Shruti lay unmoving, but her heart ached with a pain so raw it tore through the fog of her coma. She could hear voices faintly—one in particular stood out. Rajveer.
"He's still searching for her, even after all these years... Dhruv hasn't given up."
Dhruv.
The name echoed in her mind like a long-lost melody. Her Dhruv. Even in her current state, a tear slipped down the corner of her eye. Seven years. He had been looking for her for seven long years. The weight of it crushed her—guilt, longing, love. A part of her felt like she had escaped her captors, but another, more broken part, was terrified that this too might be a cruel illusion. Her surroundings were unfamiliar. Everything was. But that voice... that name...
She remembered Rajveer saying Dhruv had changed, had become more human because of her. That they were all still searching for her so Dhruv could be happy again. But how could she bring happiness to him now? She was no longer the vibrant girl who brought colors into his grayscale world. She was a shell, a haunted shadow soaked in memories and pain. Her hands were stained—figuratively, maybe literally—and she knew, or believed, she would only bring darkness to his life. He deserved someone better. Someone who could make him smile without trembling in fear. But the thought of him with someone else hurt her more than she could admit. The ache was unbearable.
Her mind, desperate for solace, pulled her into a memory—a time when things were simple and full of laughter. A warm, comforting flash of the past.
It was her room. Evening sunlight spilled in through the window, casting a soft golden hue over her bed where books and pens were scattered.
"Your brooding bestie's here!" Dev announced with a smirk, tossing a cushion at Shruti, who was curled up on her bed with papers strewn all around her.
Dhruv entered, carrying a takeout bag. "Food," he said, and headed straight for her desk.
Shruti raised an eyebrow. "Did you order from Spicy Heaven again?"
Dhruv set the bag down. "No peppers. Double-checked. Even told them if I find one, I'd sue."
Dev laughed from the hallway, "He's serious. Nearly traumatized the delivery guy."
Shruti giggled, grabbing a container. But as she opened it, Dhruv was already picking through it with a fork.
"Hey, you said no peppers," she teased.
"Just making sure," he muttered, eyes focused, removing a few tiny red slivers. "I don't trust humans. Or food joints."
"You trust me, right?" she asked, almost without thinking.
He paused, briefly locking eyes with her. "Yeah," he said simply. "I do."
"I thought you don't trust humans", she teased him. "Yes I don't but I trust you", he repeated again with a straight face.
Her heart skipped. She tucked that moment into her soul.
Dhruv sat cross-legged on the floor, leaning slightly against the bed, flipping through their project notes after they had their food. Shruti sat beside him, their knees touching, her laptop open but forgotten.
"You really think this topic will impress Professor Nair?" she asked, poking Dhruv's arm with her pen.
"If it doesn't, he can find someone else to torture," Dhruv replied flatly, though there was a rare glint in his eyes.
Shruti laughed. "You're such a rebel."
Just then, Dev entered the room with a dramatic sigh.
Dhruv looked up and greeted, "Evening, brother."
Dev raised an eyebrow. "Whoa, you called me brother again. That's the second time this week. I should note this down."
Shruti giggled, leaning against Dhruv a little more than necessary. He didn't pull away.
Dev had just stood up, stretching. "Okay, you two nerds carry on. I'll give you some space to finish up. Don't burn the house down with your chemistry," he teased with a wink, earning a glare from Shruti.
"Dev!" she whined, throwing a cushion at him. He caught it mid-air and grinned.
"I'm just saying, Dhruv, I'm trusting you with my sister and my room. Big responsibility. Don't let me down."
"Yes, brother," Dhruv replied, calm as ever.
The warm hum of silence wrapped around Shruti and Dhruv like a blanket, soft and comforting, but heavy with unspoken emotions. Shruti's heart was racing—not from nerves, but from the growing awareness of how close Dhruv had slowly come to feel. His presence was no longer intimidating or distant. It was familiar. Almost safe.
They sat close on her bed, their textbooks sprawled out between them, the faint smell of the food lingering in the air. Their shoulders brushed often—too often to be accidental now. Dhruv was sitting with one leg folded under him, his posture slightly leaning toward her as he pointed out something in the textbook. Shruti wasn't even sure what he was saying. Her eyes had drifted to his hands again—his long fingers gesturing as he explained a concept. Then, she looked up, only to realize she was staring at his lips moving, then the way his Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed.
"You're not even listening, are you?" Dhruv said, his voice low and soft, but there was the hint of a smile in it.
Shruti blinked, caught red-handed. "I-I am!" she tried to defend, sitting up straighter. "You were talking about... the um... yeah, the thing."
His brow arched. "The thing, huh?"
