Aarohi sat upright on the bed, hands pressed to her temples.
Her breath came in small, shaky bursts.
Her heartbeat felt like it wasn't hers.
Arin kneeled beside her, terrified.
"Aarohi… what's happening now? Tell me."
Aarohi's voice cracked.
"It's not my pain.
It's his."
Arin froze.
"Riaan's?"
Aarohi nodded, tears filling her eyes.
"I think… I'm about to remember the first time he broke."
Arin's breath hitched.
"Aarohi, please—don't go into that memory. It will hurt you."
She shook her head weakly.
"It's already here."
Her eyes softened.
And then the world tilted, dissolving into another life.
---
PAST LIFE
School was unusually quiet that day.
Clouds hung low, heavy with unshed rain.
The hallways were emptier than usual.
Aara noticed something was off the moment she walked in.
Riaan wasn't at the gate.
He wasn't by her locker.
He wasn't in the courtyard.
Her chest tightened.
She walked through the corridors quietly, searching for him, even though she told herself she wasn't.
Until—
She found him behind the old sports storeroom, sitting on the floor, knees drawn up, elbows on his thighs, head pressed into his hands.
He didn't hear her approach.
Aara froze.
She had never seen him like that.
Riaan always smiled.
Always comforted.
Always steadied her storms.
But today—
he looked like one.
Aara whispered:
"Riaan…?"
Riaan didn't look up.
He clenched his jaw, hands trembling slightly.
Aara stepped closer, heart pounding.
She sat beside him quietly, leaving a small gap.
Riaan finally lifted his head.
His eyes were red.
Not angry.
Not tired.
Broken.
Aara's heart caved.
She whispered softly:
"What happened?"
Riaan pressed his lips together, looking away.
"I don't want you to see me like this."
Aara swallowed.
"That's not fair.
You've seen me like this."
Riaan let out a shaky breath.
"I'm supposed to be the strong one."
Aara hugged her arms around her knees.
"Who told you that?"
He didn't answer.
Aara asked gently:
"Did someone hurt you?"
Riaan gave a bitter laugh.
"Someone always does."
"And you let them," Aara whispered.
Riaan stiffened.
Aara continued, her voice quiet but steady:
"You let people think you're unbreakable.
But you're just like everyone else.
You hurt too."
Riaan finally looked at her.
She had never seen that expression on his face —
a mix of pain, guilt, and something more fragile than either.
Aara whispered:
"You don't have to hide it from me."
Riaan's breath hitched.
His voice cracked:
"My father… he yelled at me again last night.
Said I'm useless.
Said I'll never be good enough for anything I want.
I tried so hard and still—"
His voice broke.
Aara's chest ached.
She reached out slowly, giving him time to pull away.
He didn't.
Her hand touched his.
Warm.
Gentle.
Brave.
Riaan stared at their joined hands.
Aara whispered:
"You're enough.
You're more than enough.
And if he can't see that… it's his failure, not yours."
Riaan inhaled shakily.
"Why do your words always feel like they're holding me together?"
Aara looked away, shy.
"Maybe because you've held me together for so long… I just want to return a little of it."
Riaan's eyes softened painfully.
"Aara…"
His voice trembled.
And then it happened.
A single tear slipped down his cheek.
Aara froze.
Her heart cracked open.
Without thinking—
she wiped it gently with her thumb.
He let her.
He closed his eyes, leaning slightly into her touch.
"Aara…" he whispered, voice breaking,
"I don't know what I've done to deserve you."
Aara's breath trembled.
"You don't need to deserve me.
I'm here because… I want to be."
Riaan looked at her like she had said something sacred.
That moment—
quiet, raw, fragile—
bound them in a way neither understood yet.
Aara had cried in his arms.
Now he cried in hers.
And that balance, that exchange of pain,
that shared vulnerability—
that was when love grew real.
Not confessed.
Not spoken.
Just known.
---
PRESENT
Aarohi gasped back into the room, choking on sobs.
Arin grabbed her instantly.
"Aarohi! Aarohi, breathe!"
She clung to him, shaking violently.
Her voice cracked:
"He cried, Arin…
He cried in front of her."
Arin's eyes widened with pain.
"And that hurt you too."
Aarohi nodded, tears falling.
"It felt like I was holding him.
Like I felt his pain.
Like my heart broke for him."
Arin's voice trembled, jealous, terrified:
"Aarohi… you were never meant to carry his pain.
That was Aara's life. Not yours."
Aarohi pressed a hand over her heart, sobbing.
"But it feels like mine."
Arin hugged her tightly, voice cracking:
"You belong to this life.
To me.
Not to a ghost of a boy who died loving someone else."
Aarohi sobbed harder.
But then—
A cold breeze brushed her shoulder.
A warm breath trailed down her spine.
A presence she was beginning to recognize too well filled the room.
And a whisper breathed into her ear:
"You held me once, Aara…
You saved me without knowing."
Aarohi froze in Arin's arms.
Her breath stopped.
Arin didn't hear it.
But she did.
Riaan wasn't fading.
He was remembering.
He was returning.
And soon…
she wouldn't just feel Aara's love.
She would feel Riaan's.
---