The Unspoken Bond

Chapter 12: Rohan's Confession

Rohan couldn’t shake the feeling that something was changing, not just in himself but in the dynamics of their entire group. Aarav’s departure had left a void, and though it wasn’t the first time he’d left Riverton, this time it felt more permanent. There was an unspoken tension in the air, as if they were all standing at the edge of a precipice, waiting for something to push them over.

He found himself at Leela’s studio later that evening, as he often did when he needed to clear his mind. The space was filled with the scent of fresh paint and the faint sound of music playing in the background, a sanctuary from the outside world. Leela was perched on a stool, her paintbrush moving deftly across the canvas, but she paused when she noticed him standing in the doorway.

“Hey,” she said, wiping her hands on a cloth. “Didn’t expect you tonight.”

Rohan stepped inside, feeling a bit out of place in her creative domain. “I needed to get out of my head for a while. Thought maybe you could use some company.”

Leela smiled, though there was a flicker of something in her eyes—something that told Rohan she had been expecting this conversation. She gestured to a chair by the window, and he sat down, suddenly feeling exposed in the quiet intimacy of the room.

They sat in silence for a few moments, the weight of unspoken words hanging between them. Rohan wasn’t sure how to start, wasn’t sure how to put into words everything that had been building inside him for so long. But Leela was patient, as she always was, waiting for him to find his voice.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about us,” Rohan finally said, his voice low. “About… what we are. Or what we could be.”

Leela’s hand stilled on the canvas, but she didn’t turn to face him. Instead, she kept her gaze fixed on the painting in front of her, as if the colors held the answers she was searching for.

“I’ve been thinking about that too,” she admitted quietly. “But you’re so hard to read, Rohan. Sometimes I feel like you’re right here with me, and other times, it’s like you’re miles away.”

Rohan’s heart tightened at her words. She wasn’t wrong. He had spent so much time distancing himself from his own feelings, afraid of what they might mean, that he hadn’t realized how much he had been pushing her away in the process.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice rough with emotion. “I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. I guess I’ve been scared… scared of what it would mean if I let myself really care about you.”

Leela turned then, her eyes searching his face for the truth. “What are you so afraid of, Rohan?”

He looked down at his hands, unable to meet her gaze. “Of losing you. Of getting too close and then screwing it all up. I’m not like Aarav. I don’t just leave when things get complicated. But sometimes, I feel like I’m not enough… like you deserve someone who knows how to be fully present, not someone who’s constantly stuck in their own head.”

Leela set down her paintbrush and walked over to him, kneeling beside his chair. She took his hand in hers, her touch grounding him in a way that nothing else ever had.

“I don’t need you to be perfect, Rohan,” she said softly. “I just need you to be honest. With me, and with yourself.”

Rohan’s throat tightened, but he nodded, squeezing her hand in return. “I’m trying. I really am.”

Leela smiled then, and it was like the sun breaking through the clouds after a long storm. “That’s all I ask.”