Before I Knew Love, I Heard Her Anklet Chapter 2

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Hi guys 🤗 let's begin

10:23Pm in Milan

Vihaan's POV

And like clockwork, I had two things to look forward to.

One: Cereal that would emotionally betray me in 20minutes. Two: her.

Vihaan De Luca (ml brother/ fl bff)

*enters his room*

It all started with a comment on a random architecture meme.

Some post about - " designing dreams and losing sleep."

I dropped a snarky business -student comment: "Glad I chose spreadsheets over stress induced hallucinations." And then came her reply: "Both are self harm. Yours just wears a tie."

She won

That was nine months ago.

Since then, Aadya Pranav Rao- architecture student from Bangalore, eternal tea loyalist, emotionally attached to her sketch pens- became my unofficial therapy and very official best friend.

She knew things even my brother didn't: like how I hated being the "other De luca" or how i secretly wrote poetry in a folder named "Mafia Mush".

And me? I knew her late-night fears, her dreams of building spaces that feel like poetry and how her appa still checks her google maps when she walks alone.

She never tried to impress me. And I never tried to fix her.

There's never been anything romantic between us. It's just .. Real.. solid, a rare friendship that holds you without trying to fix you.

We just .. Showed up. Everyday.

Vihaan De Luca (ml brother/ fl bff)

*opened my laptop and flopped onto my bed, cereal bowl in hand*

The call rang, three beeps.

And there she was

Aadhya Pranav Rao (fl)

*tshirt with a faded "Ctrl+Z Life" print. Hair in a clip* You're late 🧐* said, sipping her tea like a courtroom lawyer judging my existence*

Vihaan De Luca (ml brother/ fl bff)

I had to emotionally prepare for your sarcasm *eating my cereal* 😮‍💨

Aadhya Pranav Rao (fl)

*narrowed her eyes* You had 24hours. Still not ready? 🧐

Vihaan De Luca (ml brother/ fl bff)

*grinned* Nope, But here I am. Defenseless.

We slipped into conversation like always - zero effort, full chaos.

Our rhythm is effortless.

She ranted about her professor criticizing her site analysis, about a classmate who tried to design a "sustainable prison shaped like a lotus".

Vihaan De Luca (ml brother/ fl bff)

*dramatically gaged* A lotus prison? Enlightenment behind the bars? 😂😂

Aadhya Pranav Rao (fl)

Exactly. I told him it looked like a temple that lost faith *puff* 😤

Vihaan De Luca (ml brother/ fl bff)

Remind me never to take design advice from your batchmates*winked*

Aadhya Pranav Rao (fl)

*laughs* Deal 🤝

Then came the softer side of her.

She leaned back against her wall, sketchbook cradled on her lap.

Aadhya Pranav Rao (fl)

I don't know, Vihaan *said quietly* Sometimes I feel like I'm screaming into paper, and no one's listening.

Vihaan De Luca (ml brother/ fl bff)

*blinked* I might not speak architecture, Aadhu, but I see the way you look at space . Like you want it to heal people.

Aadhya Pranav Rao (fl)

*went still...* That ... Actually means a lot... *smiles softly*

Vihaan De Luca (ml brother/ fl bff)

Even if I have no idea what a cantilever does *shrugs*

Aadhya Pranav Rao (fl)

You're lucky you're not in a design school. You'd be dramatic about every deadline.😌

Vihaan De Luca (ml brother/ fl bff)

I'm already dramatic. that's why I do Excel.

A long silence passed. Comfortable. Familiar.

And then it happened.

"Tchink"

That anklet.

She always crosses her legs during calls and it always slips loose. A small silver chain with tiny bells -nothing fancy. But the sound?

Unmistakable. And so ... Her

Vihaan De Luca (ml brother/ fl bff)

*chuckled* There it is. The musical horror of your anklet strikes again.

Aadhya Pranav Rao (fl)

*giggles* Shut up. It's vintage

Vihaan De Luca (ml brother/ fl bff)

It's loud.

Aadhya Pranav Rao (fl)

It's loyal.

I didn't know that behind me- just outside the room- someone had paused- Aaryan.

My older brother, the one with more walls than windows . He hadn't seen her. Hadn't Heard her voice. But that sound- that simple metallic chime - stopped him.

For him, it was the beginning of something unspoken. A curiosity. A shift. And the girl who had no idea he existed... Had just unknowingly echoed into his world.

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