Some conversations don't happen out loud.They happen in glances. In hesitation.In all the words that get trapped in the space between two people who used to mean everything.
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The apology echoed in her head.
"I'm sorry."
One sentence. One breath.But it felt like someone had peeled off the bandage she'd spent months wrapping around her chest.
Aditi didn't cry.Didn't smile.Didn't respond.
But something inside her cracked.
And that's the thing about cracks —Light gets in.But pain leaks out, too.
Two days passed.
She didn't block him again.Didn't text him either.
Just existed.
Quiet. Careful.Listening for something she didn't know how to ask for.
Then it happened.
The teacher was running late.Half the class was on their phones. Reet was absent. Nisha was busy scrolling Instagram.
And for the first time, they were alone in the room.Not literally.But in the way that matters.
Just Aditi. Just Abhimanyu.And too many unsaid things sitting between them like ghosts.
He cleared his throat.
She looked up.Eyes wary. Guarded.
He stepped closer.
One bench away.
"Aditi…"His voice was soft. Not the confident one he used to have. This one was hesitant. Human.
"Can we talk?"Her heart jumped. She hated that it still did.
She didn't speak.
He tried again.
"I know I was wrong. I should've stood up for you. I should've called you. I should've—"
She stopped him with one sharp blink.
"Why now?"Her voice wasn't angry. Just... tired.
He froze.
"Why after everything? After weeks of silence? After letting people laugh at me like I was nothing?"Her tone cracked on the last word.
His fingers curled into fists at his sides.
"Because I was scared," he said honestly. "I messed up. I didn't know how to fix it. And then it felt like maybe… you didn't want me to."
A pause.
Long enough to hurt.
"I didn't," she whispered. "But I needed you to try anyway."
That was it.
Not a fight. Not a makeup.Just truth — raw and painful and halfway there.
It wasn't a closure.It wasn't a beginning.It was the moment before both.