The road to the lake was quiet, the kind of quiet that hummed with endings. Gravel crunched underfoot as the group walked the last stretch, sunlight slipping through the trees until the world suddenly opened up before them.
The lake was wide enough that the far shore blurred in a hazy line of trees, but not so wide that it felt unreachable. Sunlight lay across the water like sheets of glass, every ripple catching fire before vanishing again.
Around its edges, cliffs and ridges rose naturally, framing the lake like an ancient amphitheatre carved by time. One slope led down to a stony beach where Ishaan and Estella had already claimed their corner, her laughter carrying over the water as he splashed dangerously close to her dress.
On the other side, slightly above the waterline, Aaron had found a flat rock on a rise, sketchbook balanced against his knee. From up there, the whole lake stretched before him, but his pencil hesitated more often than it moved. Isebella stood nearby, caught between watching the view and watching him, the stillness between them thick with unsaid things.
A distant cry of Mr Banerjee came from one end of the shore," Boys, me and your mother are sitting over here and will be waiting for you guys, so you better not fall in, though—I'm too old to fish anyone out."
Ishaan screamed from one end as if he was trying to convey a message from one end of the world to another, "OK!!"
"You really can shout, can't you?, My ears, I think they have committed suicide", Estella cried out loud at the roar Ishaan had let out.
"You are just being overdramatic", I call out to Ishaan and proceed to splash water on her.
"You little…., just wait!!!" Estella is now chasing Ishaan, who is trying his best to run in the muddy water.
From the other side of the shore, Aaron, who was quietly observing while his hands were busy tracing the outlines.
"Seriously, those two will surely fall, and then I'll have to account for them"
Thud
"Speak of the devil", Aaron remarked
"Well, it seems your tongue has some sort of divine revelation system", softly giggled Isebella.
"Just hoped that actually works for when I want it", Aaron Sarcastically added, seeing Ishaan and Estella tumbling over each other.
A soft smile crept over him, and although his pencil was still fidgeting, he still just looked at the two and just smiled, "Maybe it wasn't that bad after all"
Isebella just stared at Aaron, her eyes so pure yet so distant, as if she were trying to reach out to a falling star.
"How?" words just came out without her conscious decision
"Sorry?" Aaron in confusion
"Sorry, it just, I just am curious how you may find such captivating details, like as if you can find out the smallest of details and just be happy with every small thing in life, like how?" Isebella was curious, but it wasn't just curiosity that came over her, but something else too, like she was trying to find an answer she had lost.
"Well, it's just like I told you the first day we went together, that life wasn't much easier for me, I was used, discarded, and well, completely broke. I was willing to run away from everything, but Ishaan came along and pulled me out of this hellhole and gave me a new world to see," replied Aaron with a soft look.
Isebella finds her composure, but curiosity takes the best of her, "Ya, you did, but what exactly happened ?"
Aaron kept his eyes on the page, though the lines he was sketching had already begun to blur. His voice was even, but it carried that weight that comes when words are pulled from places you don't often open.
"I was good at disappearing," he began slowly. "Not the magician's kind. The quiet kind. The kind where people forget you're in the room even when you're sitting right there. Teachers overlooked me, friends… drifted, if interactions became dull. Even at home, I felt like furniture sometimes. You know, there… but not really."
He gave a dry laugh, more at himself than at the memory.
"Then, just when I thought maybe I'd figured out how to live like that, someone I trusted—someone I thought cared—used me. Used what I shared, twisted it, left me with nothing but my own silence. That's the part that breaks you. Not the loneliness… the betrayal. Makes you wonder if you're just destined to be invisible."
Aaron finally looked up from the sketch, eyes following Ishaan and Estella tumbling into the water again. A faint smile softened his expression.
"And then this idiot showed up." He tilted his chin toward his brother. "Dragged me into his chaos. Didn't ask me to talk, didn't ask me to explain. Just… made space. Loud, messy space. I thought I hated it at first, but it forced me to exist again. Forced me to see colour in places I'd stopped looking. And maybe that's why I sketch now… because sometimes catching a small thing—a ripple, a smile, the way light bends—reminds me that I didn't disappear completely. Not yet."
He glanced at Isabella then, the words hanging in the air like fragile glass, unsure if he should have said so much.
"So strange, we are so different yet so strange, you know", Isebella remarked, taking one pencil out of Aaron's kit and using a rough page and just scribbling her eyes on the sheet.
"Like it may not seem like it, but people hold a lot of expectations from me, and well, I understand the sentiment, and honestly, I always wanted to disappear and run away, but like you had Ishaan, Estella came for me"
"I could be feeling low, tired or frustrated. She would just come and bug me and irritate me more. Initially, I felt it was a hassle, but as time passed, it kept me going for her" now looking at Aaron.
"You know, I am glad we met you, you gave me so many new memories, and I will never forget you, the person who saw who I was and still spent time with m., I am grateful for that. A tear flowing down from Isebella, it became evident that something was very heavy she was also hiding.
Suddenly, something as if came over Aaron, and he just moved in and pulled Isebella for a hug.
