It all happened in a blur.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNRun8trRWv
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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnfvvt97aO
A few messages. A few replies. A few misunderstandings.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Ascx9VQc4
So little, yet somehow, I made them… heavy.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdm8zj3fHtx
Weighted them down with emotion I never learned how to express.
That day, we met — face to face.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDgsp5k6V1
For once, no phones, no typing bubbles, no delays.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Tbb0dgpL5
Just her. And me.
We argued, gently.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkms12AeHkc
More like scraping wounds that hadn’t healed.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjL9xCQSW1U
I brushed it off — said the words that hurt her weren’t even mine.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1X67mSo7y
"That was just something ChatGPT wrote," I mumbled, eyes looking anywhere but her.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaWdwhprbCp
It was easier to lie, easier to detach.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UeBTeJgmM
Because admitting I meant every word would mean risking everything.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyBUjYdN2gs
And I wasn’t ready to lose her.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6npCCYjI7I
Not yet.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡon2OmLixss
Not ever.
"I just don’t want to say something you never wanted to hear," I said,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMhNp1hYId4
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 —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUZqPXnNPZN
She was staying at college late and needed help carrying her luggage to the bus.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGcFjaFkGx
I agreed.
And then, out of instinct or maybe longing,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw5dvrKZzxs
I turned to Seren.
“Come with me?”
She said yes.
We walked together.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrj2hO5S8Fc
Not like we used to.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA7FMuS0ZBP
The air was different.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡABbl5gAD06
But still, she came.
We met the senior, carried the bags.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5MPlp0BoRr
The sun was low. The clouds darker.
As we neared my bus — Bus 495 now, no longer 222 —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMB8KGm28b
It began to drizzle.
And without thinking,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQPxsjkHkJ5
I handed her a small bag and told her to hold it over her head.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHWElITaWvH
A stupid gesture, clumsy and warm.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOhRCabDjyf
Something straight out of the kind of slice-of-life drama.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgdpAt2rFQ
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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRT1CWz4XWC
It was pouring.
Her bus wasn’t beside mine anymore.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWH2mb654rI
It stood at the center of the soaked ground, distant.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN4SleJRiQq
Like her.
We waited under the bus shelter.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6El1AK39FQ
Time slowed.
We talked.
Not about the fight. Not about the awkwardness.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzXNBw6oAD
Just talked.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCOaoXppZ1C
About things that didn’t hurt.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvEVzuHPQO
Like we used to.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOCf6llR13d
And it felt like maybe — just maybe — the storm could pass.
But the rain didn’t stop.
We looked for an umbrella.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMC1A7UHAdw
Hoped someone would have one.
Then, through the curtains of rain,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3QLr0HRDKl
I saw Krish walking to his bus, holding an umbrella like a shield against the world.
Without thinking, I leapt.
Out into the storm.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvt9dPwMY96
Through the cold.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJarVwhvAF
Feet sinking into mud.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKl7YdbA2Aa
Each step heavy — but not with water.
I ran after him, waited till he was close to his bus,129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbzMDm8b23
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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVXvi3b9Bew
We shared the cover.
And as we are walking towards her bus.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnhU6Tx5SqF
Our shoulders touched.
For a moment —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKETXqmylWw
A second that felt like eternity —129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cX9ToYmCT
Everything froze.
And I knew.
I wasn’t meant to be the one holding the umbrella.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7s8tDw3hf1
I wasn’t meant to be the one by her side.
This was a borrowed moment.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZL6e0eiC0j
A borrowed feeling.
And so, I stepped out.
Let the rain welcome me back.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5efkftRdKR
Let it hide the tears that I couldn't let her see.
We walked to her bus together.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvi03lNm1wa
Her — warm, untouched by the storm.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSvrheaTKU2
Me — soaked, alone beneath the sky.
When we reached, she turned and smiled.
I just smiled.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOekUYg3dF7
No words.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtR3flXftV8
Just the weight of goodbye unspoken.
And then she stepped onto her bus.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtzGlN5240
And I turned away.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflepntyAYZ
And the rain kept falling.
But it wasn’t just rain anymore.
It was the sky grieving with me.
ns216.73.216.79da2
