Hello everyone! Thank you so much for all the love and affection this story is receiving! Happy reading!
Twinj: My Lifeline: Episode 34
A quick recap: Kunj brings Twinkle back to the Sarna mansion. He brings up the issue of her and Yuvi, when she unintentionally throws a jab at him, leaving him in thought. He later meets Chinki and Yuvi who let him in on a part of the truth behind Twinkle’s injuries, leading to him rushing back to apologise to her and give away his reasons for hiding his actions.
“Kunj, can I ask something of you? More like a favour?” Twinkle asked Kunj as she stood in front of the dressing table, combing her hair. He looked up at her immediately, they had lived together for long enough for him to recognise just from her tone when it was something serious. “Sure!” He answered. He had been observing her ever since he had brought her back home and had realised that she seemed distracted and lost in thought a lot, which meant most of their conversations would only begin if he had something to say. He was glad she was finally speaking up. “When you meet Alisha the next time, do you think you could get her to agree to go back and get her treatment completed?” She spoke more hesitantly than ever, carefully observing his expressions in his reflection. “I know it’s probably not in my place to be saying this, and I’m definitely not saying it because I want to stay here for longer, which I do, but.. This isn’t important right now. I just want her to recover completely before she can go back to leading a normal life like before the accident.” She added quickly when she saw him raise his eyebrows in surprise, swaying away in between, but recovering almost immediately. “I agree, Twinkle. And it’s absolutely alright for you to come up with this suggestion, but do you really think she’s going to agree?” He asked, his reply mostly focused on convincing her than the actual issue in question. “You will have to persuade her, Kunj! Remember how you had told me that the accident had caused deep impacts on her mental health and that she had developed self harm tendencies?” She answered, insisting firmly as she turned and walked to him slowly. All she could wish for is that Alisha didn’t harm Kunj like she had done to her.
Twinkle looked at Kunj who was lost in deep thought and decided not to push the issue further right then. She bent to pick up her Dupatta that was beside him on the bed, but he grabbed it before her, making her look up at him in surprise. “I.. Just one more question, Twinkle. You’re right, Alisha needs to go back and recover fully. Getting her out of the rehab centre was a horrible thing to do, no matter what the circumstances were. But I’m sure you would have managed to convince me in this issue without having to use the self harm thing and I know for a fact that you never say or do anything without a purpose, why did you have to bring that up specifically?” He asked, standing up and staring at her. He saw her gulp hard as she evidently raced her mind to find a satisfying answer. “Kunj, I know this might sound a little paranoid to you, but we know Alisha’s car had crashed into Usha Ma’s, right? Also, the doctors feared she might harm others. So, I’m only saying that she might, you know,..” She began, keeping her eyes lowered but broke off when she realised there was no point. He would catch her lying if she said anything further. Her words though had made Kunj view the issue from an entirely new perspective, not once before this had he realised that there was, even if very small, a possibility that Alisha might harm his loved ones. After all, she had claimed she would jump off a building if he hadn’t gotten her out of there. He nodded understandingly as he let out a deep sigh, to which she smiled a little in response. “Can I have that back?” She asked, pointing at the Dupatta and he shook his head as he held it higher, putting his tongue out to tease her, as they both giggled. It felt like it had been ages since they had genuinely smiled the last time. (It actually felt like ages, didn’t it?)
Kunj was glad to the say the least that the issues between him and Twinkle had begun to ease out, he felt like the dark clouds that had hidden away all the sunshine had finally been blown away. He smacked his forehead as he realised how he sounded all poetic, and laughed to himself. Of course the idea of Yuvi still caused him unease, but he was determined to keep make sure that Twinkle was happier with him. Although the brief testing times had threatened to build a huge wall between them, he was relieved that they had made it through and now, he had figured, Twinkle even spoke openly about Alisha, like right now. “What do you mean she wouldn’t listen, Kunj?” Twinkle’s annoyed voice broke his reverie. He smiled as she paced to and fro in front of him and went on and on about how he should have been more insistent, that he is never serious enough about things, that he has no idea how stupid he was being, until she spotted his smile and stopped. “You tricked me, didn’t you?” She asked, looking embarrassed when he nodded. “She didn’t accept it completely though. She’s promised to cooperate with the doctors and stuff, but she doesn’t want to go back. I’ve spoken to the doctors, she’ll be taken care of right there. Is that ok?” He spoke with a cringe as though he needed her approval. She nodded, sitting down beside him and resting her head on his shoulder. “You’re the best!” She whispered, making him whisper back, “I know, that’s why I tricked you!” She straightened up and huffed, pretending to be miffed, making him giggle. “Why did you do that though?” She asked when the laughter had subsided, expecting something funny in response, but he answered, “Because I love listening to your blabber, and you had been unusually quiet for my liking for too long now.” He stood up and walked away after winking at her, leaving her in a pleasant shock.
