Season 1, Episode 16 of "Before She Knew My Heart"
Some nights don't change anything.
But they almost do.
And somehow…those are the ones that stay with you the longest.
It was past midnight.
The kind of night where the world slows down just enough for your thoughts to get louder.
Ayla lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
The lights were off.Only the faint glow of her phone lit up her face.
Her playlist was running.
Not the loud, happy one.
The quiet one.
The one she never shared with anyone.
Her thumb hovered over his name.
Aarav.
Still pinned at the top.Still unchanged.Still… hers.
She hadn't removed the heart beside it.
She had thought about it once.
But she couldn't.
She opened the chat.
Scrolled.
Stopped.
Read messages she had already read a hundred times.
"Don't skip lunch.""Take your umbrella.""Text me when you reach."
Simple things.
But now they felt like pieces of something she had slowly let slip away.
On the other side of the wall, Aarav was awake.
Laptop open.Code running.Music low.
But his eyes weren't on the screen anymore.
They were on his phone.
On her name.
Not typing.Not calling.
Just… there.
Ayla typed.
"Are you awake?"
She stared at it.
Her heartbeat picked up.
It felt like such a small message.
But it wasn't.
Because it wasn't about asking.
It was about admitting.
She deleted it.
Locked her phone.
Turned to the other side.
Closed her eyes.
Opened them again.
Some distances don't exist in space.
They exist in hesitation.
In pride.
In the fear of saying the wrong thing…to the one person who never made you feel wrong before.
She picked up her phone again.
Opened the chat.
Typed again.
"I miss talking to you."
Her fingers froze.
Her chest tightened.
What if he didn't reply?
What if he had moved on from needing her?
What if… she was too late?
On the other side, Aarav unlocked his phone.
Opened her chat.
Typed.
"You can call me if you want."
He stared at it.
Then slowly…
Deleted it.
Because love, when left unspoken for too long…learns to hide itself.
Even from hope.
Ayla pressed the call button.
The screen changed.
His name.
Calling…
Her breath stopped.
Her heart raced.
This was it.
This was the moment everything could change.
Or break completely.
She cut the call.
Before it even rang.
Silence returned.
But this time, it was louder.
She buried her face into her pillow.
Tears slipping quietly.
Not because she was weak.
But because she finally understood something she had been avoiding.
She missed him.
Not casually.Not occasionally.
Deeply.
Aarav looked at his phone again.
For a second…
He thought he imagined it.
A missed call.
From her.
Duration: 0 seconds.
He stared at it.
Didn't smile.
Didn't panic.
Just… breathed.
Slowly.
He didn't call back.
Not because he didn't want to.
But because he knew.
If she had cut the call…she wasn't ready.
And he had always been the one who waited.
He placed his phone down.
Closed his laptop.
For the first time in weeks…
He didn't code.
He just sat there.
Listening to the silence.
Feeling something shift.
Across the wall…
Two people sat awake.
Both wanting to reach out.
Both stopping themselves.
Both feeling the same thing.
Sometimes…
Love doesn't fade.
It pauses.
Right before it finds the courageto return.
End of Chapter 16
📘 Before She Knew My Heart✍️ A Love Story by Saathwik