In the Garden of the Hotel…
Aditya and Aniket sat quietly on a wooden bench, beneath a sky scattered with stars. It had been nearly 20 minutes since they came out, yet silence lingered like an old friend between them.
Aniket tapped away on his phone, while Aditya… his gaze was fixed on the sky. He looked up at the stars with a soft smile, the kind that hides a thousand unsaid things. No one knew what was going through his mind — maybe not even Aditya himself.
Finally, Aniket sighed, putting his phone aside.
“Adi… are we ever going inside? How long are we going to sit out here like this?”
Aditya replied in a low voice, “Let’s wait a little longer…”
Annoyed, Aniket stood up, arms folded across his chest.
“What’s going on!? Be honest! You don’t want to meet them, do you!?”
Aditya just smiled — that same quiet smile that never truly reached his eyes.
Looking down at the ground, he murmured, “Six years… it’s a long time, isn’t it? Friendships… they must fade with time, right?”
Aniket froze. He couldn’t believe his ears. Aditya, of all people, was saying this?
He was about to speak when suddenly — a voice exploded from behind the bushes…
“You idiot! How could you even THINK that!?”
Aditya spun around.
Storming out of the shadows came Ayush — eyes blazing with fury. And behind him followed Adhvik, Ayaan, and Dhruv, all with their heads low — like guilty children caught eavesdropping.
Ayush marched straight up to Aditya, grabbed his collar — his hands shaking, not with rage… but with the storm of emotions he was holding in. His eyes brimmed with unshed tears.
A strange warmth spread on Aditya’s face. A smile. The kind you wear when the pain is finally melting.
Ayush pushed him away, embarrassed by his outburst, and muttered while turning away, “…Why are you looking at me like that!?
I know… I’ve become even more handsome now!”
Aditya chuckled and replied, “No… that’s not it! I was just wondering how this kid still hasn't changed one bit.”
Adhvik stepped in with a warm but firm tone, “It’s not just him. None of us have changed… and neither has our care for you!”
Stolen story; please report.
Dhruv added, “Exactly! After that fight… every year, on that same date and time, I pray to God that moment… that moment disappears from our lives forever!”
Ayaan, though looking elsewhere, spoke up too, “You already know… I never apologize — even after breaking people’s bones! But…”
He took a deep breath and turned to face Aditya,
“But if saying sorry will make things right… then forgive me! I’m saying it, man. Please forgive us… let’s be friends again, like before.”
Aditya looked down, his voice barely above a whisper, “The truth is… I never came back because I wasn’t waiting for your apology.
I stayed away because I knew the mistake was mine.
If I couldn’t face myself… how could I face you?”
Adhvik’s eyes softened as he replied, “No, Adi… you were right.
We should’ve told you about that rumor —
Instead, we kept it hidden for two whole years.
You could’ve stopped it from spreading.
But we didn’t give you that chance.
And I don’t know why…”
Aniket stepped in, serious for once.
“The truth is… we believed the rumor back then.
Whether you accept it or not — we were just stupid kids.
Too young to think. Too emotional to question.
We trusted our hearts more than our brains.”
Aditya smiled — genuinely this time. “Enough. Let’s bury the past right here.
Right now. (clears his throat and opens his arms) So… can we be that group again… the one that…”
Ayush hugged him tight with a grin, “…the one that stole girls’ hearts and their sleep!”
Ayaan slapped the back of his head, “Not girls — teachers, dumbass!”
Ayush made a face, “We’re too old to annoy teachers now, bro.
It’s time to steal hearts, not chalks.”
Adhvik stepped in and wrapped Aditya in a warm hug.
“Before all that… Let’s welcome our old friend back — properly.”
And then… all of them crashed into Aditya at once, shouting, laughing, hugging —
so much so that he lost balance and fell flat on the grass, pulling them all down with him.
Lying there… on that soft patch of earth, staring up at the starry sky —
Aditya felt something he hadn’t in years.
Peace.
Home.
Brotherhood.
Aniket smiled quietly, “No matter what happened… In the end, everything turned out alright.”
Moments later, Ayush looked around smugly, “Oh, and listen up — from now on, DON’T CALL ME A KID! I have a girlfriend now!”
Dhruv teased him, “Which one?! The one you met in the garden two weeks ago, or the one you bumped into while picking up your niece from school?!” He smirked, “Honestly, for you, any girl who becomes your friend automatically becomes your girlfriend. So tell us… which one are you talking about?”
Ayush made a face and growled, “You…! One day I’m gonna take your brain out, fry it, and feed it to dogs if you keep remembering this stuff!”
Ayaan laughed, “Look at the little kid getting angry!”
Aniket joined in, “Oh no! Don’t tease my sweet little buddy! He’s gonna cry now!”
Watching all this chaos and laughter, Aditya thought to himself, “I’ve missed this… I’ve missed these moments so much.”
And just like that… the boys’ reunion party unofficially began right there in the garden — filled with teasing, laughter, and healing.
But far away, someone else was watching… with lifeless eyes.
It was Saaniya
Her right hand was injured, with what looked like glass embedded in her palm. Blood dripped down her hand — and she ignored it completely.
She just kept staring… at Aditya. At Aniket. At the friends who had once torn each other apart — now laughing again.
A faint smile touched her lips…
But at the same time — a tear slid down her cheek.
And then she whispered, “You all look so happy.
Even after losing so much… even after enduring so much… Just one flicker of joy, and you’re all laughing again?
Will Anamika and I ever be able to smile like that?
Forget the past — and just… laugh like that?
Why does the past haunt us like a shadow? Why only us?
Are we really such sinners…?”
Her steps faltered. She turned away, trying to walk — stumbling, barely able to hold herself up.
The truth was… earlier inside the hotel, in the absence of the boys, the girls had argued with Saaniya again. And even if she wanted to respond, she couldn’t.
Because Anamika had made her promise:
“This time, no one will cry because of me. No one.”
So, even unwillingly, Saaniya had to listen to everything quietly. She couldn’t leave either —She had to stay — to watch Aditya and his friends mend what she once broke.
Because yes — it was Saaniya who’d torn them apart.
She’d used that rumor. She’d planted it. Spread it. Fueled the fight.
But what no one knew was…
The plan wasn’t hers alone.
The idea… came from Anamika herself.
Now — intoxicated, broken, bleeding — Saaniya remembered everything.
And so begins… The story behind the betrayal.
The truth that was never meant to come out.
To be continue...
To Be Continued…
