Rahul was a simple boy from a small village. He was good at studies and his family’s expectations was always visible on his shoulders. When he got admission into Delhi University, it felt like his entire world had changed. The lifestyle, the openness of ideas and the new definitions of relationships, everything was unfamiliar.
In college campus, he met Shreya, a sharp, independent girl who was very clear about her choices. Slowly, their friendship grew deeper. Rahul was drawn to Shreya’s boldness, while Shreya admired the honesty she saw in Rahul’s simplicity.
One night, while walking back from the fresher’s party, they were alone. The atmosphere grew intense, one touch led to another and for the first time, they both had sex.
The next morning, Rahul asked, “What are we now?”
Shreya smiled and said, “We’re friends, what people call friends with benefits. No commitments, no strings of attachment.”
Rahul was confused. In his village, there was no line between friendship and love. If a boy got that close to a girl, marriage was assumed. But here, this “friends with benefits” was a new world altogether.
Rahul often tried to bring up that night, but Shreya would brush it off. One day she told him clearly, “I’m not ready for a relationship. I like being with you, I feel peace in your arms but that doesn’t mean marriage. What happened was with our mutual consent. Right now, we’re still students, I can’t fall in love.”
But Rahul couldn’t hold it back any longer. “Shreya, I think I’m in love with you,” he said one day.
Shreya went quiet. Despite explaining so many times, Rahul still stood in the same place. She held his hand gently and said, “You’re a wonderful person, but my answer hasn’t changed. I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”
Rahul still struggled for a few days but slowly he found peace within himself. He realized he couldn’t change Shreya, but he could change his own perspective. When he met her now, the old restlessness was gone.
One day, Shreya asked in surprise, “Why don’t you ask me those questions anymore?”
Rahul smiled and said, “Because I’ve understood, how you want to live is your choice. For me, just having you around is enough.”
For the first time, Shreya saw in Rahul’s eyes the same calm she had always given him. Walking side by side, they both realized, giving rand understanding to each other mattered more than giving a name to their relationship.
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