Chapter 3
From Strangers To Something More
It was supposed to be a normal day.
The kind where college benches felt familiar, laughter echoed through corridors, and everything seemed stupidly light.
But fate, once again, had other plans.
That day, Saarth brought his childhood friends to college. He looked different somehow. Not because of what he wore, but because of the way he carried himself. Proud. Comfortable. Like a boy showing someone his favorite part of the world.
And Saarya noticed.
God, she noticed.
By then, things between them had already started changing. They had begun talking more, sitting closer, understanding each other without even trying. Somewhere between random jokes, eye contact, and shared silences, they had started becoming each other’s comfort place.
But Saarth being Saarth, he never made things obvious.
One day, while talking to one of his friends, he casually said something that stayed in Saarya’s mind longer than she expected.
“Bhai, Riya ek din achi lagi thi. Bas phir khatam.”
And strangely, hearing that made Saarya feel relieved in ways she could not explain.
That afternoon, everyone was sitting together at their usual spot when things suddenly went wrong.
Riya got into an argument with one of Saarth’s childhood friends. What started as casual teasing quickly turned ugly. Voices got louder. Egos got bruised. The air became tense enough to cut through.
Saarth went silent.
That dangerous kind of silent.
Without saying much, he stood up, gathered his friends, and walked away.
No explanation.
No glance back.
Nothing.
And somehow, that hurt Saarya more than it should have.
A few minutes later, her phone buzzed.
“Tu aaja yrr, hum baith gaye.”
A simple text.
From Saarth.
And just like that, all the confusion inside her softened.
Because no matter how complicated things became between them, one thing stayed constant.
Whenever it mattered, he still wanted her beside him.
So she went.
Because hearts do not really wait for logic when they are attached to someone.
When she reached there, everyone was laughing again like nothing had happened. Saarth sat leaning back casually while his friend cracked jokes.
But something inside her shifted.
Maybe it was the fact that Saarth barely looked at her when she arrived.
Or maybe it was the strange feeling of not belonging there anymore.
So she reacted.
Not dramatically.
Not loudly.
Just enough to hurt.
She snapped at his friend.
Threw Saarth one of those sharp looks she knew would sting.
Said something sarcastic.
And then she walked away.
But guilt is a slow poison.
The moment anger faded, regret settled into her chest.
Back with her group, she sat quietly while everyone whispered about Saarth.
“Uska toh ye hi attitude hai.”
“He acts like he’s something special.”
“Bhaav hi khaata rehta hai.”
And Saarya?
She stayed silent.
Because they did not know him the way she did.
They did not know that behind all that silence was a boy who cared too deeply but never knew how to show it.
That bringing his childhood friends to college was his way of sharing a part of himself.
That even when he acted distant, his eyes searched for only one person in every room.
Her.
So she sat there with a fake smile and a heavy chest, whispering only one thing in her head.
Please let things be okay again.
I need him.
THE FIGHT
The Day Everything Cracked
9 September 2024
People say “nazar lag gayi” as a joke.
Saarya did not believe in it either.
Until everything between her and Saarth and the friends started falling apart right when it had begun feeling perfect.
The tension between them had become noticeable now. People watched them differently. Conversations stopped when they walked together. Whispers followed.
And among those whispers was a boy named Lovish.
From the very beginning, it was obvious he loved Saarya.
Or at least, he claimed he did.
Loudly.
Constantly.
Like everyone was supposed to care.
Saarya never felt that way about him. She was just polite, maybe too polite, and Lovish mistook kindness for connection.
The moment Saarth and Saarya stopped talking properly, Lovish saw an opportunity.
He started texting her constantly. Fake concern. Fake confessions. Sweet words carefully designed to sound real.
And for a while, Saarya believed him.
But the real damage came from somewhere else.
Saarth’s own close friend, FENISH
from class began twisting stories, manipulating situations, and feeding lies into her head.
“He talks shit about you.”
“He does not care.”
“He laughs at you behind your back.”
“He says mai saarya ko patake kuch bhi kar skta”
And slowly, those lies started building walls between them.
The group drifted away from Saarth.
People stopped including him.
Everything became awkward.
And then came the fights.
Not because of truth.
