Fragments by the Riverside
The days with Kunal had been warm and full of light.
We spent our evenings in small movie theaters, sharing popcorn and laughing at scenes that weren't even meant to be funny. Sometimes we would scroll through the most ridiculous, brain-rotting videos, laughing so hard that our stomachs hurt and tears streamed down our faces. On quieter nights, we walked under dim streetlights, our shoulders brushing as we talked about dreams, fears, and meaningless little things that somehow felt important at 1 a.m.
I had done everything I once wished for.
And tonight, for the first time, I had invited Kunal to dinner at my house.
---
I stood in the main hall long before he was supposed to arrive.
The house was calm, the faint aroma of spices drifting in from the kitchen where my mother was preparing dinner. I wore my best outfit—a soft pastel dress that fit me perfectly, elegant but not too flashy. My hair was neatly styled, falling gently over my shoulders. I kept staring at the front door as if willing it to open.
My eyes were locked on it so intensely that I didn't notice Hritik until he spoke.
"What exactly are you trying to do?" my younger brother said lazily from behind me. "If you're planning to pierce a hole through the door with your eyes, you're doing an exceptional job."
I rolled my eyes at him, pretending to be annoyed.
"Ahhh, I-I mean…" he continued dramatically, walking over and dropping onto the couch beside me. "Why are you dressed like this? At home, of all places? You live in pajamas—even when guests come over. Are you going somewhere fancy for dinner or something?"
He fired off his questions one after another, his tone playful but suspicious.
"I'm not going anywhere," I replied, trying to sound calm.
He narrowed his eyes at me, clearly unconvinced, then shrugged. "Whatever. I'm going back to my room."
"Just go and study for your entrance—" I began.
The doorbell rang.
My heart skipped.
Without finishing my sentence, I rushed toward the door. I stopped just before opening it, taking a deep breath. I quickly checked my reflection in the nearby mirror—fixed a strand of hair, smoothed my dress, straightened my posture.
Calm down, I told myself.
Then I opened the door.
"Welcome, Kunal!" I said, trying to keep my voice steady.
"Oh, hi!" he replied, looking pleasantly surprised.
He stood there in baggy blue jeans and a black hoodie, his hair slightly messy in that effortless way. His expression was soft and a little shy, like he wasn't sure what kind of evening awaited him.
"Can I come in?" he asked politely.
"Yeah, of course," I said, stepping aside and opening the door wider.
---
We sat together on the couch in the living room. Kunal had brought a basket of fresh fruits and a neatly packed box of premium biscuits.
"These are for you," he said, handing them to me.
I took them quickly and hurried to pass them to my mom in the kitchen—so quickly that I completely forgot to say thank you or even ask why he brought them. The basic formalities slipped my mind.
My thoughts were too busy racing.
When I returned and sat down, there was a brief, awkward silence.
"So…" Kunal began, glancing at my outfit and then around the house. "Are we going out to a fancy restaurant for dinner?"
"No," I replied immediately.
He blinked. "Oh. Then… do you usually wear this kind of clothes at home?" he asked carefully. "Don't you feel uncomfortable? I mean—it's just my personal opinion."
I straightened slightly. "No. I always wear this type of clothes at home. It's comfortable for me. That's my opinion."
"O… okay," he said quickly, nodding as if not wanting to offend me.
The air between us felt slightly tense, filled with unspoken nerves and shy expectations.
It was our first dinner together at my home.
And neither of us knew exactly how to act.
"Ohhh, I knew it! Gotcha! I knew my hunch was right!"
Hritik's voice burst into the room as he stormed out of his bedroom like a detective who had just solved a major case.
"H–Hritik?!" I mumbled, my heart nearly jumping out of my chest.
"Huh?" Kunal let out a confused sound, looking between the two of us.
Hritik crossed his arms and pointed dramatically at me. "Seriously. You're wearing a fancy dress. You styled your hair. You've been staring at the door for the past ten minutes like a heroine waiting for her dramatic entrance scene. And you expect me to believe this is normal?"
My face burned.
"You don't have to hide it from me," he continued, stepping closer. "You're going out with your crush. Fine. But as your responsible younger brother, I need to properly evaluate him. I need to see what kind of gu—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
His expression changed.
