hii guys. i wrote this because i was in an angsty mood lmao 😭.

i got the idea from the song 'If The World Was Ending' by JP Saxe and Julia Michaels so go listen to it while you read this!!

hope you guys like it, and let me know how it was!

chapter was too long so i split it into two parts 🙈

please please interact- vote and comment!!

Aarini Malhotra didn't believe in fate anymore.

It was hard to believe in anything when the world was on the verge of ending. Scientists had confirmed it: a massive meteor was hurtling toward Earth, and all their theories and calculations couldn't change the inevitable. A week. Maybe two. That's all they had left.

She stared at the wine glass in her hand, her fingers trembling slightly. The television in the background droned on with more speculation — interviews with scientists and desperate prayers from world leaders. Aarini had muted it hours ago, unable to bear the sound.

Her apartment was eerily quiet, except for the faint hum of the city below. The loneliness had always been there, creeping into her life in the quiet moments, but tonight, it felt suffocating. Aarini had everything she'd ever dreamed of — fame, fortune, the world at her feet — and yet, she'd never felt more empty. Maybe because she didn't have what mattered the most.  Not her co-stars or her PR team — not even her family. Him.

She hated admitting it, but the truth was impossible to escape. Shubman Gill had been the only constant in her life before it all fell apart. Three years later, as she sat in her dimly lit apartment, it felt like everything was crashing down at once.

The fame that had once seemed glamorous was now suffocating. Her most recent movie had flopped, critics calling her performance uninspired. The brand endorsements that had lined up for years were suddenly drying up. And the friends who claimed to love her were conspicuously absent.

For the first time in her adult life, Aarini felt small. Invisible, even. She sipped her wine, the bitterness on her tongue matching the hollow ache in her chest.

She pulled her knees to her chest, the oversized hoodie swallowing her frame. It smelled faintly of cologne and nostalgia, and she hated herself for wearing it. She should have thrown it out years ago, but somehow, it had survived every purge, every attempt to move on.

A knock at the door shattered the silence.

Frowning, Aarini set the glass down and rose, her fingers brushing against the soft fabric of the hoodie as she tightened it around herself. No one should've been visiting her — not now, when everyone was busy chasing their own last moments of peace and spending it with their loved ones.

She opened the door, and her breath caught in her throat.

Shubman Gill stood there, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket, his hair slightly disheveled as though he'd been running. His brown eyes, the ones she used to get lost in, scanned her face before flicking down to the hoodie she wore.

He froze. "You're wearing it." he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Aarini's stomach twisted, a mix of shame and anger bubbling to the surface. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, ignoring his comment.

"I tried calling." Shubman said, his voice uneven.

"I saw." she replied coldly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I had to see you." he said, his voice raw. "I couldn't... I couldn't let things end like this."

"Let things end like what, Shubman?" Aarini snapped, her voice sharp enough to cut. "We've already ended. Three years ago. Remember?"

Shubman's jaw tightened, but he didn't look away. "I remember." he said quietly. "I remember everything."

"Good." Aarini bit out. "Then you'll remember that you're the one who walked away. So forgive me if I'm not exactly thrilled to see you now."

Shubman hesitated, then exhaled slowly. "I don't deserve your forgiveness." he said, his voice breaking. "But if this is the end... if this is really it, I couldn't let it come without seeing you again. Without telling you how sorry I am."

Aarini's heart twisted painfully, but she forced herself to stay composed. "You think an apology will fix this?" she asked, leaning against the doorframe. "Do you think saying sorry will undo what you did to me?"

"No." Shubman said quickly, shaking his head. "I don't. But I had to try."

"Why?" she demanded, her voice rising. "Why now? Shouldn't you be with your family? Or your friends? Why come here?"

"Because I couldn't let it end without seeing you." he said, his eyes shining with unshed tears. "Because no matter where I go, no matter what I do, everything always comes back to you. I always come back to you."

Aarini's resolve wavered, but she refused to let crumble. Not yet. "You don't get to do this, Shubman. You don't get to show up at my door three years later, when the world is ending, and act like you care."

"I've always cared." Shubman said fiercely, stepping closer. "I never stopped."

"Then why did you leave?" Aarini shot back, her voice cracking. "If you... if you cared so much, why wasn't I enough for you to stay?"

Shubman flinched, the words hitting him like a physical blow. "I was scared." he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. "I thought I was doing the right thing by letting you go. I thought you'd be better off without me."

Aarini laughed bitterly, unable to keep the tears from streaming down her cheeks. "Better off? Do you have any idea what you did to me, Shubman? You left me with nothing. You made me feel like I wasn't worth fighting for."

"You were worth everything." Shubman said, his voice trembling but determined. "But I didn't know how to hold on to you without dragging you down with me. I thought... I thought you deserved someone better. Someone who could give you a normal life."

"I didn't want normal." Aarini said, her voice breaking. "I wanted you. I wanted us. But you didn't even give me a choice, Shubman. You just left."

The weight of Shubman's guilt was palpable as he sank onto the edge of Aarini's couch, his head in his hands.

"I've replayed that moment a thousand times." he said, his voice hollow. "And every time, I hate myself more. You were the best thing that ever happened to me, Aarini. And I threw it away."

She wiped at her tears, her anger slowly giving way to the ache that had never really left. "Why now?" Aarini asked softly. "Why come back when there's no time left to fix anything?"

"Because I couldn't stand the thought of leaving this world without telling you the truth," he said, looking up at her. "I still love you, Aarini. I never stopped."

Aarini's breath caught, the words slicing through her like a blade. "Don't say that." she whispered. "Don't say it if you don't mean it. Don't give me false hope again."

"I mean every word." Shubman said, his gaze unwavering. "I've loved you every day we've been apart. And if I could take it all back — if I could undo the hurt I caused — I would. But all I can do now is hope you can believe me and tell you that I'm sorry. That I love you. That I always have."