Riya 

The hospital air was too thick with the smell of antiseptic as I walked towards Dhruv's room. I clutched my tote bag, holding it for my dear life as I prepared my mind for the conversation with Dhruv. It still felt difficult to approach him, but I needed to at least try. It had been four days. The doctors said he could be discharged within 2-3 days.

I was coming from college, after closing the cafe. I tried to ignore the tiredness of the day on my stiff shoulders. It wasn't helping that I hadn't seen Abhay the whole day, but he did text he was stuck in some meeting.

It came out of nowhere. He texting me.

I wasn't going to complain. But it somehow made the whole thing too real. Now, he was within my reach. I had opened his profile picture far too many times to be considered normal. It was going to be impossible to get away from his presence. And I wasn't sure I wanted to.

I entered the hospital room to find Dhruv awake. He was alone, with no trace of our parents.

"Hey," I said, walking towards him, testing the waters. He looked up from his phone. It was weird looking at his bandaged-up face.

"Hey," He replied, glancing at me for a bit before going back to his phone. Something felt off, but I tried not to let it get to me.

I sat down in the chair beside his bed, "How are you feeling?" I asked softly.

"Fucking miserable," he replied with a bitter laugh, not looking up from his phone. The way his fingers glided over the phone, I guess he was playing a game.

I searched for things to say to start a conversation. Waiting for a while, I asked, "What did the doctor say? When will you be discharged?" I asked when nothing came to my mind. The fissure between us was deep. Deeper than I expected. When did we become like this?

He looked at me with his furrowed brows, "3 days."

"Hmm." God! Why was this turning awkward? "I'm glad you're feeling better," I said softly, trying to push.

"Yeah, sure," he muttered, his fingers moving rapidly on the screen. The sound effects of his game filled the silence.

I leaned back in the chair, my fingers gripping its cold metal edges. I could feel the awkwardness between us expanding, growing heavier by the second. It used to be so easy to talk to him. Where had that gone?

"Dhruv," I began cautiously, "do you...want to talk about anything?"

He finally looked up from his phone, his eyes narrowing. "Like what?"

"Anything." My voice wavered. "About what happened, or how you're feeling–"

"I don't want to talk," he snapped, his tone cutting.

I winced but forced myself to push past it. "You can't keep bottling everything up. It's not healthy."

He rolled his eyes and tossed his phone onto the bedside table. "Oh, great. Here we go. You're going to tell me how to live my life now?"

"That's not what I'm trying to do," I said quickly. How did it come to this?

"Then what are you trying to do, Riya? Enlighten me because all I see is you barging into my life and acting like you know what's best for me."

His voice was rising now, each word sharper than the last.

"I'm your sister," I said, my frustration bubbling over. "I care about you. Is that such a bad thing?"

"Yes, it is!" he shot back, his face twisting with anger.

His words hit like a slap. My chest felt hollow like he'd reached in and torn something out of me.

"That's not fair," I said, my voice shaking. "I've only ever wanted what's best for you."

"And who decides what's best, huh? You?" He leaned forward, his eyes blazing. "You don't know anything about what I'm going through. You don't even try to understand. You just keep pushing and pushing, like you always do. And honestly? I'm sick of it."

I opened my mouth to respond, but no words came out. The room felt suffocating now, the walls closing in around me. I could hear my parents walking into the room.

"Dhruv, I'm trying—"

"Stop trying," he said, cutting me off. "Just stop."

His words hung in the air, heavy and irreversible. I could feel every eye in the room on me. My parents, my aunt, even the nurses in the hallway.

"Dhruv, that's enough," his father said sternly, but the damage was done.

My hands were trembling now, my vision blurring. I turned to my parents, seeking some semblance of support, but their expressions weren't comforting.

"You shouldn't have pushed him so hard," my mother said quietly, her disappointment clear.

My father shook his head. "You need to learn when to step back, Riya."

Dhruv's parents surrounded him, fussing over him as if I had disrupted his peace. Maybe I did. I looked at Dhruv's face, hoping he would look at me. Just once. And tell me that it was going to be okay. We were going to be okay. He didn't.

And just like that, it was too much. The anger, the humiliation, the guilt–it all bubbled up until I couldn't stand another second in the room.

I stood abruptly, the chair scraping against the floor. "Fine," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "If that's what you want, I'll stop."

I turned and walked out of the room, my vision blurring with unshed tears.

The hospital hallway was eerily quiet as I made my way to the elevator. My hands were trembling, and I clutched my tote bag, hoping to steady myself.

"Riya!"

I froze. That voice–deep, firm, and unmistakably his.

I turned slowly to see Abhay walking toward me, his expression unreadable. Of course, he had to show up now when I was barely holding it all together. Every time something happened, he was there to witness it all. Witness what a damn mess I was.

"What happened?" he asked, stopping a few feet away.

"Nothing," I said quickly, brushing past him.

"Riya," he said again, his tone softer this time. "Wait."

I kept walking, desperate to escape, but he caught up to me easily, his hand brushing my arm.

