Aria didn't know why her heart was beating so fast.
It was just a message. Just a name lighting up her screen. Just Aiden typing… and yet, somehow, it felt like something had shifted. Something
The afternoom was quiet, her room dim except for the soft light from her phone. Her fingers hovered over the screen, uncertain. A little shaky.
Aiden:
"So ... That was unexpected...?
She hadn't meant to send the request. It was a slip. She could've ignored it, could've pretended it didn't happen. But instead she typed back.
Aria:
" yeah.. sorry ... Didn't mean to!
There was a pause. Then the typing bubble showed up. Disappeared. Showed up again.
Aiden:
" its fine .. I was just surprised but but not in a bad way."
Aria's POV
I stopped breathing for a second.
There was no teasing in his words. No smug tone hidden between the lines. For the first time, he actually sounded… real.
We really never talked online or neither offline.
We kept talking for a bit. Nothing deep, nothing dramatic. Just small stuff. Light words. But somewhere in between those short exchanges, something unfamiliar started to grow. Something soft. Warm.
Morning didn't exactly arrive it drifted in, slow and quiet, like a page being turned too gently.
I wasn't expecting anything when i woke up. No notifications. No lingering thoughts. Not even a smile.
But at 10:47 AM, my phone buzzed.
Aiden:
"hey Aria"
I blinked at the screen. my eyes stayed fixed for a moment.
He texted first.
Unsure, i typed a quick reply. Dont know why
Aria:
"Yes?".
His response came faster than she expected.
Aiden:
You said yesterday you were going to roast me. I've been waiting, you know. Mentally prepared and everything. Now go on roast me."
I read it twice. Then once more. A tiny smile crept across my face. Don't know whyy
"Oh. Right. i had said that ...just to mess with him. And then forgot about it."
"But instead of teasing him back, her reply came out softer than she thought it would."
Aria:
" i will ,i will but... I am not in the mood today"
A few minutes of silence followed.
Then
Aiden:
"hmm ...so even your mood is mysterious.. But i know you can't ... Hahah"
he made an actual, genuine laugh. Small, but real.
++++++++
They weren't having deep conversations. Nothing that could be called life-changing. Most of the time, it was nonsense. A random meme. A sarcastic comment. A message that made no sense at all.
But still… they talked. Every day.
Somehow, without realizing it, the words just kept showing up. No plan, no pressure. Just… something that happened naturally.
And that constant overthinking she always carried? It started to slip away.
The weird tension that used to exist between them? That too was slowly fading.
Things had settled quietly, almost without their permission. As if the world had taken a breath and decided for once to be still.
No big expectations. No drama.
Just something calm. Something quietly unexpected.
Aria's POV
" i am comming dad .. just let me wear my shoes...i and dad going to buy ice cream. I really love to travel even in motor bike its my hobby.
As i stepped out i starts smiling automatially i literally dont know why. Because i saw aiden it wast just smile but dont know why i am smilng?
" am i smiling after seeing aiden? But it never happens before? Am i smiling after our nonsense little talk?
"Looking at him, it felt like all my tension and overthinking just vanished. I felt so relaxed, lts feel like, 'What I wished for, I finally got."
"I am just thinking about it when I see that he was looking at me. And the moment he saw me, he suddenly stood up and there it was, his old habit fixing his hair and speaking loudly."
* i sighs *
Suddenly dad called out "aria! Aria? Sit on the bike.."
"Oh yeah! Dad lets go!"
"I am riding on the bike, but instead of looking somewhere else, he is looking at me with a faint smile on his face."
++++++++
Their eyes met. They both have softness in their eyes while looking at eachother.
It was almost midnight. The lights in Aria's room were off, just a faint glow from her phone screen lighting up her face. She lay on her side, scrolling the reels.
She locked her phone. Unlocked it again.
And then, without really thinking, she opened her chat inbox.
There was nothing new. Just old conversations, some half-ignored group chats, and her own drafts.
Still… her finger hovered.
She clicked on aiden's profile.
Her heart gave a small, unexpected thought.
Why am I doing this? she asked herself.
But before she could stop, she tapped .
No unread messages. No conversation even. Just the profile quiet and still.
She clicked on it.
His profile picture was new. She hadn't seen it before.
She scrolled down, just a little.
Followers. Following.
She wasn't snooping, just... looking. Just curious. That's what she told herself.
And then
Her finger stopped.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Wait?!"
Something hit her.
Aria sat up straight, phone still in hand. She dont know how to react on this.
She had expected to find this before but she almost forget it .
But now that she had, something inside her shifted.
Just a soft ache.
I knew this… didn't I? Then why does it feel new? Why does it still hurt? This is so weird!"
She stared at the screen, unmoving.
The silence around her grew heavier.
And in that moment, she realized
And now, she didn't know what to do with that thought.
There are moments in life when things fall into place, and you wonder why you didn't see them before. But some truths are meant to be discovered slowly, like a story unfolding in the silence between two glances. What if the truth is more than what we want to admit? What if it changes everything?
Stay tuned, the next chapter might just be the turning point you didn't expect.