I started talking back.
Not with words.Not out loud.
Just with… sound.
Little hums.Taps on the wall.Rhythms that only made sense to us.
One night,I was feeling low.
Couldn't sleep.Mind too heavy.Everything too quiet.
I pressed my forehead to the wall.Closed my eyes.And hummed one soft note.
A few seconds later—he answered.
A low, steady sound.Almost like a heartbeat.
I smiled.Tears came without warning.
It didn't feel like I was alone anymore.
I still didn't know his name.His face.Anything.
But I felt like he knew me.
Not the version people saw in class.Not the girl who smiled too politelyor nodded too much.
But the real me.The quiet, tired, hopeful me.
Reva started to notice.
Reva: "You've been humming a lot lately."
Me: "Just something stuck in my head."
Reva: "You're not thinking about him again, are you?"
I paused.
I didn't know how to explain it.
Me: "Maybe. But not in the same way."
Reva: "Be careful, Priya. Sounds can be beautiful lies."
I looked away.
But I wasn't ready to let go of this.
This voice—this presence behind the wall—it wasn't like Vivaan.
Vivaan was light, fast, everywhere.This was slower.Gentler.
He didn't try to impress.He just… stayed.
Every night became our secret.
The hum.The tapping.The silent understanding.
And even though I still wondered if it might be him—
I started to careeven if it wasn't.
Because whoever this was…
They were there for me.
When no one else was.
And sometimes,that's all you need.
Not a name.Not a face.Just someonewho stays.