"Riya, stop," he said firmly, stepping in front of me. "What's going on?"

I glared at him, the tears threatening to spill over. "Why do you care?" I was getting angry at the wrong person. I knew that.

His eyes narrowed, and for a moment, he didn't say anything. Then, quietly, he said, "Because I do."

The simple honesty in his words undid me. My shoulders sagged, and before I could stop myself, the tears started falling.

"I can't do this," I whispered, my voice cracking.

"Do what?"

"Any of it," I said, the words tumbling out in a rush. "I can't help Dhruv. I can't make my parents understand. I can't even figure out what the hell is happening between us." I could feel eyes on us. Amazing, a public debacle of my downfall.

He didn't respond right away, but he didn't look away either. His gaze stayed steady.

"You're allowed to not have all the answers," he said finally. "You're allowed to mess up."

I laughed bitterly, wiping at my face. "Great. At least I'm succeeding at that."

"You're doing much better than I would've done in this situation," he said, his lips quirking into the faintest hint of a smile.

I looked at him, and for the first time all day, I felt a sliver of warmth in the cold chaos. He was here.

"Come on," he said, holding my wrists gently as if I would break. "Let's get out of here for a bit."

"Since when did you have a personality change?" I asked, tears streaming down.

"I was always like that," he said, gently tugging me and walking ahead. I looked at his hand holding mine and took a deep breath to calm myself down.

We stopped outside the hospital gate when my phone vibrated. He let go of my arm, and I immediately wanted to hold it again. Pulling my phone out, I saw it was my mother calling. I didn't pick up. I was too humiliated to talk right now. I was going to Sia's place today. I wasn't going back home.

My phone vibrated again, and I picked it up.

"Hello."

"Where did you go, Riya? Come back here."

"I'm going to Sia's place. I'll stay there today." I said, looking around. The tears still hung on my lashes.

"I know you're not feeling good right now. But I don't think that's a good decision. Come back let's sit and talk. Dhruv's also feeling bad."

"Is he now? After shouting and humiliating me?"

"He was not humiliating, Riya. He's not well. Why don't you understand? We need to be more patient with him."

"I can not right now. I'm going to Sia's place. I'll come back when I'll calm down." I replied and disconnected the call. Sia's place had been a respite for all of us. Always. Like a lighthouse for all of us drowning.

I looked up to see Abhay looking at me, his face devoid of any emotion. I didn't like when I couldn't read his expressions. Before I could ask him to drop me off at Sia's, he spoke.

"You wanna go somewhere?"

Sia's place was on my lips, but I didn't say it. Maybe I could stay a bit longer with him. Now that the fog was clearing a bit, his words kept repeating in my mind.

'Because I do.'

'Because I do.'

'Because I do.'

'Because I do.'

'Because I do.'

'Because I do.'

"Where would you suggest?" I asked, taking a deep breath.

"I know a few places." He said, smiling. He started walking, and I followed him like a lost puppy.

We stood in front of his black car. As he opened the door for me, I asked, "Where's your bike?"

"I don't take a bike home. Veer usually wants to go out. Car is safer." He said, closing the door as I sat down. It was Friday. He was supposed to go home. Instead, he was here, stuck with me. I was a horrible human being all around. Another set of fresh tears clung to my lashes. My nose tingled and I took a deep breath to hold my tears as he went to the other side and got in the car.

"You're going home today?" I asked, dreading the moment already.

He looked at me for a bit, "I'll go tomorrow."

I nodded, fiddling with the seat belt to ignore the guilt forming inside.

"I just wanted to help him," I said finally, my voice barely above a whisper. I did want to share.

"I know," he said, his eyes on the road.

"But I made it worse. He doesn't even want me around anymore."

"He's angry," Abhay said, glancing at me for a second. "That doesn't mean he doesn't want you around."

I shook her head, tears welling up in my eyes. "I keep messing everything up." Gosh! I was such a crybaby.

"Stop," Abhay said firmly. I looked at him, startled by the intensity in his voice.

"You care too much, Riya," he continued. "That's not a flaw. It's not something you need to apologize for."

I blinked, my tears spilling over. "Then why does it hurt so much?"

He was quiet for a moment. "Because you're human. And because you love him. But love isn't always easy. Sometimes, it means getting hurt."

I looked away, his words sinking in. For the first time that night, I let myself cry–really cry–and to my surprise, he didn't try to stop me. He just sat there, his presence solid and steady, like an anchor in the storm.

Slowly, he stretched out his left hand, patting my head awkwardly, "There, there."

We both looked at each other for a second and burst out laughing. I must've looked crazy. Laughing and crying at the same time.

"Aww."

"Shut up!" He said, resting his left palm on his face.

When our laughter finally subsided, I turned to him, my voice hoarse. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being here," I said.

He didn't respond, but the look in his eyes made me feel at ease. 

----

I was in a flow today. So, I wrote two more chapters. Posting the first one right now. I'll post the next one tomorrow. 

P.S. The next chapter is one of my favorite moments of theirs. 

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