Aarohi couldn't breathe.
Riaan was no longer a shadow.
He stood near the window — faint, almost transparent — but real enough that her pulse felt like it might tear through her chest.
Arin held her shoulders.
"Aarohi, look at me. There's no one there."
But she wasn't looking at Arin.
She was looking at the boy who died loving her.
Riaan's eyes weren't angry.
They weren't desperate.
They were tired.
And full of something heavier than longing.
Regret.
"Aara," he said quietly.
The sound wasn't inside her head.
It wasn't memory.
It vibrated in the air.
Arin flinched at her reaction.
"What? What is he saying?"
Aarohi's lips trembled.
"He… he wants me to remember."
Riaan took a step forward.
The room temperature dropped.
Not freezing.
Just heavy.
Like the air before a storm breaks.
"You don't remember how it happened," he said.
Her heart began to race.
"I remember the rain," she whispered.
"You remember dying," he replied.
"But you don't remember why."
And the world cracked open.
---
Past Life – The Truth Begins
The rain that night wasn't romantic.
It wasn't cinematic.
It was violent.
The streets were slick. Cars moved too fast. Headlights blurred into streaks.
Aara and Riaan were arguing.
Not loudly.
But desperately.
"You shouldn't have followed me!" Aara cried, her voice shaking.
"I wasn't going to let you walk alone in this weather!" Riaan shouted back.
"You don't have to protect me from everything!"
"I know!" he yelled, breath breaking. "But I want to!"
She stopped walking.
Rain soaked her hair into her face.
"Why?" she demanded.
Riaan stared at her like she had just stabbed him.
"Because I love you! Isn't that enough reason?"
Aara's eyes filled.
"You don't get it," she whispered.
"What don't I get?"
"My life ruins people."
The words fell heavy.
"You deserve someone stronger. Someone who isn't always breaking."
Riaan stepped forward.
"You don't get to decide that for me."
Lightning split the sky.
Thunder cracked so loud it shook the air.
Aara turned away.
"You'll regret choosing me."
Riaan grabbed her wrist.
"I have never regretted you."
Aara pulled free.
"Then you're stupid."
She stepped off the curb.
That's when it happened.
Headlights.
Too close.
Too fast.
Aara didn't see it.
Riaan did.
Time slowed.
The sound of tires screeching against wet road tore through the storm.
Riaan lunged.
He pushed her.
Hard.
She stumbled backward onto the pavement.
Her head hit the ground.
The world blurred.
She saw his silhouette turn.
The car hit him first.
The sound was wrong.
Metal. Bone. Impact.
Aara screamed.
The car skidded.
Spun.
Clipped her as she tried to stand.
Pain exploded through her body.
She tasted blood.
Rain mixed with it.
Everything went white.
She crawled toward him.
Her hands shaking.
"Riaan…"
He was on the road.
Bleeding.
Still conscious.
Still looking at her.
"Are you okay?" he rasped.
She sobbed.
"You idiot… why did you push me?!"
He tried to smile.
"Because I told you… I'd run through every storm for you."
She grabbed his shirt, shaking.
"You're not allowed to leave me!"
He coughed.
Blood stained his lips.
"I'm not leaving."
Her vision dimmed.
"I can't lose you," she whispered.
"You won't," he breathed.
Her hand slipped into his.
Rain poured over both of them.
Their fingers locked.
His grip weakened.
"Aara…"
She leaned closer.
"I'm here."
He whispered it one last time.
"I love you."
Her voice broke.
"I love you too."
The world went silent.
And then—
Nothing.
---
Present
Aarohi screamed.
The memory slammed into her like a car crash inside her skull.
Arin caught her before she fell off the bed.
"What did you see?!"
She was shaking violently.
"He pushed me," she sobbed.
Arin froze.
"What?"
"He saved me. The car hit him first. I didn't remember that. I thought we both just—"
Her voice collapsed.
"He chose me. He died because he chose me."
The room felt suffocating.
Arin's grip tightened.
"That's not your fault."
Aarohi looked at him, horrified.
"I told him he'd regret loving me."
Her breath fractured.
"And then he died."
Behind her—
Riaan stepped closer.
For the first time, Arin felt something.
A shift in the air.
A presence that made his skin prickle.
Riaan's voice was softer now.
"You never ruined me, Aara."
Aarohi closed her eyes.
"I forgot," she whispered.
"I forgot that you saved me."
Riaan's expression held pain.
"You forgot that I stayed."
Arin swallowed hard.
"What is happening?" he asked quietly.
Aarohi whispered:
"He didn't move on."
Riaan's gaze didn't leave hers.
"I couldn't."
And for the first time—
She understood.
He didn't haunt her because of love.
He stayed because of guilt.
Because she survived.
And he didn't.
The truth of the accident had only begun.