Chapter 1: First Look, Lasting Glance

The school assembly yard boiled under the 9 AM sun. Students stood in lines, mumbling the pledge while teachers barked orders to stay straight.

Nirav? He was at the back row, swaying, yawning, and tapping a plastic pen like it was a drumstick.

“Why are we even standing like cattle every damn Monday?” he muttered to no one.

That's when his eyes landed on someone new in Class 11-B's line.

Neat hair, tucked shirt, clean shoes, and most importantly — bright blue-frame glasses perched on a sharp nose.

Nirav squinted.

“Looks like a chapri trying to act elite.”

The guy didn’t even glance back. Just stood like a statue.

Nirav smirked.

Boring. Pass.

.....

Chapter 2: Impressions Crack Slowly

The guy turned out to be Priyansh.

Top scorer. Zero tolerance for nonsense. Sarcastic in the quietest, most intelligent way.

He barely spoke to anyone. But when Nirav got paired with him in chemistry class, something clicked — not like lightning — more like static that refused to fade.

“You don’t talk much, do you?” Nirav asked, chewing gum.

Priyansh didn’t look up. “I talk. Just not to people who think loud is the same as smart.”

Nirav’s mouth dropped open. Then he laughed. “Damn. You’re savage, Glasses.”

Priyansh finally looked at him, expression unreadable. “And you’re exhausting.”

It should’ve ended there.

But it didn’t.

.....

Chapter 3: From Arguments to Inside Jokes

Despite the rocky start, they kept getting paired. Nirav started making Priyansh laugh — just a little. Priyansh started showing up near Nirav’s bench before classes started — just sometimes.

Nirav didn’t notice how his eyes searched for those blue frames every morning. Or how he got angry when Priyansh talked to someone else too long.

He only knew Priyansh was his.

His project partner.

His debate rival.

His unofficial best friend.

Not that he’d ever admit it.

Chapter 4: The Breaking Point

It happened one rainy afternoon. They were waiting out the storm near the school stairwell.

Nirav said, “You know, if someone ever messes with you, I’ll beat the hell out of them.”

Priyansh shook his head. “Why does everything with you end in a fight?”

“Because that’s how I protect people!”

“People don’t always need fists, Nirav. They need consistency. Calm. Support.”

“Then maybe we’re not friends the same way, huh?”

Priyansh looked at him, calm but firm. “Maybe not.”

That cracked something inside Nirav.

“You think I’m a joke, don’t you? I care like an idiot and you stand there like I’m some stray dog following you around!”

Then the words slipped—rough, bitter, sharp.

“Chal nikal yaha se, saala emotional robot. Tere jaise logon ki wajah se logon ka bharosa toot ta hai.”

He regretted it instantly.

But Priyansh didn’t flinch.

He just nodded slowly and walked away.

Didn’t turn back.

Didn’t come back.

Chapter 5: Two Years of Noise Without Sound

Time moved on.

Nirav made new friends. Got in more fights. Laughed louder.

But deep inside, there was a space shaped exactly like blue frames and quiet sarcasm.

He never blocked Priyansh. Never deleted his number. Never moved on, no matter how much he tried.

Priyansh, meanwhile, stayed invisible. Moved on to college life, library corners, and quiet evenings.

But some nights — some slow, heavy nights — he stared at his old texts with Nirav.

Unread. Unreplied. But never forgotten.

Chapter 6: Realization Is the Loudest Silence

One day, Nirav stood in the middle of a festival crowd. Lights. Music. Laughter.

But nothing felt... full.

He looked up at the sky and whispered,

“I think I loved you, Priyansh. I just didn’t know that love wasn’t supposed to feel like a battlefield.”

He walked out of that crowd and into Priyansh’s campus.

Chapter 7: After the Silence

Nirav stood at the gate, fists clenched.

When Priyansh came out, Nirav nearly forgot how to breathe.

“I don’t have a speech,” Nirav said. “I just... I can’t live with this silence anymore.”

Priyansh didn’t move.

“I didn’t know it was love. Not then. I only knew I needed you like breath. And when you left, it felt like suffocating with eyes open.”

Still no reply.

“I don’t want apologies. I just want you to know... I’m not the same. But my feelings? Still are.”

After a long pause, Priyansh finally whispered,

“I never stopped missing you.”

Nirav blinked. “Then why?”

“Because loving you scared me. You were loud. Wild. I felt like I’d get swallowed whole.”

“And now?”

Priyansh exhaled. “Now? I’m still scared. But I’m tired of missing someone who never really left.”

Nirav’s voice broke, “Then don’t miss me. Just… be with me.”

Final Scene: Not a Love Story — A Continuation

They didn’t kiss that night.

Didn’t promise anything stupid.

They just walked side by side again.

No words.

But hearts wide open.

Because some bonds don’t need names.

Some feelings don’t need confessions.

And some love stories begin again… exactly where they shattered.

Nirav didn’t know that blue-frame guy would one day break him and heal him in the same lifetime.

........

The End!!

The hospital room was quiet except for the slow beeping of the heart monitor and the soft rustle of folded paper.

Kaito sat beside Ren’s bed, his fingers trembling slightly as he folded yet another crane.

“Four hundred and twenty-eight,” he whispered, setting the tiny bird on the windowsill, joining the growing army of colored wings.

Ren’s eyes fluttered open. “Still folding?”

