The World That Existed Only for Them - Part 15

 

When Others Began to See

Aarav’s return was not treated as news.

He didn’t inform many people. He didn’t make plans around it. He simply resumed a life that felt familiar, as though it had been waiting patiently for him to come back and continue.

Ananya noticed the small changes first.

He waited for her after work again. Not always. Not deliberately. But often enough to feel natural. Their walks resumed, quieter than before, steadier. They spoke of the months apart without sentimentality, as if distance had been a teacher rather than a thief.

At home, Ananya’s mother began to ask more specific questions.

“Is he settled here now?”
“For now,” Ananya replied.
“Good,” her mother said, as though that answered something important.

Aarav’s sister, sharper in observation, smiled one evening and said, “You walk like someone who knows where he’s going.”

He didn’t deny it.

Neither family spoke directly. Indian homes rarely do. Instead, concern arrived as casual remarks, approval disguised as practicality.

“You should think of the future,” elders said.
They were already doing so.

One evening, as they sat on the old bench, Ananya said, “Everyone seems to think something is happening.”

Aarav smiled faintly. “Is something happening?”

She thought for a moment. “Something has been happening for a long time.”

He nodded. “Yes.”

That was all.

No proposal. No promise.

Just shared clarity.