But because of misunderstandings carefully planted between two people who actually cared for each other.
But no matter how confused Saarya became, one thing inside her refused to change.
Her heart never believed Saarth could hurt her intentionally.
Then one day, Saarya finally asked him.
Directly.
“Saarth, tu ye sab bolta hai mere baare mein?”
And trust me, that was the day Saarya cried.
The baddie cried.
For a guy.
Because somewhere between all the chaos, she had genuinely started caring for him. Maybe more than she ever planned to.
They had a session together that day, and instead of focusing on anything around her, Saarya kept questioning him again and again.
“Sach bata.”
“Did you really say all that?”
“Why would you do that to me?”
And Saarth?
He kept denying it.
Every single time.
“No, maine nahi bola.”
“Trust me.”
“I would never.”
But the problem was that everyone else kept saying the opposite.
Every conversation confused her more.
Every opinion pulled her further away from him.
Even Riya quietly said,
“I think Saarth galat hai.”
And maybe Saarya should have believed them.
But her heart refused to.
Because no matter how angry she was, no matter how manipulated her mind became, something inside her kept screaming the same thing:
Not him.
He would never hurt me like that.
And then, in the middle of all that noise, Saarth suddenly held her hand.
Firmly.
Saarya looked up.
And for the first time in days, he looked directly into her eyes with an intensity that almost broke her completely.
“Maine nahi bola.”
“Trust me.”
That was it.
That was the exact moment Saarya broke.
Not because she knew the truth.
But because she did not know whom to believe anymore.
Her friends.
The rumours.
Or the boy standing in front of her looking at her like losing her would destroy him too.
So instead of saying anything else, she walked away.
From the classroom.
From the noise.
From everything.
Later that evening, sitting alone in the bus with trembling hands and swollen eyes, Saarya finally called him.
“Please, just tell me the truth. Did you really say all that?”
And Saarth denied it.
Again.
And again.
But by then, her mind was exhausted. She did not know what to believe anymore.
Still, somewhere deep down, she knew.
He would never do that to her.
Not him.
Never him.
Things changed completely on 16th September.
Saarya fell terribly sick in college that day. High fever. Shivering hands. Weak legs. She could barely stand properly.
And strangely, none of the people who claimed to care were actually there for her.
Not the group.
Not Lovish.
Not anyone.
Only Saarth.
Saarya was dealing with 105.2 fever
Saarya had to take her medicines that day.
But she had not eaten anything since morning.
Her body was already weak from the fever, and the moment Saarth found out, he frowned immediately.
“Tu ne kuch khaya hi nahi?”
She simply shook her head.
Without saying another word, he quietly opened his tiffin and placed it between them.
“Eat.”
Inside was something painfully simple.
Daal ka paratha.
And honestly?
Saarya had never liked daal ka paratha in her entire life.
But somehow, from his hands, it tasted different.
Warmer.
Softer.
Like love disguised as something ordinary.
He kept tearing small pieces and feeding her while she sat there silently watching him, too tired to argue anymore.
And maybe that was the dangerous thing about Saarth.
He never confessed loudly.
Never did dramatic things.
But in moments like these, he cared so deeply that it became impossible not to fall for him.
After that, they sat close together in class.
Really close.
Their hands naturally found each other under the desk, fingers slowly intertwining like they belonged there all along.
Nothing was planned.
Nothing was forced.
It just happened.
Like two people slowly forgetting the rest of the world existed.
At one point, Saarth leaned his head against her shoulder while talking softly about something completely random, and Saarya swore her heart almost gave up right there.
People stared.
Of course they did.
Whispers passed around the classroom.
Judging eyes followed them.
Some smiled.
Some looked annoyed.
Some were clearly waiting for gossip.
But neither of them cared.
Not that day.
Because for those few moments, it was just them.
And maybe that was the scariest part.
They were not pretending anymore.
They were falling into each other without even realizing it.
Without thinking twice, he took off his purple t shirt and wrapped it around her shoulders so she would stop shivering. He stayed beside her the entire time, calming her down, making her feel good
And when college ended, he walked her all the way to the bus.
That was the moment something inside Saarya settled.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just quietly.
Like her heart finally knew where it belonged.