Three months.

  It had been three months since I stepped into his apartment and decided, without hesitation, that I belonged nowhere else.

  Three months since I learned how the sunlight touched him through the window each morning, how he stirred awake with a soft groan, rubbing his eyes and blinking at me like he still didn’t believe I was real.

  Three months since I started learning the rhythm of his life—the way he liked his coffee, the silence he carried, the occasional smile he didn’t know he gave when watching something quietly.

  And in those three months…

  I fell in love with him.

  There was no gentleness in how it happened. No quiet transition or romantic buildup. It was sudden, overwhelming, terrifying. I didn’t know how to have feelings like this, much less carry them properly.

  But I knew one thing with absolute certainty:

  I wanted to be with him.

  Not just near him.

  With him.

  In the way where his pain would be mine, his joy something I’d cradle in my chest, his name a prayer I'd whisper every morning.

  But every time I tried to confess, the words caught in my throat.

  What if he didn’t feel the same?

  What if I ruined everything?

  What if he still saw me as the girl who barged into his life with obsessions instead of love?

  I sat by the window today, watching him put on his shoes, ready to go out.

  His side profile looked gentle in the afternoon light. He always furrowed his brows when tying his laces. Concentrated. Simple things like this… I noticed them all.

  I stood up and walked closer. My heart was pounding.

  "Haider…" I said softly.

  He glanced up at me. "Hmm?"

  I clasped my hands behind me, rocking slightly on my heels. "I… I wanted to tell you something."

  He blinked, half-smiling. "Can it wait a few minutes? I’ll be right back."

  I opened my mouth, paused, then nodded. "Okay."

  He gave a small nod and left.

  The door closed behind him.

  I exhaled, my hand going to my chest. My heart was racing so fast it hurt.

  I looked around the room. Everything was still. Quiet. Familiar. Ours.

  I turned to the mirror and muttered under my breath: "You can do this, Ayesha. You love him. You love him."

  My lips curled up involuntarily. Just saying it in my head made my chest feel light.

  He’s going to come back. I’ll tell him. We’ll laugh. Maybe cry. Maybe…

  Maybe kiss.

  My face flushed and I covered it with both hands, pacing the room like a nervous schoolgirl.

  "I’m not obsessed," I whispered to myself, smiling like an idiot. "I just… love him. That’s different. Right?"

  Outside, the sky was calm.

  Unaware.

  (Scene Shift: Haider’s POV)

  I stepped out into the sunlight, trying to calm my nerves.

  Three months. That’s how long it took me to be sure.

  I loved her.

  Not just in the way you love someone’s presence.

  But in the way your body starts to feel like theirs is the missing piece.

  Every smile. Every awkward cup of tea. Every accidental brush of her hand against mine.

  I was done pretending I didn’t feel it.

  She changed me.

  Even in the silence, she healed things I didn’t know were broken. My fears. My doubts. My loneliness.

  I wanted her. And I wanted to give her something—something small, maybe silly, but from the heart.

  A ring.

  I didn’t have much. I’d been saving small amounts from the part-time job, skipping out on snacks, quietly cutting corners for weeks just to afford a modest one. Nothing flashy. Just silver, with a small stone that shimmered like her eyes when she looked at me too long.

  The jewelry store was on the corner of the alley near the market. I walked in, picked up the ring I had reserved last week, handed over the saved cash, and stepped out with a ridiculous grin on my face.

  She’s going to cry, I thought.

  Or maybe punch me and then cry.

  I slid the ring into my pocket.

  That’s when the blast hit.

  It wasn’t a sound—it was a force.

  One second I was walking, the next I was on the ground, ears ringing, dust choking the air, screams filling the sky.

  The alley behind me was a cloud of flame and smoke.

  The shop I just left—gone.

  What the hell—

  My body ached. My heart pounded. I reached for the ring in my pocket. Still there. My clothes were burned at the edges, but I wasn’t seriously hurt.

  Then I saw someone—an older man, crawling out from under debris. He looked at me, eyes wide.

  And then… he looked at my pocket.

  The one I had just put something into.

  His expression changed.

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  He grabbed his phone.

  Panic crawled up my spine.

  No. Wait. This—this is—

  (Scene Shift: Military Barricade – Ten Minutes Later)

  I ran.

  Fast.

  Every corner I turned, my lungs begged for air. My legs burned. But I didn’t stop.

