Payel stared at the screen for a long moment.
She read every message once.
Then again.
And then one more time.
It wasn't because she hadn't understood what Sarthak had written.
It was because she had never imagined that someone had been carrying so many feelings for her... silently... for so many years.
She leaned back against her pillow and closed her eyes.
"Sarthak..." she whispered to herself.
"So all this time..."
A notification interrupted her thoughts.
Sarthak was online.
He wasn't typing.
He wasn't sending more messages.
He was simply waiting.
Waiting for whatever answer she chose to give.
Payel took a deep breath before finally replying.
"Sarthak..."
"Can I ask you something?"
His reply came within seconds.
"Anything."
She smiled faintly.
"Promise you'll answer honestly?"
"I promise."
She looked at the keyboard for a few moments before asking the question that had been bothering her the most.
"Have you ever had a girlfriend before?"
Sarthak smiled sadly.
He had expected that question.
"No."
Payel frowned.
"Never?"
"Never."
"Not even a crush before me?"
He chuckled softly.
"A crush... maybe. But love?"
"Never."
"You're the first girl I've ever loved."
Payel didn't reply immediately.
Instead, another question appeared.
"Then why didn't you tell me before?"
Sarthak looked at her message for a long time.
There were hundreds of answers.
But only one truth.
"Because I was scared."
"Scared?"
"Yes."
"Scared that if you rejected me... I'd lose even the friendship we had."
"I thought staying silently in love with you was less painful than losing you completely."
For the first time that night...
Payel felt her heart becoming heavy.
She had never imagined that someone could hide feelings for so long just to protect a friendship.
After a minute, another message appeared.
"When did you realize it wasn't just attraction?"
Sarthak smiled.
His fingers moved slowly.
"The day I started praying for your happiness more than my own."
"The day seeing you smile became enough to make my entire day better."
"The day you wore that blue kurta to school."
Payel blinked.
"You remember that?"
"How could I forget?"
"You looked... beautiful."
"No..."
"Beautiful isn't even the right word."
"You looked breathtaking."
Payel's cheeks turned pink.
She stared at the screen without typing.
Sarthak continued.
"I wanted to tell you."
"I really did."
"But I was afraid you'd misunderstand me."
"So I smiled... kept my feelings to myself... and pretended everything was normal."
A small smile appeared on Payel's face.
No one had ever remembered something so small about her.
She typed again.
"Tell me honestly..."
"What do you even see in me?"
Sarthak laughed softly.
"Do you really want the full answer?"
"Yes."
He smiled.
"Then it'll take a while."
"I've got time," she replied.
Sarthak took a deep breath.
"I love the way you smile even when you're tired."
"I love how you never make anyone feel left out."
"I love how you respect teachers."
"I love how you always try to help people without expecting anything in return."
"I love how you celebrate everyone else's success as if it were your own."
"And I love the fact that, even after everything, you've never tried to become someone you're not."
He paused before sending one final message.
"I didn't fall in love because you're perfect."
"I fell in love because you're you."
Payel read those words again.
And again.
Without realizing it...
She smiled.
For the first time that night, the confusion inside her heart became a little quieter.
But there were still many questions left to ask.
The questions didn't stop.
If anything, Payel seemed to have more of them now.
Every time Sarthak thought she had finally reached the end, another message appeared on his screen.
"Okay... one last question."
Sarthak smiled.
He had heard that sentence at least ten times already.
"You said you love me. But what exactly do you expect from me?"
This time, Sarthak didn't answer immediately.
He stared at the question carefully.
Because this was perhaps the most important thing she had asked him all night.
Finally, he typed.
"Nothing."
Payel frowned.
"Nothing?"
"Nothing that you don't want to give."
"I told you how I feel because I wanted you to know the truth. Not because I wanted to put pressure on you."
He continued.
"I don't want you to say yes because you feel bad for me."
"I don't want you to say yes because I've loved you for a long time."
"And I definitely don't want you to say yes because you're scared that saying no will hurt me."
"If you don't feel the same way, tell me. It'll hurt, obviously. But I'll respect your decision."
Payel stared at the screen.
There was something about that answer that made her heart feel strangely warm.
She typed again.
"And if I say yes?"
Sarthak's heart stopped for half a second.
He read the message twice.
Then a nervous smile appeared on his face.
"Then..."
He stopped.
Deleted what he'd written.
Typed something else.
Deleted that too.
Finally:
"Then I'll probably forget how to behave normally around you."
Payel laughed.
"You already don't behave normally."
Sarthak immediately replied:
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing 😂"
He smiled at the screen.
For a few seconds, neither of them said anything.
Then Payel's expression became serious again.
"Sarthak, there's something else I want to know."
"Ask."
"How long have you actually loved me?"
This time his answer came without hesitation.
"From the first time we met."
Payel's eyes softened.
"You mean that programme?"
"Yes."
"Even before we properly became friends?"
"Yes."
"How can you love someone you barely know?"
Sarthak leaned back and stared at the ceiling.
He had thought about that question many times.
"I don't know if I can explain it properly."
"I didn't know your favourite food."
"I didn't know what made you angry."
"I didn't know what made you laugh."
"I didn't know your fears."
"I didn't know your dreams."
"But I knew I wanted to know them."
Payel stopped typing.
Sarthak continued.
"Maybe I didn't fall in love with the person I knew at that moment."
"Maybe I fell in love with the person I wanted to know."
