Hey Mishta

"Hey mishta, ya got shome candy for meee?"

The childish lisp cut through the sterile hush of the hospital room. An adorable little girl in a Belle costume stood in the doorway, grinning at Dr. Dev Mahesh.

Dev's chest caved as the words struck him like a blow. His knees buckled against the rail, as he staggered to Rose's bedside, clutching her cold hand gasping for breath.

Nurse Jenkins hurried forward, cheeks flaming, tugging her daughter away. "I'm so sorry doctor. She got away from me." Her scrubs had a witch's hat pinned crookedly to the pocket. She guided the little Belle past a row of orange-and-black streamers, murmuring apologies as they vanished into the corridor.

Dev's children stared after him, stunned. They had never seen their father cry. Not once. Not through their mother's long coma. Not when the dynamic duo of Dr. Dev and Dr. Rose - inseparable through every day of their lives including this very hospital - had finally been separated by something even they could not overcome.

Life.

Dr. Bryan lingered inside the room, the chart loose in his hands. He had known Dev and Rose for decades as trusted colleagues and best friends. They were pretty much family in all but blood. He had watched his friend wither over the past year, spending every hour here: tending his patients or tending his wife. He hadn't been home in months.

"Dev… buddy," Bryan said softly, his voice catching. "She is my friend too. But it's been a year, Dev. A year. Maybe it's time to let go."

"You don't know that," Dev hissed, kissing Rose's knuckles. His tears dripped onto the wires and tubes snaking from her still body. "She promised me forever. She doesn't break promises."

His thumb traced the back of her hand, over faint scars he knew too well. He'd memorized every one during those first weeks after the crash - reminders of a lifetime of hiding pain behind her smile. He had missed so much back then. The way her laughter had dimmed, the way she'd worn long sleeves in summer.

Bryan's shoulders slumped. He turned to his now grown up god-children. "You need to make a call soon. This… this isn't healthy for them. Let me know."

"Thanks, Uncle Bryan," one of them murmured.

When the doctor left, silence pressed in. The children turned to their father, faces drawn with grief.

"Dad… you heard Uncle Bryan. This… this is becoming an obsession now. This isn't healthy," his daughter whispered. "Are you keeping her alive because you believe she'll wake up - or because you can't let go?"

Dev's voice was hoarse, but steady. "I believe in her. She will come back to me."

"Dad," his son said, pained, "are you sure this is what Mom would want for you? Look at yourself. You never cried once in your life - and a little kid asking for candy broke you." 

His daughter's voice cracked. "We don't want to lose you too. We love you dad."

Dev lifted his head, eyes rimmed with red, and looked from their stricken faces to Rose's still form. His thumb brushed across her knuckles.

"They don't know, my darling," he whispered. "They don't know why that little girl's words crushed me. Do you remember? How we gave our children their names?"

"Hey mishta… ya got shome candy for meee?"

The lisping squeak rang again, not from the hospital corridor this time, but from memory - sharp and sweet as the smell of autumn leaves.

"Oh my, what a costume!" Mrs. Mahesh exclaimed, ushering a gap-toothed little girl in a Belle gown up the front steps. "Rose, you are the most beautiful princess in the whole town."

Dev's small breath hitched. Six years old, dressed in his makeshift Arjun costume - bow and quiver stitched by his thrifty Amma's careful hands - he had never seen anyone so dazzling. Rose glowed like a porcelain doll from the expensive shop downtown, even though everyone knew Mrs. Fernandez had picked up the costume from the Dollar Store bargain rack.

"Oh, she's adorable, Sharada! And ooh look at the handsome prince!" Fran cooed, eyes sparkling.

"I am the mighty Arjun," Dev declared, chin raised, striking a dramatic pose with his toy bow. In his head he looked magnificent.

Fran clapped her hands. "Ooh, so mighty and strong! Like one of those Greek statues, diba?"

Sharada chuckled, locking the door. "Ready, Fran? These children have been begging me all week for this… this…" she struggled for the word.

"Tricking and tweeting?" Fran suggested.

"Trick-a-treating," Sharada corrected, mangling it just as badly. "Still, I don't know how giving so much sugar to children became a holiday."

"Strange American custom, grabe," Fran muttered, looping her arm through her friend's. "But if this is how we fit in, we'll do it together, no?"

"Children, hold hands," Sharada ordered, her no-nonsense voice cutting through the cool night. "Or we go straight home."

"Don' wanna go with a nashty boy," Rose wrinkled her nose.

Dev folded his arms. "I don't wanna go with a snotty girl."

The two mothers shared an amused glance, then gave them the sort of stern look that could silence a room full of kindergarteners. Sulking, the children clasped hands and waddled down the lane.

Behind them, the mothers giggled. For all the protests, the pair looked unbearably cute together.

Neighbors gushed over the costumes - though Sharada grew tired of explaining who Arjun was. "No, no, not Robin Hood. Arjun, the warrior prince from Mahabharata. Epic story only!"

The mothers whispered to each other between doorsteps, gossiping about whose lawn was neat, whose pumpkin carvings were crooked. The children darted from porch to porch, bags filled with candy.

