Chapter 8 – Broken

Vihaan

"Just bring her home safe, Rao. I'll call the police."

"No Sid. Don't do that. We will take care of this guy in our own way." I said and hung up.

Avni could hardly stand. She was so tired and so scared.

"Avni, look at me. Open your eyes." I said as I tapped her cheek.

"Is he gone?" she whispered.

"We have taken care of him. I won't let him anywhere close to you, okay? You're safe with me." I said as I held her close to me.

"Take me home, Vihaan." She said as tears began flowing down her cheeks.

The anger in me rose, and now all I wanted to do was get Avni home safe and take the life out of that asshole that'd brought her to this state.

I wiped the tears away and buckled her up. As we drove home, I kept glancing over at her to see if she was okay.

"Thanks for saving me." She said. She was looking out of the car, her head rested against the window.

"Hey, what're you saying? I told you, right? I'd do anything for you." I said and reached out for her hand.

"You're my hero." She whispered and held my hand a little tighter. "Don't leave me okay?"

"Never." I said as I held her hand against my heart.

As I pulled up to her house at 1 am, I spotted Sid waiting outside, looking extremely worried. He ran towards us and slowly took Avni is his arms.

"We have to do something about this, Siddharth. We'll go to the apartment tomorrow. I'll come first thing in the morning to pick you up okay? Keep her warm, Sid."

"What the hell are you talking about? You aren't going anywhere, Rao. You'll stay here tonight."

This came in as an excuse for me to keep an eye on Avni throughout the night.

A few minutes later, I walked into Avni's room, you know, just to check on her. She looked so beautiful, so peaceful, even with all the pain she has experienced, as she gently breathed in and out. I bent down, kissed her goodnight and left her room.

Throughout the night, I could barely sleep. My thoughts were swarmed by Avni's face. The way she looked when I found her, the pain in her eyes and how it felt to have kissed her.

She had bewitched me body and soul and I slowly realised that she was now my whole life. From now, I had to do anything and everything I could do be the man she needed me to be. I would give my life for her.

I was woken up from my semi-sleep by a knock on the door.

"Hey, ready to leave?" Sid said.

"Yep. Let's do this." I said and got ready in 5 minutes.

As we drove to the motel, Siddharth and I discussed what we were going to do with Aarav.

As soon as we reached his room, I unlocked it and we barged in to see Aarav still passed out on his bed. The entire room stank of booze. I went to him and shook him hard to wake him up.

After a few minutes of violent pushes, he woke up with a dazed expression on his face. By the look of it, I don't think he knew where he was.

I took him by his collar and shoved him against the wall and began punching him. I was clearly letting my feelings take over my senses and Sid, being calmer than me, tried to break up the fight before it got any worse, but in vain. I was not going to let this guy live.

"Vihaan, take it easy, bro." he said on seeing me punching the life out of Aarav. He then tried his hardest to break it up. Aarav already had a bloody nose and a lip.

"Who are you'll? I'm calling the police!" Aarav shouted, charging toward Sid.

"Oh yeah, please do. We will be happy to tell them what you did yesterday." I said.

"What the hell are you talking about? What did I do?"

"You drank your brains out and tried assaulting Avni, you bastard." I said.

"Listen to me very, very carefully, BC. If I ever catch your stench anywhere around my sister, I will find you and finish what we started today." Sid warned holding Aarav's collar.

Aarav looked scared and by the looks of it, I think he might have remembered a few moments from last night.

Since we saw what a wuss Aarav actually was, we decided to let him go as we knew that he didn't have it in him to try crossing ours or Avni's paths ever again.

*****

Avni:

I woke up with a severe headache and the worst back pain I have had in years.

As I sat on my bed, all that had happened yesterday rushed to my head. After I let it sink in for a bit, I decided two things. One, never again am I going to choose a guy for myself (since I am so awful at it) and two, after this moment, never am I ever going to let it affect me. He was a good for nothing asshole and I deserved better than that.

I had no time to be all sad and depressed about it because Shruthi was staying with us! She and her cute little fam were going be with us till her apartment in Bangalore was ready. When I went downstairs to have breakfast, I saw all my brothers and sisters at the table with an extra person- Vihaan.

"Ah! Avni's here! Take your seat Avnu, today's breakfast is Dosa!" Ajji said cheerfully. Of course she would be cheerful. Vihaan was here.

I eyed everyone suspiciously, but all of them collectively avoided looking at me, except for maybe Vihaan who was smiling a very warm and genuine smile.

Hi. He mouthed.

I nodded at him and mouthed a Thank you, not forgetting what he had done for me yesterday.

He placed his hand on his heart and nodded at me.

As I was still gazing at Vihaan, I felt someone hug me tightly from behind.

"Hi Shru!" I said, recognizing her at once.

"Hello small sister! How are you holding up?" Clearly she was not talking about yesterday.

"Uh, I'm great! Hi Dhyaan! Heg idya?" I asked my brother-in-law.

"I'm great Avni! So glad to be home, man." Dhyaan said.

"No city like Bangalore right?" Vihaan asked as everybody settled down.

"Definitely!" Dhyaan exclaimed while he fed a very hungry Aanya some Dosa.

"So tell me Shruthi, how did the both of you hit it off?" Vihaan asked Shruthi, who was in the middle of eating her third Dosa. She turned a bright shade of pink.

"Oh, it's not so exciting." Dhyaan chuckled.

"No tell us!" Naina said. She was a sucker for Rom-Coms.

