Yalna was scrolling through sky's old photos one evening. She paused at one from before they got back together—
He was smiling beside a girl. Just a friend, but the caption had a warmth she didn't recognize.
She didn't say anything that night but she thought about it.
Doubts whisper loudest in silence.
"sky," she asked one afternoon, " when we weren't talking.. did you try moving on?"
He looked at her for a moment. Honest, careful.
"I tried forgetting you," he said, " but I couldn't,"
" did you like someone else?"
He hesitated.
"I tried to like someone else. I wanted to, but I don't find anything real."
Yalna looked away, nodding—but her heart twisted.
"what if he finds someone better?" what if I am just familiar, not enough.
And those thoughts crept in ---they lingered.
Sky began noticing it too.
Shorter replies. Less eye contact more, " I am just tired today".
He didn't know what was happening but it felt like she was building a wall again. Slowly, silently.
"you sure everything's okay?" he asked one evening.
"yeah," she said, forcing a smile, "just life stuff".
But he knew her too well to believe that.
He didn't push.
The girl in the photo.
Yalna couldn't stop staring at the photo. Sky in his school uniform, one arm draped casually over the shoulder of a girl with curly hair and a dimpled smile.
The caption read:
"back then when life was easier and she was always around."
It was from two years ago, but that didn't stop knot from forming in yalna's chest. She double-tapped the photo anyway. Then locked her phone and tried to sleep she couldn't.
The next morning, sky met her outside college like always. Same smile, same warmth.
But yalna didn't smile back the same way. She kept glancing at his phone, at the people around him.
"who's that girl in your school photo?.
She asked suddenly as they sat on the bike.
"which one?" he blinked.
"that one with caption about her being ." 'always around'.
Sky took a beat. Then laughed gently.
" oh that's saara. She was like.. my shadow in school. We were just close. That's all"
"were you ever… into her?"
"no," he said quickly. Then softer, I never saw her like that."
Yalna nodded, but the silence after felt heavier that it should've been.
For the next few days, sky noticed the shift.
She didn't laugh at his dumb jokes.
She didn't open up the way she used to and when he mentioned any girl, even casually -- her eyes changed.
"yalna," he said one evening, " talk to me. What's going on?"
" nothing. Just tired."
" don't lie to me."
She hesitated the, quietly.
" I just don't want to lose you again."
He softened.
" you're not going to lose me."
"you say that now," she murmured, looking down . " but if someone better comes along."
"stop," he cut in, firm but gentle. " there is no one better. There's just you."
"but I --."
" no. listen," he leaned in, voice low. " if I wanted comfort, I'd move on. But I want you. The real you. The real, complicated, overthinking you. The one who vanishes and comes back. The one I prayed for."
She looked at him then—eyes glassy. And finally, finally, she let her shoulders drop and her heart speak.
"I'm scared too."
He reached for her hand.
" then let's be scared together. But don't push me away for something that never existed."
I don't really understand her—she has mood swings. Sometimes she wants to talk when she's in a good mood, and other times she doesn't."
And suddenly something changed between us' I don't know exactly what it is.
It started small. Maybe the beginning of distance.
Yalna would take longer to reply.
Start leaving his messages on " seen."
Say "I'm busy" more often.
Not in a fight—not even upset. Just… distance.
At first, sky thought it was stress. A rough week, maybe.
So he gave her space. Sent sweet little texts, waited at her college gate like always.
But she didn't come out.
" you left," he texted.
" yeah, had to rush home."
No explanation, no apology.
Soon, even when they did talk, her tone was…. Off.
Snappy.
Cold.
Irritated at the smallest things.
"you don't have to message me all the time". She said once.
"it feels like I can't even breathe".
Sky blinked.
"I just wanted to know if you got home safe."
"yeah," well. I did. So don't worry so much."
It wasn't her words. It was the edge in them. The girl who once waited for his replies like sunlight now seemed annoyed just by his presence. And the worst part?
He didn't know why.
Sky still waited outside her college.
Sometimes.
Just in case she'd smile the way she used to.
He left sweet notes.
And slowly, sky started breaking inside.
"am I doing something wrong?" he asked once.
Yalna shrugged.
" I don't know. Maybe we're just….. different now."
This sentence hit like a knife.
After all that promises. After surviving everything.
He walked home that night in silence. And for the first time since their reunion--- he didn't text her goodnight.
Yalna kept drifting.
The girl who once shared her entire world with sky now treated him like a background notification—there, but ignored.
Some days she wouldn't reply at all.
Some days she'd reply with a single word, and the rare times they met, her voice held no warmth, no softness.
" you've changed," sky said one evening, gently.
" no," she replied, eyes on her phone.
" maybe you just never really saw me".
That line stayed with him for days.
He stopped expecting things.
Stopped waiting for texts, but still—he messaged her every single morning.
" good luck for the day."
" don't skip lunch."
" stay safe."
" I miss you".
"I'm here".
And he never let a night pass without saying.
"goodnight, yalna. I hope your heart is okay".
Even when it went unanswered.
Even when she left him on " seen" again and again.
Because he meant it.
Because love for him, wasn't a transaction.
It was loyalty. Quiet, unshakable, painful loyalty.
He start to break....
One evening, he stood outside her college again. Not to see her --- but because he just needed to feal close, even if it was from far.
He waited. Hours passed , she never came out. Later that night, she posted a story—laughing with some friends at a café.
No mention of him. No explanation, no reply to his messages.
Sky stared at the screen.
And for the first time, tears rolled down without warning.
Not the kind that came from anger or betrayal----
But the kind that came from giving everything and still not being enough.