Aanya's POV
Aarav's arms were still around her. The world was silent.
Until—
"There you are!"
Aanya flinched and pulled back just a little, turning toward the voice.
Meher.
Hands on hips, hair a little messy from all the running, and phone still clutched tightly in her grip.
"I've been calling you for the last fifteen minutes! What are you both doing here? I thought you disappeared."
Aanya blinked, her heart still not slowing down. She felt Aarav step slightly back, giving her space, though his gaze lingered.
"I'm sorry," she said quickly. Her voice sounded faraway even to her own ears. "I didn't hear the phone."
Meher's eyes darted between the two of them. Aanya tried not to blush.
She failed.
"Why are you smiling like that?" Meher squinted. "Wait. Are you blushing?"
Aanya looked away, her lips pressing into a small smile she couldn't stop.
"Let's go home," she murmured.
"Aanyaaa…" Meher dragged the name with playful suspicion as they began walking toward the gate.
The road home was calm, bathed in the soft orange glow of streetlights. In the distance, laughter and music still floated in the air.
Aanya walked slowly, her heart full.
Meher, of course, couldn't hold back for long.
"Okay," she said, nudging her, "spill. What happened back there?"
Aanya stayed quiet.
For a long moment.
Then she whispered, like confessing a dream she didn't want to break—
"I think I found him."
Meher turned sharply. "Found who?"
Aanya's eyes lifted toward the stars.
"The boy I saw in my dreams."
Silence.
Meher slowed her steps. She looked at Aanya closely, maybe more seriously than she ever had before.
And in that moment—she saw it.
In Aanya's eyes, in the way her face softened, in the peaceful glow on her skin…
It wasn't just a crush.
This wasn't the kind of love born from flirtation or fun.
It was something deeper.
Something older.
Meher's voice dropped. "You mean… Aarav?"
Aanya nodded, not looking away from the sky.
Meher didn't tease. She didn't laugh.
She just looked at her best friend—really looked.
"I believe you," she said quietly.
Aanya turned to her, surprised.
Meher smiled softly. "Because for the first time… you look whole."
And Aanya smiled, eyes misty.
For the first time in years, the ache inside her didn't hurt.
It glowed.
Later that night…
In their own rooms, under the same sky, miles apart, both Aanya and Aarav lay awake.
Aanya stared at the ceiling, fingers pressed to her chest where she had felt his heartbeat against hers.
"It wasn't just a dream…" she whispered to herself.
Every moment of the night replayed—his eyes, his voice, the way he changed the lyrics, the way he held her like she was something fragile he didn't want to break.
For so long, she had waited to find someone who felt like her missing piece.
And now… she had.
Aarav sat by his window, his guitar still leaning against the wall.
He should have felt exhausted, but he didn't.
He felt… alive.
Aanya's voice still echoed in his ears.
And her words, just before she left, kept circling in his mind:
"I've been waiting for you… for so many years."
He closed his eyes, a strange warmth blooming in his chest.
"So have I…" he whispered into the night.
They didn't know what tomorrow would bring.
But tonight?
Tonight was theirs.
And something in the stars whispered—
This was only the beginning.