"Wait, what? Aaron, what's happening?" Isebella said, clearly startled and confused.
In the confusion of Isebella, Aaron spoke, "You thank me, but the thing isIi should be the one thanking you. I had never thought I could ever trust anyone, never thought the invisible man could make memories like these, never thought that I would be seen like this" Aaron pushed Isebella gently to meet her face to face.
"I am grateful that you stepped up that day, I am grateful you took Ishaan's ridiculous offer to guide 2 random strangers, thank you for the talk that day at the festival and thank you for a dance I had only ever imagined I would be able to do" A soft, gentle and warm smile crept on Aaron's face but tears flowing down, "Thank you both for coming into our lives".
For a heartbeat, Isabella froze in Aaron's arms. Then, almost against her own will, she relaxed into him, her forehead brushing his shoulder. Her breath trembled, catching on the edge of something she wasn't ready to name.
"Idiot," she whispered, but there was no sting in her voice—only warmth. "You don't know how much you've given me too."
Her hands moved as if to hold him tighter, but then she stopped, one fist curling against his back instead of opening. The pressure of it was small, invisible to anyone but her—but it carried the weight of what she couldn't yet share.
Her eyes shut. Her lips curved into a soft smile that didn't reach the shadows behind it.
Aaron pulled back just enough to look at her, his thumb brushing away the stray tear that streaked down her cheek. He said nothing more. He didn't need to. The silence between them had already spoken more than words could.
Down by the water, Ishaan's shout shattered the stillness.
"Ha! Got you this time!"
Estella's indignant cry followed, cut off by a splash as he finally succeeded in dragging her into the shallow water. She came up sputtering, hair clinging to her face, and hurled a handful of water at him with a warrior's cry.
"You're dead, Ishaan Banerjee!"
He only doubled over laughing, dodging another splash and running half-sideways through the water as Estella chased after him, shrieking like a child who'd just declared war.
From the cliff, Isabella let out a shaky laugh despite herself. Aaron, still watching his brother, allowed the corner of his mouth to lift. The world down there looked so simple—chaotic, messy, full of laughter. For a moment, it almost felt like it could last forever.
But in Isabella's clenched fist, in the weight in her chest, the truth still lingered.
Down below, Ishaan's laughter carried again, dragging both of their gazes to the water. For a moment, the heaviness eased—like his chaos alone could scatter the tension.
"Sometimes," Aaron murmured, watching his brother trip over his own feet, "I think Ishaan was born just to remind the world it doesn't have to take itself so seriously."
Isabella followed his gaze, her smile faint but real this time. "And Estella… she seems to be the only one who can keep up with him."
On the stony beach, Estella launched another splash, sending Ishaan staggering back, hands raised.
"Truce! Truce!" he laughed, sputtering as she splashed him again. "You're supposed to be a lady, not Poseidon's apprentice!"
"Oh, please. You've been asking for this since the second you opened your mouth this morning!" she shot back, advancing like a general.
He slipped in the shallows, catching himself on his palms before the water could swallow him. Estella froze for a moment, breathless from laughter—but when she reached out a hand to pull him up, something shifted.
Her fingers lingered in his. His laughter softened. The world around them seemed quieter, save for the water lapping at their ankles.
"You know," Ishaan said, voice lower now, "for someone who pretends I'm impossible, you don't look like you're in a hurry to let go."
Estella rolled her eyes, though her hand still held his. "That's only because you'd fall on your face again if I did."
"Maybe," he admitted, grinning—but there was a gentleness in it this time, less boyish, more deliberate. His thumb brushed against hers, just once. "But I don't think I'd mind if you caught me again."
For a beat, Estella said nothing. The playful spark in her eyes wavered, replaced by something quieter, something that made her chest ache in ways she hadn't planned for. She finally tugged her hand back, shaking her head as if to scatter the weight of the moment.
"Don't push your luck, Banerjee," she said, splashing him once more before turning away.
But her smile lingered even as she pretended to walk off, and Ishaan, dripping and breathless, couldn't stop staring after her.
As Estella was walking back, both happy and as if something was bothering her, she slipped, and she was about to hit the floor headfirst. Ishaan rushes and grabs her by her waist and wrist.
"Wo! Wo! Be careful wouldn't want Poseidon to kill me if I let his apprentice fall," Ishaan smirked with his iconic grin.
Something in Estella cracked; suddenly, her composure was lost, and tears started to flow out uncontrollably.
She didn't answer, only buried her face against his shoulder as the sobs came harder. Ishaan didn't tease her this time. He simply tightened his hold and, after a moment, lifted her as if she weighed nothing.
He carried her to the slope by the shore, where the grass grew softer, and sat with her still curled against him. For once, Ishaan Banerjee—the boy who always filled silence with noise—let the quiet stretch, waiting until her breathing slowed.
Finally, Estella spoke, her voice trembling like a secret long held:
"Why is it," she whispered, "that you're always there? Every time I think I'm about to break… somehow you're just there. And with you, it's so easy to be happy, even when everything else feels impossible."
Ishaan glanced down at her, his usual spark tempered with something heavier. "Maybe because I know what breaking looks like," he said quietly.
