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.

The house was surrounded by goons.

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 completely surrounded by goons?!

He needed to act.

And fast.

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

Arnav quickly drew the curtains close to make sure no one could see inside the room. He turned to find a very frightened Khushi, looking at him anxiously, waiting for him to say something... to assure her that everything will be fine.

But Arnav hardly had time to do that at the moment. Right now, all his focus was on getting Khushi to safety. He didn't have time to mess about worrying about emotions.

But then again, he knew Khushi. And he knew how fragile and sensitive she was. So he grabbed her shoulders in a strong grip, looking directly into her eyes and said, "Look, I need you to listen carefully and not panic. We are completely surrounded by that man's men." Khushi's face turned pale with shock and worry, while her eyes widened with fear.

"Khushi look we don't have much time, so I need to you to trust me and just follow my instructions ok?" he said, still looking intently into her eyes, trying his best to convey his reassurance to Khushi through his eyes.

Without waiting for her reply he continued, "I need you to go and sit inside the wardrobe on the top shelf, while I quickly go and close all the windows in the house ok?"

Saying that, he turned towards the door, when Khushi grasped onto his hand desperately and pleaded, "Mat jaiye please! (Please don't go!)"

Arnav turned back to see her face etched with desperation and her eyes clouded with tears. He hated himself for not being able to sit down and comfort her, even if it was only for a few moments, but still he had to do this. For her.

He took her hands off his arm and said very seriously, "Khushi, just do what I told you to do."

He saw her eyes welling up with tears, and unable to resist he squeezed her hand which he was holding, before softly saying, "I will be back for your next breath. I promise." He looked into her soulful eyes for a moment more before saying sternly, "Now go."

With that he released her hand and strode out of the door.

Khushi was extremely confused as to why Arnav had told her to hide in the wardrobe, out of all places. And why specifically the topmost shelf? Her mind was filled with questions, but she knew this wasn't the time to dwell on these things. So she hurriedly opened the wardrobe and climbed up onto the topmost shelf and sat on it. Now all she had to do was wait for Arnav...

Meanwhile Arnav ran to each and every window in the house to shut it and draw the curtains close.

Well... all except for one.

When he'd looked out from the balcony, he had realised that the house was practically surrounded by all sides except one. It was side where the kitchen was. So he quickly went to the kitchen and opened the window slightly.

Then he dashed back up the stairs to Khushi, who was shivering inside the wardrobe, trying to fight off her fears alone, desperately holding onto Arnav's words that he would come back to her. That was the only thing keeping her sane.

And just as he'd promised, Arnav came and slid open the wardrobe door to see a visibly shaken Khushi waiting for him.

As soon as Khushi saw Arnav, she flung herself into his arms, holding onto him for dear life.

Arnav knew how terrified she was, so he wrapped his one arm around her, murmuring quiet reassurances, trying his best to calm her down. He cursed himself for getting her into this state, but he had no choice.

With his free hand, he pushed half of their hanging clothes to one side, and the other half to the other side.

At the back of the wardrobe, there was a circle wallpaper with a design of hundreds of circles in many dark shades covering the wardrobe walls - only it wasn't any old wallpaper.

It was actually hundreds of buttons disguised in the form of designs for a wallpaper.

Arnav quickly pressed a few circles on the wardrobe, causing the top half of the back of the wardrobe to slide to the side, revealing a dark passage.

Meanwhile, Khushi who was till now oblivious to everything that was going on around her and was hiding her face in Arnav's chest, pulled back when she heard a weird sound.

Khushi turned back and gaped in shock seeing the dark passageway that now lay in front of her. She looked back at Arnav for some kind of explanation but none came.

"Jump down Khushi," he said.

"No please! I don't want to go alone! Please Arnavji!" she pleaded, almost on the verge of crying. She didn't want to be away from him even for a second. And it didn't help that the passage was dark.

Arnav knew that she was shaken up and was feeling very vulnerable at the moment. And he also knew that she was scared of the dark so he did the only thing that he could afford to do at that moment.

He quickly cupped her face and looked deeply in her eyes while softly saying, "Trust me Khushi. Just hold onto my hand and jump. I will be right behind you. Everything will be fine. Believe me."

And she did believe him. She nodded before turning her body around to face the passage. She grasped his hand tightly, then took a deep breath before jumping down. As soon as she got down she closed her eyes, unable to take the darkness that engulfed her.

"A-a-arn-av-ji?" she stuttered, trying to gain strength from his presence.

"I'm right here Khushi," he assured softly, while getting into the wardrobe himself and closing the door behind him. Then he too jumped down next to Khushi, still clutching her hand.

As soon as he got down he took Khushi into his embrace, knowing how hard this was for her. He felt her clutch onto him desperately and he in turn tightened his arms around her.

A moment later, he used one arm to slide the fraction of the wall back into place while still holding onto Khushi with the other.

"Arnavji, I don't like it here! I feel suffocated... When can we leave?" Khushi absolutely hated this darkness that now surrounded them both.

"Shhh," he cupped her face and placed a small kiss on her forehead before asking her, "Do you trust me?"

"More than myself" she replied instantly.

"Then just close your eyes. And before you know it, we will be out of this place," he said.

Khushi closed her eyes, completely placing her faith in him. Arnav bent down and picked her up into his arms, and she automatically put her one arm around his neck while she clutched his collar with the other. She snuggled into his chest with her eyes closed - it was the only place where she could find peace and comfort.

"Now don't open your eyes until I tell you to do so, ok?" said Arnav.

"Ok," Khushi replied calmly. Granted she didn't like the darkness, but right now there was no place else she would rather be - in fact she wouldn't mind being in this darkness forever if it meant that she could be in Arnav's arms like this forever.

She liked being in his arms more than she should and she had trouble coming to terms with her own feelings. It's because of our friendship and my trust in him', one part of her said.

However, the other part of her just laughed at her for even thinking that. Who are you fooling Khushi? What you feel for him is much more than what people feel for friends and you know it. The quicker you come to terms with it, the better it will be for you,' it said.

"No Khushi, don't listen to her. You just think of him as a good friend - he has done a lot for you and so you trust him and like being around him. That's all," the first part said.

"Awww please! It's obvious that Khushi is completely smitten with him. Khushi listen, you are in love!" the other part said.

"No way!" the first part shouted.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" the other part shouted back.

"No! No! No!" the first part retorted.

"Yeeesss!!!!" said the other part.

"SHUT UP!!!!" Khushi shouted, unable to take it anymore.

"DID YOU JUST TELL ME TO SHUT UP?" bellowed Arnav.

Khushi opened her eyes wide. That's when reality kicked in. She looked up to a very angry-looking Arnav.

"Voh... I didn't mean you..." she said looking apologetic.

"What the?! Then who were you talking to?!" he asked, looking at her as though she was mental.

"They were annoying me so I told them to shut up..." Khushi replied, pouting.

"Them who?" questioned Arnav who was almost certain that she was crazy. Before she could answer, he said, "You know what? I don't even want to know," he said, knowing that it was going to be something weird. He should have known - this was so Khushi.

"Unbelievable," he muttered as he set her down.

Khushi gripped his shirt tighter, reluctant to leave him. But only then did she realise that it wasn't dark anymore. She was too engrossed in explaining her outburst to Arnav that she didn't realise that she could actually see Arnav's face clearly now in the light.

Still standing close to Arnav, clutching his shirt just in case, Khushi looked around to see a room she didn't recognise...

Where were they?