Eyana's POV
The weekend air tasted different—lighter, like something in me had unclenched. I was sitting across from Siddhartha at this tiny café near the lake, the kind with handwritten chalk menus and fairy lights that looked like they were trying too hard. But for once, I didn't mind the effort. It felt honest. Real.
"Let me guess," he said, stirring his coffee lazily. "You're the kind of girl who drinks chai even when she's sad. Especially when she's sad."
I smiled. "Guilty."
He leaned back, watching me. "You've been quiet since we sat down. Want to talk about it?"
I shook my head, biting the inside of my cheek. "No. I want to forget it for a while. Forget them. Her. Him."
"Deal," he said simply. No pressure. No digging. Just presence.
And god, I needed that more than I realized.
For the next hour, we talked about everything but the mess we left behind—books we never finished, dreams we were scared to admit out loud, and why college cafeteria food should be declared a human rights violation.
At one point, he reached across the table and brushed a crumb from the corner of my lip. My breath caught.
"Sorry," he said softly, but didn't pull away immediately.
My heart tripped over itself.
This wasn't like before. This wasn't a boy trying to fill a void. This was someone seeing the void and still staying.
And I let him.
Just as we walked out of the café, fingers brushing again in something dangerously close to more, my phone buzzed.
1 NEW MESSAGE – Jhanvi
You need to come to campus. Now.
Meghana and Avyansh. It's a full-blown circus.
Tejal's POV
The hallway outside the auditorium looked like a scene from a Netflix scandal show. People were gathered in circles, whispering like wildfire, and in the center—Meghana. Crying. Loudly. Dramatically.
"Why would you lead me on, Avyansh? Why would you let me believe—" she wailed, and every girl around her gasped like it was a soap opera.
Avyansh stood a few steps away, his expression unreadable, jaw tight.
"I didn't lead you on," he said coolly. "You assumed something I never promised."
"Then why did you let me kiss you?!"
The crowd erupted.
Jhanvi elbowed me. "Okay, wait—SHE kissed HIM? Not the other way around?"
"Plot twist," I muttered, pulling out my phone. "Eyana needs to see this."
"Already texted her," Jhanvi whispered back. "She's on her way."
And just as Meghana shrieked, "You used me!"—the front gates creaked open.
And in walked Eyana.
Avyansh's POV
The second I saw her, the world snapped back into focus.
She was wearing that light blue kurta she always claimed made her look "too studious," but I swear it made her glow. Her eyes found mine—sharp, steady, unforgiving.
Beside her? Siddhartha.
Of course.
I stepped forward instinctively. "Eyana—"
But she didn't stop. Didn't slow down. Just walked past the drama like it didn't touch her. Like she was above it now.
Meghana turned, spotting her. "Oh, look who's here. Come to watch me get humiliated? Enjoying the show, are you?"
Eyana stopped. Finally.
She looked at Meghana, then at me.
And then? She laughed.
Not cruelly. Not mockingly.
Just... tired. Done.
"No, Meghana," she said calmly. "I'm just here to return what belongs to neither of us."
And then she reached into her bag—pulled out the old polaroid Avyansh had once taken of the two of them. The one she kept tucked behind her phone case all this time.
She walked up to him. Held it out.
"I'm done being your second thought, your safety net, your habit."
Avyansh's eyes widened. "Eyana, wait—"
"No," she cut in. "You kissed her. You let her believe there was something. And maybe that's who you are now. But it's not someone I recognize anymore."
She turned to Meghana.
"Keep him, if you want. Just know—what you took? Was already falling apart."
And with that, she dropped the polaroid on the floor and walked away.
This time, I did look back.
But she didn't.
Not once.
Siddhartha's POV
As we walked away, she didn't speak. Just breathed.
And that was enough.
I didn't hold her hand.
I didn't pull her closer.
I just stayed by her side.
Because some girls aren't meant to be saved.
They're meant to be seen.
And for the first time in a long time...
I think she finally was.
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