The unexpected meet

Reyaansh's pov :- 

The hospital corridor felt suffocating, the sterile white walls closing in on me with every passing second. My chest heaved as I stormed away from Rohan's room, the weight of the situation pressing down on me like a goddamn boulder.

I didn't even know where I was going. My feet moved on their own, my mind stuck in an endless loop of blood-streaked memories—Rohan's limp body, the sound of the gunshot, and the sharp sting of failure slicing through me like a blade.

I cursed under my breath, dragging a hand through my hair as I paced back and forth. My muscles were tight, my fists clenched so hard my knuckles turned white.

"Fuck" I muttered, the word echoing in the empty hallway.

But then I felt it—the faintest shift in the air, the unmistakable presence of the one person who always seemed to know when to find me, even when I didn't want to be found.

Her.

I didn't have to turn around to know it was Aahana. The sound of her soft, determined footsteps reached my ears, and my jaw clenched tighter.

"Ansh..." Her voice was like a lifeline, soft but steady, cutting through the chaos in my head.

I stopped pacing but didn't turn to face her. My voice came out rough, raw. "You shouldn't be here, Belle."

"I'm not leaving you like this." Her reply was firm, unyielding.

Her defiance, as maddening as it was, sent a rush of heat through me. Damn it, why couldn't she just listen for once? I turned sharply, my eyes locking onto hers.

"You think this is a fucking game, huh?" My voice was sharper than I intended, but I couldn't hold back the frustration burning in my chest. I stepped closer to her, my every movement controlled, deliberate. "People are getting hurt, Aahana. You could've been hurt. Do you even get what that would've done to me?"

The words tumbled out before I could stop them, raw and unfiltered. My hands balled into fists at my sides, desperate to keep my emotions in check, but damn it, she made that impossible.

She didn't flinch, though. She never did. Instead, she squared her shoulders, her eyes blazing with a fire that matched mine. "You don't get to push me away, Ansh. Not now, not ever. If you're falling apart, I'll be damned if I'm not right there with you."

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut, and for a moment, I just stared at her. How the hell could she be so fearless? So stubborn?

My hands moved before my brain caught up, cupping her face like she was the only thing grounding me in the chaos. "I'm losing it, Belle" I confessed, my voice dropping to a whisper. The vulnerability in my tone surprised even me. "Every time I think about you being in danger, it fucking kills me."

Her hands came up to cover mine, her touch steady, anchoring. "Then stop trying to carry it all on your own" she said softly. "Let me be here for you. Let me in."

My eyes searched hers, and for the first time that day, the storm inside me paused. The fear, the anger, the guilt—it was all still there, but her presence dulled the sharpest edges.

"I'm scared, Aahana" I admitted, the words tasting foreign on my tongue. "Scared that I'll fail to protect you. That I'll lose you."

Her grip on my hands tightened. "You won't" she said with a conviction that made my chest ache. "Because I won't let you. We'll face this together, Ansh."

And just like that, the fight drained out of me. I pulled her into my arms, burying my face in her hair, inhaling the faint scent of jasmine that always seemed to cling to her.