AN: This fic takes place just before our favourite duo heads to Buaji's during their fake marriage track - when Arnav has started temporarily forgetting their issues more and more frequently

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"Yeh lijiye aapke paise", said Khushi, brandishing an assorted collection of currency notes in his general direction. She took in her husband's nonplussed expression and offered further explanation – "Wo aapne jo hume Holi ke din 300 rupaiye diye the.. hum lauta rahe hain. Dabba service se jo munafa hua, humne socha sabse pehle udhaar chuka dein. Lijiye! Arre lijiye na.. Aapke hi paise hain"

When Arnav offered no reaction except to look utterly shocked, she took his hand in hers and gently placed the notes on his open palm. "Dhanyawad Arnav-ji", she said softly before turning to leave, suddenly unaccountably shy under the intensity of his gaze. The role-reversed familiarity of the situation seemed to jolt him into action and he tugged on her withdrawing hand. "Aur interest ka kya?", he asked in the low voice that always gave her goosebumps.

She turned to find him closer than she expected and was immediately mesmerized by his scent, his eyes, his towering personality.. She wasn't sure whether time stood still at moments like these or her pounding heart made the seconds seem to stretch forever. Her world narrowed to the honey-caramel of his eyes as he stared intently at her, the heat of his skin as he ran his thumb over her knuckles, the heart-stopping half-smile he tilted in her direction, as the inches separating them seemed to shorten until they were a breath away from each other.

"In.. interest?", she managed to stammer. "Haan. Poora udhar chukana hai na?" he whispered back. Khushi was rapidly losing her train of thought, not that it would have helped her make sense of his behavior. A sudden idea struck her and she glanced out of the open door and French windows; surely someone must have been watching to prompt her husband to behave thusly.

Their lack of audience threw her already scrambled thoughts in a tizzy and she turned back to him, hoping for…something.. only to find that he had already moved away. He glanced at the sofa, the side table, the pool, the doorframe - anywhere but at her – and then gave her a furious look before slamming her "repayment" on the table and stalking angrily past her and out of the room.

Khushi crumpled onto the bed, thinking about her husband's erratic behavior. Had she imagined the warmth in his eyes a minute ago, or was it just wishful thinking? No, she decided, that had happened. Just like their conversation during Holi, like his "act" as Ranjha – it was almost like he had memory lapses where he forgot to be the Rakshas and offered her a teaser of what their relationship could be, what she so desperately wished it would be. She let herself fall back on the bed as she contemplated her life. In their sham of a marriage she could hardly tell the difference between real and make-believe anymore. Closing her eyes against the prickle of errant tears that threatened to escape, she admitted the truth for just a moment - if those brief glimpses of her Rajkumar were a fairy tale, she would happily live that lie.