The playful smugness drained from his face. His eyes widened slightly, as if something had just clicked into place.
He stared at Kunal.
Not casually. Not teasingly.
Stared.
"Huh?" Kunal shifted uncomfortably under the sudden intensity. "Is… something wrong?"
Hritik took a small step forward, his voice dropping into something almost disbelieving.
"Big bro…?"
The words fell heavily into the room.
My breath caught in my throat.
"What?" I whispered.
Kunal frowned slightly. "Big… bro?"
Hritik looked at him as if he were seeing someone he had lost.
"It's you… right?" he said quietly now. "Big bro Kunal?"
The air in the living room turned thick.
Confusion flickered across Kunal's face. He searched Hritik's expression, trying to understand. "We've met before?" he asked carefully.
But Hritik wasn't smiling anymore. There was no teasing left in him.
Only shock. And something else.
Recognition.
.....
Lately, she had been appearing in my dreams.
At first, it was just fragments — a pair of almond-shaped eyes looking at me with quiet warmth, sharp eyebrows that gave her a determined yet innocent expression, and a small, delicate nose that made her face unforgettable. Her beauty wasn't loud or dramatic. It was soft. Familiar. Comforting.
Every time I woke up, that face lingered in my mind.
And recently… that face started to look exactly like Tanvi.
Maybe that was why I began spending more time with her. Why I felt strangely at ease around her, like I had known her longer than I actually had. Every laugh we shared, every late-night conversation — it all felt natural. As if I was returning to something I had once lost.
Tonight, I was at her house for dinner.
From the moment I stepped in, things felt slightly chaotic. She looked… different. Dressed up. Nervous. Her younger brother was teasing her. I tried to keep up with the energy in the room, but there was a strange tension beneath it all — something I couldn't quite understand.
Then her brother came out again.
At first, he was joking, talking about "checking me out" like some protective sibling. I was confused but amused.
And then he stopped.
His expression changed completely.
He stared at me.
Not like someone meeting a stranger.
Like someone who had found something long lost.
"It's you, right? Big bro Kunal?" he said, his voice trembling slightly. "It's been so long. I heard you were really badly hurt… I'm glad you seem okay. I just remembered — you were at the riverside that day and—"
Riverside.
The word echoed inside my head.
Suddenly, something shifted.
Images flashed behind my closed eyelids before I even realized I had shut them.
Water reflecting the orange glow of sunset.
Laughter.
Tanvi standing beside me — closer than she is now. Closer in a way that felt deeper. More intimate.
A loud screech.
Blinding headlights.
A sharp impact.
My chest tightened.
I tried to focus, to grab onto the memories before they slipped away.
I saw Tanvi's face again — but this time not from a dream. She was crying. Calling my name.
My head began to throb violently.
"I… I…" My breathing became uneven.
The more I forced myself to remember, the worse the pain became — like something inside my skull was resisting being uncovered.
Ahhhhh!
I grabbed my head, fingers digging into my hair as the pain exploded behind my eyes.
"Kunal?!" I heard Tanvi's voice, distant and panicked.
The room felt like it was spinning.
The riverside.
That day.
An accident.
Something happened.
Something important.
And I had forgotten it.
The pain intensified, blurring my vision.
I tried to hold onto the images — Tanvi's hand in mine, her laughter, the promise in her eyes — but they shattered like broken glass.
Everything went white.
....
"Kunal!"
His scream tore through the room.
He clutched his head with both hands, fingers tangled in his hair as if trying to physically hold himself together. His face had gone pale — not just surprised pale, but drained, as though all the color had been pulled out of him in an instant.
Then suddenly, his body went limp.
He fell backward.
My heart stopped.
I lunged forward and caught him before his head could hit the floor. The force of his weight pulled me down with him, and we collapsed onto the carpet together, half sitting, half kneeling. His head rested against my arm, his breathing uneven.
"Kunal? Are you okay?" My voice shook despite my attempt to sound calm.
He didn't respond.
His eyes were half open but unfocused, like he was somewhere far away.
