Chapter 1: Admission

Arnav clenched and unclenched his right hand. His pulse was fast and loud in his ears. It was time.

He sat on the edge of his bed with Aakash slouched next to him. They faced Di and Payal, perched on his sofa, and NK, who hovered near the poolside window, fiddling with a curtain.

His sister stared at him, intent and contemplative, and although he met her eyes for a few seconds, he blinked away and turned his attention elsewhere. Arnav caught Payal raising her eyebrows at Aakash and saw Aakash give a small shrug out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't hide a smile.

Three days of marriage and they're already acting like they've been married for years. I wonder if that's what people see when they look at Khushi and me.

Halting his idle thoughts, Arnav looked back at his sister and was surprised to find her grinning. He cleared his throat, suddenly wishing for Khushi. This would be so much easier with her beside him; she always knew what to say in these situations. But the wedding was over and they no longer had an excuse to see each other every day.

It's now or never, Arnav. Just come out and say it.

"Uhh, Di ... I wanted to talk to you and Payal ... and Aakash I guess." Di looked at him, expectant, and he took a deep breath, "Di. Payal. I want to marry Khushi."

"What!?"

Four voices echoed the word in varying degrees of shock and incredulity.

Four pairs of eyes stared at him.

"B-B-But Arnav-ji. You ... and Khushi? Khushi ... and y-you?" Payal stammered, her eyes round with disbelief.

Arnav looked at Khushi's sister, then up at NK, who was frozen with one hand on the curtain, his mouth open in shock. Next, he turned to Aakash, who was staring at him as if he'd grown an extra head.

And finally, he looked at his sister. "Di?"

"It took you long enough, Chhote," she grinned.

Now everyone turned to stare at her.

"Di ... you knew?" Aakash asked.

"You were busy with your own wedding but anyone who was paying attention could see what was going on," she shrugged.

There was a stunned silence as everyone absorbed this. Arnav felt hope bubble inside him.

"What has been going on, exactly?" asked Payal, her voice low and her eyes narrowed in his direction, "and for how long?"

Arnav knew he had to tread carefully. "Three, four months, give or take. But the feelings have been there for ... a while."

He knew, immediately, that he'd said the wrong thing. Payal stood up.

"A while? What do you mean, a while? When you brought Lavanya-ji into your home? When Khushi was training her to be your wife? When you announced that you would marry Lavanya-ji, and then ended your relationship on the day of your engagement?"

Arnav cringed with her every question. Payal had this way of making him feel small and insignificant, as if he'd never measure up.

As if he'd never be good enough.

"Payal-ji," Di tried to calm her with a hand on her shoulder.

Aakash coaxed his wife back to the sofa, leaving Di to sit on the bed. Arnav felt her take his hand.

"Payal," Arnav willed her to see his remorse, "I know I've made mistakes. I want to fix them. I want to marry Khushi and bring her into Shantivan as my wife. I want to give her every happiness. And Khushi ... she wants this too."

"Bhai," Aakash began hesitantly, "If you and Khushi-ji ... if this has been going on for some time, why didn't you tell us? Why did you hide it?"

"We made plans to tell everyone, Aakash. But we were afraid that Mami would use it as an excuse to oppose your wedding. You know how she talked about Khushi and Payal's family; she would have accused them of scheming for money. We didn't want to sour your marriage."

Aakash nodded, more focused on rubbing Payal's shoulders to comfort her than Arnav's words. Watching them, Arnav felt a stab of jealousy, and then immediately pushed it aside. This situation wasn't their fault.

"Di?" he turned to his sister, "What do you think?"

"Well, I think Nani will be thrilled," Di placed a hand on his cheek, "She always wanted Khushi to be your bride."

"And what about you?" Arnav asked.

Arnav wouldn't bring Khushi into this house if his family didn't accept her. He couldn't subject her to the spite and unkindness that Lavanya had endured.

He also knew that Khushi would refuse to marry him if she wasn't going to be accepted as a daughter-in-law by Nani and as a sister-in-law by Di. She would rather sacrifice her happiness than cause discord within his family – the family she'd already accepted as hers.

"Chhote, I just want you to be happy. I would love to welcome Khushi-ji into this family as your bride. You two are perfect for each other."

He sagged as a rush of relief spread through him, loosening muscles he hadn't realised had stiffened and quieting his pulse.

"But Chhote," his sister continued, "you'll have to explain everything to Nani."

"I love Khushi, what more is there to explain?"

Payal let out a soft sound, half laugh, half sob, and Arnav turned to her.

"You really love Khushi?" his sister-in-law asked.

"Yes."

"And she loves you?"

"Yes."

"Do you know what people will say? That she came into this house to train your girlfriend and ended up marrying you. That she sabotaged your relationship for money."

"Payal ..." Aakash seemed suddenly tired.

"No, Aakash. Arnav-ji needs to know. People will say that Khushi used her wiles to ensnare him. People will ask questions, questions we won't have answers for. Everyone knows about Lavanya-ji."

"Payal ... I'll handle everything. I won't let anything, or anyone, hurt her," Arnav tried to instil every ounce of his sincerity and determination into his words.

Payal walked out of the room, and Aakash threw him an apologetic look before following. There was an uncomfortable silence, punctuated by the buzzing of his sister's phone. Di chose to put it away after a quick glance, and NK cleared his throat.

"Congratulations Nannav," he said, "It looks like I'll get to see both my brothers married while I'm visiting India."

Arnav looked up, already rolling his eyes out of habit, but froze at the expression on his cousin's face. NK was smiling – a bright, wide smile – but all Arnav could see was the dullness in his eyes and the slight crease of his brow, the way that NK tried to hide the tremor in his hand by gripping the curtain behind him. For the first time, he realised that NK felt something for Khushi, something beyond friendship and innocent flirtation.

Arnav waited for his rage to flare, waited to feel jealous, but all he felt was a kind of helpless pity. He and Khushi were getting married, but he wished the path hadn't been paved with so many broken hearts. Not only his and Khushi's, but Lavanya's and apparently NK's too. He stood and embraced his cousin, accepting his congratulations, and watched as NK followed Payal and Aakash out of his room.

Author's Note: This is the third in a four-part series set in the Secret Romance AU. I highly recommend reading Happy New Year (Secret Romance #1) and Moments (Secret Romance #2) for context.

A Note on the AU: With Shyam being non-existent in this AU, parts three and four are, necessarily, entirely AU.