Edinburgh - Day 2. 8:04 AM.*
Isha woke up to silence.
Not the silence of Lalru. Not the silence that used to ring with the memory of _beep... beep..._ from his hospital room. Not the silence that came after she screamed his name at his gate and got nothing back.
This was Edinburgh silence. It sounded like distant seagulls and rain on old stone and a city that had been waking up for 900 years without needing her.
She lay there for a minute, staring at the white ceiling of Mylnes Court, waiting for the pain.
It didn't come.
Not the crushing one. Not the _I can't breathe without him_ one.
Just a small ache. Like a bruise you forget about until you press on it.
She could live with a bruise.
That was Day 2's first victory.
*9:30 AM. The University Library.*
It looked like Hogwarts. That was Isha's first thought. Towering shelves, ladders that slid on rails, stained glass windows, and the smell of paper that was older than her grandparents.
She was supposed to be meeting her academic advisor at 10. She was early. She always was. Vikram used to tease her—_Ishu, you're the only girl who shows up to dates before the guy._
She stopped walking.
The memory didn't stab. It just... sat there. Like an old photo in her wallet. She could look at it without crying.
Progress.
*"You're either lost or you're new. Which one is it?"*
The voice came from her left. Indian accent. Punjabi, actually. But softer. Not Delhi aggressive. Not Ludhiana loud. Something... calmer.
Isha turned.
He was tall. Maybe 6 feet. Black hair that was trying to be messy but was actually just well-kept. Glasses. Dark frames. A navy blue hoodie with _University of Edinburgh_ written across it in faded white letters. He was holding two coffees and a stack of books that looked like they wanted to fall.
*"New,"* Isha said. Her voice came out smaller than she intended. *"First day yesterday. Well, second day today."*
*"Ah. Day 2."* He nodded like that meant something. *"Day 1 you're a tourist. Day 2 you realize you're stuck here and panic. Day 3 you buy a scarf and pretend you like the weather. I'm on Day 732."*
Despite herself, Isha laughed. Short. Surprised. *"Day 732?"*
*"Second year. PhD. International Relations."* He shifted the books, offering her one of the coffees. *"Here. You look like someone who hasn't slept and definitely hasn't had caffeine. It's just a latte. No poison, promise."*
Isha hesitated. In Delhi, you didn't take coffee from strangers. In Delhi, strangers were dangerous.
But this wasn't Delhi.
And she was tired of being scared.
She took the cup. *"Thanks. I'm Isha."*
*"Karan,"* he said. *"Karan Mehra. From Chandigarh, originally. Been here long enough that I say 'aye' instead of 'haan' now. My mom hates it."*
Chandigarh. So close to Lalru it made her chest do something weird. Not pain. Recognition.
*"I'm from Lalru,"* she said before she could stop herself. *"Near Chandigarh."*
Karan's eyebrows went up. *"No way. Sector 11?"*
*"Village side. Near the—"* She stopped. Near the hospital where Vikram...
*"I know it,"* Karan said, and his voice was careful suddenly. Like he could see her thinking about something heavy. *"My Nani lives near the bus stand there. Small world. Or small Punjab, at least."*
He didn't ask why she stopped talking. He didn't pry. He just... waited.
Vikram never waited. Vikram filled silences. Vikram talked over them, through them, around them. _Ishu, tell me everything. Don't be quiet. I hate when you're quiet._
Karan just stood there, sipping his coffee, looking at the library like it was the most interesting thing in the world, giving her space to not speak.
It was such a small thing.
It felt huge.
*10:00 AM. Academic Advisor Meeting.*
*"You're late,"* said Dr. Eleanor MacLeod. She was sixty, Scottish, and had eyes that had probably seen 10,000 nervous international students.
*"Sorry,"* Isha started, but Karan appeared behind her with both coffees now.
*"My fault, Dr. MacLeod. I was giving her the 'don't get lost on your first week' tour. I'll steal her after?"*
Dr. MacLeod looked from Karan to Isha to the coffee in his hand. *"Mr. Mehra, are you adopting all the new Indians now?"*
*"Just the ones who look like they're about to cry in the library,"* Karan said easily. *"It's community service."*
Isha wanted to be offended. She wasn't about to cry.
