Avyukt's POV
I'm waiting for Niharika in the library. For the last two years, this has been our place. We'd sit here, pretend to study, and spend time together. It used to feel warm. Familiar. Safe. But lately... I don't know.
Our relationship started after her breakup. She was a mess, and I was her best friend. When she asked me out, I didn't think twice. I thought—maybe we'd work. We already got along well as friends, so compatibility seemed natural.
And for a while, it was.
But over time, I started noticing things. Things I didn't want to admit at first. Niharika is controlling. She doesn't ask—she expects. Expects me to speak a certain way, behave a certain way, even feel a certain way. At first, I told myself I was overthinking. But that quiet discomfort? It grew. And now, it's started to eat away at me.
I get it—people can be possessive in relationships. But there's a line. You can't love someone and try to own them at the same time. One day she told me I was being "too friendly" with the girls in our class. I asked why. She didn't like that. A whole scene followed, and somehow, I ended up apologizing for something I didn't even feel was wrong. I promised I'd keep my distance, just to avoid another argument.
I sigh and check my watch. One hour. She's never this late. At least, she never used to be. Before the sessionals ended, she was always around—texting, calling, showing up at my class just to walk me out. Now? It's like there's a wall. A shift I can't explain.
I don't want to ask her what's wrong. I know how that conversation will go. Another argument. Another guilt trip. And despite everything, I still care. I don't want to hurt her.
I was about to pack up my bag and leave the library when I see her walking through the door. Calm. Unbothered. Like I haven't just spent an hour waiting for her.
She sits beside me without so much as a glance, her fingers already pulling out her phone.
"You are late." I say, trying to keep my voice neutral but letting the disappointment show.
"Toh?" She shoots back, eyes still on the screen. "Aisa toh hai nahi ki tum koi government run kar rahe ho or maine tumhe late kar diya. Apni marzi se hi kar rahe the na mera wait. Maine force toh nahi kiya tha."
[So? It’s not like you are running a government and I delayed your work. You were waiting for me out of your own will. I didn’t force you to do it.]
Those words hit deeper than I cared to admit. Still, I hold my composure.
"Niharika wo baat nahi hai. Main bas itna keh raha hoon ki main last one-hour se tumahara wait kar raha tha yahan par. Agar tum late aane wali thi toh ek message kar deti. That's all." I keep my tone even and carefully put my words so she doesn't take them in a wrong way.
[Niharika I am not saying that. It’s just that I was waiting since last one hour. The least you could have done is to text me if you were going to be late.]
She snaps her head toward me. "Toh ab tumhe mera wait karne mein bhi problem hone lagi hai?"
[So now you are even having the problem in waiting for me?]
"Aisi baat nahi hai Niharika. " I say gently. "Tum galat samajh rahi ho."
[It’s not like that Niharika. You are getting it wrong.]
"Main galat samajh rahi hoon?" she scoffed. "ya tum badal gaye ho Avyukt. Ab tumhe mera wait karne mein bhi problem ho rahi hai. Wow."
[I am getting it wrong or you have changed Avyukt? You even having the problem in waiting for me.]
I can see where this is going. The same cycle. Twisting my concern into complaint. Turning her absence into my fault. I know it. I have seen this pattern before. Still, the guilt creeps in. Like it always does.
"Fine. I am sorry. I guess I am overreacting." I say with resigned sigh.
"See? Itni sit toh baat thi. Bas galti maan lo seedha. Don't make things harder than they need to be." She says with a frustrated look.
[It was so easy. You could have just accepted your mistake.]
"I will try." I say in a low voice, already retreading inside. "Let's study now."
She opens her book with an irritated huff, and we both fall silent. But my mind is anything but still.
I stare at the page, unable to register a single word.
Because with every passing day, it felt like I was disappearing—piece by piece—inside a relationship that only had space for one person's voice.
After dropping Niharika at the girls' hostel, I walk back alone to mine. Autumn leaves scatter across the campus, blanketing the ground in shades of gold and rust. But all I can see is the fall of myself with the season.
Just like these trees shedding their leaves, I feel like I'm slowly losing parts of who I am—and I'm just as helpless as they are to stop it.
As I take the usual path toward my hostel, distant laughter breaks my thoughts. I glance in the direction of the sound and see Hridya walking past with her friends, laughing—light, carefree, completely in the moment.
There's something about that unbothered joy that stops me for a second longer than I expected.
When was the last time Niharika and I laughed like that? I try to remember—but my mind draws a blank. It's been so long that even the memory feels faded.
I wonder if I'll ever have a spring again in my life—or if I'm doomed to keep losing myself, one leaf at a time.
Hi All!
Here is the first chapter of story from Avyukt's POV. So there is no particular backstory behind this chapter. It was just a small one to give a glimpse of his world and how he is dealing and seeing things from his end.
Rest, the story will unfold slowly because it's a slow burn romance and it will have second part too.
See you in the next Chapter.
Bye, Thankyou! ❤️
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