It all happened in a blur.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIX2A3FWMIt
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.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBqp3UZOqz
A few messages. A few replies. A few misunderstandings.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJky8djSJWs
So little, yet somehow, I made them… heavy.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYByiu2Ei1
Weighted them down with emotion I never learned how to express.
That day, we met — face to face.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKwdRBOh3U
For once, no phones, no typing bubbles, no delays.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW1eCekgmgi
Just her. And me.
We argued, gently.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Dc3efeBNB
More like scraping wounds that hadn’t healed.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypOicviKiE
I brushed it off — said the words that hurt her weren’t even mine.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvgwn9CqYt
"That was just something ChatGPT wrote," I mumbled, eyes looking anywhere but her.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSqtxmNVdzG
It was easier to lie, easier to detach.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohfJvmMyFT
Because admitting I meant every word would mean risking everything.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKD5Gx9vHKI
And I wasn’t ready to lose her.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1LSW0TFPvN
Not yet.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfq2KbK0hi
Not ever.
"I just don’t want to say something you never wanted to hear," I said,100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo09FPKJgkI
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 —100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThcEZxr0yx
She was staying at college late and needed help carrying her luggage to the bus.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ94yikfly7
I agreed.
And then, out of instinct or maybe longing,100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKSWVDrieX
I turned to Seren.
“Come with me?”
She said yes.
We walked together.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9KOzWPCTW5
Not like we used to.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6N67ns93M
The air was different.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHoCPQRQI21
But still, she came.
We met the senior, carried the bags.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNH2LN3m2Tn
The sun was low. The clouds darker.
As we neared my bus — Bus 495 now, no longer 222 —100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7gQfEaVQM
It began to drizzle.
And without thinking,100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2KkyULKf0q
I handed her a small bag and told her to hold it over her head.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq1zYTeuXym
A stupid gesture, clumsy and warm.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnR8u3Bq0m0
Something straight out of the kind of slice-of-life drama.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKQucyquqG
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.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMFwIKp7UkL
It was pouring.
Her bus wasn’t beside mine anymore.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLNJyC0iz0d
It stood at the center of the soaked ground, distant.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0I9SHFCMA
Like her.
We waited under the bus shelter.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoV8xgdhs9o
Time slowed.
We talked.
Not about the fight. Not about the awkwardness.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrRTtqIKjMA
Just talked.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynrODQ3zTO
About things that didn’t hurt.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSVmUZ98LL
Like we used to.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMU8n4FsHu
And it felt like maybe — just maybe — the storm could pass.
But the rain didn’t stop.
We looked for an umbrella.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1iHTRM8JJu
Hoped someone would have one.
Then, through the curtains of rain,100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50SwUMTtyw
I saw Krish walking to his bus, holding an umbrella like a shield against the world.
Without thinking, I leapt.
Out into the storm.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3znem69j8V
Through the cold.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoJHGFfkt0P
Feet sinking into mud.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtBjC1M2YKm
Each step heavy — but not with water.
I ran after him, waited till he was close to his bus,100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxvRP6q1sMP
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.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfNjZc9HbEV
We shared the cover.
And as we are walking towards her bus.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Qw8KTb09S
Our shoulders touched.
For a moment —100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0UL5rdv4l6
A second that felt like eternity —100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUiOEJM4lfi
Everything froze.
And I knew.
I wasn’t meant to be the one holding the umbrella.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7UdVs0pgcQ
I wasn’t meant to be the one by her side.
This was a borrowed moment.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLcwPtwd5r
A borrowed feeling.
And so, I stepped out.
Let the rain welcome me back.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBk55PXVzcl
Let it hide the tears that I couldn't let her see.
We walked to her bus together.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbmclaMp6L
Her — warm, untouched by the storm.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84BD8lIgNs
Me — soaked, alone beneath the sky.
When we reached, she turned and smiled.
I just smiled.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZUnUsU4EK
No words.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGgEa6G1uqf
Just the weight of goodbye unspoken.
And then she stepped onto her bus.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtyy25BAM1d
And I turned away.100Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgMHhv7ijv
And the rain kept falling.
But it wasn’t just rain anymore.
It was the sky grieving with me.
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