Chapter-5
The night that stayed
The moment they left the class, both of them started pretending to act normal, but it was impossible. Every eye contact turned into hidden smiles. Every accidental touch suddenly meant too much.
And the chats?
God.
That whole night they could not stop texting each other.
Saarya lay dramatically on her bed staring at the ceiling with the dumbest smile imaginable while Saarth kept teasing her nonstop.
Finally she gathered courage and texted:
“Kisser toh acha hai yaar tu.”
The moment she sent it, she buried her face into the pillow from embarrassment.
Saarth instantly replied:
“Bas? Sirf acha?”
And Saarya literally kicked her blanket dramatically because why was this boy suddenly flirting properly now?
But honestly?
The thing she could not stop thinking about was not even the kiss.
It was the waist pull.
That one soft pull back towards him like he was not ready to let her go yet.
And maybe something changed after that day.
Because suddenly they became dangerously comfortable.
Now there were random smiles during class.
Constant teasing.
Late night conversations.
Purposely annoying each other for reactions.
Long walks around college roads.
Roadside laughs.
Shoulders brushing while walking together.
Saarth started flirting more openly now.
Small comments.
Small touches.
The kind of things that looked harmless to everyone else but completely destroyed Saarya internally.
And Saarya?
She had stopped pretending she was unaffected.
Because after that first kiss, they were no longer “just friends.”
Something had shifted permanently.
17 October 2024 - Pitara Nights
Concerts, lights, crowds…
everything else felt like background noise.
Saarya only wanted to stay beside him.
Parmish Verma was performing somewhere in front of thousands of people, but honestly?
Her real concert had already started the moment Saarth looked at her.
Mumma kept calling.
“Time se wapis aa jaana.”
But her heart only answered,
“Aaj nahi… aaj bas uske saath rehna hai.”
Evening slowly settled while the four of them sat together inside the treehouse area laughing over random nonsense.
But inside Saarya’s head, another plan was forming.
“Aryan aur Vihaan ko yahan se hataana padega.”
So with the sweetest smile possible, she said,
“Jaake kuch le aao na please.”
And the dangerous thing?
Saarth instantly understood.
“Haan jao na,” he added casually.
“Hum wait karenge.”
The moment they left
Silence.
Just them.
Not awkward anymore.
Just electric.
Saarth looked at her in that soft dangerous way again.
“Udhar dekh zara,” he murmured.
Saarya turned her face innocently.
CHIK.
A kiss on her cheek.
Soft.
Warm.
Slow.
And before she could react
Another kiss.
This time on her lips.
Small.
Playful.
Addictive.
Her heartbeat betrayed her instantly.
Saarth laughed softly seeing her frozen expression while she tried acting normal despite internally dying.
Concert started.
Crowds grew louder.
Music exploded around them.
But somehow, even in thousands of people, Saarth kept finding her.
And then suddenly
He grabbed her hand.
Firmly.
Not casually.
Like he did not want to lose her in the crowd.
And just like that, he pulled her through the crowd beside him.
That one gesture destroyed her completely.
Because sometimes love is not spoken.
Sometimes it is simply:
“Stay with me.”
Later, while she danced with Dev very casually Saarth suddenly pulled her backwards from behind.
Close.
Way too close.
Close enough to feel each other breathe.
“Aaj toh saarya full khush hai,” Dev laughed.
And honestly?
She was.
Later they all walked towards another block. Three people entered.
But somehow, like always
Vihaan disappeared.
Again.
And suddenly it was just Saarth and Saarya surrounded by empty stairs, dim lights, and dangerous silence.
One stair.
One kiss.
Second stair.
Soft whispers.
Third stair.
Playful bites and suppressed laughter.
Every wall of that block held pieces of them by the end of the night.
Saarya held his hand tightly, pulling him back whenever he tried walking away.
And looking straight into his eyes, she whispered softly,
“Don’t you dare leave.”
Saarth only smiled.
That smile.
The one she would spend months trying to survive later.
That night did not just give them memories.
It gave them attachment.
8 November 2024 Magic Moments and the Madness of Mohali
Everything felt perfect that day.
Too perfect.
The plan sounded simple.
A Mohali night.
Friends.
Drinks.
Music.
Bakchodi.
But nobody knew their alcohol tolerance was embarrassingly bad.
Especially Vihaan’s.
The drinks hit everybody differently, but Vihaan completely lost control. One moment he was laughing like a maniac, next moment he was breaking washroom handles, lighting fireworks near his own feet, and randomly calling half the city.
The entire night slowly turned into chaos.
At one point he even started roasting people Saarya secretly disliked and honestly?
For five minutes he became the funniest person alive.
But still, overall, he completely ruined the flow.
Poor Saarth was trying to manage everyone at once.
Saarya.
Vihaan.
The entire situation.
Aryan stepped in too, and for the first time ever, Saarya thought maybe Aryan was not that bad after all.
And somewhere between all this madness came the moment she would replay inside her head for months later.
Road crossing.
The stupidest thing ever.
Saarya hated crossing roads alone. Fast cars genuinely confused her. But she never said it out loud because honestly, it felt embarrassing.
That night the roads were crowded and messy with lights flashing everywhere.
She slowed down slightly near the road without even realising it.
And before she could say anything—
Saarth held her hand.
Naturally.
Like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
And without even looking back properly, he guided her carefully across the road while keeping her close beside him.