Kaito looked up and forced a smile, his voice catching. “Yeah. I heard if you fold a thousand paper cranes, you get one wish. So I’m making one.”

Ren chuckled weakly, and Kaito hated how hollow it sounded now. “You’re too old to believe in things like that.”

“And you’re too stubborn to die.”

Ren didn’t answer that. He just turned his head to look at the ceiling, his pale hand resting on the blanket. Kaito reached for it, holding it gently.

“You remember when we met?” Kaito asked, needing to fill the silence. “That dumb bookstore near the river?”

Ren gave a faint smile. “You knocked over the poetry section.”

“You helped me clean it up. Then we fought over the same Rilke book.”

“You let me have it.”

“I only let you have it because I thought you were cute,” Kaito said, tears forming despite his smile.

Ren said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I read it that night and hoped I’d see you again.”

“You did.”

“Yeah.”

They both fell silent. Outside the window, the sky was an aching shade of dusk-blue. The cranes, in colors of red, white, and gold, shivered slightly from the fan’s wind.

“You should sleep,” Ren murmured. “You’ve been here for days.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Kaito leaned closer, pressing a soft kiss to Ren’s temple. “Not while I still have cranes to fold.”

Ren turned to face him again. “You can’t wish me better, Kai. I’m tired. I can feel… it.”

“No,” Kaito said quietly. “Not yet. You promised me one more summer.”

“I didn’t know my body would break its promise.”

Kaito held Ren’s hand tighter, but not tight enough to hurt. He had learned over the weeks how fragile Ren had become.

“I wish I could take your pain,” Kaito said.

Ren’s eyes glistened. “You already have. Every time you smiled at me. Every time you held me. I didn’t hurt as much.”

Kaito broke. His shoulders shook as he leaned his forehead against Ren’s hand. The tears came freely now, hot and endless.

“I’m scared,” Kaito whispered.

Ren closed his eyes. “Me too.”

The silence that followed was sacred and heavy. After a while, Kaito sat up again and reached for another piece of paper.

Ren watched him fold it with steady hands this time.

“Four hundred and twenty-nine.”

“I love you,” Ren said.

“I love you more,” Kaito replied, not looking up.

“No, I love you most.”

Kaito looked at him and saw the smile. Weak. Honest. Final

He reached for Ren’s face, cupping his cheek gently. “Then come back. In another life. Find me. Knock over the poetry shelf again.”

Ren nodded faintly, eyes beginning to close. “Okay. I’ll find you. I promise.”

A few minutes later, the monitor stopped beeping

Kaito sat still, paper crane in his hand, unfinished. His world folded in on itself — like paper, like silence

Outside, the sky turned the color of mourning. Inside, the window was filled with cranes — and the one person Kaito had loved most had finally let go...

Pitter hated the rain.

It reminded him of all the nights he cried alone in his old apartment. The cold floor. The wet windowpanes. The silence between thunder.

So when the sky turned grey that evening, he curled up on the couch, hugging his knees. He didn’t say a word, just stared at the puddles forming on the balcony outside.

Nial watched him from the kitchen, drying his hands on a towel.

“You okay?” he asked gently.

Pitter nodded, but his eyes stayed distant.

Nial didn’t push him. He just walked over, knelt beside the couch, and rested his cheek on Pitter’s knee.

“Talk to me,” he whispered.

Pitter bit his lip. “I’m just being stupid.”

“You’re not.”

“It’s just… stupid memories. Rain always makes me feel like that lonely guy again. You know, the one no one stayed for.”

“I stayed.”

Pitter looked at him, voice cracking. “I know. But sometimes I’m scared. Like, one day you’ll realize you deserve someone braver. Less broken.”

Nial reached up, brushing a strand of hair behind Pitter’s ear. His touch was steady, grounding.

“I didn’t fall for a perfect person, Pitter,” he said. “I fell for you. The boy who cries when he hears a sad song. The boy who laughs at his own jokes. The boy who still believes love can fix things, even after everything.”

A tear rolled down Pitter’s cheek, but this time it wasn’t from fear. It was from warmth.

Nial stood up and gently pulled him to his feet.

“Come on.”

Pitter frowned. “Where?”

Nial didn’t answer. He just led him to the balcony, barefoot, the rain pouring down like soft applause.

“Are you crazy?” Pitter asked, laughing a little through his tears.

“Probably.” Nial stepped out and opened his arms. “But this time, I want you to feel the rain with me. Let’s change what it means.”

Pitter stared at him. The man who never raised his voice. The man who cooked dinner even after long shifts. The man who knew how to stay.

And with a sudden breath of courage, Pitter stepped into the rain.

It was cold. It was wet. It was freeing.

He laughed—a real, raw laugh that cracked open the sky in his heart. Nial spun him slowly, hands on his waist, both of them soaked and smiling.

In that moment, Pitter didn’t feel broken.

He felt loved....

Nial leaned in, water dripping from his lashes. He pressed a soft kiss to Pitter’s lips gentle, slow, like a promise spoken without words. Pitter melted into it, clutching Nial’s shirt like an anchor.

“don't afraid from your past,” Nial whispered. “ made me part of your future.”

“You really think I’m worth staying for?” he asked softly.

Nial kissed his forehead. “No.”

Pitter blinked.

“I know you are.”

"Sometimes, love doesn’t knock on the door, it pulls you into the rain and teaches you how to dance in it."