fate or coincidence

STUCK

Lily's pov :-

It’s been half an hour, yet I still can't wrap my head around how I got into this situation.

Heh heh heh.—an internal, bitter laugh.

I’m Lily, and right now, I’m stuck in a theater seat, looking deceptively calm while, in reality, I’m completely freaking out. My fingers clutch the half-full tub of popcorn, but I can’t even taste the pieces I’m mindlessly chewing.

The movie is playing, but I have no idea what’s happening on the screen. My focus is elsewhere—entirely consumed by the presence of the person sitting right next to me.

Lawrine.

Six years. It’s been six years since I last saw him, and now, out of all the places in the world, out of all the empty seats in this theater, I end up right here.

My heart is pounding so loudly I’m sure the people around me can hear it. Every movement he makes—every shift in his seat, every time he lifts his hand—I register it with ridiculous clarity.

And yet, I don’t dare to look directly at him. Instead, I steal glances, quick peeks through the corner of my eye, hoping, praying, that he hasn’t noticed me staring.

But how did I even end up here?

It started with Pran. She had dragged me to the movies last minute, all excited about some new action flick. I didn’t argue—I needed a distraction anyway.

The theater was packed when we arrived, and in the rush, we got separated. Pran managed to grab a seat somewhere, waving at me before disappearing into the crowd, while I was left struggling to find a spot on my own.

Then, by some cruel twist of fate, I found an empty seat in the middle of the row. I barely paid attention to who was sitting beside it—I was too focused on just sitting down before the lights dimmed.

It wasn’t until I had settled in, unwrapped my popcorn, and glanced sideways that reality crashed down on me.

And now, here I am.

Stuck.

Breathing carefully, pretending I don’t feel like my entire world just tilted sideways. And desperately hoping that, somehow, he hasn’t noticed me at all.

Lawrine's pov:-

The movie had started, but I wasn’t really watching. The action sequences played out in flashes of light and sound, but none of it registered.

Because she was here.

Right next to me.

Lily.

Six years. I’d told myself I wouldn’t see her again. I had convinced myself she was part of a past life—a memory locked away, untouched. But now, without warning, the universe had thrown me straight into the one situation I wasn’t prepared for.

At first, I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me. When she slid into the seat beside me, I froze. The familiarity of her presence was so sharp, so immediate, that I almost turned to confirm it right then. But I stopped myself.

Instead, I waited.

The way she stiffened, the way her breath hitched just slightly—I noticed all of it. She hadn’t expected this either. And she was doing everything she could to pretend she hadn’t seen me.

I should have looked away.

I should have ignored it, focused on the movie, pretended that none of this meant anything. But I couldn’t. Every few seconds, I caught her stealing glances, her fingers tightening around the popcorn tub like she was trying to ground herself.

I wondered if she could hear my heartbeat the way I could hear hers.

A slow inhale. Exhale.

I hadn’t planned for this.

And I sure as hell didn’t know what to do now.