"And then, as I got to know you, that feeling only became stronger."
Payel's fingers rested motionless over the keyboard.
That answer had touched something inside her.
Still, she wasn't ready to give him an answer.
Not yet.
She asked about his childhood.
His family.
His ambitions.
His friendships.
His fears.
The things he regretted.
The things he wanted to achieve.
She even asked him what he thought love actually meant.
Sarthak answered everything.
There was no attempt to make himself look perfect.
When Payel asked about his mistakes, he admitted them.
When she asked about his weaknesses, he didn't hide them.
When she asked what he was afraid of, he finally confessed the one fear that had been sitting quietly inside him for years.
"Losing people I care about."
Payel replied:
"And you're not afraid of losing me?"
Sarthak stared at that message.
His eyes became slightly moist.
"Every single day."
"That's why I was scared to tell you."
"Because you weren't just someone I loved."
"You were someone I couldn't imagine losing."
The conversation continued.
Ten minutes became thirty.
Thirty became an hour.
And eventually, an hour became nearly two.
Neither of them noticed how quickly time had passed.
The world outside had become completely quiet.
Most people were probably asleep.
But Sarthak and Payel were still there, two people sitting on opposite sides of a screen, slowly opening pieces of their hearts to each other.
Payel finally sent:
"Sarthak?"
"Hmm?"
"I think I understand now."
His heartbeat immediately increased.
"Understand what?"
There was a long pause.
The typing indicator appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared again.
Then finally...
Her message arrived.
"fine , let's give 'us' a chance ... ✨ it's a yes ..."
Sarthak froze.
He didn't blink.
He didn't breathe.
He simply stared at the screen.
He read it once.
Then twice.
Then again.
His brain refused to believe it.
"It's a yes."
Those words kept repeating inside his head.
"Yes."
She had said yes.
Payel had actually said yes.
The girl he had secretly loved for so long had just given him a chance.
A chance to become us.
His hands started trembling.
Then suddenly—
"YESSSSSSS!"
Sarthak jumped off his bed.
He didn't even realize how loudly he had shouted.
He jumped again.
And again.
He grabbed his pillow and threw it into the air.
"YES!"
He started pacing around his room like a madman.
"She said yes!"
He couldn't stop smiling.
He wanted to run outside and tell the whole world.
He wanted to scream from the rooftop.
He wanted to dance.
He wanted to laugh.
He wanted to cry.
Everything was happening at once.
His phone vibrated.
Payel: "Are you okay? 😂"
Sarthak immediately typed:
"NO!"
"I'M NOT OKAY!"
"I'M THE HAPPIEST PERSON ALIVE RIGHT NOW!"
Payel sent a laughing emoji.
"Why are you shouting?"
"BECAUSE YOU SAID YES!"
"My ears are hurting from here 😂"
Sarthak laughed.
He sat down on the edge of his bed, still unable to calm himself.
His cheeks hurt from smiling.
His heart felt unbelievably light.
After years of hiding his feelings, he finally had something he had never dared to hope for.
Her.
Not completely.
Not forever.
Not yet.
But she had given them a chance.
And for Sarthak...
That was everything.
Their conversation should have ended there.
It should have been the perfect place to say goodnight.
But neither wanted to leave.
One message became another.
Then another.
They started talking about everything and nothing.
They teased each other.
They laughed about their first meeting.
Payel told him how ridiculous he had looked trying to act confident when they first met.
Sarthak immediately defended himself.
"I was nervous!"
"You? Nervous?"
"Yes!"
"The great debate champion?"
"Don't remind me."
"You could speak in front of hundreds of people but couldn't talk properly to me?"
Sarthak smiled.
"Because they weren't you."
There was silence.
Payel didn't reply for several seconds.
Then:
"That was smooth."
"I wasn't trying to be smooth."
"Sure."
They laughed again.
They talked about their first impressions of each other.
Payel admitted that she had found Sarthak confident when they first met.
Sarthak admitted that he had been completely terrified.
She asked him about the blue kurta memory.
He described it with such detail that she eventually laughed.
"You seriously remember what I wore?"
"Of course."
"You're impossible."
"And you're beautiful."
This time Payel didn't argue.
She simply sent:
"Good night, Sarthak."
He looked at the clock.
His eyes widened.
1:00 A.M.
They had been talking for hours.
Yet somehow, neither felt tired.
Sarthak looked at her last message.
His fingers moved over the keyboard.
He stopped.
There were some words that he had already said many times that night.
But suddenly, he wanted to say them again.
Not because she had said yes.
Not because they were officially giving "us" a chance.
But because, after keeping those feelings inside for so long, he finally had the courage to say them without fear.
He typed slowly.
"Payel..."
She replied:
"Hmm?"
He stared at the screen.
Then he sent:
"I really love you."
Three simple words.
But for Sarthak, they carried years.
Years of silent smiles.
Years of stolen glances.
Years of memories he had kept hidden.
Years of wanting to say those words and being too afraid.
And now...
For the first time...
He didn't have to hide them anymore.
Payel didn't answer immediately.
Sarthak waited.
Then her reply appeared.
And whatever she said next, Sarthak knew one thing for certain—
The night he had once feared would end with rejection...
Had become the night his forever finally began.
Maybe love didn't always arrive with grand gestures.
Sometimes...
It arrived with a simple smile.
A quiet conversation.
A trembling confession.
And three words whispered at one in the morning.
I really love you.