Greetings everyone! Thank you so much for all the love and affection this story is receiving! Happy reading!
Twinj: My Lifeline: Episode 52
A quick recap: Kunj informs Twinkle that he had to agree to a shooting schedule that required them to leave on the night of the wedding, following which they share a few sweet moments, wherein Kunj tries to make up for all that they had missed during their nuptial rituals owing to him being unable to let go of his past.
Kunj stood at the door that he had just opened, still rubbing his eyes sleepily, annoyed when the rapid knocking had woken him up. He had considered asking Twinkle to open the door, but his words remained unsaid since he noticed that she had dozed off on the couch, with her earphones on. He giggled to himself as he realised that she must have woken up early and got through all that she had been planning to do, and then figured she had enough time to relax for a bit and fallen asleep unintentionally. He taking his own time to admire her before getting to the door had only made whoever was at the other side more restless, and he had finally grudgingly headed for the door. “Oh look, it’s the bride!” He said as cheerfully as he could when he quickly noted the bubbling excitement that Chinki constantly had on all the time, missing right then. Instead, she looked bothered, and it bothered him as well that she struggled so hard to even put on a small smile. “Can I..” She began, and he immediately ushered her in, heading to wake Twinkle up. He wouldn’t have wished to disturb her at any cost, but this seemed like an emergency. “No, don’t wake her up, I can come back later!” She called from behind when he slowly took off Twinkle’s earphones, recalling him of a certain previous incident and smiling to himself. (Do you guys remember this one?) “I’m sure she would have wanted to be there when her best friend needed her.” He assured Chinki as he gently shook Twinkle, but she woke up with a jerk nevertheless, ruining his efforts. He didn’t mind though, he just resolved to work on that particular skill and make it better. “I’ll be back in a while.” He told the girls and walked out, knowing that they probably needed their privacy.
“I agree it was really hard in the beginning, and it does take time, but you need to believe in your marriage, and I guess that does the trick. For me and Kunj, it’s always our friendship that kept us together, giving us all the time and space we needed until we were actually ready to view ourselves as a couple. He taught me that there’s nothing that’s actually impossible, he taught me to believe in myself more than I already did, and was always there for me! Things like that take time, you’re aware it took months for us. But trust me, the wait was totally worth it.” Twinkle spoke dreamily to Chinki as she recollected her moments with Kunj, realising that with each passing day she was deeper for him, not that she minded it, but it surprised her every single time she thought about it. She smiled to herself when this time, Chinki didn’t argue, it meant that she finally felt better, even if was after almost an hour of consoling and convincing. “All this will be way easier for the two of you though. Neither of you have been forced into this wedding after all..” Twinkle commented casually, having spotted the love of her life standing by the door and watching them curiously. She smirked at him while he raised his eyebrows being stunned, but hid it pretty well as he walked in and stood behind Chinki. “But the two of you literally had a love marriage!” Chinki teased, watching Twinkle’s eyes quickly flitter over to Kunj, making her realise that he was present there too. She giggled when Kunj freaked out just like Twinkle did, both of them assuming they were the only ones in love, and shook her head before winking at Twinkle and walking out. “Is she alright?” Kunj asked Twinkle, who nodded and passed him a grateful smile that he acknowledged with an understanding nod. “Just the bridal anxiety.” She stated as she stood up and sighed, and then glanced at the clock and picked up her clothes to dress up. “You had it too?” He asked, blocking her way to the washroom, surprising her. She nodded hesitantly, watching his eyes turn apologetic, and was about to explain, when he spoke “I’m sorry, I know I must have made it really hard for you, but I want you to know that I try to make myself better, I really try hard to make things better every day. I promise that one fine day, you’ll finally have absolutely nothing to complain about!” He whispered, holding her hands in his and she replied, “You don’t have to, Kunj! If I had my way, I would change absolutely nothing about you, about us!” She was careful to hold herself in check and not end up revealing much to him, but the glint in his eyes made her wish she had. Maybe, just maybe, she had a chance?
