I Am in Your Heart

Ayaan and Meher were the kind of people who found each other quietly. No dramatic confessions or public displays—just two souls that gravitated toward each other like moonlight to the ocean.

In college, they were inseparable. Ayaan, thoughtful and grounded, loved Meher with a devotion that needed no words. Meher, full of life yet hiding something fragile in her eyes, responded with equal affection, but never full surrender. She laughed at his jokes, listened to his dreams, and sometimes paused too long when he touched her hand—but she never told him what was keeping her guarded.

Still, their bond grew. It wasn’t just friendship; it was something deeper—perhaps even fate.

Then one day, without warning, Meher was gone.

No messages. No emails. No goodbyes.

Ayaan searched everywhere. Friends had no clue. Her phone was off. Her hostel room was empty. It was as if the wind had carried her away. Days turned into months. He couldn’t understand why someone who looked at him with so much love could disappear without a word.

Still, he waited.

One childhood memory gave him strange hope. His grandfather, a man people called a najoomi, once told him:

“When your heart beats loudly at her doorstep, you’ll know she’s your forever.”

He never forgot that.

Years passed. He traveled for work, carrying a quiet ache. In Istanbul, fate intervened.

In a quiet café near the Bosphorus, he overheard a name—Meher. He turned around.

And there she was.

She stood still, eyes wide. She looked the same, yet somehow older, as if life had tested her. Without hesitation, they ran into each other’s arms. The world stopped. No words could match the weight of that embrace.

They spent the evening together, catching up on everything and nothing. She avoided talking about why she left. He didn’t press. Some moments are too fragile to force open.

In the following days, Ayaan spoke of love, of forever, of marriage. Meher smiled but never agreed. Every time he proposed the idea of a future together, she would say softly, “Not yet.”

Confused but hopeful, Ayaan continued to believe she just needed time.

Then, one evening, Ayaan saw Meher across the street—hugging another man.

The sight pierced him like cold steel.

He turned and walked away, crushed by the weight of betrayal. He didn’t ask. He didn’t accuse. He just disappeared from her world.

She called him again and again. He didn’t answer.

Eventually, she arrived at his home.

“That man was my doctor,” she said quietly, “He’s not what you think.”

But Ayaan couldn’t make sense of it anymore. She had vanished once. Now this.

Needing answers, Ayaan visited the hospital.

The doctor recognized him. “You must be Ayaan. Meher said you might come.”

The doctor hesitated, then said:

“She’s been through a lot. A rare heart condition. She left because she didn’t want to be a burden to you. She chose to fight it quietly.”

Ayaan stood in stunned silence.

She had disappeared… to protect him.

A few weeks later, Meher underwent a critical surgery. A matching heart had been found after a long wait. The operation was risky, but it was her only chance.

She survived.

As she opened her eyes in the recovery room, she felt something strange—a stronger, deeper heartbeat than she’d ever known.

She called Ayaan. No answer.

She went to his house.

He hadn’t been seen in over a week.

Disheartened, she returned to her own home. As she stepped onto the porch, something happened—her heart began to race, thumping wildly inside her chest.

She froze.

“When I stood here,” Ayaan once told her, “my heart beat like a drum. It always knew this was where you were meant to be.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

She pushed open the door.

On the table was a letter.

"My Meher,

If you're reading this, then you survived.

I am so proud of you.

You don’t need to search for me.

I’m with you. In every heartbeat.

The love I held for you... it never faded.

You once asked why I never gave up on you.

The answer is simple:

Because loving you was never a choice. It was written in me.

You carry my heart now.

Live fully. Laugh freely. Love endlessly.

And remember, every time your heart beats fast—it’s just me saying,

‘I’m here.’

Forever yours,

Ayaan"

Meher held the letter to her chest and cried—not in grief, but in the overwhelming presence of love that filled the room.

She hadn’t lost him.

She had found him again—in the most extraordinary way.

💗 True love doesn’t leave. It stays. It beats inside you, even when you think it’s gone.