Karthik couldn't stop staring at the page.
It was the kind of confession he never imagined would happen to him—not in person, not written, not even in his wildest dreams. But there it was. Her handwriting right below his.
"I think I already have."
He gently closed the notebook, like sealing a secret between them.
"So," Ananya said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, "does this mean you'll stop sulking every time I talk to another guy?"
Karthik gave her a sideways glance. "No promises."
Ananya let out a short laugh, and he couldn't help but smile. It wasn't the forced smile he'd worn for years to blend in. It was the kind that cracked the surface of his darkness just a bit more, letting her light in.
After classes ended that day, Ananya didn't rush off with her usual group. She stayed back, loitering in the corridor as if waiting for something. Or someone.
Karthik walked toward her, his bag slung lazily over one shoulder. "You didn't leave?"
"I was waiting to see if you'd offer to walk me out," she said, raising an eyebrow.
"I didn't know we were that couple now."
"We're not any couple yet," she teased. "But we could be."
Karthik's ears turned red. "Shouldn't there be... I don't know, a proper confession? A moment?"
She smiled. "I think we had ours. Scribbled between physics equations. That's kind of perfect for us."
He nodded, heart thudding a little too loudly. "Then… will you go out with me?"
She looked at him for a second, pretending to consider it seriously.
"Hmm… maybe," she said playfully. "If you walk me home today."
"That's all it takes?"
"That, and you'll have to carry my bag too."
"Ananya…"
She tossed it to him before he could finish.
They walked out together, the sun starting to dip behind the school walls, the air thick with the scent of summer and possibility.
As they neared the gate, she turned to him. "You know, I used to think you were the scariest boy in class."
Karthik raised an eyebrow. "Scary?"
"Yeah. Always brooding. Always alone. Like you were living in your own world."
"I was," he admitted.
"And now?"
He looked at her, a quiet certainty in his voice. "Now I want to stay in yours."
Ananya's expression softened. She reached out and gently tugged on his sleeve.
"Then don't run back into your own," she said. "Even when things get hard."
"I won't," he promised.
The gate clanged behind them as they stepped out together—into the street, into something new. The sun bathed their backs in gold. Two silhouettes walking side by side. A once-dark boy and the girl who reached into that darkness, pulled him forward, and helped him see light again.
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CHAPTER 123