Estella lifted her head, searching his eyes. "All my life," she confessed, "I've been shadowed by Isabella. She's always been the perfect daughter, the perfect student, the perfect everything. And I—" her breath hitched, "—I could never hate her for it, because I knew how much it cost her. So I tried to be the perfect younger sister instead. To protect her. To make it easier for her. But somewhere in all of that, I… I lost myself. I was just the 'other one.' The afterthought."
Ishaan was silent for a long moment, the weight of her words hanging between them. Then, gently, he brushed a strand of wet hair from her face.
"You know," he said slowly, "you're not the only one who hides behind a mask."
Her brows drew together. "What do you mean?"
Ishaan gave a short laugh—humourless this time. "People think I joke because I don't care. Truth is…It's the only way people notice me. You laugh, you play the fool, and suddenly the room doesn't forget you. It's survival. If I stopped, if I showed the cracks, I'm not sure anyone would look twice."
His gaze drifted toward the water, where Aaron still sat with Isabella in the distance. "But then I saw my brother. After… after he was betrayed, after he was left with nothing. He disappeared. Like he wasn't even there anymore. And I thought—hell, maybe it's fine if people don't take me seriously. Maybe I can be the idiot, the loud one, the distraction. Because if I could drag him back into the world, even just a little, then it was worth it. I could be the fool, if it meant he didn't vanish completely."
He looked back at her then, his grin softer now, stripped of its armour. "And maybe… maybe it's the same with you. Maybe I just want you to see that you're more than your sister's shadow. That you don't need to be perfect to matter. You just need to be you."
Estella's tears came again, but this time they were quieter, mingled with a shaky laugh. "Idiot," she murmured, echoing her sister's word from earlier. But her fingers found his, threading between them, holding tight as though letting go might make the world collapse.
And for once, Ishaan didn't pull away or cover it with a joke. He simply held her hand back, steady and sure, the lake reflecting the weight of everything neither of them had said until now.
After a while, the four of them all came together for a grilled barbecue season, which was chaotic indeed.
The smell of smoke and sizzling food soon rolled over the lake, carried by the crackle of the little barbecue Mr Banerjee had insisted on dragging out of the van. Skewers of marinated vegetables, chicken, and fish hissed over the coals, sending sparks into the evening air.
The scene was a chaos of its own kind. Ishaan nearly dropped an entire skewer trying to show off some ridiculous "flipping technique," only to have Estella smack him with a paper plate. Aaron ended up fending off Isabella, who kept stealing pieces of roasted corn from his plate whenever he looked away to sketch the glow of firelight on the water.
Mrs Banerjee clucked over them all like a general keeping troops in line, while Mr Banerjee tried (and failed) to tell stories over the noise. Laughter and mock complaints filled the air, rising and falling with the sparks, tangled together until it was impossible to tell where one voice ended and the other began.
For a little while, it felt like the world had shrunk to that circle of warmth by the fire. No crowns. No councils. No expectations. Just four young people with bellies full of food and eyes glowing in the firelight.
But when the flames died down to glowing embers, the laughter softened. The night air grew cool, and one by one, the chaos gave way to stillness. Ishaan leaned against a log, Estella's head slipping onto his shoulder without her even realising. On the other side, Isabella rested lightly against Aaron, his sketchbook forgotten at his side.
The parents shared a glance from the far end of the firelight. In that silence, in the sight of their sons curled with the girls, they saw something that words couldn't name: a bond deeper than mere chance. A bond tested and woven quietly across the days, now visible in the way the four fit together, like pieces of a pattern no council could dictate.
When the embers burned low, the Banerjees gathered the sleepy group, nudging them to their feet. The walk back was slow, the path lit by lantern light and the silver wash of the moon. The pairs leaned into each other, too tired to care, too comfortable to resist.
And yet, as the shadows stretched long, a heaviness settled in Isabella's chest. Estella felt it too—the ache of knowing the bubble would burst tomorrow.
Just before they left the lakeside completely, Isabella turned to Aaron. Her voice was low, carrying a weight he hadn't heard from her before.
"Tomorrow is the reveal festival," she said. "Whatever happens… I just hope you don't forget this. Any of this. These memories."
Beside them, Estella's hand found Ishaan's wrist, holding it for just a moment longer than usual. "Promise me, Banerjee," she whispered, half-teasing but with eyes too serious for her tone. "No matter what tomorrow brings… promise me we can stay like this."
The boys didn't answer with grand vows. Ishaan only grinned, pressing his free hand dramatically to his chest. "Forget this? Impossible. My poor ears may want to forget your screaming today, Estella, but my heart won't let me."
She rolled her eyes, but the corner of her lips trembled into a smile.
Aaron, quieter, simply nodded at Isabella. "Even if the whole world changes tomorrow… this doesn't disappear. Not for me."
The girls smiled, but it was the kind that hid as much as it showed. Because somewhere behind their laughter, behind the warmth of their shoulders pressed to the boys', lay a guilt they couldn't confess yet—and a fear that the morning sun might steal this peace away forever.