"Huh?! What?! Wh–what's going on?!" Hritik's voice cracked behind me. The teasing tone from earlier had completely vanished. He sounded like a frightened child.
"I'm sorry… I…" Kunal whispered weakly, his brows tightly drawn together as if he were still fighting something inside his head.
"It's fine," I said quickly, brushing his hair back from his forehead. My hands were trembling, but I forced them to be gentle. "Don't talk. It's okay. Don't worry. You're okay."
I wasn't sure whether I was reassuring him or myself.
His body felt heavy against me. I could feel his warmth, his rapid breathing, the faint tremor still running through him.
Footsteps thundered down the hallway.
"What happened?!" My mother's voice echoed through the house.
My father rushed in behind her. The moment they saw Kunal in my arms, pale and shaking, their expressions shifted from confusion to alarm.
"He screamed and then—" I tried to explain, but my throat felt tight.
"Call his parents," my father said immediately, already reaching for his phone.
Hritik stood frozen near the couch, his face filled with guilt and fear. "Did I say something wrong? I didn't mean to— I just—"
"It's not your fault," I said quickly, though my mind was spiraling.
It wasn't his fault.
It was the past.
The word riverside still echoed in my ears.
Within minutes, the house that had felt warm and calm earlier was filled with urgency. My mother brought water. My father was on the phone. Hritik hovered helplessly nearby.
And I stayed on the floor, holding Kunal steady, afraid to let go.
His eyelids fluttered slightly, but he still looked lost — like someone caught between two worlds.
I had always known this moment might come.
I just didn't think it would happen like this.
.....
Kunal's parents arrived faster than I expected.
His mother rushed in first, her face pale with fear. His father followed close behind, steady but visibly shaken. They barely asked questions — they just lifted him carefully, supporting his shoulders and back as if he were made of glass.
"He'll be fine," his father said, though it sounded more like something he was trying to convince himself of.
Within minutes, they were gone.
The front door closed.
And the house fell silent.
Too silent.
The same living room that had been full of teasing and nervous laughter an hour ago now felt hollow. I stood there for a moment, staring at the empty space where he had been lying.
I couldn't think.
My chest felt tight, like something heavy was pressing against it.
Then I remembered.
Hritik.
I turned and walked toward his room.
"Fewww…" I exhaled loudly on purpose before stepping in, pretending to shake off the tension. I forced a small smile onto my face. "See? Nothing serious."
Hritik immediately stood up from his bed. His eyes were red — whether from panic or unshed tears, I didn't know.
"Sis! Was big bro Kunal okay?" he asked anxiously.
"Yeah," I said, nodding as calmly as I could. "Uncle and aunty came to pick him up. By that time he was already looking better."
That was only half true.
"Thank God…" He let out a shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm so sorry. Did I say something wrong? Something weird? I didn't mean to bring up anything bad…"
My smile softened.
"No," I said quietly. "It wasn't you."
He looked confused.
"It was our fault," I continued. "For keeping a secret all this time."
"Sis…?" His voice lowered.
I swallowed.
"He doesn't remember," I said finally. "Kunal doesn't remember anything about us. After that day… after the accident… he lost part of his memory."
The word accident tasted bitter in my mouth.
That day flashed in my mind — the riverside, the rain-soaked road, the screeching tires, the blood, the hospital lights. The way I had stood outside the emergency room, praying he would just open his eyes.
He had survived.
But not completely.
"He forgot… us?" Hritik whispered.
I nodded.
The truth felt heavier every time I said it out loud.
"I guess…" My voice trembled despite my effort to stay strong. "I guess we're not supposed to be around him at all."
The moment the words left my lips, I felt something inside me crack.
I turned before Hritik could see my expression and walked out of his room.
I entered mine, closed the door gently, and slid down until I was sitting on the floor, my back resting against the wood. The house felt distant now, like it belonged to someone else.
The silence pressed in.
Was I an idiot?
Was I foolish for thinking I could bring back what we had?
For believing that if I stayed close enough, if I smiled enough, if I loved him quietly enough… he would remember?
I tilted my head back against the door and closed my eyes.
Maybe some memories weren't meant to return.
And maybe…
Some people were only meant to love each other once.