Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

Four Years Later

The rain had started without warning.

One minute, the streets were dry.

The next, the sky seemed to fall apart.

He stood beneath the narrow shade of a small shop, trying his best not to get splashed by the water rushing along the roadside.

He looked up at the sky.

"Uff... was it necessary for the rain to suddenly pour like this?"

He checked his phone.

No new notifications.

He sighed and slipped it back into his pocket.

"And of course, I forgot my umbrella today."

A gust of wind blew rain across the road.

He stepped further inside the shop's shade.

"Great."

He looked towards the road, waiting for the rain to calm down.

That's when he noticed someone running.

A girl.

She was coming from the opposite side of the road, trying to find somewhere to escape the rain.

Her dupatta was flying behind her with every step, and she kept trying to pull it back over her shoulder while looking for a shop or shelter.

He watched her for a second.

Nothing unusual.

Just another person caught in the rain.

But then—

Something about her made him look twice.

She finally reached the shop opposite him and stopped beneath its shade.

She bent slightly, catching her breath.

Then she pushed a few strands of wet hair away from her face.

He stared.

"Wait..."

Something felt strange.

He couldn't explain it.

"Who is that girl?"

She turned slightly.

He couldn't see her face properly.

Not yet.

Then she looked up.

Their eyes met.

Everything inside him stopped.

The noise of the rain.

The cars passing by.

The people rushing along the street.

Everything blurred into the background.

He knew those eyes.

He had spent years trying not to remember them.

And suddenly—

He didn't have to try anymore.

"No..."

His eyes widened.

"It can't be."

She stared at him from across the road.

Her expression changed too.

Confusion.

Recognition.

Then disbelief.

Four years.

Four entire years.

And yet, somehow, he knew her instantly.

"Is that..."

He swallowed.

"Is that really her?"

She didn't look away.

Neither did he.

And for the first time in four years, he remembered what it felt like to look at her.

Not through a photograph.

Not through an old message.

Not through a memory.

Her.

Right there.

Across the road.

The girl he'd once known better than anyone.

The girl he'd once thought would always be in his life.

The girl he'd lost.

A car passed between them, briefly blocking his view.

When it was gone, she was still there.

Still looking at him.

And suddenly, a memory came rushing back.

Four years ago.

A phone screen glowing at 1:17 a.m.

Her name on it.

His tired voice answering the call.

"You're still awake?"

Her laugh.

"You called me first."

He smiled.

"I missed you."

Back in the present, his expression slowly fell.

Four years.

And one look had been enough to bring all of it back.

The good memories.

The arguments.

The waiting.

The missed calls.

The promises.

And finally—

The goodbye.

He looked at her again.

She was still standing there.

Neither of them crossed the road.

Neither of them waved.

Neither of them smiled.

They simply stood there, separated by a road and four years of everything they had tried to forget.

Then she looked away.

And somehow, that hurt more than he expected.

"She still remembers me."

He didn't know why he said it.

Maybe he was trying to convince himself.

Maybe he already knew the answer.

The rain continued falling between them.

And for the first time in four years—

he wondered if some stories really ever end.