It all happened in a blur.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE4NC8R04VW
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.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBD0j30I5OU
A few messages. A few replies. A few misunderstandings.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzlNp2P5bko
So little, yet somehow, I made them… heavy.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAKKgc2egpi
Weighted them down with emotion I never learned how to express.
That day, we met — face to face.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6R2m5W1ss
For once, no phones, no typing bubbles, no delays.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14PnfMLkJX
Just her. And me.
We argued, gently.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWHApLzl5HA
More like scraping wounds that hadn’t healed.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSAU0aoQI12
I brushed it off — said the words that hurt her weren’t even mine.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4fQ2rHdgZ
"That was just something ChatGPT wrote," I mumbled, eyes looking anywhere but her.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxXc9O5xre
It was easier to lie, easier to detach.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzELoL2Ryk
Because admitting I meant every word would mean risking everything.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacRTQ2BBEv
And I wasn’t ready to lose her.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnOI3l2WwVt
Not yet.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIO0EiySlq
Not ever.
"I just don’t want to say something you never wanted to hear," I said,150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejKSq8oodT
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 —150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGA1KNygTGi
She was staying at college late and needed help carrying her luggage to the bus.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdSyGrBXNG
I agreed.
And then, out of instinct or maybe longing,150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnsIPYjZKD
I turned to Seren.
“Come with me?”
She said yes.
We walked together.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DWT4OaQM8
Not like we used to.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4djAUcza4U
The air was different.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhw6dE2OlJa
But still, she came.
We met the senior, carried the bags.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡayzj6kw21R
The sun was low. The clouds darker.
As we neared my bus — Bus 495 now, no longer 222 —150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZuPWagYTRj
It began to drizzle.
And without thinking,150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1S9N2ahRcX
I handed her a small bag and told her to hold it over her head.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLGxnh3oIZ
A stupid gesture, clumsy and warm.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQHmmxhz3Y
Something straight out of the kind of slice-of-life drama.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBsUlgemIm
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.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrUjnYOviJG
It was pouring.
Her bus wasn’t beside mine anymore.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvXIzG5MHf
It stood at the center of the soaked ground, distant.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJ3oJuaiTz
Like her.
We waited under the bus shelter.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRFq7OI5eU
Time slowed.
We talked.
Not about the fight. Not about the awkwardness.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkAeotYidvR
Just talked.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GUWlMaGb7
About things that didn’t hurt.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK54egcDNkI
Like we used to.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAOZIoGYhw
And it felt like maybe — just maybe — the storm could pass.
But the rain didn’t stop.
We looked for an umbrella.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6B2hz2sCsb
Hoped someone would have one.
Then, through the curtains of rain,150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTMpNov85E2
I saw Krish walking to his bus, holding an umbrella like a shield against the world.
Without thinking, I leapt.
Out into the storm.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmsQJrKkPr
Through the cold.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBarem2y1Wp
Feet sinking into mud.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXtAJCgeCa
Each step heavy — but not with water.
I ran after him, waited till he was close to his bus,150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3y6Gq9pmb
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.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55DSGHtoim
We shared the cover.
And as we are walking towards her bus.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGE7VdKoL8
Our shoulders touched.
For a moment —150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIz6iscADqw
A second that felt like eternity —150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmGl47NC9D
Everything froze.
And I knew.
I wasn’t meant to be the one holding the umbrella.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡui2nJDHnoB
I wasn’t meant to be the one by her side.
This was a borrowed moment.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLrTZZBsBmL
A borrowed feeling.
And so, I stepped out.
Let the rain welcome me back.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6kBULV50Qo
Let it hide the tears that I couldn't let her see.
We walked to her bus together.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXyTobfq4lS
Her — warm, untouched by the storm.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpY8pM0wJL
Me — soaked, alone beneath the sky.
When we reached, she turned and smiled.
I just smiled.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2OvVShanT
No words.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU5pgA1NqeX
Just the weight of goodbye unspoken.
And then she stepped onto her bus.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WC0Uk3RVL
And I turned away.150Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdvvdsSJSBA
And the rain kept falling.
But it wasn’t just rain anymore.
It was the sky grieving with me.
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