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.
ns216.73.216.251da2
