Episode 10 – "When Silence Says Everything"
It was late.
The kind of late where the world is asleep, but your thoughts are loud. Tanishka lay in bed, the dim light of her phone screen glowing softly. Her mind refused to rest.
She texted him.
Tanishka:
"You up?"
The reply came instantly.
Hemant:
"For you? Always."
That one line brought a strange comfort. She didn't smile — not this time. She just felt... safe.
Tanishka:
"I don't want to talk. Just be there."
Hemant:
"Okay."
And so, a quiet video call began.
No greetings. No jokes. Just the sound of their breaths, the dim light from her room, and Hemant's sleepy eyes blinking back at her from his side of the screen.
He didn't ask what was wrong.
He didn't need to.
She looked tired. Not physically — emotionally. The way people look when they've been pretending they're okay all day.
She didn't speak. Neither did he.
It was the most beautiful silence.
Sometimes she'd glance at the screen and find him watching her. Not in a weird way — just like he was making sure she was still breathing, still holding on.
She finally whispered, "You're not going to ask me what happened?"
Hemant shook his head. "You'll tell me when you're ready."
That's what made him different.
He didn't force answers.
He waited.
After a few minutes, she murmured, "Everything feels a little too much tonight."
"I know," he said softly. "The world's loud sometimes. Even when it's silent."
She blinked away tears she didn't even realize were forming.
"Do you ever feel like... you're tired of being strong?"
He nodded. "All the time."
Their screens weren't just pixels now — they were windows. Into each other. Into feelings they rarely shared out loud.
"You make it easier," she whispered.
"So do you," he replied. "For me."
No 'love yous'.
No dramatic confessions.
Just truth. Quiet and real.
The silence between them grew heavier, but not in a bad way. It was the kind that holds you when words fail.
Then, softly, like a promise:
"If you ever fall," Hemant said, "I'll be there. No matter what."
She didn't reply.
She just nodded.
And in that moment, he knew —
He already was her safe place.
Even if they didn't label it. Even if the world didn't understand.
Tonight wasn't about flirting. It wasn't about teasing or inside jokes.
It was about being present.
About showing up.
And somehow, that meant more than any love letter ever could.
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