"We first met at our cousin Yamini's wedding. Dhyaan was Tanmay's best friend." Shruthi said. Yamini was one of our 20 cousins and also the closest. She was the first one in our generation to get married.

"I was hooked on to her the moment I saw her." Dhyaan said. He was quite the romantic!

"Okay, moving on... We exchanged numbers once the wedding was done and met a couple of times, just as friends. Two months after the wedding, we got into a relationship and six months after that he proposed!" Shruthi said.

"When we came to Ma and Pa here to tell them about us, it turned out that they knew all along! We were pretty bad at hiding." Dhyaan chuckled.

"They didn't know who they were dealing with." Ma said winking at Dhyaan.

"How did he propose, Akka?" Rutu squeaked, clearly overdosing on cuteness. Amay on the other hand looked like he was ready to jump off our terrace.

"Amay, let's go. We still have time to run." Amrita said. Shru playfully nudged her while the rest of us laughed.

"It wasn't that romantic and all, Rutu. She had come home to meet my parents. I had carried that ring with me for around two months. Then I realised that this was as good a time as any, so I proposed to her on my terrace." Dhyaan said.

"Their wedding was spectacular! I have never been to any which was grander than Shru's and Dhyaan's." I added.

"Aunty, Uncle, I'll leave now." Vihaan said getting up. Everyone had finished their breakfast and were merrily chattering amongst themselves.

"Wait! Before you go, my husband and I would like to invite you for our house warming ceremony on May 7th, next Sunday. You have to come, okay? No excuses." Shruthi said.

"I wouldn't miss it! Bye guys!" Vihaan said and made his way to the door.

"Vihaan wait!" I said and followed him out.

"How're you holding up?" He asked when we got to his car.

"I'm fine. I'm not letting it affect me." I said.

"Wow. You are one tough person, Avni. I'm glad you're okay."

"And about that kiss..."

"We don't have to talk about it now, okay? We'll talk when you're ready." He said.

"I just wanted to tell you how thankful I am for what you did for me, Vihaan. You saved my dignity and not to forget, you saved my life." I whispered.

"Avni, you don't need to say anything, okay? I would do anything for you." He said, pulling me into a warm hug.

Before getting into his car, he stood in front of me and looked straight into my eyes. His eyes were unreadable. He slowly raised his right hand and drew it along the side of my cheek. I could feel goose bumps rise and a shiver run down my spine.

He quickly retracted and in one swift move he sat inside his car.

"See you soon?" He asked.

"Obviously! Next week at Shruthi's house warming ceremony? You're coming right?" I asked.

"Definitely! Listen, there's one more thing I wanted to tell you."

"Hm?"

"I think you should tell your dad about everything." He said.

"You're right. I'll do it in time." I said and smiled as he drove away.

*****

At night, I took dad to my room and sat him down. I was mentally prepared to tell him but I was scared about what he might say.

I finally sat next to him and told him the entire story, not editing a single detail.

Dad looked so disappointed. I wasn't sure if he was with me or with the situation. Without saying a word, he inhaled very slowly and walked out.

"Dad, aren't you going to say anything?" I asked as I followed him.

"What do you want me to say, Dolu?" He asked without turning to look at me.

"Say something, Dad. Please." I whispered.

"You have told me everything alva, Avnu? Let me process it. And once I am done, I will get hold of that pig and I will beat him to death for hurting my daughter." He said angrily.

"Dad, I promise you, I will never get into a relationship without your consent. Never, ever will I make this mistake ever again." I said. I was so fed up and disappointed.

"It's not your fault, Avni. You are not going to sit here and put the blame on yourself. I will not allow it. You cheer up now. Go have fun with your siblings." He said, giving me a hug.

Dad was my backbone, my support system. I loved him so much.

Later in the evening, I was sitting all alone in our terrace, just breathing in the clean air and watching the sun all set to set.

"Why are you sitting all alone here?" I heard Shruthi's voice from behind.

"Just wanted to be alone Shru." I said.

"Won't you turn around to see who's come?" She asked.

As I turned around, I saw Bhavna standing next to her, her arms stretched out for a hug.

I got up and darted towards her and pulled both my sisters in a tight embrace.

"Oh, it's been so long since the three of us have been together." Bhavna whispered.

"I know Bhavu. I have missed you two so much." I said.

"What's wrong?" Bhavna asked, looking concerned.

"I'm just scared that I will end up all alone."

"How the hell did that thought come to you? Avni, you are NEVER going to be alone. Do you understand? You have seven siblings who love you and would give their life for you! You have so many friends who adore you! What's wrong with you?" Shru said.

"I know what would help her Shru. Let's go." Bhavna said and dragged us inside the house.

We went to our family room and Bhavna turned the sound system to a considerable high volume. Before I knew it, I was dancing like a crazy chick to the most infectious beats with my two sisters.

When the songs got better, Rutu, Naina, Amrita, Amay, Sid, Maya, Dhyaan and Adi joined us and it turned into an impromptu party! Shruthi and Dhyaan were dancing like drunkards, Bhavna and Adi were taking it a little slow, and Adi had one protective hand on Bhavna's tummy, I was jumping up and down with my baby twin sisters and Sid, Maya, Amrita and Amay were doing a weird robotic dance next to me. The night was perfect.

As I was dancing, I realized that I had nothing to be afraid of. I could feel the sadness and pain I had experienced when I was with Aarav slowly drift away from my body.

I had everything I had always wanted right here.

I had my family.