Chapter-4
the closeness
16 September 2024 — Fever, Distance, and The Beginning of “Maanu”
The bus ride back home felt unreal.
Saarya was unusually happy that day. The kind of happy that makes your chest feel too full, your thoughts too loud, your heart too restless. She barely remembered the ride itself. In fact, she woke up only when the bus had already reached her stop.
Everything around her felt dizzy.
Her hands trembled while getting off the bus. Her body felt weak, cold, strange. And there he was, her father, waiting outside. At that time, renovation work was going on at her house, so they were temporarily staying somewhere else. Saarya somehow reached home, dragged herself inside, and collapsed straight onto the bed.
Her eyes were burning red. Her body was shivering uncontrollably.
Her mother immediately panicked.
“What is wrong with her?”
The thermometer beeped.
105.8.
Boom.
Everything after that became hospital lights, injections, medicines, drips, worried faces, and silence.
Saarya was discharged late at night, but destiny clearly wasn’t done with her yet. The next morning, the reports came. Dengue.
And just like that, she fainted again.
Seven days.
Seven straight days in the hospital.
Needles. Bitter medicines. Sleepless nights. Weak smiles.
And somewhere between all of that came 20th September.
Saarth’s birthday.
And her fresher’s party.
She was supposed to be there. Laughing with everyone. Looking at him from across the room. Blushing over tiny things. Maybe secretly making memories with him.
Instead, she was lying on a hospital bed with swollen hands from IV drips.
But even then, Saarya did everything she could.
She wrote him long birthday paragraphs. Made stories for him. Edited videos. Tried her best to make him feel special despite being miles away from him and stuck between white walls and medicines.
And somewhere during all of this, Saarth said something that stayed with her.
“Mere liye aaj tak itna lamba paragraph kisi ne nahi likha.”
And God… her heart melted.
That night, for the first time, they called each other by nicknames.
“Tu aaj kuch bhi maang le,” he said jokingly.
And before thinking twice, Saarya laughed softly and replied,
“Baby, tu hi chahiye.”
Both of them instantly went quiet for a second before laughing awkwardly.
“Abhi dawai kha,” he replied, trying to hide his smile.
That was the first time he called her “Maanu.”
And the first time she called him “Saaru.”
Something about those names felt dangerously personal. Like suddenly, they weren’t just two people talking anymore. They were becoming something else entirely.
Something softer.
Something harder to leave behind.
When Saarya finally returned to college on 30th September, everything felt wrong.
The group felt broken.
Nobody really spoke to Saarth anymore. Even Riya had grown distant from him. The laughter felt forced. The comfort was gone. And Saarya noticed everything.
She hated seeing him alone.
So after two days, she quietly drifted away from her own group just to stay beside him. She gave excuses like,
“Yaar tum log mere saath properly nahi ho…”
But truthfully?
There was no real problem.
The only thing she knew was that she couldn’t leave Saarth alone.
That was the first time Saarya chose someone over her own people.
And people noticed.
The group slowly started hating her for leaving without reason. The warmth disappeared. Conversations changed. Judgments grew louder.
Only Riya still shared silent eye contacts and small smiles with her from across the room.
But Saarya accepted all of it.
Because somewhere between hospital nights, birthday paragraphs, nicknames, and loneliness…
she had already chosen Saarth.
10 October 2024 — The First Step
The entire day already felt different.
Classes were practically cancelled, nobody was studying, and everyone had slipped into that lazy college mood where the only thing people wanted to do was sit together, laugh, and waste time.
Saarya had been with Saarth since morning.
First they all sat together playing random games, teasing each other over stupid things. Somewhere between all the chaos and laughter, Saarya slowly rested her head in Saarth’s lap.
Nobody even reacted much anymore.
Because somehow, closeness between them had started feeling natural.
Saarth lazily played with her hair while continuing the game like nothing unusual was happening, while Saarya internally wondered how one person could make her feel this calm.
And then later, as if the universe wanted revenge, Saarth ended up sleeping in her lap too.
His head resting there so casually almost made her stop breathing.
She looked down at him trying so hard not to smile like an idiot.
Because this was Saarth.
The same boy who acted unbothered about everything.
And yet somehow, with her, he softened.
After some time they shifted towards the Masters class.
Only three people were there now:
Saarya.
Saarth.
And Vihaan.
The room felt unusually quiet compared to the noise outside. Sunlight filtered softly through the windows while Vihaan sat nearby scrolling through his phone.
Saarya’s heart had been restless the whole day.
Maybe because of how close they had been.
Maybe because of the way Saarth kept looking at her whenever she was not paying attention.
Or maybe because somewhere deep down, she already knew something was about to happen.
Gathering courage, she looked towards Vihaan and said casually,
“Bahar jaa na thodi der.”
Vihaan instantly got up dramatically.
But before he could properly leave, Saarth reached forward and lightly caught his sleeve.
Like he wanted him to stay nearby.
Like he suddenly got nervous.
Saarya noticed immediately.
And honestly?
Her heart sank a little.
“Oh,” she thought.
“So nothing’s happening.”
For one second she genuinely felt stupid for even hoping.
The room suddenly felt warmer.
Awkward.
She looked away, trying to act normal, pretending her heart had not just fallen straight to the floor.
But then
Something changed.
Saarth slowly let go of Vihaan’s sleeve.
And without even looking at him properly, muttered,
“Haan… chal tu bahar jaa.”
Vihaan smirked like he understood everything and finally walked out.
Silence.
Real silence this time.
Saarya’s heartbeat became painfully loud.
She tried acting normal, but her fingers kept fidgeting nervously.
Then softly, trying to hide her nervousness under sarcasm, she asked,
“Tumhare case mein first move kaun leta hai? Ladki… ya tum?”
Saarth looked at her quietly for two seconds.
No jokes.
No teasing.
Just eye contact.
And suddenly Saarya forgot every prepared line in her head.
When he still did not answer, she looked down awkwardly and whispered,
“Chalein?”
And then suddenly
He grabbed the edge of her chair and pulled her closer.
So close that the distance between them disappeared completely.
Saarya could hear his breathing.
Could feel her own heartbeat trembling inside her chest.
And then
He kissed her.
Softly.
Slowly.
Like he had wanted to do it for longer than he would ever admit.
For one second, Saarya froze.
And then everything melted.
The room.
The noise outside.
Time itself.
Nothing existed except him.
When they finally pulled apart, she looked away immediately, cheeks burning red, trying to process the fact that this had actually happened.
But Saarth was not done.
His hand slid softly to her waist, pulling her back towards him again.
This kiss felt different.
Less nervous.
More sure.
And Saarya swear she forgot how breathing worked.
Because this was not just her first kiss.
This was the moment her heart chose him completely.
Without fear.
Without logic.
Completely.