Greetings everyone! Thank you so much for all the love and affection that you all have been showering on my story! Happy reading!
Twinj: My Lifeline: Episode 46
A quick recap: Kunj chooses to believe Usha this time around and ends up unleashing his anger on Alisha instead, following which she’s dragged away by the police. He then surprises Twinkle with the picture that now hangs at its place rightfully.
“Kunj! Dry your hair! It’s dripping wet! You’ll fall ill!” Twinkle exclaimed when Kunj slouched lazily beside her on the couch after getting out of the shower. “What’s it to you?” He responded irritably, surprising her. “What is that supposed to mean? I’m concerned for you, Kunj!” She stated staring at him annoyed. “Really? What made you think I wasn’t ‘concerned’ for you because of which you didn’t tell me that Alisha hurt you so horribly?” He protested, his eyes involuntarily slipping to the scars that had begun to fade away, but were still visible, and they looked bad even now. She sighed in relief and giggled, glad that he wasn’t actually miffed, it was just his way of showing his worry, and she could only be delighted about it. She thought he looked really cute right then after all. His eyes returned to hers when he heard her laughter, and they looked displeased to say the least. “So that is what this tantrum is about!” She spoke, as she tried to take the towel from him to dry his hair, but he held it far from her reach. “I’m not the one who throws tantrums! I’m not saying that you do either, but.. What’s really important right now is that I’m not speaking to you. In case you didn’t notice.” He declared as he turned away, and Twinkle shook her head in amusement before getting up and walking across the room to get him another towel from the closet that the two of them had just reorganised after she had strictly insisted.
Twinkle was taken aback when she found Kunj blocking her way just as she shut the closet door and turned towards the couch. He had his hands on her arms and had held her against the that very door, his eyes staring at hers, holding a hundred curious questions in that one look. “Kunj!” She mumbled, failing to say anything further as his look had her mind in a mess, it seemed to be unable to think of anything other than the fact that he was so close to her, watching her like that after so long that it felt like ages. “It doesn’t matter to you that I’m not speaking to you anymore, does it?” He demanded, a hint of disappointment evident in his voice. “Of course it does, Kunj! I only came to get this.” She replied assuringly, holding up the towel in her hand. “No it doesn’t! Why would you have left me with Alisha in that case?” He asked, finally voicing his biggest complaint against her, a question that he had wanted to ask ever since she had put forth her resolve to leave despite his repeated pleas. “How would I ever forgive myself if you had to part ways from the love of your life for my sake?” She answered in a whisper, her eyes darting to his grip on her that had tightened when he had disclosed his plaint. “Would you be able to forgive yourself if your silly move had thrown us apart?” He asked in return, causing her eyes to widen as they returned to his. She felt a chill run down her spine at the thought of Kunj getting trapped in Alisha’s plans, at the idea that it would have meant that she would have been thrown out of his life mercilessly, and shivered slightly. “I’m sorry!” She squeaked as her eyes welled up, and he sighed before speaking, “Promise me that hereafter, no matter what the issue is, we’ll always speak to each other before jumping to conclusions stupidly.” She nodded quickly and pulled him into a hug, breaking down in his arms as he ran his hands through her hair, comforting her. He giggled when a few moments later he felt her begin to dry his hair. He was never going to let go of her ever, even if that meant that he would have to hold onto her like that forever. He had been so lost in his thoughts that all that she was saying had fallen on deaf ears until he heard “You’re going to end up with a horrible cold, and this time, you won’t have anyone to blame for it.” He tightened the hug then, all her scolding could wait.
