9 parts Ongoing 𝓐𝓶𝓫𝓲𝓴𝓪 𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓴𝓾𝓻 × 𝓐𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓿 𝓢𝓸𝓸𝓻𝔂𝓪𝓿𝓪𝓷𝓼𝓱𝓲
The narrow stairs at the back awaited them-ordinary, yet suddenly treacherous.
Aarav went first. He moved with ease, shoulders straight, steps measured, like someone who had never stumbled. Behind him, Ambika followed cautiously, her every step hesitant. The saree clung and tangled, its unfamiliar folds whispering rebellion with each movement. Her heart thudded louder than the sound of her sandals against the wood.
And then her foot betrayed her.
Her breath caught. She swayed, balance slipping away like sand through her fingers. Panic surged, and without thought, her voice broke the air.
"Aarav!"
He turned instantly, eyes widening at the sight of her faltering form.
She reached for him just as gravity pulled her down. Her hands gripped his shoulders, desperate, trembling-her only lifeline. But momentum was cruel. Her weight toppled into him, and in a breathless, impossible second-
her lips brushed his.
Time fractured.
Aarav froze, every muscle taut, his chest locked in suspended breath. His eyes widened, a storm of shock and disbelief. It was no deliberate kiss, no gentle lean-it was clumsy, unplanned, born of fear and fate colliding. Yet the fire of it burned through him, raw and unrelenting.
Ambika's entire being flared with heat. Her heart raced so violently she thought it might shatter. Shame, shock, and something unnamed tangled inside her. Before he could speak, before the world could breathe again, she tore herself away.
Her saree tangled at her feet as she ran, stumbling, almost falling again, her hands clutching at nothing. She did not look back. She couldn't. Her face burned too fiercely, her soul quivered too violently.
Aarav remained where he was, struck motionless. The world spun around him, but his body refused to obey.