It all happened in a blur.123Please respect copyright.PENANAVl2za8aWlJ
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.123Please respect copyright.PENANAwDyZsxtpE5
A few messages. A few replies. A few misunderstandings.123Please respect copyright.PENANAU2SdMo19fv
So little, yet somehow, I made them… heavy.123Please respect copyright.PENANAG5nBkYaPLi
Weighted them down with emotion I never learned how to express.
That day, we met — face to face.123Please respect copyright.PENANAimtP2wfnqY
For once, no phones, no typing bubbles, no delays.123Please respect copyright.PENANA8hfBfVcanE
Just her. And me.
We argued, gently.123Please respect copyright.PENANAboZy9ajFqK
More like scraping wounds that hadn’t healed.123Please respect copyright.PENANAxbbk8RZ9t6
I brushed it off — said the words that hurt her weren’t even mine.123Please respect copyright.PENANA3DYwYnoRca
"That was just something ChatGPT wrote," I mumbled, eyes looking anywhere but her.123Please respect copyright.PENANAOsiolCIPfg
It was easier to lie, easier to detach.123Please respect copyright.PENANAS2e9Tw31HG
Because admitting I meant every word would mean risking everything.123Please respect copyright.PENANAB307BexNk4
And I wasn’t ready to lose her.123Please respect copyright.PENANAUv0C9J62Gw
Not yet.123Please respect copyright.PENANASlfZ0kS3Fw
Not ever.
"I just don’t want to say something you never wanted to hear," I said,123Please respect copyright.PENANA882iNzcAJ7
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 —123Please respect copyright.PENANAWVA5uTpjZp
She was staying at college late and needed help carrying her luggage to the bus.123Please respect copyright.PENANASpAem2TEWQ
I agreed.
And then, out of instinct or maybe longing,123Please respect copyright.PENANAbnFcSgAJUI
I turned to Seren.
“Come with me?”
She said yes.
We walked together.123Please respect copyright.PENANAhvxxK2QmzP
Not like we used to.123Please respect copyright.PENANARAfEKiLEBh
The air was different.123Please respect copyright.PENANAJyoXq3knPe
But still, she came.
We met the senior, carried the bags.123Please respect copyright.PENANA1JfrXrdiA0
The sun was low. The clouds darker.
As we neared my bus — Bus 495 now, no longer 222 —123Please respect copyright.PENANARXq22ftJMA
It began to drizzle.
And without thinking,123Please respect copyright.PENANAwu6by4LRvK
I handed her a small bag and told her to hold it over her head.123Please respect copyright.PENANA58oBiT6LyM
A stupid gesture, clumsy and warm.123Please respect copyright.PENANAGHWFORMDy5
Something straight out of the kind of slice-of-life drama.123Please respect copyright.PENANA7Evjlv9TaK
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.123Please respect copyright.PENANAOJvH5Cprym
It was pouring.
Her bus wasn’t beside mine anymore.123Please respect copyright.PENANALhqfd1wd5f
It stood at the center of the soaked ground, distant.123Please respect copyright.PENANAsoxLEk0iB2
Like her.
We waited under the bus shelter.123Please respect copyright.PENANAZhlvTY1zwS
Time slowed.
We talked.
Not about the fight. Not about the awkwardness.123Please respect copyright.PENANAo5yXNaJbFh
Just talked.123Please respect copyright.PENANAgBrJ9Roq43
About things that didn’t hurt.123Please respect copyright.PENANAN6UhslRvVF
Like we used to.123Please respect copyright.PENANAJSFF7jYZFv
And it felt like maybe — just maybe — the storm could pass.
But the rain didn’t stop.
We looked for an umbrella.123Please respect copyright.PENANAJo9jgCKyyF
Hoped someone would have one.
Then, through the curtains of rain,123Please respect copyright.PENANAj7M4aF2TGq
I saw Krish walking to his bus, holding an umbrella like a shield against the world.
Without thinking, I leapt.
Out into the storm.123Please respect copyright.PENANApNtfpkaXHg
Through the cold.123Please respect copyright.PENANAmgkqXJPoFZ
Feet sinking into mud.123Please respect copyright.PENANAJv2ZG1D0Ok
Each step heavy — but not with water.
I ran after him, waited till he was close to his bus,123Please respect copyright.PENANAZ1gU5JHb92
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.123Please respect copyright.PENANAR81MEH58aZ
We shared the cover.
And as we are walking towards her bus.123Please respect copyright.PENANA4OiHCnDFH3
Our shoulders touched.
For a moment —123Please respect copyright.PENANA1bhGiv6Y6Z
A second that felt like eternity —123Please respect copyright.PENANADkGoPiYrCW
Everything froze.
And I knew.
I wasn’t meant to be the one holding the umbrella.123Please respect copyright.PENANAKKkS2eUOYX
I wasn’t meant to be the one by her side.
This was a borrowed moment.123Please respect copyright.PENANArseHNDJjZO
A borrowed feeling.
And so, I stepped out.
Let the rain welcome me back.123Please respect copyright.PENANA6cCNWe0upt
Let it hide the tears that I couldn't let her see.
We walked to her bus together.123Please respect copyright.PENANAx5zcBFEhND
Her — warm, untouched by the storm.123Please respect copyright.PENANAHTSmlVhSrH
Me — soaked, alone beneath the sky.
When we reached, she turned and smiled.
I just smiled.123Please respect copyright.PENANAUBSeIXyyDi
No words.123Please respect copyright.PENANACF9d9jFyPe
Just the weight of goodbye unspoken.
And then she stepped onto her bus.123Please respect copyright.PENANAKjEzs4hhFw
And I turned away.123Please respect copyright.PENANAu4iuE0zeVO
And the rain kept falling.
But it wasn’t just rain anymore.
It was the sky grieving with me.
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