Dare Trilogy | Book 3 Editing | ✓

2.17.5 | Shimla

For a second longer, I looked at the two of them getting along before I had to look away when the priest asked us to put the flower at the deity's feet. As I did, Aarav mimicked, having to stand up halfway to reach the deity and then fall back on Khushi's lap with a force that escaped a breath out of her before she chuckled and draped an arm around him, saying something quietly in his ear that I couldn't hear. Whatever she said though, he nodded and sat quietly. Only occasionally did he insist on covering another flower in his hand.

It was a sight to see Aarav be decent with Khushi for we all knew he pulled many antics and would always have Lavanya and Anjali running after him. And Khushi too, she put up with him without a crinkle on her forehead and sat through the rest of the veneration in peace herself instead of fidgeting about.

With some weird connection, the two seem to mellow around each other. I ofcourse am not going to question it. Her words from last week reassured me when she'd told me she'd once met Aarav during her freshman year of college and it had reestablished her faith in humanity then. Khushi had taken a liking towards Aarav in her way and I have no idea what Aarav had done then to make this happen, but it touched my heart to learn they would get along.

It ate away at my inside knowing I was still hiding so many things from her. I have no idea how she will react. Will she be mad when she finds out Aarav is not my son or Lavanya's and that I lied to her? I want to think she won't. Lately, she's been showing me her understanding and patience, giving me the space to tell her things I've kept to myself one time after another.

And being back in Shimla... it's not a place I like to visit but being near Khushi keeps me sane instead of thinking about everything that has happened to us in this town. To Anjali. To Khushi.

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

After the veneration and exchanging rings once again for the engagement, Aarav walked up to me from where he was standing in front of Lavanya. Pulling the bag out of his pocket, he handed it to me.

Pushing open the strings, I took the gold bracelet out of it and forwarded my hand to ask for hers. When she questioned with her eyes, I informed. "It was my mom's."

Her eyes softened in realization and placed her hand in mine, allowing me to slide it to her wrist. If mom were alive, she would've passed it down to Khushi too. She smiled looking at it as it adorned her wrist before glancing up at me. This smile of hers reflected in her eyes.

Her mother directed us to have lunch.

As everyone walked towards the dining area, Armaan caught up to me. "You should tell her."

"What?" His sudden appearance resulted in my brain taking time to understand what topic he was on.

He elaborated, "That you're the guy who brought her to the hospital that night." When he noticed the hesitation on my face, he sighed. "Arnav, I really don't understand why you want to hide it. Whatever fears you have, they are baseless. You two have got a good thing going lately. So just... think about it."

I nodded. I often did wonder whether I should tell her... how I should tell her. I knew I would eventually have to. We were going to get married. I couldn't hide this from her our whole lives. Just, I had to come to terms with my guilt. It was a thin line that I did not know how to cross and confess my biggest regrets to her.

Can I expect her to forgive me? She forgave me for kissing Amanda, breaking that promise, pushing her away on learning I did it because my uncle threatened me with Aarav. Would she forgive me of my narrow-sighted actions back then as well because I chose Aarav over her?