AUTHOR POV

The laughter around the pani puri stall was loud and carefree, the kind of laughter that could make even strangers stop and smile. Aarohi was wiping her tears from too much spice, Misthi was busy showing off that she could handle more, and Sarah was threatening . For a brief moment, everything felt golden, like the world had paused just for them.

But then Nishu's eyes widened. Her entire body went still.

Because right across the street, a little girl—no more than six years old was sprinting recklessly, her tiny feet hitting the road without the faintest idea of the danger closing in on her. The luxury car was speeding down the lane, engines growling like  owned the road.

Nishu's heart nearly stopped.

Without even a second of thought, without caring about the pani puri in her hand or the curious crowd around her, she shoved her plate into Aarohi's hands and ran.

"Take this!" she shouted, already pushing herself forward like her life depended on it.

Her legs moved faster than her mind, her throat burning with fear. And then just in time her arms wrapped around the child, pulling her close, shielding her small fragile body with her own.

The little girl stumbled, terrified, her wide eyes blinking back tears, and before Nishu could even speak, the child clung to her legs with desperation. Her tiny arms wrapped around Nishu's jeans, her face buried in fear as if Nishu's very existence was the only safe place left in the world.

Something inside Nishu snapped.

Her head whipped around toward the cars, her chest heaving, her blood boiling with uncontainable rage. And before anyone could stop her, she roared at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing across the street:

"kon sala gadi chla rha akal wakal nhi hai beakal khi kae bahar nikal!"

The screech of tires pierced the air as one of the black cars halted sharply. The door opened not with the guilt of someone who almost killed a child, but with the calm arrogance of someone who thought rules never applied to him.

And then he stepped out.

Tall. Lean. Unfairly handsome. His wavy brown hair swayed with the evening breeze, expensive sunglasses resting on his nose as though he carried the weight of the sun itself. His shirt was casually unbuttoned at the collar, his watch alone probably worth more than the entire stall behind Nishu.

For a second—Nishu froze. Not because she was impressed, but because he looked like a dream that had walked straight into a nightmare.

But then, her savage mode slammed back into her chest, fiercer than before.

She pointed at him, her voice slicing through the stunned silence.
"You blind or just plain stupid? Oh wait—of course you're blind! With those  sunglasses covering your face, you probably think the sun is shining at evening too! What nonsense! You rich brats always walk around with more attitude than brains!"

The boy didn't flinch. He just stared at her, stunned, like nobody had ever dared to raise their voice at him before. Slowly, he adjusted his sunglasses with deliberate arrogance, raised one eyebrow, and replied in a calm, silky voice, "It's not my fault. That girl came into the middle—"

But Nishu cut him off before he could finish. Her rage was spilling over.

"Oh please, shut your mouth! This isn't your father's road, so maybe try driving with your eyes open!"

By then, Aarohi, Misthi, and Sarah had come running, panic painted on their faces, quickly morphing into pure rage as they saw the scene. But before any of them could speak, Nishu was still on fire.

The boy's fake calm started to crack, his jaw tightening as he finally snapped back, "Do you even know who I am, little girl?"

Nishu laughed, loud and mocking, rolling her eyes so hard the crowd chuckled nervously.
"janne ka shok bhi nhii !"

He smirked, tilting his head with that annoying arrogance  "I'm Naksh  Not your average—"

"Enough!" Nishu sliced through his words, raising her hand right in his face. "I don't give a damn if your name is Naksh , nakchada or anyone aya bada khamba khi ka "

Naksh's jaw clenched, and for the first time, he looked less amused and more dangerous. His right hand slowly lifted, his index finger rising as if to point directly at Nishu, to remind her of who she was speaking to, to silently command her to back down.

But as his arm moved up, his perfectly ironed shirt sleeve slipped back just enough to reveal something he hadn't meant to show.

FEW YEARS BACK

it was a warm evening, the kind that makes the sky look all sleepy and golden, when two little kids sat under a tree, not knowing that one small moment was about to become the biggest forever in their tiny little hearts.

Naksh, just 7 years old, with messy hair and scraped knees, sat on the grass trying to draw on a leaf with a stick.

His shirt had ketchup from lunch, his shoelace was open, but his heart was quiet like the world didn't need to be loud just yet.

And then came her.

Tiny feet pattering on the path, breath huff-huffing from running too fast, two ponytails bouncing, and the biggest smile lighting up her whole chubby face.

"Nakshhhh!" she squealed like only little girls can, the words sliding like bubbles out of her mouth. "Look what I maded! See-na! See-na!"