“Did I already say that you look really pretty?” Kunj asked Twinkle when she joined him in the crowd after bringing Chinki to the Mandap. She giggled and nodded her head, then directing his eyes back to where the ceremony was taking place by nudging his cheek, making him chuckle. She then dropped her hand to her side, which met his and he entwined them without further thought. As the priest explained the vows to the couple, he turned to look at Twinkle, who was watching teary eyed and thus decided to keep his eager questions and curious thoughts to himself. No matter how much he strained his thoughts, he couldn’t recollect the same being done at their wedding, making him feel guiltier for the amount of pain he had been inflicting upon Twinkle all along. He owed her much more than he was already aware, and although Twinkle had repeatedly assured him that being in love with Alisha wasn’t really his fault, his heart yearned for an alternate possibility, one in which he had gotten to know Twinkle first and brought her all the happiness in the world, something that he believed she truly deserved. And now, as he watched Twinkle and Yuvi try to cheer Chinki up as she headed for her new home, he felt his heart begin to beat faster, realising that his moment, the one he had been waiting for for so long was not too far now. He didn’t know if Twinkle loved him too, but desperately hoped she did, worried that if not, his confession might only end up making things awkward for them. He knew this was a huge risk, he was staking the one relationship that had become so important to him before he even realised it. He loved her, enough to forsake his own happiness for her sake, but he had seen her eyes hold an unspoken sentiment for him as well. “Are you sure I should do this, Ma?” He asked aloud, turning to Usha, who had been standing beside him. She turned to Leela on her other side and then both women turned to him and shot a bored glance at him, and he laughed. They had been surer than he had ever been. “Got it!” He answered with a giggle before walking off to drag Twinkle along, not wanting to get late.
“Why are we listening to this sad song?” Twinkle protested when Kunj had had enough of listening to his own songs that majority of the songs on Twinkle’s playlist were, and tapped on the next artist he found. They had boarded their flight in time, and in less than an hour he had already complained several times about how long they had to sit in one place. “Don’t you get bored of those?” He asked and she quickly shook her head, answering “If I got bored of your voice, how would I tolerate it every single day?” He knew too well that she was only teasing him, and decided to play along. “You have to tolerate my voice? How sad, but there’s absolutely no escape for you! You’ll have to deal with me for the rest of our lives!” He told her, and she grinned, resting her head on his shoulder and muttering “I’ll gladly do so.” under her breath. “What was that?” He asked, although he had heard her clearly and she shook her head, shifting until she was comfortable. “Is it too early to tick off Greece from your list?” He asked after a few minutes of silence, the silence that he valued so highly when he got to share it with her. “I hear there are tons of ancient places out there, I’m sure you’ll love it!” He continued when she had just hummed in response. “In fact, you were my first thought when the producers zeroed in on Greece!” He informed, making her sit up to look at him, but she ended up bumping her head to his chin. “I’m sorry!” She exclaimed immediately, aware that that must have hurt him more than her, but he assured her that he was fine, and instead, rubbed his hand on her head carefully, winning over her heart yet again. “Better now?” He asked a moment later, but she was too lost in him to respond. She looked away embarrassedly when she realised it, making him burst out laughing.
“You’re allowed to stare, by the way. I’m yours after all!” Kunj spoke without realising, and Twinkle widened her eyes at him. Hers? Is that what he had said? “Your.. best friend, husband, favourite singer, is what I meant.” He tried to cover up quickly, mentally smacking himself, and she nodded, her heart leaping with joy at the idea that even if he didn’t mean to, he had called himself hers, what else could she ask for? “Do you want me to click a picture of yours so that you could give your fans an update?” She asked after a few minutes, unable to bear the tension in the air. Also, having been an ardent fan for years, she knew how much it meant to them. “No.” He replied, and she nodded her head, looking away again when she heard him say, “Let’s take a picture together! I have so few pictures of us together on my page!” She looked at him questioningly, wondering what was up with him. “Please, Mrs. Sarna! Don’t turn down my request! I really, really want to take a picture with you!” He spoke dramatically, making her laugh. “Now that you’re pleading so much, I might consider it, you know?” She answered with a straight face, and both of them burst out laughing simultaneously. As Kunj took out his phone for the picture, she spotted his wallpaper – a picture of them together that had been taken earlier that day – which moved her, but what surprised her was how casual he was about it, like it was the most normal thing to do. “It’s also going to be great getaway for us, I’ve missed you so much over the past few days, it’s been so long since we had an ‘our kind’ conversation.” He was saying when she snapped out of her thoughts, and suddenly she was looking forward to this trip more than ever. She couldn’t wait to land in Athens.
That’s it for now, guys. I hope you enjoyed it. Lots of love!