FOREVER ISN’T LOVE.

BY ARADHEY THAPLI

THE BEGINNING

FOREVER ISN’T LOVE

CHAPTER 1: THE BEGINNING

AVA NEVER BELIEVED IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT, YET WHEN SHE MET LIAM, SOMETHING SHIFTED INSIDE HER. IT WAS AUTUMN, AND THE LEAVES HAD TURNED INTO FIERY HUES OF ORANGE AND GOLD. SHE WAS SITTING IN HER FAVOURITE COFFEE SHOP, A SMALL, COZY PLACE TUCKED AWAY FROM THE CHAOS OF THE CITY. LIAM HAD WALKED IN, SHAKING THE COLD FROM HIS JACKET, AND ORDERED A BLACK COFFEE. THEIR EYES MET, AND FOR A MOMENT, THE WORLD SLOWED.

AVA SMILED FIRST. LIAM HESITATED BEFORE SMILING BACK. IT WASN’T MUCH, JUST A FLEETING MOMENT, BUT SOMETHING ABOUT IT FELT SIGNIFICANT.

OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, THEY KEPT RUNNING INTO EACH OTHER. FIRST AT THE COFFEE SHOP, THEN AT THE BOOKSTORE NEARBY, AND FINALLY AT A MUTUAL FRIEND’S PARTY. IT WAS AS IF THE UNIVERSE KEPT PUSHING THEM TOGETHER. AND ONE EVENING, UNDER THE DIM GLOW OF STREETLIGHTS, LIAM FINALLY ASKED HER OUT.

THEIR LOVE WAS INSTANT, INTENSE, AND ALL-CONSUMING. THEY SPENT HOURS TALKING ABOUT THEIR DREAMS, THEIR CHILDHOODS, AND THE THINGS THAT KEPT THEM AWAKE AT NIGHT. AVA PAINTED WITH WORDS; SHE WAS A WRITER, WEAVING STORIES FROM HER EMOTIONS. LIAM, ON THE OTHER HAND, LIVED IN LOGIC. HE WAS AN ARCHITECT, A MAN WHO BUILT SOLID, TANGIBLE THINGS. THEY WERE OPPOSITES IN MANY WAYS, YET THEY FIT TOGETHER EFFORTLESSLY.

“FOREVER,” LIAM WHISPERED ONE NIGHT AS THEY LAY ON THE ROOFTOP OF HIS APARTMENT, STARING AT THE STARS. “I WANT THIS TO LAST FOREVER.”

AVA TURNED HER HEAD AND SMILED AT HIM. “FOREVER,” SHE AGREED.

THEY DIDN’T KNOW THEN THAT FOREVER WASN’T LOVE.

CHAPTER 2: THE CRACKS APPEAR

AT FIRST, EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT. THEY TRAVELLED TOGETHER, LAUGHED OVER BURNT DINNERS, AND LEFT EACH OTHER LOVE NOTES IN THE MOST UNEXPECTED PLACES. LOVE, IN ITS RAWEST FORM, SURROUNDED THEM.

BUT THEN, CRACKS BEGAN TO APPEAR—SMALL AT FIRST, LIKE HAIRLINE FRACTURES IN GLASS.

LIAM STARTED WORKING LATE. “IT’S JUST THIS PROJECT,” HE WOULD SAY. “ONCE IT’S DONE, I’LL HAVE MORE TIME.”

AVA UNDERSTOOD, BUT THE EMPTY DINNERS AND COLD SIDE OF THE BED MADE HER FEEL LONELIER THAN SHE EVER HAD WHEN SHE WAS ALONE.

SHE, TOO, HAD BEGUN TO CHANGE. WRITING, ONCE HER ESCAPE, STARTED TO FEEL LIKE A BURDEN. DEADLINES LOOMED OVER HER, AND SHE GREW MORE IRRITABLE. LIAM NOTICED, BUT INSTEAD OF ASKING, HE WITHDREW.

ONE EVENING, SHE SAT AT THEIR FAVOURITE COFFEE SHOP, WAITING. LIAM HAD PROMISED TO MEET HER AFTER WORK, BUT AN HOUR PASSED, THEN TWO. WHEN HE FINALLY ARRIVED, BREATHLESS AND FULL OF APOLOGIES, SOMETHING IN AVA SNAPPED.

“YOU DIDN’T EVEN TEXT,” SHE SAID, STIRRING HER COFFEE, HER VOICE DEVOID OF WARMTH.

“I LOST TRACK OF TIME,” LIAM ADMITTED, RUBBING THE BACK OF HIS NECK. “YOU KNOW HOW IT IS WITH WORK.”

“THAT’S ALWAYS YOUR EXCUSE,” SHE MUTTERED.