In her tiny hands, she held a necklace not a shiny, shop-one, but a clumsy, made with plastic beads all strung together with thread that still had a knot sticking out.

"Dis for youuuu," she said with such pride in her soft baby voice.

"My papa bring-ed me beads and I made it for you. I did-ed it myself. For you only."

Naksh looked at it, his eyes squinty like boys do when they're confused. He made a face.

"But... but I'm not no girl," he said, voice all serious and loud, like he was the boss of something.

"I no wear nekkless. It's for girls, na."

And for a second... just a second... her smile fell.

Her lip poked out like a tiny hill, her eyes looked all wobbly, and she held the necklace like it might fall apart with one more word.

"But I maded it with love," she said, voice all shivery.

"I thinked of you when I put the white and black ones. ... and... and I 'cause you my bestest friend. Please Naksh? Just wear it one time?"

Naksh huffed. His cheeks puffed out, arms crossed like he was in big trouble.

But then he sighed, long and loud like someone much older, and looked down.
"Okay," he mumbled, "but you help me wear it, okay? I no know how."

And oh her face lit up like Diwali lights. Her feet bounced like they had springs.

She clapped her hands and squealed.
"Yaaaayy!" she giggled, standing on her tippy-toes, trying to reach around his head with her little fingers to put the necklace on.

Her hands were shaky, but she was smiling like it was her biggest dream coming true.

"There!" she said proudly once it sat lopsided on his collar. "You look soooo nicey!"

Naksh looked down at it and made a scrunchy-nose face.

"I look like girl," he muttered. "I hate you."

She gasped, all dramatic. "Nuh-uh! I hate you more!" she giggled, sticking out her tongue.

And then just like that she did the biggest, most surprising thing a tiny girl could ever do.

She stood up on her toes, leaned forward, and gave him a tiny, soft kiss on his cheek. Just like that.

Naksh's whole body went still. His eyes became circles.

His hand flew to his face like it got zapped.

"You... YOU kissed me?!" he shouted, like the world had just broken.

She covered her mouth with her hands and laughed. "Heehee... yeshh!"

"But-but-but my dady said wife only kises husbands.. when I tried to get kiss from mommy so yyou my wifeyy??!" he shouted, almost spinning in place.

She tilted her head, all confused. "But... we are babies... so it not count, na?"

Naksh looked at her like she was a puzzle, then did the biggest brave boy thing he ever did in his whole little life he leaned forward, eyes squinty shut, and gave her the tiniest, most clumsy kiss on her lips.

"I gonna marry you when I big," he whispered after, voice shaky but sure. "When I tall like papa. I make you my wifeyy. Pinky promise."

Her mouth made a small circle. "saachi?"
He nodded. "muuchi... No marry no one else. Only you."

She smiled so wide, her cheeks squished her eyes. "I pinky too!"

They linked pinkies. They didn't even know what forever meant. But somehow... they made it.

And then like a thunder in a quiet cloud - the voice came from behind the tree.

"baby, come now, beta! Say goodbye to Naksh!"

They both turned.

Her papa stood by the car. The car had suitcases. Mummy was already inside. The engine was on.

She froze.

"Goodbye...?" she said, voice small like a whisper. "But... goodbye is last bye... right?"

Her papa knelt down beside her.

"Baby, papa's work is in a new place now. Far far away. We have to go, okay?"

She looked back at Naksh with the roundest, saddest eyes. "But papa... if I go...?"

"Come now, baby," her papa said softly, and walked back to the car.

She ran. Not to the car. To Naksh.
She hugged him so so tight, her tears falling on his shirt.

"Nakshhh..." she sobbed, "I no wanna go... I wanna stay here wid you..."

He hugged her tighter. His little hands shaking. His eyes wet too.

"Shhh... no cry," he whispered like grownups do. "You my strong girl, na? No crying."

"But-but if I go away..." she hiccupped, "then how will I your wife ?"

Naksh pulled back just a little and touched her cheek with his messy fingers.

"I wait for you," he said, lips trembling. "I no marry no one. I wait and wait till you come. I be big... and you be big... and we do marry. Promise-promise."

She nodded, her shoulders shaking from sobbing.

He leaned down and kissed her forehead, soft-soft like a feather.
"Bye-bye, my Mashmallow..."

She wiped her tears with the back of her hand, looked one last time into his eyes, and ran to the car...

her ponytails flying behind her, carrying the memory of his words with her.

The car drove away.

Naksh stood there, alone, with a silly necklace of white and black beads around his neck... and a promise inside his tiny heart that would never ever fade...