“What?” Kunj asked Twinkle, pretending to be oblivious, when he heard her groan disappointedly as he headed to bed. She shook her head hastily and turned around in the seat by the window, looking at him over the corner if her eyes. He smiled to himself, knowing that she wanted him to sing their favourite song for her; they had made it a regular on special occasions, and that night was definitely special, she had returned after so long, this time as the love of his life – what if she didn’t know of it yet, she would know real soon – and for the first time, she wasn’t competing with anyone or being a temporary replacement, what could get more special? He tiptoed to her and whispered “Boo!” in her ear, leaning close to her, his hands prepared to catch her in case she jumped like that one time, but she simply giggled, as if she already knew that that was exactly what he was going to do. “I was thinking of putting up another stool here.” He said casually a moment later, making her turn to look at him questioningly, but he was still leaning towards her, his face so close to hers that she had to look away immediately to keep herself from drifting. “But why?” She asked hesitantly, her voice slightly quivering from his proximity. “Isn’t this the place where you like to spend time by yourself and your most favourite place in the house?” She added as an afterthought and he chuckled like the answer was obvious. “And you are my most favourite person in the world!” He answered promptly without as much as a blink. When she turned to look at him this time around, he winked at her and straightened up before walking over to the bed as he spoke, “Come quickly, I’m going to sing our song.” She stammered something like an ‘Okay’, but hardly processed anything that he said. Her mind was in a flurry. What had happened to Kunj? As she sat in front of him, listening to him sing as usual, there was something different, very different in fact. Something had definitely changed and she could tell that it was a pleasant one. The way his eyes lingered on her for a moment longer, the way he smiled at her, the way he was singing right then like the song was made just for the two of them was all very endearing, and she was left craving for more. What had also changed was, for the first time, she wasn’t left wondering how much more time she had, for he had told her this was forever, and nothing else mattered.
“You haven’t told her yet?” Twinkle heard Manohar ask Kunj disapprovingly a couple of mornings as she brought them their breakfast. Kunj’s protest in his defence was left unattempted when they spotted her, but she was sure she had seen Kunj pass Manohar an understanding look and received a nod in response. “What is this secret?” Twinkle asked as she sat down beside Kunj, smiling at Usha who was now watching curiously and giving her an encouraging smirk because Usha knew exactly what this was about. Twinkle burst out laughing when both Kunj and Manohar spoke at the same time, each citing their own reasons that were stark contrast to the other. They were about to make yet another attempt when the doorbell was rung and Twinkle teased that they could think of something to tell her by the time she returned. The hushed discussion about the perfect location and ambience that was still on at the table when Twinkle walked back didn’t gain any attention from her since she was burdened by her own guilt and thoughts. She placed Kunj’s award that had just been delivered on the table and threw him a look that demanded an answer. He looked up at her and then at the award and then looked away, knowing that he had disheartened her. “He was a little unwell that night, which is why he wasn’t present there.” Usha tried to reason, but Twinkle knew better. The minute the delivery guy had told her that he had brought the award home because Kunj hadn’t received it that evening, Twinkle had realised that he had refrained since her absence had impacted him way too deeply for him to be able to go. “I did perform though. Just returned home earlier.” Kunj tried convincing her, although he knew it would be a vain attempt. She then looked at Manohar, who lowered his eyes and shook his head.
“I don’t want to know, Ma!” Twinkle dismissed Usha’s attempts to persuade her after an unusually quiet breakfast that had ensued. “I agree that Kunj would have protested and refused to listen, but I don’t understand how you could let him whine around like that!” She added, as she paced up and down the hall in front of Kunj, Usha and Manohar who were sitting on either side and watching her. They knew Kunj should have known better that his absence wouldn’t be very beneficial to him to say the least, but they weren’t sure if she had to react so extremely. Little did they know that it was her guilt that had been bothering her, the idea that Kunj might have grown too dependent on her, that she might have been affecting him the wrong way. She didn’t want to be a bad influence, and the thought that she might be headed that way was eating her up alive. Kunj glanced at his parents and nodded assuringly at them and they left on cue, leaving Kunj to console his Twinkle. When Twinkle turned back to walk back down her practised path, she bumped into Kunj and was about to fall when he caught her in his arms, looking down at her lovingly. She opened her eyes when she realised she hadn’t dropped to the ground, only to find him helping her straighten up. “What is it?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at her. She shook her head, not prepared to let him know of her insecurities yet. “It’s going to be alright!” He insisted as he bopped her forehead and then pulled her cheek, annoying her and making him giggle. “You’re blaming yourself for everything, aren’t you?” He spoke in disbelief when he saw the hesitation in her eyes. He knew he had an uphill task at hand, she wasn’t an easy person to convince, but he wouldn’t give up either.
That’s it for now, guys. I know all of you had been extremely anxious for Twinj scenes, every single person’s demand had been the very same in the previous episode, and like I had assured, we’ll be seeing a lot of that, and this is just the beginning. Hope you liked it! Lots of love!