Destiny: Time To Fall In Love

Chapter 6 - Heartbroken

Aashi's POV

The morning sun felt mocking. It was too bright and too cheerful for a girl whose world had just turned grey. I had spent the entire night staring at the canvas of the tent, the words "I am your goddamn professor" on a loop in my head. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt the humiliation all over again, the shame of misreading a man who apparently only saw me as a "neighborly responsibility."

When Richa woke up and saw my face, she didn't even have to ask. My red, puffy eyes told the whole story. As I recounted the night, the shouting, the rejection, the coldness, she pulled me into a hug so tight I finally let out the sob I'd been holding back since dawn.

"It's my fault," Richa whispered, her voice thick with guilt. "My stupid ideas, my hints... Aashi, I'm so sorry. I pushed you into this."

"No," I said, wiping my face with the back of my hand. "I'm the one who believed it. I'm the one who fell."

A knock on the door signaled it was time to leave. We were the last to reach the bus, our luggage heavy and our hearts heavier. As I stepped up the stairs of the bus, my heart did a painful thud. There he was. Sitting in the same seat as before.

For a split second, our eyes met. I saw his lips part, his hand twitching as if he wanted to reach out, but I looked away so fast I almost gave myself whiplash. My eyes scanned the rows.

No. Please, no.

The bus was packed. The only empty space was the seat right next to him.

I felt his gaze on me, waiting. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't sit there for hours pretending I wasn't dying inside. I walked past him, ignoring the way the air seemed to freeze, and headed to the very back. I tapped on the shoulder of a boy from the junior batch.

"Hey," I said, my voice sounding like it belonged to a stranger. "Would you mind swapping seats with me? I... I need a change of view."

The boy looked confused but nodded quickly. "Sure, Aashi. No problem."

I sat down in the back corner, as far away from Aryan as physically possible. I pressed my forehead against the cold window pane. Within twenty-four hours, he had gone from being my everything... to a man I couldn't even stand to sit next to. The journey back was a blur of trees and tears, as I realized that the hardest part wasn't the rejection, it was having to live next door to the man who broke me.

Aryan's POV

The bus was a cacophony of students laughing and sharing photos from the night before, but I was in a world of my own. I kept my laptop bag on the seat next to me, a silent barrier to anyone else. Several girls from the senior batch had approached, asking if the seat was taken, and each time I gave a polite but firm, "Yes, someone is sitting here."

I was waiting for Aashi.

I had spent the early hours of the morning rehearsing my speech. I needed to be the adult. I needed to tell her that I was sorry for lashing out, that it was a moment of panic. I also had to admit to myself and to her.... that I wasn't blameless. I had sent signals. I had let her get too close. I owed her a calm explanation, not a roar of anger.

When she finally boarded, the air in the bus seemed to change. I looked up, our eyes locking for a heartbeat. My heart sank. Her eyes were red and swollen, her face pale. She looked like she hadn't slept for a second.

Was she crying the whole night because of me? The thought was a sharp jab to my conscience.

I shifted my bag, clearing the seat and waiting for her to sit down. But she didn't even slow down. She walked right past me, her gaze fixed on the back of the bus. I turned in my seat, watching as she approached a junior boy and whispered something to him. He nodded, and they swapped.