IRA - Chapter 4

For a heartbeat, neither spoke. The world felt suspended, the sea, the stars, even the air between them.

Tears slipped from Ira’s eyes, sliding down her cheeks like quiet streams of grief, carrying with them the warmth of a love she could never keep. She wanted him to know, with every tremble of her lips, that she had never loved anyone like this.

Then Ira exhaled, as if the truth had been pressing against her ribs for too long.

“Aarav… I got my master’s admission in MIT, USA...  and I’m leaving next week", she said, her voice trembling, as if every word carried a thousand unspoken wounds.

Aarav felt the world tilt, the ground fading beneath him. His lips parted, his mind blank, not a single thought forming. For a full minute, he didn’t speak, didn’t move, only felt the weight of her words pressing on his chest.

She looked at him through tears, a fragile smile forming despite the pain twisting her heart. Every beat screamed that she didn’t want to leave, that she wished things could be different, but life had other plans.

Finally, with a slow exhale, Aarav managed to speak, voice soft and almost distant, as if afraid his own sorrow would betray him:

"Go…chase every star you’ve been dreaming of... you deserve it.”

He smiled faintly, his voice steady but his heart bleeding in silence. She smiled back through her tears, her eyes begging him not to say anything else, because she knew - if he did, she wouldn’t be able to leave.

They sat there a while longer, side by side, neither touching, neither speaking. The waves whispered, indifferent to their heartbreak, while the stars watched silently above. The beach, once their world, now felt like a reminder - love doesn’t always mean staying. 

When she finally rose, dragging her feet reluctantly through the soft sand, Aarav didn’t follow. He let her go, knowing holding her would mean breaking her dreams, knowing some love exists only to be felt, not kept.

As she disappeared into the distance, the wind carrying her scent and her laughter, he whispered to himself, barely audible over the surf:

I hope the stars she finds will be as kind as her eyes were.

And in that silence, with the sea between them and the stars overhead, both carried the same ache - a love felt deeply, beautifully, and yet impossibly.