Poles Apart

Chapter Forty-Six

Arvi

I wake up in the middle of the night when I feel the bed dipping on my side. Thinking it may be Rohan, I'm ready to drift back into sleep, but the threaded wedding chain around my neck presses uncomfortably on the side of my neck and memories of the wedding from tonight come to me in a rush.

My eyes flutter open as realisation dawns on me, and I sit up on the bed, ready to scream my lungs out, but the sudden movement from me seems to attract the intruder's attention, they are quick to turn on the bed lamp and shed some light onto their identity.

Arjun!

"What the fuck, Arjun?" I slap his arm, intending to hurt him. "You idiot! I nearly died of heart attack!"

Arjun places a hand on his chest in mock hurt. "We've been married a few hours and you're already like this? What happens when we're married a few years?"

If not because I hate being woken up and receiving a death scare, I would've thought his drama cute. "What are you even doing here?" I ask him, snatching my cuddle-pillow away from him.

"I'm sleeping here," he states, simply.

"But Athayya—"

Arjun cuts me off. "I don't care."

My eyes widen. What should one say to such unhindered honesty?

"Arjun—"

Arjun looks at me with a blank face, and I forget what I was going to say. This is what it is like, to have a husband? Don't get yourselves, husbands, like Arjun. This man's too stubborn.

"Your mother—"

"I don't care what my mother or your Athayya said, she's the same person."

"You're acting like a stubborn child now," I tell him, scooting back against the headboard, to support my aching back. An aching back is what all those rituals give you, don't know about a good husband.

"Tell me one good reason that doesn't include my mother— because I know for a fact that even she thinks this whole 'no sharing a room' thing is crap— and I will leave."

I look at him, faintly aware of the small helpless pout that my lips form. "It's not like I'm looking for reasons to make you leave."

"Then let me stay."

I look at him through narrowed eyes, trying to determine if he's lying about what Gayatri Athayya thinks.

A minute later, I concede, "no one knows that you slept here tonight, especially not Savi!" If anyone thought I gave Pranathi Vadina a hard time with the teasing: karma is a goddamned bitch, and Savi lives up to her brother's fame.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist," he says smugly, lying down on my cuddle pillow.

I narrow my eyes at him. "Sleep there," I tell him, pointing to the two-seater couch that is on the other side of the room.

Arjun rolls onto his stomach and closes his eyes. "Where? I'm sorry, I can't see, I'm sleeping."

Masking an amused chuckle, I slap his back before slipping back under the covers. "Turn the light off, stick to your side, and don't touch me!"

Arjun turns the light off, just like I asked, but the touch is quick to come. Before I can say anything, Arjun sighs into my neck, sending shivers down my spine. "I've dreamt of this for so long, but I will stick to my side if you want me to. Sneaking in here in the middle of the night was wrong as it is."

I turn on my side to face him and kiss his clothed chest, before draping an arm around his torso. I still need a cuddle-pillow, but a cuddle husband is better. "Good night."