The Return That Should Never Have Happened-- Episode 3
1244 Words
The Return That Should Never Have Happened in.
A week had passed since Ayesha walked away.
A week of nights Yasir couldn’t sleep…
A week of days he pretended to breathe.
Everyone thought he was fine.
He laughed.
He studied.
He replied “I’m okay.”
But no one knew…
Every time his phone buzzed,
his heart still whispered her name.
And every time it wasn’t her,
a piece of him fell apart silently.
He wasn’t angry.
He wasn’t hateful.
He was simply… empty.
Meanwhile, Ayesha wasn’t at peace either.
Umair had returned to her life, yes…
but something felt wrong.
His presence felt heavier now.
Clingier.
Strangely possessive.
But the real weight in her heart was something else:
Yasir’s silence.
The boy who used to message her first…
who used to wait for her good morning…
who used to care too much…
Now didn’t message at all.
And this silence…
haunted her.
One evening, after hours of hesitation,
Ayesha finally typed:
“Yasir… are you okay?”
She stared at the screen…
waiting…
regretting…
shaking.
Ten minutes passed.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Then finally…
A single message arrived:
“Yes. Hope you’re doing good too.”
Formal.
Cold.
Soft.
Polite.
But distant.
Ayesha felt a sharp sting in her chest.
This wasn’t him.
Not her Yasir.
Not the boy who once wrote,
“Talk to me… I feel incomplete without your words.”
This was a stranger.
A polite stranger.
Yasir read her message at least twenty times.
He wanted to type:
“I’m not okay.”
“You broke me.”
“Why did you leave?”
“I still miss you.”
But he typed none of that.
He chose the safest reply.
The most mature reply.
The most heart-shattering reply:
“I’m good.”
Because he knew…
If he opened his heart again,
even one inch…
he would fall apart completely.
Ayesha couldn’t understand:
Why wasn’t he asking about her?
Why wasn’t he angry?
Why wasn’t he hurt?
Why… did he sound so normal?
She typed again:
“You changed.”
Yasir read the message…
smiled painfully…
and replied:
“People grow.”
Ayesha’s chest tightened.
She didn’t want him to grow away from her.
Not like this.
Not this fast.
Umair noticed her behavior.
“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”
Ayesha froze.
Umair’s tone was sharp.
Jealous.
Possessive.
“I asked you something.”
Ayesha avoided his eyes.
“No… I was just checking a message.”
Umair didn’t believe her.
His voice dropped lower:
“Stay away from him.”
Ayesha felt something dark twist inside her.
Stay away?
From whom?
A boy who treated her with pure love?
A boy who never demanded anything?
A boy who never hurt her?
Umair had no right.
But she didn’t say it out loud.
Not yet.
Days passed.
Ayesha messaged occasionally.
Yasir replied politely every time:
Short.
Simple.
Respectful.
Neutral.
Never rude.
Never bitter.
Never desperate.
Just distant enough to protect his heart.
Just warm enough not to look cruel.
It was the hardest acting of his life.
Because behind every short reply was a long pain.
---
Page 8 – The Breaking Moment
One night, Ayesha messaged:
“Do you… hate me?”
Yasir stared at the screen.
His breath trembled.
He typed…
deleted…
typed…
deleted…
Finally he wrote:
“No. I don’t hate you. I just realized some things aren’t meant to stay.”
Ayesha felt tears sting her eyes.
She had left him…
yet she couldn’t bear losing him.
Ayesha typed with shaking fingers:
“I miss talking to you.”
Yasir’s hands froze.
His heart did what it always did when she appeared—
beat too fast, too loudly, too painfully.
But he fought it.
“You have someone now. You shouldn’t say things like this.”
Ayesha felt exposed.
Seen.
Stopped.
She whispered to herself:
“Why does it hurt so much…?”
That night, at 2:11 AM…
Ayesha called him.
His heart dropped.
His fingers shook.
But he didn’t pick up.
She tried again.
And again.
Seven missed calls.
Her final message hit him like lightning:
“Please… just one call. I can’t sleep.”
Yasir closed his eyes.
His heart wanted to run to her.
But his wounds held him back.
On the 8th call…
he answered.
Silence.
Only breathing.
Then Ayesha whispered, crying:
“Why aren’t you the same…? Why don’t you talk like before?”
Yasir’s voice was steady.
Too steady.
“Because the old me loved you.”
Ayesha’s breath broke.
He continued:
“And the new me is trying not to.”
She sobbed.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you…”
Yasir looked out his window at the quiet night.
“But you did.”
Silence again.
Pain floating between them like a ghost.
Then he said softly:
“Good night, Ayesha.”
And ended the call.
Ayesha cried until sleep stole her consciousness
Umair’s Darkness Revealed
The next morning Umair confronted her.
“Who were you talking to last night?”
Ayesha froze.
How did he know?
Umair’s eyes were sharp, unblinking.
“Ayesha… if you’re still talking to him, I swear—”
For the first time, Ayesha stepped back.
His tone scared her.
Yasir’s Falling Strength
Back in his room, Yasir stared at his phone.
He told himself:
“Be strong…”
But tears came anyway.
Quiet.
Hidden.
Unseen.
He whispered to himself:
“Why wasn’t I enough…?”
He knew she was hurting now.
He heard it in her voice.
But he also knew…
Helping her now meant destroying himself again.
Yasir typed a long message:
“I forgive you. I still care. Maybe too much. But we can’t go back. Not anymore.”
He stared at it.
A tear fell on the screen.
He deleted the message.
Every word.
Ayesha began noticing:
Umair checked her phone.
Asked too many questions.
Got angry too quickly.
Didn’t trust her.
He wasn’t the same Umair she remembered.
He wasn’t gentle.
He wasn’t warm.
And suddenly…
Yasir’s kindness became brighter in her memory.
She whispered:
“I chose wrong…”
A Dangerous Twist
Umair’s behavior grew possessive.
He didn’t want her talking to friends.
Even girls.
He wanted constant updates.
He wanted control.
Ayesha felt suffocated.
And scared.
She needed space.
She needed peace.
She needed someone to talk to…
And her heart still whispered one name:
Yasir…
Yasir Tries to Move On
Yasir deleted their old chats.
He unfollowed her.
Archived her photos.
Muted her messages.
He tried everything.
But the heart is a stubborn thing.
Every place reminded him of her.
Every joke.
Every song.
Every routine.
He whispered to himself:
“Please… just stop hurting.”
But healing doesn’t listen easily.
---
The Final Message of the Episode
That evening, Ayesha finally broke and texted:
“Yasir… can we meet once?
Just once.
I need to talk to you.”
Yasir’s breath stopped.
Meeting her meant reopening every wound.
But not meeting her…
might break her completely.
He stared at the message for a long, long time.
Then he typed:
“Where?”
Ayesha sent the location.
A small park.
The same place where she once told him:
“You make me feel safe.”
The irony burned.
He looked at the sky.
At the path ahead.
At the message.
At her name.
Then whispered:
“This time… I won’t break.”
He closed his phone.
And walked out the door.
Episode 3 ends.
- Writer
