Under One Umbrella

okay so it was pouring that day, like actually pouring not that cute drizzle kind. ananya's outside the college gate completely soaked bc obviously she forgot her umbrella again lol. she does this literally every single week, i genuinely don't know how she hasn't learned yet at this point but anyway.
so she's just standing there kinda annoyed, already making peace with the fact she's walking home wet, and then randomly there's an umbrella over her head. not hers tho.
"You'll catch a cold standing here," someone said.
she turns around and it's kabir. guy from her lit class, the quiet one, she'd said maybe three words to him the whole semester tbh. he's got this small smile going on, didn't even seem bothered that his own shoulder was getting soaked bc he was holding the umbrella mostly over her not him.
"you?" was literally all she got out.
"yeah me. c'mon i'll drop you home"
they didn't talk much on the walk honestly. shouldve been awkward but wasnt somehow, just rain and footsteps and stuff like that. get to her building and she turns to say thanks but he beats her to it
"so same time tomorrow?"
"why would there be a tomorrow" she says giving him a look
"cause i think im falling for you." said it so casual she almost missed it completely
"ok you're actually insane we've barely talked twice"
"love doesnt really wait around for perfect timing you know. sometimes its just one moment"
she laughed it off that night ngl, figured he was just being one of those dramatic types. but next day there he is again. same gate, same umbrella, and shes smiling like an idiot the entire way homeafter that it just kept happening yk. coffee turned into a regular thing, theyd end up in some random library corner not even studying just talking for hours about literally nothing. hed save her a seat without even asking, or just sit next to her quiet on her off days instead of asking a hundred questions like most people do. small stuff honestly but it adds up fast when its the right person, i think anyone whos been there knows what i mean.
"youre honestly the worst" she told him once watching him eat half her sandwich without even asking
"and yet you keep showing up" he grinned mouth still full
"only cause you owe me like 5 sandwiches at this point"
"ill buy you a hundred if it means youll stick around"
shed roll her eyes but wasnt fooling anyone, def not herself. somewhere between all those rainy afternoons and quiet comfortable moments she fell too. like hard hard, the kind you dont really come back from.
course it couldnt stay simple though could it. these things never do.
random tuesday, kabir shows up looking off. not his usual self at all, no grin nothing
"what happened" she asks right away
"my dads getting transferred. were moving abroad. next month."
that just kinda hung there for a sec. felt heavier than the actual clouds outside honestly lol not even joking
"next month?" she says again like saying it twice would somehow change it
"i tried talking him out of it. genuinely tried. its happening anyway tho"
she didnt cry right away which was weird, just sat there trying to process how something this real gets taken away this fast
"so what happens to us then"
"i dont know" he says grabbing her hand "but im not ready to lose this. not really, not ever"
next few weeks felt kinda borrowed if that makes sense, like they were trying to cram a whole future into like two weeks. talked about everything, dreams fears stuff they wanted but probably wont get now. neither of them said the actual word goodbye but it was just there the whole time, sitting there, getting closer every day
last night before he left they went back to the college gate, same exact spot it all started. sky was going dark again too, rain on its way, of course it was.
"kinda poetic huh" kabir says looking up. "ending where we started"
"its not an ending" she says voice already shaking. "just a pause thats all"
he pulls her in right as the rain hits. "im coming back for you. i promise you that"
"ill be here" she mumbles into his shoulder. "waiting"
"three years" he says kissing her forehead. "just give me three years ill find my way back"
rain got heavier as his cab pulled off and she just stood there way longer than she probably should have, letting it hide that she was crying tbh
three years later.
ananyas standing at the same gate again except shes teaching there now instead of studying. still forgets an umbrella apparently, guess some habits just stick forever. rains starting up again too, right on cue, like its literally messing with her at this point lol.
she shuts her eyes, feels the cold hit her skin and then, warmth. an umbrella. someone right there next to her.
"youll catch a cold standing here"
she just froze. wouldve known that voice anywhere honestly, even after all this time.
turns around and there he-- kabir. bit older, walks with more confidence now maybe, but that same exact smile that got her three years back, still there, still doing its thing.
"you actually came back" she whispers, barely even audible
"told you i would" he says stepping in closer. "some promises you just dont break yk"
rain kept coming down around them, not caring either way, but for the two of them under that one umbrella again it honestly felt like the whole thing just picked right back up exactly where it left off, like no time passed at all really.
To be continued...
Part 2 coming soon 💕