(A confession, a threat, and a turning point in relationships)
🌼 Morning in the PG — Ruhi's Routine Shift
Ruhi woke earlier than usual. The rain had cleared, but the air still smelled like wet earth and chai from nearby stalls.
Simran noticed as she tied her hair.
"You've been... glowing," Simran said casually, sipping tea. "Is it Rudra's letters or that sweatshirt you secretly wear at night?"
Ruhi smiled. "Both."
Simran chuckled. "So you two are officially... in love?"
Ruhi turned serious. "It's deeper than that. It's like — when I write to him, I remember who I am."
Simran nodded slowly. "That's love. The quiet kind."
📓 Beyond the Buzzer – Page 89
"He doesn't ask for pieces of me.He hands me pieces of himself instead —until I remember I was whole all along."
🧃 In the Canteen — A Turning Point
Ruhi was sipping orange juice during her break when Kunal walked over. He looked nervous — like he had something rehearsed in his head too many times.
"Can we talk?" he asked.
Ruhi blinked. "Sure?"
They stepped aside near the old library steps — quiet and shaded.
Kunal looked at her gently. "I know you're with someone."
Ruhi's shoulders stiffened.
"But I can't not say it anymore," he continued. "I... I like you. Not in a way where I expect anything. I just — it's been growing. Since before the Literature Week. Since your performance."
Ruhi opened her mouth but said nothing.
Kunal smiled, awkward and sad. "I just wanted to say it before it was too late."
She nodded softly. "Thank you for telling me."
There was a long silence.
Then Kunal turned to go — but paused. "He's lucky, you know. Most people never get loved like that."
💭 Later That Evening — Diary Time
Ruhi opened Beyond the Buzzer to write, but noticed something strange.
A page was missing.
Page 88 — the one she had written the night after Rudra left. It was raw. Honest. Maybe too honest.
She frantically searched her room, her bag, her files. Nothing.
Her heartbeat raced.
"Simran!" she called. "Did you see a loose page from my diary?"
Simran appeared. "No. Did you lose one?"
"I think someone took it..."
📸 Cut To — A College Notice Board
Later that night, a few students huddled near the college notice board, whispering.
Pasted there, among club announcements and exam timetables, was a handwritten page.
It read:
*"I sleep in his hoodie to feel him near.I dream of his voice in the spaces where Delhi grows too loud.
I'm scared of love that depends on paper and postmarks."*
Below it: No name. No title. Just the word: "Yours."
Ruhi saw it.
Her face went pale.
Simran gasped. "Is that your writing?!"
Ruhi nodded.
"Who did this?" Simran hissed.
Ruhi wasn't sure.
But her first thought was Tanya.
Her second was... Kunal.
📞 Rudra's Midnight Call
That night, Ruhi sat on the PG rooftop with a shawl wrapped around her, staring up at the moon. Her phone buzzed.
Rudra Calling...
She picked up, quietly. "Hey."
"You sound off," Rudra said instantly.
"Something happened today," she confessed. "Someone took a page from my diary and pasted it in public."
He froze. "Are you serious? Who?"
"I don't know. I... I think it might be Tanya. Or... someone else."
There was a long silence.
"Do you feel unsafe?" Rudra asked, voice low.
"No. Just... exposed."
"You want me to come back?"
She smiled faintly. "I always want you here. But no — you focus on your work."
He hesitated. "Promise me one thing?"
"What?"
"If anything — anything — happens, you tell me before the world does."
"I promise."
🧡 Aarav Meets Simran's Family — The Dinner
Aarav stood in a formal kurta, nervously holding a small sweet box. Simran's father, Mr. Verma, eyed him like a hawk.
"So... you play basketball?" he asked flatly.
"Yes, uncle," Aarav replied, hands respectfully on his lap.
"Not a job."
"I also work part-time in coaching and have a side business in fitness consulting."
Simran's mother raised an eyebrow. "Stable?"
"Growing," Aarav said firmly.
Then Mr. Verma leaned forward. "Would you convert?"
The room went dead silent.
Aarav looked at Simran. Her eyes were wide with shock.
"No," he said gently. "But I'll respect everything you believe in."
Mr. Verma leaned back. "Then this won't work."
🏠 After the Dinner — An Ultimatum
Simran cried into her pillow that night. Aarav sat beside her.
"They'll never agree," she whispered. "I thought we had a chance."
"You still do," he said softly. "It just won't be easy."
"But love shouldn't be a war," she murmured.
"Sometimes," Aarav said, holding her hand, "the greatest love stories are written with resistance."
📓 Beyond the Buzzer – Page 91
"Maybe it's not about being accepted.Maybe it's about holding each other anyway —Even when the world says, 'no.'"
💔 End of Chapter 18