WHEN YOU READ THIS, I'M GONE
(BONUS CHAPTER – Riya's POV: The Letters)
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CHAPTER 13 – THE BOX
Riya sat on her bed, the room spinning around her. Aarush's funeral was over. People had left, whispering condolences she didn't care about.
But in her lap was the thing that mattered—the wooden box the neighbor had found under his bed.
It was old, scratched, but neat. On top lay the envelope he had left for her.
Her hands shook as she picked it up.
She had already read his final letter at the funeral, cried until her chest hurt. But now…
She had to know.
She opened the box.
Inside were dozens of letters, neatly stacked, tied with an old ribbon. Each one had her name written carefully on it.
Her breath hitched. "Oh my God, Aarush…"
Her trembling fingers untied the ribbon. The first letter lay on top, yellowed and crumpled with age.
She unfolded it.
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CHAPTER 14 – THE FIRST LETTER
"Riya,
You probably don't even remember the first time we met. But I do. It was raining. You sat beside me and smiled. That smile… I think that was the first time I felt alive in years.
You won't ever read this. But I just want to say… I love you."
Riya's hand flew to her mouth. Tears blurred the words.
"From the very first day…" she whispered, choking back a sob.
She grabbed the second letter, then the third.
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CHAPTER 15 – THE LETTERS THAT BURNED HER SOUL
One by one, she read them.
"You laughed at my stupid joke today. I wanted to tell you how beautiful you looked when you laughed, but I didn't. You were talking about someone else, and I didn't want to ruin it."
"You told me Kabir might like you. I wanted to scream, 'I like you more than anyone ever could.' But I just smiled."
"You hugged me today. My heart wouldn't stop racing for hours. If only you knew how much I wished I could hold you forever."
"I saw you crying over him today. I wanted to punch him for hurting you. But I just held you and said, 'I'm here for you.' Because that's what you needed, not my love."
Every letter was a wound reopening in her heart.
Riya's tears dripped onto the pages, smudging the ink.
Her breathing grew ragged. "Why didn't you tell me, Aarush? Why didn't you just tell me?"
But deep down, she knew the answer.
Because she had never looked. Because she had been too busy loving people who never cared about her, while the one who loved her the most was right there, quietly breaking for her every single day.
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CHAPTER 16 – THE BREAKDOWN
By the time she reached the 56th letter, she was sobbing uncontrollably.
It was dated the night before he died.
"Riya,
You looked so happy at your birthday today. And I'm glad. You hugged me and called me your best friend. That word… it should make me happy, right? But tonight, it feels like a knife. Because I don't want to be just your best friend. I want to be the one you look at like you used to look at Kabir. But I can't be. And that's okay. At least you're happy. That's enough for me."
Riya screamed into the silence of her room, throwing the letter against the wall.
"YOU IDIOT! YOU STUPID, STUPID BOY!" she cried, her voice breaking. "You were enough for me! YOU WERE ENOUGH!"
Her chest heaved, her tears soaking her clothes as she clutched the box to her heart, rocking back and forth.
"I loved you too, Aarush," she whispered through sobs. "I just didn't know until it was too late."
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CHAPTER 17 – THE FINAL GOODBYE
The sun was rising when Riya finally stood, holding the box tightly. Her eyes were swollen, her hair a mess, but there was a strange calm in her now.
She walked to his grave, sat beside it, and opened the box again.
"I read them all," she whispered. Her voice cracked, but there was a faint smile on her tear-streaked face.
"You told me to smile at your funeral if I ever loved you too… I tried, Aarush. I really tried."
She placed the box gently on the grave, running her fingers over his name carved in stone.
Then she whispered the words she should have said years ago.
"I love you too."
Her tears dripped onto the cold stone as the morning sun rose behind her.
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THE TRUE END
The world would never know how much they had loved each other in silence.
Only Riya would remember.
And every year, on the day he died, she would sit by his grave, reading his letters again, whispering through tears,
"Wait for me, Aarush. Just wait for me."
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