It all happened in a blur.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Vhoe8Ca63
A single evening, stitched together with words I didn’t mean, silences I couldn’t break, and a downpour I’ll never forget.
It started with something small.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTyzm73zpUH
A few messages. A few replies. A few misunderstandings.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQLIBZJwzE
So little, yet somehow, I made them… heavy.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAV8hVHkshU
Weighted them down with emotion I never learned how to express.
That day, we met — face to face.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVX4Yi3bDp2
For once, no phones, no typing bubbles, no delays.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYnqkc3loae
Just her. And me.
We argued, gently.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCgYFeuHjK4
More like scraping wounds that hadn’t healed.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5yMqDQGK9
I brushed it off — said the words that hurt her weren’t even mine.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Z7VR0A4rW
"That was just something ChatGPT wrote," I mumbled, eyes looking anywhere but her.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVu0jRNWYl0
It was easier to lie, easier to detach.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmYBWvXuoo
Because admitting I meant every word would mean risking everything.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQxBdMWDv3
And I wasn’t ready to lose her.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgfJ4YUFzz
Not yet.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnfXJijJu1h
Not ever.
"I just don’t want to say something you never wanted to hear," I said,131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrNkieW388
But the truth was, I never even got to say what I really felt.
Then came something… unexpected.
A senior from my bus asked for a favor —131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXNTErgWXb
She was staying at college late and needed help carrying her luggage to the bus.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82kboyxDXS
I agreed.
And then, out of instinct or maybe longing,131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC9ESk6RfLX
I turned to Seren.
“Come with me?”
She said yes.
We walked together.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmzSNGGP7zr
Not like we used to.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYMsfyAM06
The air was different.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy5OPmUhcdP
But still, she came.
We met the senior, carried the bags.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbrILJDsTTr
The sun was low. The clouds darker.
As we neared my bus — Bus 495 now, no longer 222 —131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFwoPmcQW5s
It began to drizzle.
And without thinking,131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHRPU2IKOjl
I handed her a small bag and told her to hold it over her head.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQWi7Yra0F
A stupid gesture, clumsy and warm.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxi8718BDId
Something straight out of the kind of slice-of-life drama.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzFgW0gOfU
And suddenly — I realized what I had done.
I was acting like I still had a place beside her.
I turned and ran to the bus, flushed with shame.
She followed. Quiet laughter in her steps.
By the time we reached the bus, the rain wasn’t gentle anymore.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGg70iWN43P
It was pouring.
Her bus wasn’t beside mine anymore.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePrxQkEXNC
It stood at the center of the soaked ground, distant.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5b5jaYpV0
Like her.
We waited under the bus shelter.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzAK63C2da
Time slowed.
We talked.
Not about the fight. Not about the awkwardness.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0iLxuPSChi
Just talked.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudPCFSD0YC
About things that didn’t hurt.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmC3s7cUMz
Like we used to.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Z4XmP1nSz
And it felt like maybe — just maybe — the storm could pass.
But the rain didn’t stop.
We looked for an umbrella.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu29NEJyzHA
Hoped someone would have one.
Then, through the curtains of rain,131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK33gUz3XEk
I saw Krish walking to his bus, holding an umbrella like a shield against the world.
Without thinking, I leapt.
Out into the storm.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbkuNGJLAv
Through the cold.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7BNtOiRvr
Feet sinking into mud.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk4trSxIQTG
Each step heavy — but not with water.
I ran after him, waited till he was close to his bus,131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡde7RjkzktJ
Asked — no, pleaded — and grabbed the umbrella.
Then I ran back.
Drenched. Shivering. But somehow… relieved.
I handed her the umbrella.
She stepped forward, close.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ66OXMZ2vp
We shared the cover.
And as we are walking towards her bus.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidvg7ED3Zm
Our shoulders touched.
For a moment —131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWT9YSM4dw2
A second that felt like eternity —131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrbQk71CJAy
Everything froze.
And I knew.
I wasn’t meant to be the one holding the umbrella.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7fqZINVXe
I wasn’t meant to be the one by her side.
This was a borrowed moment.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ13diZb2xoF
A borrowed feeling.
And so, I stepped out.
Let the rain welcome me back.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡosMmOMhci5
Let it hide the tears that I couldn't let her see.
We walked to her bus together.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdlhGKaZ9Zg
Her — warm, untouched by the storm.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjB0JbQfxDn
Me — soaked, alone beneath the sky.
When we reached, she turned and smiled.
I just smiled.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4z3UFYhzl
No words.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJcJBhhcTsf
Just the weight of goodbye unspoken.
And then she stepped onto her bus.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlkEIcEfmiS
And I turned away.131Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1DHSDz7C3M
And the rain kept falling.
But it wasn’t just rain anymore.
It was the sky grieving with me.
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