DIYA'S POV
The city smelled different.
Not bad—just new. Like asphalt and fresh rain and something floral I couldn't name. The cab rolled to a stop, and I stared out at the chaos of campus, my stomach twisting.
Students everywhere. Laughing. Hugging. Belonging.
I gripped my suitcase tighter.
This was really happening.
The hostel check-in was a blur of paperwork and half-hearted instructions. My room was small—too small—with walls so bare they echoed. I dropped my bags and collapsed onto the stiff mattress, phone already in hand.
He answered on the second ring.
"Hey, you reached?"
Just the sound of his voice unknotted something in my chest. "Yeah. It's weird. Everything's so… different."
We talked about nothing—the room, the weather, the weird stain on the ceiling I couldn't identify. Then, quietly, I admitted it: "I miss you."
His voice softened. "I miss you too."
I bit my lip. "You're still starting next week, right?"
A pause. Then—
"Well…" He dragged the word out, teasing. "I was supposed to. But I kinda just moved my flight up. I'll be there in two days."
I bolted upright. "What? Seriously?"
"Yeah." His laugh was warm, reckless. "I can't sit at home pretending to focus. I miss you too much, Diya. I kinda want to be where you are."
My heart soared.
"You're insane," I breathed.
"I know." I could hear his grin. "But so are you. That's why this works."
We stayed on the call until my cheeks hurt from smiling. Until the empty room didn't feel so lonely. Until the distance between us felt temporary—because it was.
He wasn't here yet.
But he was coming.
And for the first time since I'd arrived, the world didn't feel so big.
MADDY'S POV
The second she left, the house felt wrong.
Too quiet. Too still. Like the air itself was holding its breath, waiting for her to come back.
I lasted three hours before I called the university.
"Any chance I can start early?"
The advisor hesitated. "We don't usually—"
"I'll take any slot. Any dorm. I don't care."
A pause. Then—"Two days. That's the earliest."
I booked the flight before I could overthink it.
When Diya called, I almost told her right away—but the way her voice wavered when she said "I miss you" wrecked me. So I dragged it out. Let her think I was still miles away.
Then dropped the bomb.
"I'll be there in two days."
Her gasp was everything. "What? Seriously?"
"Yeah." I grinned at the ceiling, my chest so full it ached. "I miss you too much. I kinda want to be where you are."
"You're insane," she whispered—but I heard the smile in her voice.
"I know." For you? Always.
We talked until my phone burned against my ear. She described her room in ridiculous detail—"the desk has a scratch that looks like a frowning potato"—and I promised to bring her favorite snacks.
Two days.
That's all I had to survive.
Then?
No more empty spaces. No more goodbyes.
Just her.