It all happened in a blur.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVP4NWvH2S5
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.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupQGMOnncB
A few messages. A few replies. A few misunderstandings.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9iOFosf3TG
So little, yet somehow, I made them… heavy.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uuSlFW0YH
Weighted them down with emotion I never learned how to express.
That day, we met — face to face.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3sFvBjH55X
For once, no phones, no typing bubbles, no delays.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl17IfOCm5x
Just her. And me.
We argued, gently.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZsvYXqlh4
More like scraping wounds that hadn’t healed.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYiGL5psxwQ
I brushed it off — said the words that hurt her weren’t even mine.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWilC4m10mr
"That was just something ChatGPT wrote," I mumbled, eyes looking anywhere but her.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeNiPw7VPD2
It was easier to lie, easier to detach.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUePXgeJCGv
Because admitting I meant every word would mean risking everything.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU8eYcl8aPQ
And I wasn’t ready to lose her.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLt94mkCdMe
Not yet.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9aGr4Luqrq
Not ever.
"I just don’t want to say something you never wanted to hear," I said,64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyU3MjWU86o
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 —64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgZqYIiG7c
She was staying at college late and needed help carrying her luggage to the bus.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwUZV6weCC
I agreed.
And then, out of instinct or maybe longing,64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFLAnCKnQ3o
I turned to Seren.
“Come with me?”
She said yes.
We walked together.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ms4dllfXR
Not like we used to.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwjpWN8KNt
The air was different.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsEG33tHxT
But still, she came.
We met the senior, carried the bags.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXje17GqwDc
The sun was low. The clouds darker.
As we neared my bus — Bus 495 now, no longer 222 —64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcRNYmp6zWa
It began to drizzle.
And without thinking,64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdA4bUoUArG
I handed her a small bag and told her to hold it over her head.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPz1kZderA
A stupid gesture, clumsy and warm.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzvno78Po0
Something straight out of the kind of slice-of-life drama.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5muBfPoBz
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.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTkoMpVkcpC
It was pouring.
Her bus wasn’t beside mine anymore.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMKogAhDfI4
It stood at the center of the soaked ground, distant.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JTFE10V9i
Like her.
We waited under the bus shelter.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SYPMG0zhv
Time slowed.
We talked.
Not about the fight. Not about the awkwardness.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡog0E9q1qdQ
Just talked.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDK0KLbTZ9L
About things that didn’t hurt.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdVtmxiMSvy
Like we used to.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDigY4F900t
And it felt like maybe — just maybe — the storm could pass.
But the rain didn’t stop.
We looked for an umbrella.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJnLE7ukh7o
Hoped someone would have one.
Then, through the curtains of rain,64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGAa8DfiX1g
I saw Krish walking to his bus, holding an umbrella like a shield against the world.
Without thinking, I leapt.
Out into the storm.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡver8E9Xozz
Through the cold.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhcdXuBDAY
Feet sinking into mud.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0aoZUzhpT
Each step heavy — but not with water.
I ran after him, waited till he was close to his bus,64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡobpebqyJG1
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.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTuVmED8UrV
We shared the cover.
And as we are walking towards her bus.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHEVP6z4As
Our shoulders touched.
For a moment —64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjhcxu55wcW
A second that felt like eternity —64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE3q4aFGxqw
Everything froze.
And I knew.
I wasn’t meant to be the one holding the umbrella.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDg9YDEG0Ce
I wasn’t meant to be the one by her side.
This was a borrowed moment.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3FGWYj6ik
A borrowed feeling.
And so, I stepped out.
Let the rain welcome me back.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4ERjL1olK
Let it hide the tears that I couldn't let her see.
We walked to her bus together.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMaGSm7gio8
Her — warm, untouched by the storm.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSKSkPZ8UAp
Me — soaked, alone beneath the sky.
When we reached, she turned and smiled.
I just smiled.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr24JGrTptU
No words.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJ5v8s8kpq
Just the weight of goodbye unspoken.
And then she stepped onto her bus.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCh35eSytDf
And I turned away.64Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgfM60XI2S2
And the rain kept falling.
But it wasn’t just rain anymore.
It was the sky grieving with me.
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