She covered her face with both hands and groaned. "Okay, maybe not. But your voice is distracting!"
He raised a brow but said nothing, though the corner of his lips twitched—just a little. And then, a real smile tugged at his face as he leaned in to help her with a line of code. Shruti stared, stunned.
"Did you just smile?" she whispered.
He paused. "...Maybe."
"You should do that more often. You're actually cute when you smile," she said before her filter could stop her.
Dhruv blinked. Then, calmly: "Is that so?"
Shruti turned red and tried to grab her notebook to cover her face, only for it to slip and flop upside down.
Dev's voice echoed in her head: "You like him, don't you?"
The teasing earlier that day returned in full force.
He didn't respond at first, just went quiet. But she saw it—the slight pull at the corner of his lips. That same subtle, almost shy smile he rarely let anyone see. Shruti clutched her book tightly, trying to control her flipping heart.
They returned to reading, but there was a new tension in the air. A soft, tingling kind of tension. Their arms touched again, but neither moved away this time. As Shruti turned to grab a highlighter from the table next to the bed, she noticed Dhruv leaning in closer.
"I was saying this part—" he began, about to explain something again, leaning toward her ear.
But at that exact moment, Shruti turned her head to face him.
His lips brushed against the corner of hers—just a soft touch, barely there, but enough to freeze the world.
It was a breath. A second. But it felt like time had stilled.
Shruti's breath caught in her throat. Her eyes widened. Dhruv pulled back instantly, eyes sharp with surprise, but not panic. Her fingers gripped the notebook tightly. Her entire body felt like it had ignited. Every nerve buzzed. Her mind was blank except for one loud, echoing thought.
He kissed me.
Her first kiss. Her first, accidental, unexpected, confusing, beautiful kiss.
Dhruv's expression was unreadable. He swallowed hard, his eyes fixed anywhere but on her. Then he dropped the pen he was holding. It slipped from his fingers and rolled off the bed. When he reached down to pick it up, his notebook slid from his lap and landed upside down on the floor.
Shruti blinked, lips still tingling, heart going wild.
"I—" Dhruv began, finally meeting her eyes. "That was an accident. I didn't mean to... It wasn't intentional."
Shruti nodded quickly, unsure if her heart was fluttering or breaking. She opened her mouth to say something, but he continued.
"I'm sorry... it wasn't right without your consent."
Her breath hitched. The apology, so sincere, struck her deeply. He respected her. She knew that. But the way he said it—like he would do it again, only if she allowed—sent her thoughts spiraling.
Would he kiss me again... if I asked him to?
Her hand moved to touch the spot on her cheek where his lips had grazed her. She still couldn't form words. Before she could say anything, the door creaked open and Dev stepped back into the room.
He stopped at the threshold, eyes narrowing as he took in the scene. Shruti's flushed face. Dhruv's ears are red as ever. The notebook on the floor, his pen still clutched upside down. Dhruv quickly turned his book right side up, clearing his throat.
"What happened here?" Dev asked slowly, eyeing both of them.
"N-Nothing," Shruti said too quickly.
"Right," Dev said, crossing his arms. "Then why is Dhruv holding his pen like it's a fork and you look like a tomato in summer?"
"I—uh—"
Dhruv didn't answer. He just adjusted his position and picked up the notebook with an almost forced calm.
Shruti couldn't breathe properly. Her mind was still stuck on that soft brush of lips. Her very first kiss, it was his. Accidental or not, it was now a memory etched forever in her heart.
And somewhere deep inside, she hoped... it wouldn't be the last.
"No reason," she squeaked.
"You guys are acting like guilty teenagers," Dev smirked. "I was gone for fifteen minutes, what the hell happened here?"
"We were studying," Dhruv said simply, flipping the notebook around like nothing happened.
Shruti avoided both of their gazes. Her fingers fiddled with the edge of her sleeve.
Once Dev left again to take a call, the silence returned.
Shruti watched Dhruv carefully. He was... composed. Too composed.
"You're really good at pretending nothing happened," she muttered.
Dhruv, meanwhile, was the picture of calm—or so it seemed. He sat cross-legged on the floor, his hand attempting to spin a pen the way he always did when thinking. But the pen slipped. Again. And again. Shruti watched as he fumbled, his fingers suddenly clumsy. She bit her lower lip to hide a smile.
He froze for a second. Then, with the faintest trace of a smirk, replied, "You talk too much."
She rolled her eyes, turning toward him. "So you agree it did happen?"
"It was an accident," he said again, but softer this time.
"Still... my heart hasn't stopped racing," she admitted, looking away.
Then, quietly, Dhruv whispered, "Neither has mine."