“Listen..” Kunj called out one morning as they both enjoyed their day off, sitting in bed; he had thought over his feelings for hours now. He hadn’t figured out why he had grown so fond of Twinkle, though she seemed absolutely unfazed by how he had begun to look for reasons to spend more time with her although they practically were together all day, how he had got more clingy, warm hugs had become a usual now, and they woke up right next to each other more often than ever. He had caught himself zoning out when he had suddenly spotted her just going about her usual work, observing every little change in her routine and dressing. It hadn’t taken too long for him to realise that he had subconsciously made her the centre of his world, and he thought it was extremely uncanny for him to do so. He hadn’t given Alisha so much importance though they had been in a relationship for longer than he and Twinkle had known each other, and with that his mind was again drifting off to how amazing and at home Twinkle made him feel, as though there was nothing else in the world he could be, or ask for. “You were supposed to be marrying Alisha though, remember?” His mind would taunt him way more frequently these days, because in all honesty he had begun to forget Alisha, Twinkle was the only thought that clouded his mind, even when he was singing his most romantic lines, and he didn’t know what to do with himself. Who else to discuss his problem with, he had thought when he had finally given up on his own ability to deduce it.
Twinkle hummed in response as she tried a little crossword puzzle, not even looking up for a moment, annoying Kunj. He snatched away the paper and put his head on her right leg that she had crossed over her left, folding his arms. “I was listening, Kunj!” She protested as she looked at the paper that was all crumpled now. “No, you weren’t.” He replied as he pushed a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear. He giggled as she stiffened under his touch, although he didn’t know if it meant anything, he admired her a little more then. “I’m listening now.” She said, leaning a little closer to him and running her fingers through his hair, as she wondered what he was up to. “Do you think it’s possible for a person to be in love with two people at the same time?” He asked as he held her other hand and drew some abstract patterns on it with his thumb, shutting his eyes as he found solace in their proximity. She looked at him strangely, as she gave it a thought. “I don’t know about other people, but I believe that once you find your true love, you can’t really feel the same way for anyone else. That one person becomes your everything, and no matter what transpires between the two of you, there will always be a corner of your heart that calls out to them, that holds the exact same emotion for them, even if you are forced apart.” She answered dazedly, glad that he had his eyes shut lest he should have seen through the love for him in her eyes.
Kunj sat up and looked at Twinkle, he had understood the first part of her explanation, but wasn’t really sure about the ‘no matter what’ part of it. When he had first met Alisha it had felt nice and like he could never ever love anyone else, so he knew. What bothered him though, was that a few months away from Alisha was all it had taken to make him realise that she didn’t actually mean that much to him. With Twinkle, it was different. As he got to know her better, he grew fonder of her, and it felt like magic. It was basically everything she had just said. “Why do you ask though?” Twinkle asked, breaking his train of thoughts, bending a little so that her face was directly in front of his, losing herself in his eyes that had turned more affectionate towards her with time. They held for her, pretty much the same soft look that her eyes held for him, she mused, but held herself back, she didn’t want to build up unreal hopes. “I needed to know.” He answered simply as he leaned closer to her, making her wonder if she was dreaming. She lowered her eyes immediately, only stealing glances at him, afraid that he would see her blush. She felt the butterflies in her tummy going crazy as he ran his hands down her arms, entwining them with hers momentarily. He smiled as she shivered, and then freed one hand and brought it up to her face instead. Right then they heard a phone ringing, the sudden realisation of what they had been up to dawning upon them, making them back off immediately.
That’s it for now, guys. I know, I know, they were this close, but it can’t happen yet. There’s so much more to do before that! I hope you liked it. Lots of love!