Aarav's life was simple… or at least, that's what he believed.
College, hangouts with friends, Instagram reels, late-night gaming — and in between, a few random chats. He had a rule: "Reply only when you feel like it."And most of the time… he didn't feel like it.
His phone was always in his hand, notifications kept popping up… but he would just swipe them away. To him, people were temporary — conversations too.
But there was one name that blinked on his screen every single day…
Naina.
"Good morning :)""How was your class?""Did you eat?""Are you okay?"
Every day. Without fail.
Aarav would sometimes reply — sometimes in one word, sometimes with just an emoji, and many times… he would simply see the message and ignore it.
Yet, Naina never stopped.
One night at 2:17 AM, Aarav sent a message:"Are you awake?"
Within seconds — a reply."Yes :) what happened?"
"Nothing… just couldn't sleep."
And then they talked for two hours — random, meaningless, yet somehow peaceful.
Aarav had gotten used to it…That whenever he needed someone, Naina would be there.
But he never once thought that maybe… Naina might need someone too.
One day, Naina called him.Aarav looked at the screen… her name flashing.
He smirked slightly — and cut the call.
"I'm busy," he texted.
In reality… he wasn't busy.He just didn't feel like talking.
On the other side, Naina stared at the blank screen for a few seconds.Then slowly, she typed —"Okay, take care."
For Aarav, this was normal.
For him, Naina was a comfort zone… a habit that never took a break.
But somewhere, something inside Naina was changing.
With every ignored message…With every rejected call…With every lie hidden behind "I'm busy"…
She was slowly pulling herself back.
And Aarav?
He didn't feel a thing.
He placed his phone aside…Started scrolling through reels…And didn't even think that on the other side…Someone was waiting for just one reply.
That night, Naina sent one last message:
"You've changed… or maybe I've started understanding."
Aarav opened the message… read it…And locked his phone without replying.
Seen.
Just a blue tick…That perhaps left a permanent mark on someone's heart.