"What I didn't hear you"
He froze for a second. Then, with the faintest trace of a smirk, replied, "You talk too much."
She rolled her eyes, turning toward him. "So you agree it did happen?"
There was a pause.
He didn't respond immediately. Instead, he leaned slightly closer, his gaze dropping to her lips for just a moment before locking onto her eyes. "I said I'm sorry because it was unintentional. Not because I regretted it."
He finally turned toward her, his tone softer than she'd ever heard before. "If… I ever do that again, it won't be without your permission."
Shruti turned back toward him, stunned. His eyes didn't meet hers, but the tips of his ears turned red again. Her lips curved, and warmth bloomed in her chest.
The silence now felt different.
He wasn't smiling.
But she could see the shift in him—soft, subtle, but there.
And for the first time, Shruti realized that maybe, just maybe, beneath that composed exterior, Dhruv felt just as much as she did.
To cut the tension, Dhruv pointed to a section of the paper. "If we don't finish this today, I'm going to fail because of you."
Shruti narrowed her eyes at him, her lips curving. "Me? I'm the one doing all the thinking here. You're just being distracting."
"I can leave," he said, already pretending to pack up.
"Don't you dare," she warned, grabbing his sleeve instinctively. The contact made them both still.
The door creaked open a bit, and they sprang apart just in time for Dev to stick his head in.
"I'm heading out to meet a friend. You two better finish that project and not end up watching some random anime again. And Dhruv—keep your ears normal color for once," he said with a knowing smirk before disappearing.
Shruti covered her face with her hands. "Why is he like this?"
Dhruv simply shook his head, hiding a soft smile behind his knuckles as he rested his chin on his hand. But his ears... they were crimson.
When Shruti finally dared to meet his eyes again, she found him already watching her. No teasing, no smirk—just that quiet intensity that always left her breathless.
"You're... different today," she whispered.
"Maybe I'm just being myself," he replied.
Shruti looked away, heart pounding louder than ever. Her feelings were overflowing, but words seemed too small to carry them. She didn't want the moment to end.
So instead of talking, she leaned a little closer and whispered, "You should smile more often... it suits you."
Dhruv didn't respond.
But this time, when his lips lifted ever so slightly at the corners, it wasn't for her to see—it was just because he couldn't help it.
And Shruti felt it, deep in her chest, like the warmth of a promise she didn't know she'd been waiting for all along.
Their work lay forgotten for a moment. The room was quiet again, yet filled with everything unspoken—the beginnings of something soft and undefined, but undeniably there.
She didn't know what the future held, but in that memory, she was just a girl in love, sitting beside a boy who had unknowingly already stolen her heart.
***
The next day, as Shruti stepped into the library, she paused for a moment—eyes scanning the familiar corners until they landed on him.
Dhruv was already there.
Seated at their usual table, one arm resting on the back of the chair, his gaze calmly focused on the book in front of him. His presence was effortless, yet it commanded attention. The calm before a storm.
Shruti blinked, surprised but trying not to show it. She approached the table, setting her bag down beside his.
"You're early," she said lightly, testing the waters.
He didn't look up. "You're on time."
She raised an eyebrow, amused. "So… you're just earlier?"
He finally glanced at her, just for a second, eyes unreadable. "I don't like wasting time."
"Or maybe," she teased as she pulled out her chair, "you're starting to enjoy our little study sessions?"
Dhruv didn't answer. But the slight pause before he returned to his book said more than silence should.
The silence between them wasn't uncomfortable anymore. It had shifted—grown warmer somehow, like a space where words weren't always needed.
As Shruti opened her notebook, a loose strand of hair fell across her face. Without thinking, she reached for it, but before her fingers touched it, Dhruv's hand moved—he passed her a hair tie from the corner of the table. One she didn't remember leaving there.
She glanced at it, then at him. "You keep hair ties now?"
He didn't look up. "You're forgetful."
Her lips curled into a grin as she tied her hair. "So you're observing me now?"
His pen stilled for the briefest second before resuming its steady rhythm.
She bit her cheek, holding back a smile.
Their study session continued in quiet focus. But occasionally, she'd catch him adjusting the light to better reach her pages or sliding her water bottle closer without a word. Little things. Easy to miss, unless you were looking.
And Shruti was definitely looking.
When she stood to leave, packing her notes slowly, he finally spoke. "Tomorrow. Same time?"
She turned to him, surprised. Usually, she was the one confirming their meet.
"Yeah," she said softly. "Same time."
He nodded once, already returning to his book—but Shruti didn't miss the slight upward pull at the corner of his lips.
Not a smile. Not really.
But close.