ʜᴇᴀʀᴛʙᴇᴀᴛꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴀʟʟᴡᴀʏꜱ

.Apologies༊˚

AUTHOR'S POV :

Ishan approached Avni, who was sitting alone by the window. The bus was relatively empty today. He sat down behind her and said, "Aren't you going to congratulate me?"

When she didn't respond, he added, "Oh, right, you already did."

"Thanks," he said.

Avni remained silent.

Ishan shifted in his seat, trying to catch a glimpse of Avni's expression. The silence between them stretched.

Finally, he said, "You know, you could at least say something."

Avni glanced back briefly, her eyes meeting his for a moment before she turned away. "Why should I?" she said quietly.

Ishan felt a pang of guilt but didn’t know how to address it. "Look, if I did something to upset yo-"

Avni cut him off. "It's not about you, Ishan. I just need some space right now."

Ishan nodded, trying to process her words. He wanted to say more but decided against it, respecting her need for silence.

Soon, the bus stopped at the stop. She got off and started walking towards her home, with Ishan following her.

Avni turned and said, "Stop following me."

She went inside her home and closed the door behind her. Ishan, feeling a bit disappointed and sad, took out his phone and sent her a text.

He wrote, "I'm sorry for acting that way. It was just because of the match. I'm really sorry."

He waited outside her home for a while, glancing at her room window. When he saw the lights turn on, he decided to leave.

Avni entered her room and noticed the notification. It was Ishan's message. She quickly read it, and a smile appeared on her face, but she chose to ignore it.

She whispered, "You're weird, you deserve this."

Then she took a quick shower and had a snack.

She then received a message from an unknown number.

It said, "Hi, Avni."
"This is Sahil. Did something happen?" "Ishan texted me to ask."

Avni quickly replied, "No, no, bhaiya. Everything's fine."

Sahil responded, "Okay."

Avni thought, "Not only you are weird, you are also crazy."

Soon after, Avni received a message from Nidhi asking if she was okay.

Avni replied, "Yes."

Nidhi texted back, "Are you sure? Check Ishan's Instagram story."

Avni checked it immediately. It was a picture of the street near her home with the text "I'm sorry."

Avni whispered, "Weird and crazy indeed."

Soon, this became the hot topic of gossip within the friends group. Everyone started sharing their own assumptions and conclusions about Ishan's Instagram story in the group chat.

Neha then chimed in, replying, "He's apologizing to me, guys. He left early and couldn't talk to me."

But everyone ignored her text, and a few responded, "What? He never talks to you. Stop lying."

Avni stayed out of all the drama and decided to forgive Ishan before he could create another disaster.

Avni texted Ishan on her personal number, "It's okay. I forgive you. Stop creating chaos."

Ishan quickly replied, teasing her, "Do you really mean it? I doubt it."

Avni texted back, "Yes."

Relieved, Ishan immediately deleted the story and sent a message in the group chat, saying, "It was a mistake." This cleared up the confusion for everyone.

Then, he texted to Avni personally, "But I meant it."

Avni stared at his message and typed back, "Bye."

Ishan quickly replied, "This soon?"

When she didn't respond after a few seconds, he sent another text, "Byee."

Avni responded after a few seconds, "Focus on winning the match tomorrow."

Ishan grinned at his screen, replying, "Only if you promise to watch."

Avni left the message on read and went downstairs as her mother called her for dinner. After finishing her meal, she returned to her room and focused on her studies for a while.

Meanwhile, Ishan felt flustered after texting her. He absentmindedly caressed his cat, who was wriggling to break free from his grip. He finally let go when his mother called him for dinner.