  There was only one thought in my mind—get home. Get to her.

  Ayesha would believe me. She had to. She always did.

  But halfway through the winding road that led to our apartment—

  Lights. Sirens. Screams. Chaos.

  The world erupted in flashing red and blue.

  A wall of armored vehicles blocked the street. Dozens of boots thundered against the asphalt. Men in black vests and rifles stormed out like a wave of judgment crashing down.

  I stumbled back, blinded.

  "GET ON THE GROUND!"

  "HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!"

  I froze, heart slamming in my ribs.

  “What… what the hell is going on!?”

  From behind the barricade, a tall man in a military uniform approached—expression blank, eyes sharp like they’d already made up their mind.

  “You were seen exiting the blast site moments before detonation,” he said coldly. “A witness confirms a suspicious object was placed in your pocket. Shop destroyed. Civilians dead.”

  “No! No, you’ve got it all wrong!” I shouted, chest heaving. “It was just a ring! I bought a ring—for her!”

  My hand shot toward my pocket—

  "DON’T MOVE!"

  Guns cocked. Red dots danced across my chest.

  A hush fell over the soldiers as another figure emerged—sleek black suit, polished shoes, earpiece.

  He whispered into the officer’s ear.

  A pause.

  The officer turned back to me, and in that moment, I knew.

  He had made his choice.

  “Terminate him,” he said. “Close the case.”

  “What? No, wait—WAIT!” I screamed, stepping back, holding both hands in the air. “You don’t understand! I didn’t—!”

  Muzzles flashed.

  Pain.

  A burning, all-consuming pain tore through my chest.

  I fell to my knees.

  The world tilted sideways.

  Sirens faded. The sky dimmed. My body felt cold.

  And as I hit the ground, one thought screamed louder than all the rest—

  Ayesha.

  Please let her know—

  It was always her.

  Always.

  (Scene Shift: Ayesha’s POV)

  I was watching the news.

  Just waiting for him to come home

  I wanted to tell him how much i love him.

  Then—

  His name.

  His face.

  That alley.

  I blinked. Sat up.

  The screen showed him handcuffed, surrounded by armed men. Someone was shouting over the footage, calling him a terrorist.

  My heart stopped.

  Haider.

  My body moved before I could think.

  I don’t even remember grabbing my shoes.

  I just ran.

  Everything outside blurred. I could barely see the street. Horns, shouting, people turning to look—but none of it registered. My heartbeat drowned out everything.

  I pushed through the crowd, past the barricades. Someone yelled at me to stop.

  I didn’t.

  And then I saw him.

  Lying on the pavement.

  Blood spreading under him.

  I dropped to my knees. Pulled him into my arms.

  “Haider—Haider—no, no, no—please, look at me—stay awake—!”

  His eyes barely moved. His breath was shallow, ragged.

  I reached for my phone, but his hand caught mine.

  It trembled.

  “Ayesha…” he whispered.

  “I’m here. I’m right here, okay? You’re gonna be okay, I promise—”

  He slid something into my palm.

  Cold. Small.

  A ring.

  “I… lov—”

  And then… nothing.

  His eyes went still.

  His chest didn’t rise again.

  For a second, I couldn’t breathe.

  Then I screamed.

  “NO. NO—YOU CAN’T—YOU CAN’T DO THIS—!”

  I shook him. Held him tighter. Rocked back and forth.

  “I love you! Do you hear me!? I LOVE YOU! Please come back…”

  My hands were covered in his blood. My skirt was soaked. But none of it mattered.

  He was still.

  And I couldn’t feel anything but the hole tearing through me.

  Then I heard it—

  Gunshots.

  Sharp, sudden. Too close.

  Something hot tore through my side. I gasped. Fell next to him.

  The world tilted. My vision blurred. My body went cold.

  But I reached out. Just far enough to touch his hand.

  “Even if I have to erase the entire world…”

  “I’ll find you.”

  Everything went dark.

  (Beyond the Mortal World)

  "Somewhere beyond the sky and stars, a divine being was watching everything, just as it had watched this happen millions of times before."

  Let me know if you'd like it to sound more poetic or dramatic.

  It smiled.

  “Fragile little things,” it murmured. “But that scream… I felt it amusing.”

  “Now, shall we try one last time?”

  One finger raised, like drawing a curtain closed.

  “Let’s end this… in the next reincarnation.”