Season 1, Episode 9 of "Before She Knew My Heart"
There wasn't a single reason.
It wasn't one thing she did.Or something I said.It was the weight of everything that had been left unsaidFor too long.
And it all cracked…That evening.
She texted first.
"You always assume things, Aarav. Why don't you ever just ask me?"
I stared at the message.
I had typed and deleted my reply at least four times.What was I supposed to ask?
"Are you okay?""Are you really happy?""Do you even miss me?"
No.
She wouldn't answer.And even if she did, I was afraid of what it might be.
Instead, I replied something blunt.
"I'm not assuming. I just know you."
She left me on seen.
That night, neither of us slept.
The next morning, I ran into her again.Outside her gate.Reyan wasn't around.
I should've smiled. Should've asked how she was.But my voice was sharper than I wanted it to be.
"Ayla, can we talk properly? Not just these random texts. I'm not a stranger."
She blinked.Offended.
"I never said you were. But you're the one who's been acting distant."
"Me?" I laughed. It came out cold. "You stopped replying. You show up with Reyan everywhere. I'm just—"
"Just what?" she snapped.
There it was.The edge.The fire in her that only came out when she felt cornered.
"I'm just tired of feeling like I'm being replaced," I said quietly.
She paused.
And then whispered the words I never thought she'd say:
"Maybe we've changed, Aarav."
It hit harder than anything else.
Changed?
Yes.But not the way she thought.
I was still the same boyWho waited to hear her laugh through the wall.Who memorized every version of her smile.Who never told her how much she meant — because her peace always mattered more.
She turned to leave.
I said nothing.I couldn't.
Because if I spoke,Everything I had buried inside would come flooding out.
The guilt.The love.The pain of watching her walk away — again and again —Without ever realizing what it was doing to me.
That evening, I opened my journal.Wrote only one line:
"I should've fought harder. But not like that."
It was the fight that shouldn't have happened.But maybe it needed to.
To burn away what was left unsaid.To show us what we were becoming.Or what we were losing.
But even in that moment —Even when her words hurt more than silence —I still didn't hate her.
I couldn't.
Because the truth was,I would rather fight with her…Than laugh with anyone else.