[Rooftop of the Bookstore – Golden Hour]
The sun was melting into the horizon, painting the sky in soft oranges and fading pinks. The world looked like a poem that hadn't been written yet.
Chaya was lying on her back, head resting on Sid's lap, watching clouds drift.
Sid was silently reading from a book, his fingers absently brushing strands of her hair away from her face.
They weren't speaking.
But the silence was the kind that said everything.
Chaya (suddenly):
"If you had to choose a word for me… just one word… what would it be?"
Sid (without thinking):
"Sunshine."
Chaya (smiling):
"That's so cliché, Sid."
Sid:
"But it's true. You feel like sunshine on all the days I didn't even know I was cold."
She blinked.
The air changed.
She sat up slowly, facing him now — closer than she'd been before.
The world hushed. Even the wind seemed to pause.
Chaya (softly):
"You're the first person who saw me when I wasn't trying to be seen."
Sid (his voice low):
"You're the first person who made me want to be seen."
She reached out, fingers brushing his cheek.
He leaned in — forehead to forehead. Breathing the same air. Eyes closed.
And then… without waiting for perfect words…
Chaya (whispers):
"I love you, Sid."
Sid's breath hitched. He opened his eyes — hers were already glistening.
He didn't say anything at first. Just took her hands in his, kissed her fingers gently…
Sid (a whisper trembling with truth):
"I don't know when it happened…
But I think I've always loved you."
They just sat there.
Wrapped in that new, fragile, breathtaking feeling.
Two hearts… finally spoken out loud.
[That Same Night – Rooftop, Later]
The world had grown quiet.
Stars had spilled across the sky like silver confetti. A cool breeze danced softly between them. Chaya lay next to Sid now, her head on his shoulder, their fingers interlocked like puzzle pieces finally fitting right.
The city below was distant noise — here, it was just the two of them.
Chaya (softly):
"Do you think love can survive everything?"
Sid (after a pause):
"I don't know…
But I know I want to find out. With you."
She turned to look at him.
Chaya:
"Even if I'm difficult… broken sometimes?"
Sid (looking up):
"Then I'll be your glue. Your patience. Your silence when you need it… and your storm when you don't."
Chaya smiled, tears brimming, heart full.
She sat up and pulled something from her pocket — a little origami star she'd made from a paper slip at the bookstore. On it, in tiny letters:
"Don't let go. Ever."
She handed it to Sid.
Chaya (whispers):
"My promise to you."
Sid held it like it was the most fragile thing in the world. Then pulled out his phone, typed a note, and showed it to her:
"When it rains, when it burns, when it breaks — I'll still be standing beside you."
Sid (quietly):
"My promise to you."
They lay back down, both looking up again. The night sky blinked gently with stars, like the universe itself was eavesdropping.
No big gestures. No dramatic declarations. Just two hearts wrapped in promises, under a sky that held them safe for one more night.
[ A Day at the Beach, Just Before Sunset]
Chaya stood barefoot at the shoreline, letting the waves kiss her toes. Her dress fluttered in the wind. The sun dipped lower, painting the sky in hues of orange, rose, and gold. She looked like she belonged to the sea.
Chaya (smiling, eyes on the horizon):
"You know why I love the ocean?"
Sid stood beside her, watching her more than the sea.
Sid:
"Tell me."
She looked at him with that gentle intensity that only she had.
Chaya:
"Because it's honest. It doesn't hide its moods. One moment it's calm, the next it's wild.
It crashes, it heals. It carries stories.
And no matter how much you try, you can't stop it from loving the shore.
Even if it keeps pulling away, it always returns."
She turned back to the sea.
Chaya:
"I think I love like that too…
Messy. Loud. Deep. Constant.
Maybe too much sometimes."
Sid stepped closer, brushing his fingers gently across hers.
Sid:
"If you're the ocean…
Then let me be your shore."
She looked at him, startled… then slowly leaned her head on his shoulder.
Chaya (softly):
"You're the only one who makes my waves feel like music… not chaos."
[ A Rainy Evening, Sid's Room – Few Days After the Beach]
Sid was cleaning up his desk, flipping through old sketches and books, when something rolled out from the drawer — a small, delicate white shell. Faintly curved and polished smooth by the ocean. He paused, held it in his palm, and smiled.
Sid (to himself):
"You left this behind, didn't you? Just like a piece of you always stays with me."
An idea sparked in his mind.
[Next Day – Rooftop Garden – Twilight Hour]
Chaya stood there, facing away, the wind playing with her hair. Sid walked up behind her quietly.
Sid:
"I have something for you."
She turned, curious.
He held out his hand — and there it was: a handmade bracelet, thin but elegant, woven with threads of sea-blue and silver… and at its center, that tiny ocean shell.
Sid:
"This fell into my drawer. I figured… maybe it was meant to stay."
Chaya's eyes softened instantly. She gently took the bracelet, fingers brushing over the shell, holding it like it was fragile magic.
Chaya:
"You remembered…"
Sid:
"I remember everything about you, Chaya."
Chaya (whispers):
"You don't know what this means to me."
Sid (smiling):
"Then tell me one day. When you're ready.
Until then… let this be your anchor.
And I'll be right here… your shore."
She slipped the bracelet on, looked up at him with teary eyes, and pulled him into the softest, most wordless hug.
The shell between them… a silent promise, and the echo of waves that never stopped returning.
[The Darkest Night – An Old Road Near the Cliffside – Midnight]
The moon was hidden behind clouds, the air thick with unease. Sid and Chaya were walking home after a late-night poetry event — laughter still echoing in the silence. She wore that shell bracelet on her wrist, the one he had made.
Suddenly — headlights.
A black SUV screeched to a halt beside them.
Sid (alarmed):
"Chaya… run."
Before she could react, masked men jumped out. One of them grabbed her, the others turned on Sid.
Chaya (screaming):
"SID!"
Sid fought back — a storm of fists and fury. He knocked one down, but then a sharp object sliced across his arm. Blood.
And that was it.
His breath hitched. His heart raced. Vision blurred.
His hemophobia took over. The sight of his own blood — too much.
Sid (panting):
"Chaya… run… please…" His voice cracked.
But his knees gave in. He collapsed. Darkness engulfed him.
Everything slowed.
He saw her terrified face, trying to pull him up. Screaming his name.
But then — nothing.
[Next Morning – A Broken Dawn]
Sid woke up in a deserted alley, shivering, shirt stained in blood and dust. His hands trembled. No Chaya. No attackers. No memory of what happened after he fell.
He looked around in panic. Called her name again and again.
No answer.
And then…
He looked down. In his clenched fist — her bracelet.
Torn off in the chaos. The tiny shell cracked at the edge.
He broke down right there. In the middle of that street.
The only piece of her he had left… was that shell.
And no idea whether she was alive.