He took a breath and lowered his hands to the keys.
The shadows under his eyes were still there. The tension in his shoulders, too. But beneath the mess of dyed hair, there was something steady in his face. A quiet calm she hadn’t seen before.
And in his white T-shirt and jeans, under that wash of blue light, he was—
Beautiful.
Riya’s fingers dug into her clipboard, heart pounding.
Kian leaned forward and adjusted the mic. “I dedicate this one,” he said, voice steady, “to the future.”
Then he began to play.
The first notes rang out low and clean, curling through the auditorium like smoke, soft and sure.
It wasn’t a cover, like the other musicians had performed.No one in the crowd recognized it—she could hear the murmurs, the restless shifting in seats—but Kian didn’t waver.
The spotlight widened. A drummer slipped in—someone from Band. Then another figure appeared at a harp.
Riya blinked.
It was Mel. Her fingers glided over the strings, ribbons of sound spilling into Kian’s melody.
They’d planned this. All of it.
And suddenly, she saw it for what it was. Not a performance. Not a stunt.
A promise.
The harp and the piano braided together, weaving something wordless that tightened in Riya’s chest, warm and unsteady and alive.
Kian had been right. Music could do that.
And now she felt it, too.
“Even if you forget,” Kian crooned into the mic, his eyes closed, “let me be the part that stays.”
There was something dangerous about this feeling—this much truth, laid bare. But for once, she didn’t recoil from it.
Quin stepped closer. “Riya?” they whispered. “Your eyes—”
“What?” she asked, but her voice came out hoarse.
“They’re...” Quin’s eyes widened for a moment, then they shook their head. “It’s nothing. Probably just the lights.”
But Riya knew it wasn’t. She felt it immediately—the magic stirring again.
This time, warmth bloomed low in her chest, like a door easing open from the inside.
And for once, she didn’t fight it. She let herself feel it.
She liked Kian.The thought settled softly, unmistakable.
Because it washim.
Because he stayed. The way he refused to give up. The way he waited, even when she kept pulling away. The way he looked at her like her existence, right here, was enough.
Her eyes found his. The space between them seemed to narrow as the stage lights blurred.
