The First Song
831 Words
"Sometimes, love doesn’t hit you like lightning. It whispers through the cracks—like a voice, a laugh, a song you didn’t know you needed."
Zara sat down on the low garden wall outside the old bookstore. Her fingers brushed over her phone, but she didn’t call anyone.
Instead, she began to hum.
Soft. Melodic. A little broken. Some old Hindi tune. It was how she stayed calm.
Zara’s POV
It was stupid, I know. Humming in the dark like some dramatic film scene. But I needed it, okay? That song—it calms me when everything else doesn’t. I didn’t think anyone would hear... let alone feel it.
Aarav stood frozen in the dark.
He had heard the fight. Watched the storm. And then… Zara.
Not yelling. Not losing her sh*t. She fixed it with kindness. With peace.
He had never seen someone do that. Not like that. Not real.
And now—this voice. Again. Not just a “hello” this time. But a song. A whisper into the night.
He stepped closer.
And when she looked up at him for the first time?
She didn’t feel scared. She felt safe.
Like somehow, they both knew—something just started that can’t ever be undone.
Zara looked up, surprised to see a guy standing a few feet away.
Zara’s POV
I looked up and saw him—standing there like he didn’t belong to the noise around us. Hoodie half-zipped, hair all wild like the wind had a fight with him. For a second, I thought he’d say something cocky or weird, but he didn’t. He just looked... calm. Quiet. And for someone like me, always caught in chaos, that kind of quiet? It felt like peace.
He didn’t look like the type who talked first. Or ever.
But tonight, he broke that rule.
“Umm... hi,” Aarav said, voice lower than he meant it to be. “You okay?”
Zara blinked, still halfway in her own world. “Yeah, just… my best friend stormed off and now I’m babysitting the silence.”
Aarav chuckled softly. “Not the worst company, though.”
Zara tilted her head. “You usually talk to random girls humming at night?”
He smirked. “Only the ones who sound like they’re healing the world with their voice.”
She laughed. “You talk like a poet.”
“Nah. I just talk like someone who’s tired of people screaming.”
Zara smiled, something in her heart tugging.
“I’m Zara, by the way.”
“Aarav.”
They shared a soft silence, the kind that didn’t feel awkward, just... new.
Aarav’s POV
Zara. It just... fit. The way she said it, like it wasn’t a big deal. But damn, it was. I kept saying it in my head like I didn’t wanna forget it. She wasn’t just some girl humming under the stars. She was... something else. And I felt my walls shift the second I realized it.
Then Aarav shrugged. “Wanna sing a song?”
Zara raised an eyebrow. “Me?”
“No,” he grinned. “Me. You sang earlier, your turn to suffer now.”
She laughed, leaning in with playful eyes. “Okay, sing.”
He hesitated. “Which one?”
“Any one you like.”
“You choose.”
“No, you.”
“You’re the one forcing me.”
“Exactly. I get to watch. You get to struggle.”
He gave her a fake glare. “You’re evil.”
“And you’re stalling.”
Aarav sighed dramatically. Then, after a long pause, he started.
A damn flirty Bollywood banger. Playful lyrics. Bold delivery.
And when he stopped, he looked down like he expected laughter.
But all Zara said was, “That was awesome.”
He blinked. “You’re joking.”
“I’m serious.”
His chest tightened.
There it was again.
That kindness. That softness. That Zara.
He didn’t know what to say. So he just smiled. Small. Honest.
“Thanks.”
Aarav’s POV
I was so ready to be laughed at, man. I don’t do that kinda sh*t. But she just looked at me like I did something brave. Called it awesome like it was the easiest truth in the world. I didn’t know how much I needed to hear that until I did. In that second... I was hers, and she didn’t even know.
Zara’s POV
I wasn’t ready for that. The way he sang? God. Not perfect, but real. And the way he looked down after, like he was bracing for me to laugh? My heart flinched. Who even was this guy? Why did I suddenly want to protect him from his own doubts?
And under that quiet night sky, neither of them realized—
That moment just became a memory they'd never forget.
But as her heart fluttered, something inside whispered:
Is this the start of something beautiful... or the storm that breaks her again?
- Writer
