But what we leave unsaid…

That haunts forever.

Aarohi stared at Vivaan’s message:

“You found it?”

Her fingers trembled as she typed:

> “Yes.”

“Why didn’t you give it to me?”

She didn’t expect a reply right away.

But it came within minutes.

> “I tried.”

“Every day. But I was scared.”

She didn’t know what to feel.

Anger?

Relief?

Pain?

She typed fast, not caring if it sounded calm or broken:

> “You left. And I thought you didn’t feel anything.”

“That you forgot me.”

“While I kept holding on.”

The typing dots appeared.

Then vanished.

Then appeared again.

Finally:

> “I never forgot you, Aarohi.”

“But I didn’t know if I deserved you.”

---

She sat back.

Eyes wet.

What did he mean?

Deserve?

This wasn’t a movie.

No grand reason.

Just fear. Insecurity. Timing.

She typed:

> “You wrote all those words... and let silence take over?”

“You knew I would’ve waited.”

His reply came slower this time:

> “That’s what scared me the most.”

“That you would.”

Aarohi dropped the phone on her bed.

It wasn’t that he didn’t love her.

It was that he didn’t believe he was worthy of being loved back.

---

That night, she didn’t reply.

She didn’t know what to say anymore.

Instead, she stood by her window…

Looking at the stars — the same way she used to.

Only now, she whispered to them:

> “You fool… I was yours all along.”

---

End of Chapter 7