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Chapter 22 - The Breakdown Before the Beginning

The moment I reached home after the café disaster, my legs gave up before my heart did.

I locked my room, fell on my bed, and the tears came before I could even breathe.

Not little tears.
Not silent tears.
No—the kind of crying that feels like your chest is tearing from inside.

Because the first thing I saw when I grabbed my phone…

Nick had blocked me.

Everywhere.
Instagram.
WhatsApp.
Snapchat.
Everything.

He didn’t even give me one second to explain.

It felt like someone had slapped me hard.
The guy who stared at me across terraces.
The guy who ate my dosas in three bites.
The guy whose birthday party I went to in black.
The guy who promised to wait for my answer.
The guy I was slowly, painfully, completely falling for.

He had erased me in seconds.

I called Bhuvan, my voice breaking.

“What did you do… WHY did you do this?” I cried.

He sounded guilty. “Yamika, I’m sorry… I didn’t know he’d react like that. I thought it’d be funny. Or he’d tease you.”

“Funny? You literally ruined everything!”

“I know!” he shouted back, frustrated. “I’ll try talking to him, okay? Just just breathe.”

I wiped my cheeks, shaking. “Please… tell him it was a misunderstanding.”“I will,” he promised. “But listen… he said he’s coming by May end. Just survive till then. Don’t do anything stupid. Give him space.”

Give him space.
As if space wasn’t already killing me.

Days passed.
Nights passed slower.

I cried silently into my pillow almost every night, replaying everything—his smile, his sarcasm, his teasing messages, his forehead kiss, his obsession, the kite festival, his birthday, the long handshake, the way he looked at me like I was his secret.

And now?
Now he didn’t even want to hear my voice.

I kept asking myself—

Was this it?
Was our story over before it even had a chance to begin?I tried distractions—friends, movies, studying, music—nothing worked.
Nothing drowned out the ache in my chest.

Nothing drowned out him.
It was the last week of May.

A hot morning, too bright for the mood I’d been living in.

I dragged myself to the balcony with messy hair and swollen eyes, just to get some fresh air.

And then I saw him.

Nick.

He stepped out of a white car with a suitcase, wearing a dark-colored t-shirt, looking taller, sharper, colder.

My breath stopped.

He was back.

Finally, after months of waiting, crying, overthinking—
He was here.

He lifted his suitcase, closed the car door, and turned around.
Our eyes met.

For three seconds.

Three long, suffocating, burning seconds.

I waited for a smile.
A nod.
A flicker of softness.

Nothing.

His jaw clenched.
His eyes hardened.