Saarya just stared at him quietly.
Because she never told him she hated crossing roads.
So how did he know?
How did this boy keep understanding things she never said out loud?
That one tiny gesture ruined her more than grand confessions ever could.
Because love is strange like that.
Sometimes it is not kisses.
Sometimes it is simply someone noticing your fear before you even speak.
Finally, after all the chaos settled down, Saarth came closer.
“Hanji?” he asked softly.
“Hanji…” she replied.
And somehow that one stupid word carried an entire universe inside it.
The eye contact between them felt dangerous.
Deep.
Steady.
Unshakable.
And then
Kiss.
That kiss carried everything.
Peace.
Passion.
Comfort.
Love.
Her happiness multiplied so violently she thought her chest might burst open.
Because kissing Saarth never felt like excitement anymore.
It felt like belonging.
Later, squeezed inside a small cab while music played softly somewhere in the background, Saarya rested her head on Saarth’s shoulder.
And suddenly the entire world disappeared.
Just one shoulder.
One hand.
One heartbeat.
That was enough.
Their fingers brushed accidentally at first.
Then paused.
Then slowly intertwined.
And in that tiny hand hold, Saarya felt something terrifyingly beautiful.
Trust.
As if Saarth was silently telling her,
“You can trust me completely.”
At one point Aryan tried filming them jokingly.
But both Saarth and Saarya almost instantly whispered together,
“Don’t. This moment is ours.”
Ours.
That one word made her heart melt completely.
Because maybe love does not always scream loudly.
Sometimes love is just:
a shoulder,
a hand,
and silence that feels safe.
When they finally reached their stop, Vihaan was half unconscious, Aryan was somehow still managing everything, and the entire night felt beautifully ruined.
Saarth looked towards the boys and quietly said,
“Tum log jao ahead.”
Then he looked at Saarya.
That smirk.
“Shall we?”
And honestly?
Saarya would have followed him anywhere at that point.
They quietly walked upstairs towards the terrace.
The city below looked soft and blurry under the late night lights. Cold wind brushed against her cheeks while silence settled comfortably between them.
No crowd now.
No music.
No interruptions.
Just them.
For a few seconds neither of them spoke.
They simply stood there looking at each other like they were trying to memorise the moment.
And then Saarth stepped closer.
Very close.
Saarya’s heartbeat immediately lost control again.
“How are your eyes this pretty even after all this chaos?” he murmured softly.
Saarya looked away instantly, smiling shyly.
“Shut up.”
But Saarth only smiled wider.
Then slowly, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Such a tiny gesture.
Yet somehow it felt more intimate than anything else.
The eye contact between them deepened again.
That dangerous kind.
The kind where the world slowly disappears.
And then
Kiss.
Slow.
Warm.
Unhurried.
Not teasing this time.
Not playful.
This kiss felt different.
Softer.
Like comfort.
Like both of them had finally stopped pretending they were unaffected by each other.
Saarya’s fingers slowly curled into his hoodie while Saarth held her closer gently, like he never wanted the moment to end.
When they finally pulled apart, both of them stayed close, foreheads almost touching, breathing unevenly.
And then
Forehead kiss.
Soft.
So soft that Saarya swear something inside her melted completely.
Because forehead kisses are dangerous.
They feel like promises.
Then cheek kisses.
Tiny laughs between them.
Soft smiles.
And finally
Their first proper hug.
Not casual.
Not friendly.
A real one.
The kind where your body relaxes automatically.
The kind where silence feels safer than words.
Saarya closed her eyes slowly while resting against him.
And for the first time in a very long time
she felt safe.
Completely safe.
Like no matter how messy life became outside that terrace, nothing could touch her as long as she stayed there in his arms.
Her mind went quiet.
Only one thought remained:
“This feels like home.”
And maybe that was the exact moment she realised something terrifying.
She was not just falling for Saarth anymore.
She had already fallen.
Completely.
And honestly, the funniest part of the entire Mohali night was still Vihaan.
Poor guy was fighting demons after two drinks.
One second he was acting like the main character of some gangster movie, next second he was sitting on the floor questioning life decisions.
“Bhai mujhe aur chahiye,” he kept saying dramatically while literally not being able to walk straight.
Saarya was laughing so hard her stomach hurt.
“Isko aur mat do please,” she whispered to Saarth,
“Ye khudko hi uda dega.”
And honestly?
Valid concern.
Because this man had already:
broken a washroom handle,
almost burnt his own feet with fireworks,
called random people,
and started emotional speeches nobody asked for.
At one point Vihaan randomly pointed at Saarth and went,
“Bhai tu bohot acha banda hai.”
Then two minutes later he looked at Saarya emotionally and said,
“Tu bhi theek hai.”
“Theek hai?” Saarya gasped dramatically.
“Bhai main hospital leke jaaungi tujhe ab.”
Even Aryan had given up controlling him at one point.
“Isko paani pilaao koi warna ye yahin so jayega,” Aryan muttered while Vihaan sat there smiling at absolutely nothing.
And Saarth?
He was trying so hard not to laugh while managing the entire disaster.
But honestly, Vihaan accidentally made the night even more memorable.
Because while he was busy embarrassing himself publicly, Saarth and Saarya somehow kept finding tiny moments between all the chaos.
Tiny moments that later became their favourite memories