📖 Echo 4 | Fear Stood Between Them
Echo 4: Fear Stood Between Them Echoes from Unrequited Love Fear Stood Between Them They were not sitting together. They never did. But they were in the same place. The café was louder than usual. Laughter from nearby tables. The clink of cups. A song playing faintly somewhere behind the counter. Pawan kept glancing at the door. Babli noticed. “You’re uncomfortable,” she said, her voice low. “No… I’m fine,” he replied too quickly. Her phone vibrated. She looked at the screen and her expression changed, just slightly. “My brother’s driver,” she said quietly. Pawan’s chest tightened. “Maybe… you should go,” he said, not meeting her eyes. She looked at him then. Really looked. “Why are you always afraid?” she asked. Not angry. Just tired. He wanted to say: Because if anything happens, you’ll pay the price, not me. Because I don’t know how to protect you from the world around us. Instead, he said, “I don’t want trouble.” She stood up. “Sometimes,” she said gently, “silence hurts more than ...