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Twinj: It’s Always Been You: Episode 20
A quick recap: Aparna uses her own example to help Twinkle get over her pain. Twinkle is finally able to lead herself out of her misery with RT’s guidance. She strictly instructs Usha to stop her cold behaviour towards Kunj and support him instead. Kunj turns up at Twinkle’s place.
Twinkle and Kunj ended up choosing to speak in her room since Yuvi and Chinki thought that was a better alternative than the garden that Twinkle had thought of. However, neither of them had been able to speak a single word, and thus peaceful silence prevailed, both of them looking at the other occasionally and looking away before they got caught. Kunj suddenly spotted a framed picture of Twinkle on her table, he recognised it too well. It was he who had clicked it for her despite her reluctance probably in the second year of college, when she had worn a Saree for some occasion that he didn’t remember now. When he had picked up his phone to click the picture she had tried to wrestle it out of his arms, ending up losing her balance. She would have crashed to the ground had it not been for him catching her in time. He figured that it was probably the first time that he had felt something other than friendship for her but had ignored it for years, Alisha’s entry into his life making it more convenient to brush off those thoughts. He recalled how annoyed she had been at him when he had still managed to get a picture and had told him that she would delete it, but turns out she hadn’t. She had framed it instead, he wondered if it was because she looked so great in it or because of the memories that were attached to it. Right next to it was the pink bunny stuffed toy that he had gifted her on her birthday years ago, kidding that she was still a little child. Looking around more carefully he noticed her room was filled with things that were evocative of their friendship; she had retained every single thing with utmost care.
“It’s all my fault, isn’t it?” Kunj asked with a deep sigh, making Twinkle glance at him sharply. “You’re taking too much credit, do you realise?” She shot back, surprising him. “Perhaps things would have been way different if I had simply listened to you about Alisha in the first place. She didn’t care about me ever, you had been right all along.” He explained, locking eyes with hers for just a minute before looking away. “That’s possible, but do you think you would have been able to get over your ‘feelings’ for Alisha just because me and Usha aunty had different opinions about her?” She asked, air quoting to assert the emphasis, as she allowed herself a little giggle. He didn’t look too amused with the idea and thus they went back to staying silent for a few minutes, until he spoke, “Ma thought so too? How come she never told me?” She nodded and replied, “She had imposed that responsibility on me actually. She thought I would be able to deal with it better.” She saw his expression change from melancholy for the first time as he put on an annoyed look. “I can’t believe this! You and Ma spoke about me behind my back?” He asked disappointedly, and she nodded hesitantly, holding back a smile as she recalled how Usha would always have a long list of complaints on Kunj to tell her whenever she visited their house. “That’s not fair!” He protested, momentarily forgetting all his troubles as he watched her laugh at him.
The silence that prevailed following Twinkle quietening down when she saw Kunj staring at her was a more comfortable one than before, for unknowingly, they had opened the door to their cheerful memories that had been locked up in some corner of their mind for so long; they brought them peace. “Can I tell you something? I’ve actually been thinking of this for some time, but could never share it with anyone.” Twinkle broke the silence this time. “Sure!” Kunj replied, relieved that they would finally be talking about the issue that had been troubling him for so long. He stood up from the couch opposite the bed where she was sitting and walked slowly to her side and sat down, earning a grateful smile from her. “I wonder how things would be if the baby, our baby I mean, had survived. Probably I wouldn’t have returned so soon, and would have raised him with Aparna for as long as I could tolerate his questions about his father. Maybe then I would have returned, and perhaps we would have run into each other at the airport, leaving you curious about the little boy who would call me ‘Mumma’, and then we would have somehow battled our differences and united to form a perfect family!” She spoke slowly, pausing in between to take deep breaths so that she wouldn’t go back to her depressed self.
Kunj pulled Twinkle close to himself as he finally let the tears that he had been fighting for so long flow down. “I’m sorry!” He managed to speak between his sniffles, while she stayed absolutely quiet, wanting him to let go of his guilt once and for all. “Feeling better now?” She asked as he sat up straight and wiped away his tears some time later. “No!” He muttered, frowning at her as he loosened his grip on her. “I don’t like that version! We, you at least, deserve way better!” He added, looking down at her hand holding onto his firmly. “You deserve better too, Kunj! You don’t have to be so harsh on yourself!” She insisted, looking right into his eyes, the familiarity that they provided overwhelming her. “How do you manage to stay so strong all the time?” He asked in awe, breaking her trance. “Because I still love you. I’m not going to lie, I tried my best to hate you, but I couldn’t. I was left heartbroken and terribly lonely after all that happened between us, but my heart could never hold you solely guilty for all that happened. It is this love that I derive all my strength from.” She confessed, watching his eyes well up as she spoke. “Does that mean that you’ve forgiven and forgotten everything?” He asked, finding it hard to believe whatever he had just heard. “Forgiven, yes. Not forgotten though. I would rather say I’ve come to terms with it, and you should too, once you’ve forgiven me, that is, irrespective of whether we choose to come together or part ways.” She spoke, her heart stinging at the thought of parting ways again, but she didn’t want to sound too desperate, she had already confessed her feelings for him and not received a proper response after all. “Forgive you for? What was your fault?” He asked, as he processed her words slowly. “I should have mustered courage to confront you instead of fleeing, Kunj! Or at least told you when I found about the baby. If you think about it, I had the chance to prevent all of this from happening too, didn’t I?” She spoke with an air of finality that clearly said ‘don’t you dare deny this!’ and so he nodded quietly.
“I love you too!” Kunj said finally, after he was done weighing all the options he had before him and realising that Twinkle wouldn’t accept a single argument right then, squeezing her hand gently and she whispered, “I know!” as she rested her head on his shoulder. “I promise I’ll do all that I can to ensure that you find all the happiness in the world, Twinkle! I know I’ve made tons of mistakes all along, but do you realise that all of it began just because I chose to give in to Alisha’s flattery rather than you? I’m not repeating that mistake again! I’m never letting you go!” He spoke slowly, putting his hands around her. “Whoa! Finally! I had realised right when I met you first that you were hopeless and Twinkle would have to make the first move, Kunj!” They heard Aparna’s voice barging into their picture perfect moment, annoying them. Twinkle freed herself and walked over to Aparna, giggling at Kunj as Aparna added, “You might want to slow down though, Kunj! Twinkle hasn’t said that she’s prepared to spend the rest of her life with you yet!” The realisation dawned upon Kunj and he looked at Twinkle in surprise, wondering what other plans she had in mind, but figured that Twinkle too looked equally astonished by Aparna’s statement. She cast one quick glance at Kunj and then turned to Aparna who burst out laughing as she saw their expressions. “Don’t worry, she has no plans of letting you go either!” Aparna told Kunj when she managed to control her laughter and saw him grin at Twinkle, who was looking at anywhere but him.
“What is this ‘first time’ you met Kunj that you were talking about?” Twinkle asked Aparna when the three of them walked downstairs. Aparna sneaked a peak at Kunj before she answered, “I ran into Kunj a couple of days after that party. He recognised me as your friend from Mumbai and requested to speak to me. I gave in after his repeated insistence and met him at his house. His curious questions about you wouldn’t stop at all, making both me and Usha aunty laugh, but I had recognised him to be really stupid!” Kunj frowned at that as the girls chuckled. Their laughter stopped when they spotted Leela at the foot of the stairs, staring at them.
That’s it for now, guys. I hope it was up to your expectations. Lots of love!