It had been a week since Riya sent the letter. While her heart did feel a little light, there was still some guilt in it which was making it heavy. Each day her father urged her to go and chase her heart, and each day she denied him citing his health. Unlike earlier, she wasn't helpless this time. She had an option. Yet, she chose not to take it.

Every evening since she sent the letter, Riya came to sit at the railway station, and admire the beautiful sunset. There were many other places in her village from where the scene looked even more majestic, but her heart liked to drag her here. Because along with the sunset, the station also had the train heading for Mumbai. The train would come in just when the sun disappeared, empty the passengers, and then head back for the city half and hour later. And deep down somewhere, her hoped that she'd hop on the train one day.

She didn't in the last six days. And neither did she look to do so today.

Angry with her own heart for making her go through all this, she didn't even wait for the train to leave. She just got up and started walking back. Little did she know that life had other plans for her today.

"Where do you think you're going Miss?" A voice called out.

Riya didn't need to turn around to know who it was. She recognized that voice perfectly well. It was the voice she had gotten used to hear day and night for the last four years. It was the voice she had been missing severely since the farewell party.

"Ram...," she turned around, breathing a sigh of relief.

A face with an almost similar expression stared back at her. Both of them had planned this meeting in their heads a several times. They had decided what to say and what not to say. They had framed the answers to the expected questions and also the getaways from the unwanted ones. And yet, when the moment finally arrived, they just lost themselves in the sound of silence. It was just a fool's façade though. For only the tongues were hushed, but the eyes were shouting, and those hearts, they were as loud as they would ever be.

A blaze was lit in both the hearts, and so they did the best thing they could think of doing to calm it down; they hugged. That feeling of having the other's hand wrapped protectively around them was worth treasuring for ages.

When they eventually broke the embrace, they once again stared into the other's eyes. There was a smile in those eyes which slowly found itself form around their lips too.

"I missed you," both blurted at the same time.

Thinking that the other had said it before them, both replied at the same time too, "Me too!"

The platform was empty as such, but those half a dozen people present there saw the couple dive in the other's embrace once again. They weren't the Ram and Riya they were a couple of weeks ago. They weren't the same friends they had been these four years. No, they weren't just friends anymore, they were something more. And for the first time in many days, Ram didn't need a spoken confession of it. He knew it. And so did Riya.

"Why can't we always be like this?" Ram asked, still not leaving the hug.

"Because, we are us," Riya exclaimed.

She lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him.

"We've laughed, we've cried, we've fought, and we have strived. We have changed every other moment Ram. And maybe, that's what has kept us friends forever. That's what has kept us together. And we will always be together. Won't we, Ram?"

He cherished the moment for as long as he can before nodding in a yes.

It was a moment full of smiles and tears.

Breaking the hug after a long time, Ram moved back a step before starting to search for something in his pocket. He put a hand in each of his pant pocket and then followed the sequence with his coat too. Confused of what he was doing, Riya asked.

"I was just checking if someone has accidentally slipped a ring in one of my pockets," he said with a sheepish grin.

Riya laughed at the goof she had got for a boyfriend. On some occasions, he would act as the smartest person around, and then on the rest, he'd just be the stupid that he was. Not just any stupid, but a stupid whose stupidity had finally taught her the meaning of love. And just like every other emotion of him, she liked this one too.

"No ring will ever be able to express what I see in your eyes Ram," she said holding both his hands in hers.

"Oh," he blinked, "I need to learn how to control them. They can't keep revealing my secrets like this."

The smile on both their lips widened. Changing it to a frown, Ram quickly started to scan their surrounding. "I need a rose at the least then."

He was clearly unhappy at not finding one around. Not leaving her smile even for a second, Riya unclasped her hands from his and put them on his cheeks. She turned his head towards him.

"I don't need anything Ram. You are here. That's enough for me."

The expression on his face was priceless. This was the same girl who ran away from having such conversations. It was amazing how two weeks of silence had changed. Not that he complained. A breakup usually tore the relationships apart, but in their case, it stitched their hearts together. The thing that he thought of as an illusion till now was finally turning into a reality. And he didn't wish to waste any more seconds of their reality.