Except... maybe she had been. A little. Around the edges.
Dr. MacLeod snorted. *"Fine. Thirty minutes, Miss Sharma. Then he's all yours. Try not to let him convince you that haggis is food."*
*10:35 AM. Outside, on the steps of Old College.*
It was raining. Soft, Scottish rain. Not Delhi monsoon. Not dramatic. Just... persistent. Like it had all the time in the world.
Karan held his hoodie over both their heads. He was tall enough that it worked.
*"So,"* he said. *"Commonwealth Scholar. English Lit. Lalru. What made you pick Edinburgh? Cold weather and bad food?"*
Isha looked at the rain. At the grey buildings. At the students hurrying past with umbrellas and accents.
*"I needed to be somewhere he wasn't,"* she said. The truth came out before she could dress it up.
Karan didn't look surprised. Didn't ask _who is he_. Just nodded.
*"Yeah,"* he said. *"That's why half of us are here. Edinburgh is full of people who needed to be somewhere else."*
He said it so simply. No judgment. No _aww you poor thing_. No _let me fix you_.
Just... _yeah. Me too._
*"You?"* Isha asked.
Karan smiled. It wasn't a happy smile. It was a _we're in the same club_ smile. *"Girl. Back home. Told me I was 'too ambitious' and 'not husband material'. She married my cousin. So I came here to be ambitious somewhere she couldn't see."*
He said it like he was talking about the weather.
*"Does it still hurt?"* Isha asked.
Karan considered. *"On Day 2? Yeah. It hurt like hell. On Day 732? Nah. Now it's just a story I tell new students so they don't feel alone."*
He looked at her. Really looked. *"Day 2 hurts, Isha from Lalru. But Day 3 hurts less. And Day 30... Day 30 you realize you haven't thought about them all morning."*
Isha swallowed. *"What if I don't want to forget him?"*
*"You won't,"* Karan said. *"You don't forget. You just... stop bleeding. The scar stays. But it stops being the only thing you feel when you touch your chest."*
He tapped his own chest. Over his heart. *"See? Still there. But I'm still here too."*
*1:00 PM. Princes Street Gardens.*
Karan insisted she eat. *"Jet lag + no food = you passing out and me having to explain to Dr. MacLeod why her new scholar died on Day 2."*
They got sandwiches from a shop. Isha had never had cucumber sandwiches before. They were weird. But not bad.
They sat on a bench. The Edinburgh Castle was on the hill above them. Huge. Stone. Indestructible.
*"He doesn't remember me,"* Isha said suddenly. The words had been sitting in her throat since she landed. *"There was an accident. Head injury. He forgot two years. I was in those two years."*
Karan didn't gasp. Didn't say _that's horrible_. He just unwrapped his sandwich slowly.
*"That sucks,"* he said finally. *"I'm sorry."*
Two words. No platitudes. No _maybe he'll remember_. No _you deserve better_.
Just _that sucks. I'm sorry._
It was the most honest thing anyone had said to her in three weeks.
*"I went to his house,"* Isha whispered. *"After he got discharged. I thought... I thought if he saw me... And he said 'move on kar jaye. Main kar chuka hoon.' Then he had security remove me. Said he'd get a restraining order if I came back."*
She waited for Karan to look horrified. To call Vikram names. To be angry on her behalf.
He wasn't. He just ate a bite of his sandwich. Chewed. Swallowed.
*"My ex,"* he said, *"she showed up at my defense presentation. Stood up in the middle and told everyone I plagiarized my thesis. I didn't. But for a minute, 200 people believed her."*
Isha stared. *"Why would she—"*
*"Because hurt people hurt people,"* Karan said. *"Not an excuse. Just a reason. Your guy... he's probably scared. People who forget get scared of the people who remember. Because we are evidence that they're broken."*
He looked at the castle. *"Doesn't make what he did right. Just makes it... human. Shitty and human."*
Isha thought about that. _Evidence that they're broken._
Was that what she was? A walking reminder that Vikram Malhotra was not whole anymore?
