Mira had always believed some places remembered people.
The cafe on the corner of Ashwood Street was one of them.
She didn’t know why her chest tightened every time she pushed open its wooden door, why the bell above it chimed like a warning instead of a welcome.
The smell of coffee and old books wrapped around her, familiar in a way that didn’t make sense.
As if she had been here before.
As if she had lived an entire life between these tables and forgotten it.
She chose the window seat.
She always did.
Outside, the city moved on cars passing, people laughing, time doing what time did best: pretending it had never been cruel.
Mira opened her notebook.
The page was blank, but her fingers trembled like they were waiting for words they already knew.
That’s when she felt it.
That quiet, unbearable pull.
The kind that didn’t announce itself loudly.
The kind that whispered.
She looked up.
He was standing near the counter.
Tall.
Still. Unmistakably out of place, like a shadow that didn’t belong to the light.
Aarav Vale didn’t look around the cafe the way first-time visitors did.
He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t search.
He already knew where everything was.
Including her.
For a moment just a moment the world stuttered.
Mira’s breath caught. Her heart reacted before her mind could, pounding like it had been waiting for him.
There was nothing dramatic about his face no exaggerated anger, no softness on display.
Just calm.
Controlled.
Dangerous in its quiet.
Their eyes met.
Something broke.
Not loudly.
Not visibly.
But deep inside her, where explanations didn’t reach.
Aarav Vale had seen her die in other worlds.
In one, she had bled in his arms under a burning sky.
In another, she had smiled at him while choosing someone else, unaware it would cost her life.
In one universe, she had loved him so fiercely that the world itself had collapsed trying to keep them apart.
And now this one.
The universe where he would not love her.
Aarav looked away first.
The decision tasted like ash.
He ordered black coffee.
No sugar.
Same as always.
Some habits survived even when universes didn’t.
He stood there, fingers clenched slightly, every muscle in his body screaming at him to leave.
Don’t sit near her.
Don’t speak to her.
Don’t remind fate that you exist.
Mira watched him like people watched storms aware they were dangerous, unable to look away.
Something about him felt unfinished.
Like a sentence cut off halfway through.
When he turned, his gaze passed over her as if she were a stranger.
That hurt more than it should have.
She didn’t know why disappointment bloomed in her chest, irrational and sharp. She didn’t know why tears threatened when he chose a seat far away, back turned, shoulders rigid.
But Aarav knew.
This distance was mercy.
If he spoke to her, the threads would tighten.
If he touched her, time would remember.
If he loved her
The universe would take her away again.
Outside, the sky darkened, clouds rolling in too fast, too suddenly.
Mira shivered, unaware that somewhere between heartbeats, reality had just been rewritten.
Aarav closed his eyes.
In every life, I chose you, he thought.
In this one… I let you go.
And Mira, staring at the rain-streaked glass, whispered to no one,
“I feel like I’ve lost something I never had.”
The universe listened.
✍️ Author’s Note (For My Lovely Readers)
Hey my lovely readers 💕
My name is Aarushi Singh Rajput you can call me Aaru 🌸
This is my story The Universe Where I Let You Go.
I poured quiet pain, destiny, and unanswered feelings into these pages.
I hope while reading, you felt something even if you couldn’t explain it.
Now tell me 🫶
1️⃣ What do you think Aarav is hiding from Mira?
2️⃣ Did you feel the connection between Mira and Aarav in their first meeting?
3️⃣ Would you choose love… if it meant risking the whole universe?