Nishu grabbed his wrist her fingers tightened around his wrist suddenly, her nails digging slightly into his skin as she dragged his hand closer to her face, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.

"What... is this?" she demanded, her voice sharp, pointing directly at his wrist.

Startled, Naksh instantly yanked his hand away, his jaw tightening in irritation. "What the hell are you doing? Why are you even touching me like that?" he snapped, his tone filled with annoyance, as if she had crossed a line.

Nishu refused to back down. She took a step closer, her eyes flashing with stubborn fire. "Don't play dumb with me, just answer my question, you idiot!" she almost shouted, her chest heaving as her finger pointed once again towards his wrist. "What is this supposed to mean?"

Naksh rolled his eyes, running a hand through his messy hair as if trying to make sense of her sudden outburst. His brows furrowed in confusion. "Can't you see? It's my wrist," he muttered sarcastically, clearly trying to avoid the actual question.

Her jaw clenched so tight it almost hurt. "I'm not asking about your wrist, Naksh!" she screamed, her frustration spilling out. She jabbed her finger at the bracelet strapped around him, her voice trembling now, half with anger, half with something she couldn't even define. "I'm talking about this. This damn bracelet!"

For a moment, Naksh stared at her as if she was making no sense at all. His lips parted before he mumbled flatly, "Bracelet?" as though the word itself was meaningless.

"Yes!" she snapped, her voice almost breaking. "The bracelet! Don't act clueless, don't you dare. Where the hell did you get this from?"

Naksh's expression changed. His eyes darkened for a second, but then his face hardened back into a wall of coldness. "It's none of your business," he said sharply, his voice cutting through the air like a knife.

"It is my business!" Nishu screamed, stepping forward until they were almost chest to chest. Her eyes were glassy now, her hands shaking, her whole body demanding an answer he clearly didn't want to give. "Naksh, answer me! How did you get this? Tell me!"

His lips curled into something between anger and defensiveness. "Why should I?" he barked back, his voice rising. "Why the hell should I tell a stranger? Who even are you to question me?"

Her breath caught in her throat, but she still refused to back down. She shook her head, strands of hair falling in front of her face, her tone trembling yet fierce. "A stranger?" she whispered, her voice laced with hurt and rage.

Naksh turned away, clearly done with the conversation. His steps were heavy, his back rigid as if walking away would make her disappear from his life.

But then—

"NISHU MEHRA!" she shouted, her voice echoing down the hallway, filled with something that made his entire body freeze.

Naksh stopped dead in his tracks, his shoulders stiffening. Slowly, almost unwillingly, he turned around, his eyes narrowing at her. "What... did you just say?" His voice was low now, dark and dangerous, carrying a weight that made her heartbeat pound in her chest.

She swallowed hard, holding his gaze with every ounce of courage she had. "You heard me," she said quietly, but every word landed heavy between them. "I said Nishu Mehra. Tell me now, Naksh. How the hell do you know that name?"

"I should be the one asking that question!" Naksh's voice thundered across the busy street, his frustration and confusion spilling out all at once. His chest rose and fell rapidly as his hands trembled by his side. He stepped closer, his eyes burning into hers. "How the hell do you know her name? Tell me right now, don't you dare play dumb with me, little girl!"

Nishu's throat went dry, her lips quivering as tears blurred her vision. Her heart pounded against her ribs like it was trying to break free. "You... you—" her voice cracked, words barely finding their way out. "Naksh... Naksh Saxena?"

For a second, his entire world froze. His name, the name he had not heard spoken with that familiar tenderness for so many years, hit him like lightning. His face hardened, but his voice betrayed the storm raging inside him. "First answer me!" he shouted, his voice rough, almost desperate. "Tell me how you know her name! Answer me, damn it!"

Their voices clashed in the middle of the street, but the world around them seemed too fast, too busy to notice. People passed by in a hurry, cars honked in the distance, vendors called out their sales but in their bubble of chaos, no one cared. Sarah, who had been standing nearby, quietly pulled the little girl to her side.

Nishu's tears finally slipped down her cheeks as her voice broke, her chest trembling with each word. "Just tell me..." she whispered, then screamed through her sobs, "Tell me, are you Naksh Saxena? Are you the boy who—"

"Yes!" he cut her off, his voice loud, almost shaking, his eyes glistening though he tried to hide it. "Yes, damn it! I am Naksh Saxena!" His jaw tightened, his fists clenched. "Now, for God's sake, answer me—how do you know Nishu?"

The sound of her name broke something inside her. Her strength gave out as her knees weakened, and before she could stop herself, she ran straight into him. She collided against his chest with the force of twenty years of silence, twenty years of distance, twenty years of unshed tears.