"I would have loved to ask this with a gift, or even a simple rose would have been fine. But unfortunately, I just have nothing other than my heart at the moment." Holding both her hands in her, he got down on his knees, he asked, "Miss Riya Pradhan, will you be my valentine?"

Riya chuckled at the sweet gesture. But the choice of words surprised her a bit.

"Valentine's day is still a month away Ram," she said with a light laugh.

"So?" his serious eyes stared back at her.

"So then why are you asking me to be your valentine today?"

"Why not?" He got up on his feet looking right at her, "I don't want you to be my valentine just for a day. I want you to be my valentine till the rest of our days. So I'd probably keep proposing you every day."

There was a smile on his face. The one on hers had vanished a bit though.

"I am just starting to understand this feeling called love, Ram. And what I feel about it is that it isn't something that needs to be expressed every other second. For me, love just being in our hearts is enough. So, what I don't get is why you feel the need to propose me every day. More importantly, why do you wish for me to confess my love every day?"

To say that Ram was confused would be an utter understatement. Why can't this girl keep it simple for a moment? He loved her by all his heart, but it was this side of her that annoyed him every now and then. Just say yes and finish it. Why does she have to complicate every situation? He got his answer in her next question.

"Don't you trust me Ram? Do you still think that I don't reciprocate the same feelings as you?"

You dumb girl, Ram almost laughed out loud. How she came to this kind of conclusion was still beyond his imagination. Riya had indeed changed, there was no denying that, but he would still love her to shed off this seriousness of her. She had this uncanny ability to drag any kind of conversation to a serious one. Most of the times, even she didn't realize it was happening. But Ram had been on the receiving end enough times now to recognize this subconscious shift. This was another one of those situations and he wanted to make full use of it.

With the most serious face that he could put on, he replied, "No."

Ram had never learnt to hide his feelings. He may try to fake it, but his real feelings would almost always seep into his expressions. And after all this time, Riya had become a master of deciphering them. He may have tried to put on a mask of seriousness, but that tinge of grin on the edge of his lips gave it all away. He was joking, she knew it. But then, what's the harm in keeping on with the game?

This time, she held his hands in hers and got down on her knees.

"If that's how it is Mr. Ram Malhotra, then how shall this girl make you believe in her true feelings?"

Without wasting a second, Ram let his heart speak. "Dance with me!"

Riya looked like a deer caught in a trap. She had denied him numerous dances over the course of their friendship. There was no getting away from this one. She had asked for it herself.

She stood up, put a hand on the side of his waist, and weaved the fingers of her other hand in his. Standing ready for a dance, she decided to tease him one last time.

"I would have danced you see, but there's no music out here."

As if on cue, a train entered the station, filling the silence with his horn. It was just the perfect thing he needed.

"When you are with me, who needs music out here? We can dance on this noise too."

This time, he didn't give her any time to come back with another witty excuse. He put his hand on her waist and pulled her in for a dance. They found their rhythm right away. He always had a feeling that she was the best dancer around. And today, she showed it to him. Dance always liberated her. It was a feeling of pure bliss, something that she didn't believe in sharing with anyone. And yet, today, she let all her inhibitions go. She allowed herself to lose in the most amazing person she could ever find. And judging by his smile, he knew exactly how much she loved him.

"I love you Riya," he whispered.

"I love you too Ram," she whispered back.

They had shared many beautiful moments over the years. And Riya wanted their dance to be the best one they shared ever. However, Ram had other plans. As soon as their dance ended, he leaned in and locked his lips on hers. It lasted only some seconds, but it forced Riya to drag their dance to the second-best moment ever.

After all, it was their first kiss.

A kiss marking the breakup of their friendship. A kiss showing the start of their something more.

A kiss of their love.

***

"Love is a blissful feeling. Don't bind it to any occasion. Express it whenever you want and wherever you want."

And that finally brings us to the end of this little journey dear reader.
I hope you enjoyed reading it.

I would also love to hope that you fell in love while reading this story, but that'd be a bit too much. So let's keep it for some other story.

So till then, have a wonderful time dear readers.