The return of us
Author's pov-
The rain hadn’t stopped all night.
Divya stood near her window, watching droplets slide down the glass like silent confessions. The city was quiet, wrapped in a sleepy hush, yet her heart was loud—too loud.
There was a knock.
She turned, expecting Kaashi maybe… but found Purv.
His shirt was damp, hair slightly messy from the rain, but there was a fire in his eyes that no storm could drown.
“You’ll catch a cold,” she said softly, barely audible.
“I’ve been cold for five years without you, Divya. This—this is nothing.”
She froze.
Purv stepped closer, slowly, not wanting to startle her. “I’m not here to rush you. I just need you to know I’m not going anywhere this time.”
Her heart clenched. “Why now?”
“Because I wasted years letting fear win,” he said. “I chose silence over truth. Pride over love. And I’ve regretted every damn second of it.”
Divya blinked, the weight of his words hitting her.
He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out something small—a folded paper, worn at the edges.
She took it with shaking hands and unfolded it. It was an old photo. One from college. Her, Purv, Kaashi, Rudra. All smiling. Happy. Whole.
“I’ve carried this with me everywhere. Every flight, every meeting, every night I felt hollow.” His voice cracked. “You were my home, Divya. You still are.”
She bit her lip to hold back tears. “Purv, I don’t know if I can go through the same heartbreak again.”
He stepped closer, slowly brushing his fingers against hers. “Then don’t. Let’s write a new story. One with less fear and more us.”
She looked at him for a long time. At the boy who broke her, and the man who stood in front of her now—willing to fix what he shattered.
“I still love you,” she whispered.
He inhaled sharply, eyes glistening.
“But,” she added, “I need you to earn it. Not with words. With time, with effort, with us healing—together.”
He nodded, smiling through the emotion. “I will. Every day.”
And for the first time in years, they didn’t feel like strangers.
They felt like something slowly finding its way home.