*"Do you hate her?"* Isha asked. *"Your ex?"*
*"Day 50, yeah. Wanted her to fail."* Karan shrugged. *"Day 732? Nah. I hope she's happy. Because if she's happy, she stays away from my life. And I like my life now."*
He bumped her shoulder with his. Gentle. Friendly. *"You're on Day 2, Isha. You're allowed to hate him. You're allowed to miss him. You're allowed to check your phone every five minutes to see if he called."*
*"I haven't,"* Isha said, and realized it was true. *"Not today."*
Karan's smile was real this time. *"See? Day 2 and you're already better than I was. I checked mine for three months."*
*5:47 PM. Mylnes Court.*
Karan walked her back. Didn't ask to come up. Didn't hint at it. Just stopped at the main door.
*"So,"* he said. *"Day 2 survival checklist. You ate. You didn't get lost. You talked to a human who isn't your mom. I'd say that's a pass."*
Isha almost smiled. *"Thanks. For... the coffee. And the waiting. You didn't have to."*
*"I know,"* Karan said. *"But I remember Day 2. It was raining then too. Some guy from Pakistan saw me standing in the library looking like I was gonna throw up. He bought me chai. Didn't even ask my name. Just said 'First week is hardest. Then it gets boring. Boring is good.'"*
He pushed his glasses up. *"So I'm paying it forward. It's the Edinburgh rule. You help the new ones. Because someone helped you."*
He started to turn, then stopped. *"Hey. We're having a 'Day 2 Survivors' thing tomorrow night. Just a few of us internationals. Pizza. Bad movies. No sad music allowed. You in?"*
Isha opened her mouth to say no. She wasn't ready for people. For pizza. For not being sad.
But then she thought of her room. White walls. Silence. The diary with one page written.
*"Okay,"* she said. *"I'm in."*
Karan grinned. *"7 PM. I'll text you the address. And Isha?"*
*"Yeah?"*
*"You don't have to talk about him. Or not talk about him. You can just... be. Eat pizza. Judge our movie choices. That's it."*
He walked away, hands in his hoodie pockets, whistling something that sounded like a Punjabi song but with a Scottish accent.
Isha watched him go.
And she realized something.
For one hour and seventeen minutes, while she was eating cucumber sandwiches and listening to Karan talk about his terrible ex and his worse thesis, she had not thought about Vikram Malhotra.
Not once.
The absence hadn't felt like a death.
It had felt like... space.
Space for a bad sandwich.
Space for a new accent.
Space for a boy who knew how to wait.
*Day 2. 11:59 PM.*
Isha opened her diary.
_Day 2. Edinburgh._
_I met a boy named Karan. From Chandigarh. Day 732._
_He bought me coffee and didn't ask why I was sad._
_He told me Day 2 hurts. He was right._
_But he also said Day 3 hurts less._
_I think I believe him._
_I didn't check my phone for Vikram today._
_I didn't want to._
_Not because I don't love him anymore._
_But because for the first time, I think I might love me more._
_Or at least... I want to try._
She closed the diary.
And for the second night in a row, Isha Sharma fell asleep in a city where no one knew her name...
...and didn't feel alone.
Because 7,000 kilometers away from the boy who forgot her, she had found a boy who remembered to wait.
Not to replace.
Not to fix.
Not to love.
Just to wait.
And on Day 2, that was everything.
---
*[Author Note]*
*Meet Karan. He's not a replacement. He's not a rebound. He's a friend. And sometimes, a friend is the first person who teaches you how to breathe again.*
*Isha is learning: You can live without him. You can laugh without him. You can make new memories that don't have his name in them.*
*Vikram's shadow is still there. But Karan just turned a light on.*
*600 comments = Ch-28 "Day 3: The Scarf" tomorrow 9 AM.*
*Tell me: Have you ever had a "Karan"? Someone who just... waited, while you figured out how to be okay again?*
*Vote. Review. Add to library. Isha is seven seas away, but she's not alone anymore* ✈️💗👑