LOVE - Obsessed

21. The Distance!

Ajay's POV

I stayed back that night long after the lights were shut off.

The echoes of students laughing, the hum of the fest preparations, the distant beats of practice drums - they all faded. And I was still there. Sitting alone on the back steps of the library building, staring at the nothing in front of me.

My hoodie was up. Headphones plugged in. But no music played.

Just silence.
Loud. Gnawing. Familiar.

And terrifying.

Because it felt like I'd been here before.

Not physically, but emotionally.
That same twisted pressure in my chest. The anger I had learned to hide. The ache I had once turned into destruction.

I clenched my fists, then quickly let go - scared of my own reflex.

Not again.

I had worked too hard to leave him behind - the version of me I used to be. The one that couldn't tell love from obsession. The one who shattered everything he held too tightly.

I had buried that boy.

But tonight, he scratched at the coffin lid.

I heard quiet footsteps.

"Ajay?" Sanjay's voice.

I didn't turn.

He came around and sat beside me, not asking for permission. That was Sanjay. He always knew when to talk, and more importantly - when not to.

"You remember when you told me that the silence is louder than any scream?" he said after a long pause.

I exhaled. "Yeah."

"You're screaming now."

I didn't say anything.

He reached into his hoodie pocket, pulled out a crushed milkshake can - two straws sticking out. I stared at it.

"You seriously brought this?" I said.

He shrugged. "Tradition, na?"

It was stupid. Childish even. But for a second, it made me want to laugh.

Just a second.

"You think I'm slipping again?" I asked, eyes on the dark sky.

Sanjay was quiet.

"You'd tell me if I was, right?" I added.

"Yeah," he said. "But I don't think you are."

I looked at him.

"You're not slipping, Ajay," he said calmly. "You're scared of slipping. That's the difference. That's what proves you're stronger now."

"But what if it starts with silence?" I asked. "Like last time."

Sanjay looked at me, long and hard. "Then we hold you louder."

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Anaya's POV

The next morning, I put on my volunteer ID card like armor and walked into the chaos of the college grounds - banners half hung, props getting painted, first-years scrambling over sound checks.

But inside, I was barely breathing.

Because he didn't look at me.

Ajay - the one who always saw me even in crowds - didn't look up when I passed by.