Anika stood in front of the door to her family’s house, hesitating. The warm, comforting smell of fresh coffee wafted through the small crack in the door, but it only made her stomach churn. It had been months since she’d walked through these doors, and the memories—the laughter, the arguments, the warmth of Raghav and Mira—felt like ghosts she wasn’t sure she could face.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open.

Inside, Ayan and Arjun were already seated at the dining table, both looking as if they had been waiting for her. Arjun was nursing a cup of coffee, his dark eyes hidden behind the rim. Ayan sat across from him, tapping his fingers on the table, the tension between them palpable even from the doorway.

"Finally decided to show up?" Ayan’s voice was stern, but Anika could hear the underlying worry.

"Sorry," she mumbled, walking in and setting her bag down on the counter. "I... I didn’t know if I was ready for this."

Arjun didn’t say anything. He just stared into his coffee, avoiding eye contact.

Once Anika had settled at the table, the silence stretched, thick and uncomfortable. Ayan finally broke it.

"We need to talk," he said, his tone firm. "We can’t keep avoiding this. It’s been months, Anika. We need to face what happened."

Anika clenched her fists beneath the table. "I’m facing it, Ayan. Every day. Just because I’m not ready to keep pushing forward like you doesn’t mean I’m not grieving."

Ayan’s jaw tightened. "You think I’m not grieving? I’m trying to hold everything together, for all of us. Someone has to be the strong one."

"That’s your answer to everything, isn’t it?" Anika shot back, her voice rising. "Be strong, don’t feel, don’t talk about it. Just bottle it all up until it explodes."

"You think it’s easy for me?" Ayan’s face reddened. "You think it’s easy for any of us? We lost Raghav and Mira, Anika. I’m doing what I have to do to keep this family from falling apart."

Arjun finally spoke, his voice low but carrying a sharp edge. "And what about us, Ayan? What about how we’re supposed to cope? You keep pushing us like this, and all you’re doing is making it harder."

Anika could feel the crackling tension between her brothers, but it was Arjun’s words that hit her the hardest. He was right, and she knew it. Ayan was too focused on holding things together, and Arjun was too closed off to admit he was struggling.

"I’m not asking for the world, Ayan," Anika said, her voice trembling. "I’m not asking you to fix it all. But I need you to understand that I can’t just get over this. I can’t be 'fine' like you want me to be."

Ayan slammed his fist on the table, the sound sharp and sudden. "I’m not asking you to be 'fine.' I’m asking you to stop hiding. To stop avoiding the family. We need you, Anika."

"I’m here, aren’t I?" she retorted, her emotions swirling. "I’m here, but I can’t do this the way you want me to. I don’t know how to keep going without them. I don’t know how to be whole again."

Arjun stood abruptly, pushing his chair back so hard it scraped against the floor. "We’re all falling apart, Anika. Don’t act like you’re the only one who’s lost something."

The words hit harder than she expected. She swallowed, her throat tight. The room seemed to shrink as the air thickened with unsaid words and unhealed wounds. For a moment, it felt like the three of them—once inseparable—were strangers, lost in their grief.

Ayan exhaled sharply and rubbed his face, the anger in his posture shifting into something else. "I don’t know what else to say. I just want us to get through this together."

Anika nodded, her heart heavy. "I don’t know if we can. Not if we keep fighting like this."

The silence that followed was thick and loaded with the weight of things unsaid. Arjun’s chair creaked as he sat back down, his eyes finally meeting hers.

"We’re not going to get through this in one day," he said quietly. "But we need to try."

Anika’s heart clenched, and for the first time in a long while, she felt a flicker of hope. Maybe they could begin to heal, one small step at a time. But it wouldn’t be easy. Not for any of them.

As Anika walked to the door, she heard Ayan and Arjun continue talking softly behind her. For the first time, the argument felt less like an attack and more like the start of something—something broken, but with the possibility of being mended.

Anika stepped outside into the cool air, feeling the weight of the family’s tension still lingering. It wasn’t resolved, not by a long shot.

But it was a start.