Ren's phone buzzed just as he was packing his bag.
Harvey.
"Bro, last plan. One final trip before I disappear from this city. You in?"
The message sat there like a challenge.
Ren blinked. The cousin he barely saw had already planned a late-night street food crawl across Mumbai. It was supposed to be bonding time shared nostalgia, dumb jokes, and stories about their childhood summers.
But Harvey's message tugged at him harder.
Ren hovered over the message, then glanced at a framed photo on the shelf him and his cousin, drenched from a monsoon water fight years ago. He blinked. The moment passed.
Ren typed, paused, erased, then typed again:
"On my way."
The wind in his hair as the cab sped through half-lit streets felt freeing. Maybe he missed this. The impulsive plans, the thrill of doing something unexpected.
Tulip would've laughed at how last-minute this was.
He thought about texting her but didn't.
Let it be.
Harvey greeted him with his usual grin and that untamed energy that made him feel sixteen again.
But ten minutes into their meet-up, Harvey was pacing.
"Bad news. My uncle's suddenly here, so I gotta bounce. The trip's off, bro."
Just like that.
Ren blinked. "You're kidding."
Harvey clapped his shoulder like it would soften the blow.
"We'll meet before I leave. Promise."
But Ren knew that tone. The one people used when they didn't mean it.
He stood there as Harvey jogged off, the sound of city traffic swallowing the silence he was left in.
He had ditched his cousin for this.
All for a plan that never happened.
On the ride home, the guilt crept in slow.
His cousin's text was still unread. A photo of a half-melted cone.
'Got your fav ice cream :)'
It stared at him like a memory he couldn't return to.
Ren stared at the screen.
His fingers hovered. Then dropped.
He turned the screen off.
At home, he dropped his bag and just sat.
The room felt colder than it had before.
He wasn't even angry.
Just... disappointed.
In Harvey.
In the moment.
In himself.
The house was quiet too quiet for a Saturday night in Mumbai. Even the fan above Ren's head hummed like it didn't want to disturb him.
Ren sat on the edge of the bed, elbows resting on his knees, phone glowing in his hands. The screen illuminated his tired face, painting soft blue shadows under his eyes.
Tulip's chat was open.
Her last message was from earlier that afternoon.
A sticker of a bunny cheering him on: "Have fun, Ren 🐰💫"
He hadn't replied.
He blinked.
Below her chat, Harvey's name sat bold and unread.
Still upbeat, still careless:
"Broooo readyyyy??? Last adventure before I leave 💀🔥 meet me @7 sharp!!"
Ren hadn't even realized what time it was.
And there it was a message from his cousin.
Unopened. Just a quiet:
"Got you your fav roll. We'll go Marine Drive tomorrow?"
He didn't open that either.
The guilt curled up in his chest like a crumpled receipt he couldn't throw away.
He turned back to Tulip's chat.
Typed:
"I..."
Paused.
Backspaced.
Typed again:
"Guess what happened lol..."
Paused.
Backspaced.
He let his fingers hover, as if the right words might fall from the air.
They didn't.
He locked the phone.
The screen went black.
And in that darkness, his reflection stared back at him blurry, tired, and distant.