A Little Help

The next day came heavy.

Rohan walked into class like always, trying to carry himself like nothing had changed. Smiling when he needed to. Making dumb little comments like he usually did. But something was different.

He didn’t sit as close. Didn’t joke as much. And every time he glanced at Vihaan, it felt like his chest caved in a little.

Vihaan noticed it too. Of course he did.

The silence between them wasn’t comfortable anymore. It was loud. It screamed. Vihaan kept stealing glances, wanting to say something, anything, but every time their eyes met, Rohan would quickly look away—still gentle, but distant.

And someone else noticed.

Aditi, their classmate, sharp-eyed and always a little too observant for her own good, had been watching them for a while now. She had suspected something for months—saw the way Rohan looked at Vihaan, saw the softness in it. And today, the energy was so off it was almost painful to watch.

She waited until break time, then cornered Rohan by the window near the lockers.

“Hey,” she said casually, arms crossed. “You okay?”

Rohan blinked at her. “Uh… yeah, why?”

“You and Vihaan. You’re weird today.”

He looked down at the floor, pressing his lips into a thin line.

She tilted her head. “Come on. You know I’m not stupid. Something happened, didn’t it?”

He hesitated, but Aditi leaned in a little and whispered, “I know you have feelings for him.”

Rohan’s eyes widened, but she smiled. “Relax. I’m not judging. I just… wanna know what’s going on.”

Rohan sighed, leaning back against the wall. “I told him. Last night. That I liked him.”

Aditi’s eyes widened slightly, but she said nothing, letting him talk.

“And… he didn’t say anything. He just cried. Said he’s scared. And I get it, I really do, but now… it’s just weird. I don’t know how to act around him anymore. I don’t want to make it worse.”

Aditi nodded slowly. “So you’re pulling back.”

“I don’t want to push him. I don’t want him to feel trapped or awkward around me.”

She gave him a small, understanding smile. “You’re too nice sometimes, Rohan.”

Rohan chuckled, but it was tired. “Thanks?”

Aditi glanced across the room to where Vihaan sat, fidgeting with his pen, eyes occasionally flicking toward them.

Then she turned back to Rohan. “Okay, hear me out. Maybe for now… just keep a little distance. Let him breathe. Let him feel what it’s like not having you orbiting around him all the time.”

Rohan raised an eyebrow. “That feels kinda... cold.”

“No,” she said quickly. “It’s not. I’m not saying ghost him. Just… don’t make it easy for him to avoid his feelings. Sometimes people don’t realize what they have until it’s not standing right next to them smiling like an idiot.”

Rohan narrowed his eyes playfully. “Did you just call me an idiot?”

Aditi grinned. “Lovingly.”

Rohan gave a small laugh, but the pain was still there. “I just don’t want to lose him.”

“You won’t,” she said firmly. “But maybe he needs to be the one who takes a step now.”

And across the room, Vihaan felt something shift. For the first time, Rohan wasn’t looking back.

And it hurt more than he expected.

The days felt longer.

For the first time in eight months, Vihaan sat alone during lunch. Rohan still smiled when they passed in the hallway, still nodded when their eyes accidentally met in class—but the warmth behind it had dimmed. He didn’t wait by the gates after school. Didn’t crack quiet jokes under his breath during boring lectures. Didn’t linger.

Vihaan felt it in his bones.

At first, he thought he deserved it. Maybe Rohan was finally done trying. Maybe he’d taken the silence that night as rejection. Maybe it was rejection.

But then the silence kept going. And it started to eat at him.

He found himself glancing around more than usual. Waiting to catch sight of that messy hair, that annoyingly calm walk. He hated how empty the bench felt without Rohan’s presence. How the notes passed during class had stopped. How every quiet moment now just reminded him of the night he couldn’t speak.

Why does this feel like I’m losing something I never even had?

One afternoon, Vihaan saw Rohan standing near the water cooler, laughing at something Aditi said. That laugh—it used to be theirs, echoing between classroom walls and park benches.

And Vihaan felt something twist inside him.

It wasn’t jealousy. Not really.

It was fear.

Fear that Rohan was moving on.

Fear that he’d waited too long, let his silence dig a hole so deep, there’d be no climbing out of it.

Is this what love feels like?

Is this what it means to care so much that it hurts when they stop looking at you the same?

Across the courtyard, Aditi sipped her juice box and watched Vihaan watching Rohan.

She smirked to herself.

Got you, finally.

It was subtle, but she saw it—the way Vihaan’s fingers clenched at his side, the way he took one step forward and then paused like his own heart was yanking on a leash.

He was cracking. And she knew it wasn’t cruelty—it was what he needed. The gentle nudge. The space to panic. To feel.

He needed to miss Rohan enough to realize he couldn’t be without him.

And from the way Vihaan’s eyes kept darting toward Rohan like gravity had taken control—she knew.

It was working.

On other hand

Rohan was suffering too and might even more

He was breaking, even if he didn’t show it.

Every morning, he walked into class with that same quiet smile, nodded to Vihaan with the same soft eyes—and then turned away before the silence could stretch too long. He sat with others now. Laughed a little louder, talked a little more. But inside?

He was exhausted.

Each time he avoided Vihaan’s gaze, something inside him cracked a little more. Each time Vihaan lingered near him, as if trying to say something, Rohan had to fight the instinct to grab his wrist and say, “It’s okay. Just talk to me.”

But he didn’t.

Because he thought maybe this was what Vihaan needed.

And yet… every night, he questioned himself.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, gripping his phone without opening a single app, Rohan whispered into the quiet, “Am I doing the right thing? Or am I just being selfish, hoping he'll come to me?”

One afternoon, Aditi found him slumped over his desk during a free period, brows furrowed like the thoughts in his head were too heavy to carry anymore.

“You okay?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“I don’t know,” Rohan muttered. “It hurts. All of it. I feel like I’m pretending to not care, and it’s killing me.”

Aditi sat next to him, nudging his foot gently with hers. “I know it’s hard. But you’re not doing anything wrong.”

“It doesn’t feel right,” he said, voice low. “What if he’s not ready? What if I’m just pushing him away for real this time?”

Aditi gave him a moment, then said carefully, “Rohan… even if it doesn’t go the way you want, even if he never says those words back—you’ll still have a chance to rebuild something. A friendship. It might hurt, but you won’t lose him completely.”

He looked at her with tired eyes. “You think that’s enough?”

She paused, choosing her words. “It’s not about ‘enough.’ It’s about protecting yourself too. You gave him your heart, and he needs to realize that. He needs to come to you, not out of guilt, not out of fear—but because he feels it too.”

Rohan leaned back in his chair, eyes drifting toward the window. Toward the school courtyard where Vihaan sometimes sat alone now.

“Come to me,” he thought. “Please. Just once. Come to me first.”

...----------------...

Will this suffering continue?

Will they have any chance?

Let's walk the path with them and see what the universe plans for them!!!!🤍

Support Aditi for being our shipper 😁

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