[shailu4ever]

The moment extended

Just long enough to be noticed, to be remembered.

Then she shifted back.

But not all the way.


This time, her body stayed closer, aligned.

Her hands hovered near his waist

Thumbs brushing along the seam of his shirt as though deciding whether to pull back or give in to gravity.


And then gravity won.

Another brake

A sudden auto rickshaw veering in—and she leaned into him again.

This time, fully.

Her arms circled loosely around his torso.

Fingertips pressing into the fabric of his t-shirt.

Her cheek brushed his shoulder.

He swallowed, hard.

Her voice came a moment later—low, dry, but unmistakably warm. “Okay. Maybe I do need to hold on to you after all.”

He didn’t look back.

He just grinned. “Told you.”

She didn’t move away again.

And for the rest of the ride, they moved like that

Together.

The quiet buzz of the engine beneath them

The heat rising from the roads

Her arms loosely wrapped around his body like it had always been this way.