Unfinished Business
You know that one person you never really get over?
The one who always finds a way back, even when they shouldn’t? Yeah. This is about him.
Chapter 1: The Constant
Long time, no drama? As if that could ever be the case with me. Just a heads up — peace, and I don’t really hang out.
Something is always happening. This story is about Mehul. If you’re wondering who he is, he’s my constant college crush. He is someone I never had, yet somehow never lost. He was the guy everyone knew. I first heard about him in my friend’s room during our freshman year. According to my friend Sam, he was hot, cute, smart, and effortlessly charming. He had that South Delhi energy where everything looks expensive, even his silence (That’s what she said… or did she?).
That night, my friends and I were sitting cross-legged on the bed, stalking seniors and all the hot guys on Instagram, rating them like it was our job. That’s when Sam went and said, “Have you seen Mehul? He’s literally the hottest guy in college.” She turned her phone around, and there he was, pretty face, eyes as deep as the ocean, and a smile that screamed trouble. I looked at the screen, shrugged, and said, “He’s okay.”
Chapter 2: The Look
A few days later, fate decided to make things interesting. I was walking into the mess with my girls when Mehul and his friends were walking out.
Our eyes met. For maybe two seconds. But in those two seconds, something shifted. That moment was it. I was done for. The eye contact was electric, like the universe had just whispered, “Good luck surviving this one.”
From that moment, he was my college crush.
Chapter 4: The DM That Started It All
One of my friends, self-appointed Cupid, picked up my phone one day and texted him on Instagram. That’s how it started. Mehul and I began talking every day, late-night chats, random Snapchats while studying, and lazy good mornings. He liked me; I could tell. And the more he showed he cared, the deeper I fell.
He had a reputation: the hookup guy, the heartbreaker, the one everyone warned you about. “Don’t fall for him,” they’d say, like that ever stops anyone. People were so sure something would happen between us because apparently, that’s what happened with him and every other girl. But it didn’t.
Once, we were alone at the college’s infamous make-out spot, and while everyone was sure that something would happen, nothing happened. Later, when we were talking about that moment, he told me he’d wanted to kiss me, but he stopped himself. Why? “I was just into casual stuff back then,” he said, “and you didn’t feel like the type.” I believed him. Not because I was some hopeless lover girl trying to see the good in him, but because he actually was different with me. You could feel it in the silence between us, the kind that wasn’t awkward or forced. Just… safe.
Chapter 4: Three Years of Almost
We never stopped talking. Not once. For three years, Mehul was my favourite person. We weren’t dating, but we acted like we were. I confessed my feelings multiple times, and each time he said the same thing: “I care about you too much. I can’t lose you. You’re my best friend.” He told me once, “When I dated my best friend before, I lost her. I can’t let that happen again.” And that became our curse: too close to be strangers, too scared to be something more.
Chapter 5: Moving On (Sort Of)
By 2022, I had given up. Three years of emotional limbo were enough. He started seeing someone new. Told me about it as we shared everything with each other. After all, we were still best friends.
It stung, but I smiled through it. So, I started talking to someone too. He was nice. Really nice, actually. Listened when I spoke, texted me first, remembered small details. I told Mehul about him, and suddenly, we were both in a relationship, except not with each other.
Perfect timing, right? Mehul even told me how he planned to propose to his girlfriend. And I remember smiling and saying, “Aww, that’s cute,” while feeling my stomach drop.
Chapter 6: The Block
The guy I started seeing, let’s call him X (because that’s what he is now), was the kind who wanted control disguised as care. He wanted me to cut everyone out of my life. And I did. For love, or whatever I thought it was. Except for Mehul. I couldn’t cut him out. So I called him and said, “I’ll remove you from socials, but we’ll stay in touch.” He said Okay. Then blocked me.
No warning. No goodbye. Just gone. I called. Texted. Nothing. Finally, I called from a different number; he picked up, heard my voice, and hung up.
That kind of silence? It burns. But I could never give up; even when I thought I’d lost him, the thought of him not being a part of my life stung harder than a bee.
Chapter 7: The Return
A year and a half later, he was single again. And so was I, or about to be. We started talking again. Like nothing had changed. He told me he blocked me because he was hurt. “When I was finally ready for you, you were with someone else,” he said. And just like that, we forgave each other. We talked for hours that night.
Laughed, argued, reminisced. And I knew that X had to go. Because Mehul was back. And I couldn’t lose him again for the world. He was my best friend.
