Chapter 35: The Fear He Finally Spoke Aloud

The phone call came in the evening.

Veeresh’s grandparents.

He listened quietly, answered respectfully, and ended the call with a short reply. When he put the phone down, his face was tense.

“We’re not going,” he said firmly.

Poornima looked up from where she was sitting.
“What do you mean?” she asked softly.
“They’re calling us. You can’t avoid them forever.”

Veeresh shook his head, agitation rising.

“Poornima, you’re not understanding,” he said, his voice breaking despite his effort to stay calm.

She stood up, sensing something deeper.

“The therapist told me,” he continued, finally letting the truth spill,
“you are healing, yes—but the trauma is still imprinted inside you.”

Her brows furrowed.

“If it hits you again,” he said, his eyes filling,
“if those words, those faces, that place triggers you even once—”

His voice cracked completely.

“It can cause a nervous breakdown. Coma. Even death.”

The word hung heavy in the room.

Veeresh stepped forward and pulled her into his arms, holding her so tightly it felt like he was afraid she might disappear.

“I don’t want to lose you,” he whispered into her hair.
“I’m finally happy—with you, with this life, with this house. Please.”

His shoulders shook.

“I can’t go back there and watch them hurt you again. I won’t survive that.”

Poornima closed her eyes.

It did hurt to hear the fear in his voice.
It did scare her.

But she lifted her hands and held his face gently, forcing him to look at her.

“Veeresh,” she said steadily,
“I know it might hurt. I know it may trigger memories.”

Her voice didn’t shake.

“But we can’t avoid life forever.”

She rested her forehead against his.

“If I run every time, I’ll never truly heal. I won’t react the way I did before. I’m not that broken girl anymore.”

She hugged him back—strong, grounding.

“I won’t leave you,” she promised.
“And you won’t lose me.”

Veeresh held her tighter, tears finally falling.

“Please don’t ever leave me,” he whispered again.

“I won’t,” she repeated softly.

And with that decision—heavy, brave, inevitable—they packed their bags.

The bus moved through familiar roads.

Toward Davangere.

The place they had once run from in pain—
and now returned to, not as broken souls,
but as two people choosing courage over fear.

This time, they weren’t coming back to be judged.

They were coming back together.