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The Chennai sky cracked open as if on cue.
Just as they reached the final turn toward Ananya's street, the first drops of rain began to fall—soft at first, then suddenly heavier, faster. The kind of rain that soaked you within seconds.
Ananya shrieked, half-laughing, as she grabbed Karthik's hand and pulled him beneath a bus stop shelter. They were both already drenched.
"You said it wouldn't rain!" she scolded him, wiping wet strands of hair from her face.
"I said I hoped it wouldn't," Karthik replied, out of breath, hair plastered to his forehead.
A beat passed. Then Ananya burst out laughing.
The sound was music. Raw, real. Karthik watched her, completely unable to look away.
"You love this, don't you?" he asked softly, smiling.
She turned to him, still laughing. "What?"
"Moments like this. Random. Messy. Unexpected."
She nodded, eyes bright. "They remind me that I'm alive. That things don't have to be perfect to be beautiful."
Karthik nodded, absorbing the words. His old self would've panicked about getting wet, about looking stupid. But now?
He was just glad to be here—with her.
The rain drummed against the shelter's metal roof, a steady rhythm that slowed the world outside. Ananya hugged her arms close, shivering a little.
Without a word, Karthik slipped off his overshirt—soaked as it was—and draped it over her shoulders. She looked surprised, then softened.
"You'll catch a cold," she murmured.
"I'd rather you don't," he replied.
Silence again. But not the awkward kind.
The kind that says I see you.
The kind that says Thank you for being here.
She turned to him then, eyes meeting his. The space between them felt electric, like the air before lightning.
"I like you, Karthik," she whispered. "More than I thought I could like anyone."
Karthik blinked.
"You don't have to say anything," she added quickly, nervous now. "I just… needed you to know."
Karthik stepped forward, rain still dripping from his hair. His voice was quiet, but steady.
"I know I'm not always good at saying what I feel," he began, "but when I'm with you, I feel less… broken."
Ananya didn't speak, just waited.
"I like you too," he said at last. "Maybe even more than I know how to explain."
Her eyes shimmered, whether from rain or something deeper.
A horn blared in the distance. The city carried on.
But under that little shelter, the world had changed.
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end of Chapter 148