TOGETHER

CHAPTER ELEVEN

After avoiding Ashutosh's texts for two days, I couldn't control my emotions anymore and finally replied to him. I had been stewing in my thoughts, feeling both guilty and frustrated. When we talked, he was as understanding as ever, brushing off my silence.

"I guess the long flight must've worn you out," he said. "I understand why you couldn't reply."

His calm demeanor only made me angrier. He wasn't mad, but I was. I felt like I owed him an explanation, but instead, I let my frustration fester into something irrational. He didn't deserve it, but I couldn't help it.

I wanted to pick a fight, and I latched onto the smallest thing: I asked him to send me an audio of him singing.

"My phone's speaker and mic aren't working properly," he explained patiently.

But I wasn't having it. "You always have some excuse, don't you?" I snapped. "It's always something with you."

"Ahana, why are you getting so worked up about this? I'm telling you—"

"Don't call me Ahana! Why aren't you calling me pumpkin? You always call me pumpkin!" I shot back, irrational anger bubbling up inside me.

He paused for a moment, probably trying to figure out how to handle my outburst. But instead of calming down, I pressed on.

"You know, it feels like you don't care anymore. You can't even send a simple voice note? How hard is it, Ashutosh?"

"Ahana," he replied to my text again.

That only made me angrier. "Stop calling me Ahana! Why aren't you fighting back? Why do you keep acting like it's nothing when I'm telling you it matters to me?"

He didn't type for a moment, and I could almost feel him taking a deep breath on the other end. Then he replied, "Can I please reply later? I don't want to say anything I might regret."

I left him on read, fuming. Hours passed, and every minute felt heavier than the last. I kept checking my phone, waiting for him to reply, but nothing came. Eight hours went by, then ten. By the twelfth hour, I started crying. The silence was unbearable.

"Are you okay, Ahana?" Erin asked, noticing my red eyes and concerned expression. She wasn't the best at consoling people, but she tried.

"I had a fight," I mumbled, wiping my tears.

Erin, however, burst out laughing. "Come on, Ahana! You're fighting over something so trivial again? Seriously? I get it if it was over something important, but you're making yourself miserable over nothing."

I smirked at her, realizing how stupid I had been. "I guess you're right," I admitted, though the tears kept coming.

Just then, my phone buzzed. It was Ashutosh.

"Ahana, I'm sorry if I was being rude," his message read.

Guilt washed over me instantly. "No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I fought over nothing."

"You don't need to apologize. You have the right to be upset if you feel that way. I just needed some sleep before replying because I can't afford to lose you by saying something out of anger."

I breathed a sigh of relief, a weight lifting off my chest. "You know, I cried so much because you didn't reply," I confessed, feeling a bit foolish.

"There's no need to cry." he reassured me. "I'm not going anywhere."

And with that, the fight was over—just like that. He always knew how to calm me down, even when I was too stubborn to listen.