" 

Another Deja-Vu

"Is everything okay?" Pragya asked Khushi pulling the latter to face herself.

"Are you okay Khushi, Did you get hurt?" Alok asked worriedly

"I don't know Pragya, I tripped on something." Khushi explained frantically.

"Tripped?" 

"The surface was uneven, I really don't know what happened. I didn't--" 

Khushi was standing with her head bowed down. 

"It's alright. Don't worry Khushi, It was only an accident." Alok said kindly

"I'm sorry Alok." Khushi whispered 

Alok smiled, patting her head. "Go to the green-room. It's okay. It was just an accident." He assured her and pushed her towards the green-room.

***

"Arnie, you okay buddy?" Pragya asked worriedly, walking up to her brother who hadn't spoken a word to any of them since they had come to the green room.

"Yes." The monosyllable seemed to have escaped his lips with great effort.

"It was not her fault Arnie. You're not blaming her, are you?" Jane asked 

"I'm not. The truth remains though, that the show was ruined." Arnav said emotionlessly.

"The show was not ruined Arnie, It was just about to end." Pragya reminded him.

"What did you trip on, Miss. Greene?" Arnav asked Khushi, who was sitting next to Alok.

"I don't know.. It felt like marbles or pebbles or something." She replied, knowing that she had no way of proving that, to any of them.

Arnav nodded. "Let's go out. Mumma must be waiting for us to introduce Khushi to her." Ne said 

Khushi looked at him wide-eyed, "W-What?" 

"You're Jay's best friend, Khushi. This event or its results won't change that." Aron told her. "Our family is very eager to meet you."

"Let's go and get you acquainted with the Raizada Family." Alok and Aron pulled her by her arms and took her out leaving Arnav to roll his eyes at the boys.

***

Arnav sighed, fighting the urge to roll his eyes at his sisters who were busy telling their family about their Khushi.

"Did you notice though, the way Arnie and Khushi met?" Aron chirped in

"What a perfect coincidence. I mean, I don't think we can even let this pass as a mere coincidence. It's impossible not to take this as a sign." Jane exclaimed dramatically.

"What sign?" Arnav asked irritated at the meaningless chatter of his siblings.

"That you're going to re-write ArShi's love story." The siblings chorused.

"There is ASR" Pragya gestured to him.

"There's KKG." Jane Added.

"It's official!!" The boys exclaimed 

"Excuse me?" Arnav frowned 

"Isn't it obvious? You met your Khushi the same way Bade-Papa met his Khushi and our Masi." Alok smiled at him innocently.

"Look, that doesn't make any sense. Besides, She's not 'My Khushi' she's just.. just Khushi." Arnav said, sounding unconvinced to his own ears.

"Of course it makes sense Arnie, Does it not Bua?" Pragya asked Anjali who nodded absently.

"Look! Even Bua agrees." Aron exclaimed.

"Mumma!" Arnav whined 

Jane, Pragya, Aron and Alok chuckled at his expression.

Anjali looked at him, "They're right, as a matter of fact, You and Khushi met exactly the same way. The only difference was that this time Arnav didn't overreact or demean Khushi in front of a huge audience." Anjali said softly.

"ASR had misunderstood Khushi to be hired to ruin his show." Aman informed his son. 

"Obviously I knew Miss Greene wasn't planted by anyone. It was only an accident." Arnav said calmly. 

"It was an accident even in ASR and Khushi's case, but at that time he wasn't ready to see reason." Aman said matter of factly. 

"Why?" 

Aman chuckled, "I don't know." 

"At least this time the 'love story' hasn't started with a misunderstanding." Pragya smiled mischievously.

"There is no 'love story'  poori." Arnav said forcing himself to remain calm.

"That we'll have to see." Pragya said with a challenging glint.

"At least stop calling her Miss Greene, She's.. our friend." Jane said softly. 

"Not mine."

"You'll love her, when you get to know who she is, I'm sure." Aron spoke confidently.

"And she's KKG, what's there not to love?" 

"She's not KKG. Its Khushi Greene. K-G" Arnav informed.

"T'is  Khushi Katherine Greene. She has a middle name too. Katherine. That makes her, K-K-G" Jane informed him.

Arnav looked at her, at a loss of words to retaliate with.

***

Arnav was entering the cafeteria when someone collided with him. A shriek escaped her throat.

"Careful!" Arnav steadied her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I.. I'm sorry." Khushi grabbed his shirt for support.

Arnav's breath hitched, as the sound of her voice reached his ears. 

"What the heck?" Arnav snapped at her.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Khushi apologized, looking innocently beautiful.

"You're okay?" Arnav asked

Khushi nodded.

"Are you normally this clumsy or am the only one lucky enough to witness this side of yours?" Arnav enquired keenly.

"I-I actually was in a hurry." Khushi explained frantically. 

Arnav looked at her amused, “Are you now?” 

Khushi squirmed in her place, “I had to.. Uh actually apologize. I know it was an accident and like Jay has repeatedly told me, it was not my fault.”

“It was not.” Arnav assured

“Still.. I’m sorry. I just- I’ve heard a lot about you, and Jay and Pragya have always told me that you’re an amazing person and.. And-” 

“Calm down fangirl.” Arnav chuckled

“I’m not a fangirl.” khushi blurted defensively

“You sure sound like one.” Arnav teased.

“That was not funny.” Khushi snapped

“‘T wasn’t wasn’t supposed to be.” Arnav said matter of factly

Khushi huffed, “Fine, I am leaving.” 

"Look, if my siblings try to make you believe that we are going to have any sort of ‘Love Story’ between the two of us, please do me a favour and don’t believe them.” Arnav said seriously 

Khushi frowned.

“What?”

“This,” Arnav getured consecutively between the two of them “is not possible”

Khushi nodded, confused at the turn the conversation had suddenly taken while Arnav walked into the cafeteria. 

***

“Can anyone please explain what he was talking about?” Khushi asked the siblings who were doubled with laughter at the incident that was just narrated to them.

"You remember, I had told you how Bade-Papa and Khushi Masi had met at a Fashion Show organised by Bade-Papa. Coincidentally, that was exactly how you and Arnie met for the first time and.. we decided to mess with him." Jane explained to her.

"We were teasing him that, he and you are the ArShi of our generation. Maybe, it was because of our teasing that he spoke to you like that." Pragya grinned sheepishly.

Khushi shook her head, "You had said that he's an amazing person, I guess you forgot to add arrogant in the list of his 'Good Qualities'." 

The Raizadas chuckled. "He's not that bad. You just have to be patient and give him time to warm up to you."

Hello guys, Next update is here.

Although I know that the story hasn't moved much forward but, I guess it's something.

ArShi's first meet, and a little mini banter.

THE SIBLINGS ❤❤❤

I'm so happy.. the story is shaping up so good.

I hope that you like this story. I know the pace is kind of slow but its needed.

Do let me know, what you think of this story.

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