THEY SAT IN SILENCE, THE WEIGHT OF UNSPOKEN WORDS PRESSING BETWEEN THEM.

LOVE STILL EXISTED, BUT IT HAD BEGUN TO FEEL LIKE SOMETHING THEY HAD TO HOLD ONTO RATHER THAN SOMETHING THAT CARRIED THEM EFFORTLESSLY.

CHAPTER 3: THE BREAKING POINT

IT WASN’T ONE BIG FIGHT THAT ENDED THEM. IT WAS THE SMALL THINGS—THE FORGOTTEN GOODNIGHT KISSES, THE RUSHED “I LOVE YOU” TEXTS, THE WAY THEIR HANDS NO LONGER FOUND EACH OTHER IN THE DARK.

ONE NIGHT, AVA FOUND HERSELF STARING AT LIAM AS HE WORKED LATE AGAIN, HIS FACE ILLUMINATED BY THE COLD GLOW OF HIS LAPTOP. HE HADN’T NOTICED HER WALK IN. HE HADN’T LOOKED UP WHEN SHE SAT ACROSS FROM HIM. AND IN THAT MOMENT, SHE REALIZED SOMETHING TERRIFYING.

THEY WERE STILL TOGETHER, BUT THEY HAD STOPPED BEING IN LOVE.

SHE STOOD UP, THE CHAIR SCRAPING AGAINST THE FLOOR. LIAM FINALLY LOOKED AT HER, CONFUSED.

“I DON’T THINK THIS IS WORKING ANYMORE,” SHE WHISPERED.

LIAM BLINKED. “AVA… WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?”

“I’M SAYING THAT LOVE SHOULDN’T FEEL THIS HEAVY.” HER VOICE TREMBLED, BUT SHE HELD HIS GAZE. “WE KEEP TRYING TO FIX THIS, TO FORCE IT, BUT MAYBE… MAYBE LOVE ISN’T SUPPOSED TO LAST FOREVER.”

HE STARED AT HER FOR A LONG TIME. AND THEN, HE NODDED, JUST ONCE.

MAYBE HE HAD KNOWN IT TOO.

CHAPTER 4: LETTING GO

THE BREAKUP WASN’T DRAMATIC. THERE WERE NO SCREAMING MATCHES, NO SHATTERED PLATES. JUST QUIET HEARTBREAK AND UNDERSTANDING. THEY PACKED THEIR THINGS SEPARATELY, EXCHANGING SOFT SMILES AND WHISPERED GOODBYES.

AVA MOVED INTO A SMALL APARTMENT NEAR THE PARK WHERE SHE USED TO WRITE. LIAM BURIED HIMSELF IN WORK, DESIGNING BUILDINGS FOR OTHER PEOPLE WHILE HIS OWN WORLD CRUMBLED.

FOR WEEKS, THEY AVOIDED EACH OTHER. BUT LOVE—TRUE LOVE—NEVER REALLY DISAPPEARS, DOES IT?

ONE EVENING, AVA FOUND HERSELF AT THEIR OLD COFFEE SHOP. SHE SAT BY THE WINDOW, WATCHING THE WORLD MOVE ON. AND THEN, A SHADOW FELL OVER HER TABLE.

LIAM.

“HEY,” HE SAID, HESITANT.

“HEY,” SHE REPLIED.

THEY SAT IN SILENCE FOR A MOMENT BEFORE HE FINALLY SPOKE. “I MISS YOU.”

AVA EXHALED. “I MISS YOU TOO.”

BUT MISSING WASN’T ENOUGH TO REBUILD WHAT HAD ALREADY FALLEN APART.

“I THINK WE WERE MEANT TO LOVE EACH OTHER,” SHE SAID SOFTLY. “JUST… NOT FOREVER.”

LIAM SWALLOWED HARD. “YEAH. I THINK YOU’RE RIGHT.”

AND WITH THAT, THEY SMILED—A REAL, GENUINE SMILE—FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME.

EPILOGUE

AVA WROTE A BOOK ABOUT LOVE, ABOUT HOW SOMETIMES THE GREATEST LOVE STORIES AREN’T THE ONES THAT LAST FOREVER, BUT THE ONES THAT CHANGE US.

LIAM TRAVELLED, DESIGNING BUILDINGS IN PLACES HE’D NEVER THOUGHT HE’D SEE. HE MET PEOPLE, MADE MEMORIES, AND LEARNED THAT LOVE DOESN’T ALWAYS COME ONCE.

THEY WERE HAPPY. APART, BUT HAPPY.

BECAUSE FOREVER ISN’T LOVE.

LOVE IS NOW.

AND SOMETIMES, THAT’S ENOUGH.

The end*****

thank you everyone for reading as this is a short story with one and only episode I hope everyone who is reading this like it