Naksh froze. His body stiffened in shock as her arms wrapped tightly around him, clinging as though letting go would mean losing him all over again. His hands instinctively lifted up in surrender, his face twisting with both confusion and fear. "What the hell are you doing?" he shouted, trying to push her away. "Get off me! Let me go, damn it!"

But she didn't move. She buried her face into his chest, her tears soaking through his shirt, her shoulders shaking with uncontrollable sobs. And then, through the cracks in her voice, came the words that shattered him into pieces.

"I... I... Nii...shuuu..." she choked out, her words broken between sobs. "Naksh... it's me... Nishu."

His entire body froze. His hands, which had been pushing her away, fell helplessly to his sides as his world tilted on its axis. He pulled back just enough to look at her face, his own eyes wide, disbelieving. "Wh... what did you just say?" His voice was no longer loud, but soft, broken, trembling with disbelief.

Her tears didn't stop. She looked straight into his eyes, her voice breaking yet filled with certainty. "Yes... it's me. Little Nishu. The same girl who left this city... the same Nishu you once knew."

Naksh's breath hitched. For years, he had buried that name deep within the shadows of his heart, but now it came alive right before his eyes. His vision blurred as his own tears welled up, and in that moment, all his walls, all his anger, all his denial crumbled.

Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her tightly, pulling her to him as if to make up for every second, every minute, every year they had been apart. His chest heaved as he whispered against her hair, his voice breaking. "Nishu... oh my God... it's really you..."

Her sobs grew louder in his embrace, and his own eyes finally betrayed him, tears rolling down his cheeks freely. For the first time in years, they weren't just two strangers colliding in a city they were two broken hearts finding their way back to each other, against all odds.

For what felt like endless minutes, neither of them moved. They simply clung to each other in the middle of that crowded street, their hearts racing, their breaths uneven, both of them afraid that if they let go, the other would vanish like a dream.

Finally, Naksh pulled back slightly, his hands trembling as they cupped her face. His thumbs brushed against the tears streaming down her cheeks, his eyes scanning her as though trying to memorize every detail. "You... you've changed so much," he whispered, his voice breaking into pieces. "But those eyes... damn it, those eyes haven't changed at all."

Nishu's lips trembled as she shook her head, still crying. "Neither have you," she whispered back, her fingers gripping the fabric of his shirt as if afraid he'd slip away. "Your face is older, your shoulders are broader, but your voice... Naksh, your voice is still the same. I would've known it anywhere."

He let out a broken laugh, half choked with tears. "God, Nishu...  years.  damn years, and you suddenly appear in front of me like this?" His voice rose, frustration and relief colliding inside him. "Do you even know how many nights I stayed awake thinking about you?"

Her sobs grew heavier. "I didn't want to leave you, Naksh," she said, her voice cracking with guilt. "I was just a child, I had no choice... my family, they took me away from this city, and I—" her breath hitched, "I thought of you every single day. I thought maybe one day... just one day, we would find each other again."

He shook his head violently, tears streaming down his face now without shame. "Do you have any idea what it felt like?" His voice cracked, raw and filled with pain. "You were my whole damn childhood, Nishu. Every memory I had every laugh, every fight, every stupid little secret I carried it all with me like it was my only treasure."

Her knees almost gave out, but his arms were around her again, holding her steady. "I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice so small it barely rose above the chaos of the street. "I'm sorry for leaving you like that. i thought you might forget - "

"Forget you?" His voice was hoarse, disbelieving. He grabbed her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes, his own glistening. "Forget you? Are you insane? I've been carrying your damn name in my heart . I couldn't even look at the sky without remembering the stupid little wishes we made on stars."

Her tears fell harder as she pressed her forehead against his chest, clutching him tightly. "I never stopped loving you, Naksh," she admitted in a trembling voice, the confession slipping out before she could stop herself. "I was a child then, but even after all these years... I never stopped. I tried, but I couldn't. You were always there in my dreams, in my prayers, in everything."

His body froze, his breath catching in his throat. Slowly, almost painfully, his arms tightened around her, his lips brushing the top of her head. "several  years," he whispered brokenly. "And I still love you too, damn it. I still do. I thought I hated you sometimes... for leaving me, for never coming back. But all it was... all of it was just love. It never left."

The noise of the world faded. The cars, the people, the whispers they all blurred into nothing. For the first time in twenty years, they weren't lost, they weren't broken. They were simply them again two souls who once belonged to each other, finding their way back.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐞𝐬?
𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬... 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬 🦋✨