Chapter 8: The Almost Relationship, Again
Mehul and I slipped into a situationship, that stupid word people invented to make emotional unavailability sound trendy. He’d say things like, “If you start liking someone else, you should go for it. What we have isn’t serious.” And I’d nod, pretending to be the cool, detached girl who totally understood. Spoiler: I wasn’t.
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Once, I just wanted to spend time with him, and he called me “a child.” I laughed it off, but I cried later, because it hurt. Because I didn’t want to be the child, I wanted to be the choice.
Then Raghav, my first love, whom I dated for 4 years when I was in school, came back into my life. Only this time, he was softer, more available, and felt emotionally safe. I told Mehul I couldn’t do this half-love thing anymore, not when he wasn’t sure about me. So, we ended it. Again.
Things didn’t work out with Raghav either because apparently “no strings attached” is the new love language. And honestly, how could I let the same fire burn me twice? I realised that I was trying to fill the void X left and lost myself in the process.
Like clockwork, Mehul was there for me again. GOD, I LOVE HIM SO MUCH FOR ALWAYS BEING THERE. We went out to an art gallery, shared beautiful moments, and made out once after everything; however, it didn’t feel like home, the way I had always imagined it would. It felt… hollow. More lust than love. More habit than heart.
And then he said it, “I’m not ready for a relationship.” Of course, he wasn’t. He never was.
Chapter 9: Wrong Time, Always
Then came Mikhail.
A friend from college, the kind of guy who wasn’t exactly my type, but he always made me believe that he was good for me. I didn’t fall for him; I think I just liked the idea of being treated right for once.
He was sweet, grounded, emotionally mature… or at least he pretended to be. He gave me all the things I thought I’d been missing: attention, consistency, commitment. And for a while, I actually believed it. Believed him.
Spoiler: I shouldn’t have.
Because behind all that fake stability was a man who partied harder than he felt, brushed off everything that mattered, and couldn’t hold a serious thought, or relationship, for longer than a drink. So I ended it.
And then came the best part, the post-credits scene.
I found out later that his ex, yes, the ex, had stayed at his place while we were together. So yeah, turns out I was the rebound. The intermission before the sequel, he probably wishes he could rewrite.
He still texts me sometimes, like nothing happened.
One day, out of the blue, while Mikhail and I were not-so-happily together, Mehul texted. He was ready for a relationship now. Of course, he was. For a second, I wanted to drop everything and run back. My heart wanted to. But I didn’t, because I’m not that person. I don’t cheat. I told myself I was staying because I didn’t want to hurt Mikhail… (why am I such a nice person?)
Chapter 10: The Parking Lot Kiss
Months later, we started talking again. It felt harmless, two old friends catching up after years of almosts and maybes. Then one day, we decided to meet. I thought it was just that, a casual hangout. Turns out, it was a date. And trust me, it was the best one I’ve ever been on, not that I’ve been on many.
He was softer now. Calmer. The kind of version of him I’d always wished to see. Somewhere between laughter and long drives, he told me he wanted to spend his future with me. I froze, not because I didn’t want to hear it, but because I’d stopped waiting for it. I told him we weren’t on the same page, but my heart had always been reading from his book.
A few nights later, when I was drunk at a party, we decided to meet. But somewhere during the night, things went wrong. A guy at the party tried to misbehave with me, and even though I laughed it off in the moment, my body wouldn’t stop shaking. I texted Mehul, “Come soon?” He was already on his way.
When he got there, I didn’t tell him what had happened. I didn’t want to ruin the mood. He was so excited to see me, and so was I. We drove around for a while, quietly. The air between us felt heavy but comforting. We drove until the streets got empty. He parked somewhere near where I lived, a quiet corner of the city that didn’t look like much but felt safe. He turned to look at me, said nothing, and kissed me. Softly. Slowly. Carefully. Tiny little pecks, like he was apologising for every time he’d ever left. And just like that, I was right back where I started. Every feeling I’d ever tucked away, the warmth, the ache, the stupid, hopeless love, came flooding back all at once.
Chapter 11: Unfinished
He’s leaving for Australia soon, maybe January, maybe February. For five years, maybe more. And I’ll still be here. We don’t know what’s next. We don’t even know if this is something. All I know is, we’ve been circling around each other for years, never right, never wrong, always almost.
Maybe some stories aren’t meant to have endings. Maybe some people are just meant to stay as unfinished business.
