Loved You First~Smriti X Ash.

People always talked about timing like it was something romantic.

Like meeting the right person at the wrong time was poetic.

Smriti Mandhana thought timing was cruel.

Because if timing had been kinder, maybe she would've realized it sooner.

Maybe she would've noticed the way Ash looked at her for too long after victories.
The way she remembered tiny things nobody else did.
The way she stayed.

Always stayed.

Even when Smriti pushed her away.
Even when she laughed things off.
Even when she said things she didn't fully understand herself.

"I'm straight, Ash."

Funny how denial sounds believable when you repeat it enough.

The world thought Smriti had everything figured out.

A successful career.
A perfect relationship.
A wedding everyone was waiting for.

But sometimes your life can look complete right before it falls apart.

And sometimes the person who holds you together afterwards...
is the same person you spent years refusing to love back.

The worst part?

Ash had loved her long before Smriti even understood what love was supposed to feel like.

And by the time Smriti finally realized it-

Ash was already learning how to let her go.