Days passed like this, and Khushi was loving this sense of normalcy that had creeped into their lives. She felt happy again - not like she was on the run away from a creepy murderer called L75 who was craving to kill her.

And today, was another normal day - or so they all thought.

Little did they know, that in a few hours that they were to face another rollercoaster that would shake up their lives...

***************************************************************

It was a wonderfully bright, sunny day and Khushi was laying out lunch on the dining table. Meanwhile, Arnav was in his study, working on his laptop.

The phone started to ring and seeing no one there to pick up the phone, Khushi went and picked up the call.

"Hello," she said into the phone. There was no reply from the other side. "Hello?" she called again. And again there was no reply. Khushi found it weird but then just shook the feeling off, shrugging her shoulders before putting down the phone.

She went up and called Arnav for lunch and then they ate together, enjoying the companionship that had grown between them over the past few days. After lunch, Arnav went back up to his study and Khushi stayed back to clear up.

The phone rang again and this time also Khushi picked it up.

"Hello?" she called. But just like last time she was met with complete silence. She hung up, thinking that it was a bit weird that she got two blank calls within the span of a few hours. Should she tell Arnavji? But then what if it was a coincidence? She didn't want to make an ordeal out of nothing - their lives were finally reaching a sense of normalcy and the last thing that Khushi wanted to do was to spoil that normalcy for nothing.

So Khushi went back to her work. However, 10 mins later, the phone rang again. Once again when she said hello' no one answered. But unlike the previous two calls, this time she could hear something...

The sound of someone's breathing...

It really creeped her out but she put on a brave front and tried to take on the situation fearlessly.

"Hello?" she called, hoping that the person would speak, but all she heard was the breathing. "Hello, I know you're there. If you don't want to speak, then why did you call?! Hello! Can you please speak?!" she spoke, covering up her fear with frustration and anger.

Even after she made the effort to say all of that, the person on the other side gave no reply, but they were clearly still on the line because Khushi could hear their breathing get slightly heavier and faster.

Sweat broke out on Khushi's forehead as she hung up the phone instantly. What the heck was that?!

2 minutes later, the phone rang. Again. Khushi picked up and this time, she didn't say a word. But once again she could hear the breathing.

That's it. She couldn't take it anymore.

She was officially scared.

Khushi slammed down the phone and ran up the stairs to Arnav's study. She was so frightened that she didn't even knock on the door. She just burst open the door and ran straight into a surprised Arnav's arms, where she felt most safe.

On the other hand, Arnav was worried seeing Khushi in this state. She had run into his arms as though she was... scared... But what could have possibly scared her in the house?

Arnav's first thought was that whatever it was must be was because of Dadi. But then he remembered Dadi going out to the mandir a while ago, so it couldn't be her. What could have possibly happened?

He could feel that skin was cold and clammy, and she was holding onto him so tightly as though her life depended on it.

"Khushi? Are you ok?" he asked, concern crystal clear in his voice.

"Ar-ar-arna-arnav ji," she stuttered, completely frightened.

Arnav could tell she was shaken up so he brought her even closer to his body, holding her tighter in his arms, while stroking the back of her head, trying to soothe her.

"Haan Khushi, I'm here don't worry. Look I'm here, and no one can do anything to you. Tell me what happened," he said.

Khushi was extremely frightened and she was in no state to talk at that moment. All she wanted was to hide herself within Arnav's arms and stay there forever. Khushi just held onto Arnav tighter and tighter.

Arnav understood her state from her gestures so he just stood there, holding her as tight as he could, giving her all the warmth he had, while he continued stroking her hair, getting her to calm down.

A few minutes passed just like that in silence, and Khushi had finally started to relax in Arnav's arms. Sensing this, Arnav asked once again in a soft voice, "Khushi, tell me what happened."

And Khushi told him everything that happened, right from the phone call before lunch until the latest one.

"Arnavji, hume bohot dar lagra hai (Arnavji, I'm really scared)"

"Shhh, it's going to be ok," said Arnav.

But Khushi wasn't convinced so Arnav unwound is arms from around her and cupped her face.

"Khushi look at me," he said, making her look up at him. "Do you think I would ever let anything happen to you?"

Khushi shook her head in response. Of course he wouldn't let anything happen to her - only a fool would think that.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, looking at her with and intense gaze that pierced her right at the core of her heart.

Khushi nodded. There was no one she trusted more than him at the moment.

"Then trust me when I say, everything will be ok. You will get through this. WE will get through this." Arnav said, with conviction.

Khushi nodded once again, feeling much better after hearing him say it. She hugged him again, glad that he was there with her.

Arnav hugged her back with one hand, not wanting to let her go. With his other hand he fished out his phone from his pocket and called Aman instantly. He told Aman about everything that had happened and instructed him to trace the calls immediately.

Meanwhile, Khushi was just standing there in Arnav's arms, lost in her own thoughts. She didn't know what she would have done without him...

Nowadays she could barely go on a few hours without Arnav around her. She had got so used to his presence in her life that she couldn't imagine a life without him anymore. Khushi didn't really have many dreams about her future, but whatever dreams she did have, they all seemed to have Arnav in them now.

Whenever Arnav needed to go out for any urgent work, Khushi hated it. She missed him terribly even if he was only out for an hour or two. She never showed her feelings in front of him, but she hated every moment without him by her side.

When she first met Arnav, the only thing on her mind was going back to Buaji and Payal, but now... somehow she didn't want that day to arrive because that meant being away from Arnav. Of course she still loved Buaji and Payal and would love to go back to them - but not at the cost of losing Arnav.

But she also knew that she would have to go back to them one day. When all this mess has been cleared up... And there were no goons or L75 after her life... When she didn't need to run anymore...

And she absolutely dreaded that day.

Khushi quickly stopped her thoughts, not willing to dwell on the future - she didn't want to spoil this moment in his arms with the thoughts of an unclear future.

Arnav was frustrated because the calls couldn't be traced because the conversations weren't long enough. Each call had only lasted a few seconds and that wasn't enough for the calls to be traced.

"Damn it!" muttered Arnav, still holding onto Khushi.

"What happened Arnavji?" Khushi asked, worried.

"We couldn't trace the calls..." seeing Khushi worried, he rushed to assure her, "but don't worry. We will get to the bottom of this soon."

Khushi gave him a genuine smile in return - yes she was still worried, but her trust in him outweighed all of that.

"Wait." Arnav said all of a sudden. "The person on the phone must have known who you were. They were targeting you on purpose... They knew you were in my house... And they knew that you would be home at this time. So either they have watched over our routine for a few days or..."

Arnav paused, looking at Khushi's face before continuing, "They are watching us right now."

Khushi's eyes widened at the prospect. She dearly hoped that it wasn't true, but something inside her told her that Arnav was probably right.

Arnav quickly rushed up to the balcony taking her with him, holding her hand. As he was about to step out onto the balcony, he told her to remain by the door and not to come out, just in case. He carefully looked around the area to see if there was anything suspicious.

But what he saw shocked him. Quickly, he ran back into the house pulling Khushi along as he rushed into their room to look out of the window.

Damn it! He was right.

They were surrounded by goons around the whole house.

They had to get out of here. He needed to get Khushi out to safety. Soon.

But how was he going to do that when the house was surrounded by goons completely?!

He needed to act.

And fast.