The rain had started without warning.
Meera huddled beneath the awning outside the library, clutching her bag to her chest. The campus stretched quiet and empty, students scattering into buildings.
She was about to dash across the courtyard when she felt it.
That familiar weight.
She didn't have to turn. She knew.
"Aarav," she muttered, her voice tight. "Go away."
"No," he said simply, stepping beneath the awning beside her.
She squeezed her eyes shut. "I can't do this anymore. Every day you're there. Every corner I turn. Every choice I make—" Her voice cracked. "You've taken it all."
His gaze lingered on her, unreadable in the gray light. "You call it taking. I call it claiming."
Her chest tightened. "I don't belong to you."
"Yes, you do."
The words came low, absolute. He stepped closer, close enough that the rain sprayed cool mist against her skin.
She stumbled back, but the wall stopped her.
"Stop it," she whispered, though her voice trembled more with confusion than anger.
He leaned in, his breath brushing her ear. "I told you, Meera. You'll stop fighting one day."
Her heart hammered. "And if I don't?"
Aarav's lips curved faintly. "Then I'll make you."
And before she could answer, his mouth was on hers.
It wasn't gentle. It wasn't asking.
It was fire.
The kiss burned—steady, consuming, inevitable. Not rushed, not desperate, but deliberate. His hand caught the back of her neck, holding her still, while his other rested at her waist with quiet possession.
Meera's first instinct was to shove him away. To scream. To run.
But her body betrayed her. Her fingers clenched in his blazer, not pushing, not pulling, just trembling.
When he finally pulled back, his gaze locked on hers, dark and certain.
"You'll remember this every time you try to run," he murmured.
Her breath shook. "You can't just… you can't—"
"I already did."
The rain poured harder, drowning out her words. But she didn't need to say them. The trembling in her chest betrayed her enough.
Because what terrified her most wasn't the kiss itself.
It was the way part of her wanted more.