Nysa's POV

Six months.

Six long, strange, dragging months.

I had heard everything.

That he flirted with every other girl.

That he had someone on and off.

That he changed moods like seasons — cold, unpredictable, unreachable.

Everyone had their version of him.

And I listened. I nodded. I pretended to care less each time.

But inside?

I never really stopped wondering.

Was he really all that they said?

Or… was there a version of him that no one else saw? One that I had glimpsed for a second in that corridor — not through conversation, but through silence?

I told myself I was done trying.

Done hoping.

Done waiting.

But hope — hope is stubborn.

Even when the head gives up, the heart keeps its own little flame burning quietly in some corner.

So today… I did it.

I opened Instagram.

Went to his profile.

Still private.

Still the same blank profile picture and bio that made him feel so annoyingly unreachable.

I hovered over the “Follow” button.

My heart thumped like I was about to confess a crime.

Why would he accept my request?

I’m just not a name in his mutuals.

Probably invisible.

But something in me — quiet but bold — whispered:

What if?

So I tapped it.

Sent the request.

And shut my phone off like I had thrown a stone in a lake and didn’t want to watch the ripples.

The rest of the day passed like a slow blur.

No major lectures, no drama, just routine.

But inside, I was anything but routine.

That night, just before bed, I opened Instagram again.

No expectations. Just a little ache.

Just the usual habit of reopening the door I swore I’d close.

And there it was.

That green checkmark.

That “Following” button.

That notification sitting there like a quiet miracle.

Apurv Sharma accepted your follow request.

I blinked.

Read it again.

And again.

It was real.

He had accepted.

No explanation. No reaction. No likes.

Just that quiet, simple gesture.

But to me — it felt like the universe had just breathed softly into my chest.

I didn’t scream.

I didn’t text anyone.

I just sat there, eyes wide, heart wild, as if for the first time in months…

he had seen me.

Even if it was just a virtual click.

Even if it meant nothing to him.

To me, it meant everything.

Because maybe — just maybe — this wasn’t the end of my story with him.

Maybe it was the beginning I had waited for without knowing it.

And that night, for the first time in a long time…

I smiled like a girl who had fallen again.

But this time —

I didn’t stop myself.

didn’t sleep much that night.

After six months of silence, one tap on a screen changed everything.

He had accepted my request.

Just like that.

No likes, no messages — but I didn’t need any of that.

Not yet.

Because now… I could see.

And what I saw?

It wasn’t what anyone had warned me about.

His profile wasn’t full of selfies or thirst traps or dramatic captions.

It was… soft.

Travel photos — sunsets in Himachal, laughter in Manali streets, chai in roadside stalls, goofy poses with mountains in the background.

Him standing on a cliff edge with the wind in his hair, not even looking at the camera.

Him in a hospital coat, smiling wide with two other boys, arms thrown around each other like brothers.

One of them commented "Who are you looking at there?"

He replied with a laughing emojis and "yours future sister in law"

I smiled.

Not the smirk I wore in front of my friends.

Not the fake confidence I used when I said I didn’t care.

This smile?

It was real. Warm. A little helpless.

Because as I scrolled through each post, one thing became clear:

They were wrong.

Apurv wasn’t cold or arrogant.

He just had his own circle. His own world.

And that world looked… genuine.

He didn’t post about girls.

No cringy captions. No flexing. No trying to show off.

Just him, traveling, laughing, living.

With the same three or four boys in every other photo — friends who looked like they truly knew him. Not batchmates. Not classmates. Brothers.

And I thought —

No wonder people talk.

Because sometimes, when someone shines too honestly, others can’t help but dim their light through gossip.

They don’t know him.

Not like this.

Not like I wanted to.

For the first time, I wasn’t just attracted to the version of him I built in my head.

I was curious about the real one.

The boy who made lame captions about life

The one who made faces in group photos, even in hospital coats.

The one who lived like he didn’t care what the world thought, because he knew who he was.

I watched one video again and again — him laughing so hard with his bunch

And I whispered to myself,

This is why I couldn’t let go.

Not because he was perfect.

But because somewhere inside me…

I had always believed there was more to him than what others said.

And tonight?

I had proof.

I don’t know if he’ll ever notice me.

If I’ll ever be part of that laughter.

If I’ll ever matter to him even a little.

But for now, I’ll hold on to this tiny moment.

Where I’m not just a girl who fell in love with an illusion —

but someone who saw the truth behind the noise.

And maybe… that’s enough.

For now.