Chapter 55

Subhi

As I shut the door behind me, my heart was still racing.

The warmth of Abhimanyu’s hand lingered in my palm, and I let out a shaky breath. I had meant every word I said to him. But would he believe it?

I leaned against the door, replaying the way he had looked at me—like he wanted to believe, like he was afraid to.

He had been through too much, carried too much alone. I saw it in his eyes, in the way he hesitated before letting anyone get close.

But tonight, he had let me in.

And that meant something.

I walked to my room, feeling lighter than I had in days. Sleep didn’t come easy, though. My mind kept drifting back to him—to the quiet sadness in his voice, to the relief that flickered across his face when I told him I wasn’t leaving.

I wanted to do more.

To make him believe it wasn’t just words.

To show him that no matter what happened, no matter how much he tried to push people away, I wasn’t going anywhere.

The next morning, I woke up with a new kind of determination.

I grabbed my phone, hesitating for only a second before sending him a message.

"Good morning. Hope you didn’t overthink too much last night. Let’s meet after school?"

The reply didn’t come instantly.

But when my phone finally buzzed, I found myself smiling before I even opened the message.

"Morning. No promises on the overthinking part. But yeah, let’s meet."

Maybe, just maybe, we were getting somewhere.