The moment came quietly—no dramatic announcement, no grand declaration.
Just a single post on Instagram.
Ahaana and Aditya.
A picture outside school. Ahaana in her regular grey uniform, half-smiling. Aditya beside her, leaning slightly in, their fingers just barely interlaced.
The caption was simple.
> "Found peace where I least expected it."
The comments exploded.
"OMG are you two dating?!"
"Y'all are so cute 🥺"
"No one saw this coming!"
"Finally someone different from the usual couples 😂"
Ahaana turned her phone off after ten minutes.
She didn't want the attention. She only wanted space.
But Ayaan saw it.
He saw it while sitting in his car, waiting for his younger brother to finish tuition. The moment he opened Instagram, it was the first story on top. He tapped it out of habit—only to pause at the sight.
Her.
Smiling with someone else.
Not with him.
Not with filters.
Just… her. And someone who clearly made her feel safe.
He didn't react immediately. He just stared at the image, lips tight, brows furrowed.
He zoomed in slightly. Her hair had been pushed behind her ears. Her scarf hung looser than usual. And even in that tiny screen, he could see the side of her scar.
And still… she looked beautiful.
Real.
Present.
Not the same girl who had once whispered "Hi" at a café and disappeared.
He remembered that night in flashes.
The way she had looked at him. The way he didn't recognize her.
He had been caught off-guard, surrounded by his friends, confused by the lack of makeup or filters—the difference between the Ahaana on screen and the Ahaana in front of him.
But now, seeing her like this—with someone else—it stung in a way he hadn't expected.
He never meant to hurt her.
He never thought she'd… move on.
Ayaan Gazi was used to girls falling for him.
Used to the attention, the glances, the DMs.
He wasn't used to being replaced.
That week at school, he didn't flirt as much. Didn't laugh as loud.
His friends noticed. One nudged him during lunch. "You're being weird, bro. What's up?"
He shrugged. "Nothing. Just tired."
But his eyes kept drifting.
To her.
To the girl who used to look at him like he was the whole sky—
and now walked past him like he was air.
Worse still, she had Aditya.
He'd never noticed Aditya before. Now he noticed everything.
The way Aditya held her lunchbox. The way she laughed at his stupid jokes. The way she looked at him—not like she was trying, but like it came naturally.
And Ayaan?
He was just an afterthought.
For the first time in a long time, Ayaan Gazi felt replaced.
And for some reason he couldn't explain…
HE HATED IT.