But not everyone was friendly. Some neighbors looked too long at them, a couple asked them to go back to where they came from or yet others called them names under their breath while they smiled at them. The mothers held their heads high, but their smiles tightened.

The trouble began at a house where a group of local boys were playing in the yard. They stopped to stare as the princess and the bow-and-arrow boy approached.

"And what are you supposed to be?" Bryan asked, wrinkling his nose. "A poor Robin Hood?"

"Robin Hood was poor, you doofus," his older brother Tom corrected.

"Don't call me a doofus, doofus."

"So what are you then? Tarzan boy?" Bryan pressed, more curious now.

Tom sneered. "Your mom too cheap to buy you a real costume, freak?"

"Don' call him tha-" Rose burst out, stamping her tiny slippered foot. Her lisp thickened as she shouted, "He'sh not Robin Hood! He'sh Ar-jun! A noble printhce!"

The boys cackled. "Aw, look at the pwithy pwincess! The pwincess and the fweak!" Tom sang, wagging his tongue.

Rose's face crumpled. It was the first time anyone had ever mocked her lisp, and the sting sent tears spilling down her cheeks.

Dev's stomach lurched. "Don't call her that, you butthead! She's a real princess!"

Tom shoved closer, sneering. "What are you gonna do about it, freak?" He yanked Rose's bag, spilling candy onto the ground. She wailed.

Dev didn't think. He just squared his skinny shoulders and swung his fist. Tom toppled backward with a howl. Bryan froze, wide-eyed. He wanted to comfort the crying girl, but he was too afraid to defy his brother.

Before Tom could get up, Rose snatched Dev's hand and pulled him away. Her Belle skirts swished as they ran back to the safety of their mothers. Tom sat on the curb, red-faced, waving Rose's candy bag like a trophy. Rose's tears spilled faster.

The mothers hurried to gather them close, horrified at what had happened. Sharada muttered in Tamil, "Paavam, kanna…" while Fran fussed in Tagalog, "Anak, don't cry, anak…" Their voices were soft shields, though their eyes burned.

When Rose sobbed that her candy was gone, Dev hugged her clumsily. "Thanks for saving me, Rose. You're a real princess." He pressed his own bag of candy into her hands.

The mothers blinked hard, suddenly quiet.

"You're a good boy, kanna," Sharada whispered.

Fran leaned down and kissed his head. "You really are a mighty prince, anak."

Dev blushed crimson, but Rose clung to his candy bag, sniffling through her tears.

That was the night the mighty prince and the little princess became inseparable.

That night, as the children sat curled up on the living room rug, still sticky-faced from candy, the mothers traded quiet sighs.

"It's hard, Sharada," Fran admitted, folding away Rose's crumpled Belle gown. "Some people look at us like we don't belong. Like we're… intruders."

Sharada's eyes softened. "We do belong, Fran. Maybe not in their eyes but we do in each other's."

From that Halloween on, the Maheshes and the Fernandezes were inseparable. They carpooled to Saint Mercy together, traded overnight shifts, swapped tiffins of sambar and adobo in the staff lounge, laughed at the way Americans wrinkled their noses at the smell of fish curry or tamarind rice. When one family was tired, the other picked up the slack. They were each other's armor.

And their children, their children were the proof that life here could be sweet.

Dev took to his new role as Rose's protector like he'd been born for it. Whenever bigger kids teased her lisp or yanked her braid, he squared his small shoulders and glared them down. Rose, dainty as a doll with her big eyes and pretty dresses, clung to his hand like it was a lifeline. Everyone in town whispered about how inseparable they were - the Indian boy with the glare and the surprising right hook and the Filipino princess with the lisp.

Halloween became their day. Every year, Rose would whisper with that mischievous grin, "Hey mishta… ya got shome candy for meee?" and Dev would solemnly offer her the choicest piece from his bag. It was their secret ritual, their private joke.

One evening, as the children lay on the rug giggling, Rose declared grandly, "When I grow up, I will marry Dev."

Sharada and Fran froze mid-sentence, then exchanged startled, delighted looks.

"Oh-ho," Fran laughed, clasping Sharada's hand. "Did you hear that? Your son and my daughter, eh? A match made already!"

"Castle in the air, Fran," Sharada teased, though her smile lingered. "But what a lovely castle."

Rose's eyes gleamed. "And when we have babies, their names will be Arjun if it's a boy and Belle if it's a girl."

The parents burst into laughter.

"Paavam kanna," Sharada said, ruffling Dev's hair. "See how your princess has already written your destiny."

Dev blushed crimson, hiding his face. Rose just held his hand tighter, triumphant.

A cardboard skeleton grinned above the doorway, its joints clicking when the HVAC kicked on. Outside, a costumed orderly wheeled a patient past, cape dragging. Down the hall, nurses in witch hats handed out candy to patients' kids. Someone had strung paper pumpkins over the nurses' desk, their shadows bobbing like ghosts whenever a door opened.

Dev's children sat huddled close now, eyes wet, cheeks shining. They had never heard this story before - never known how far back their parents' love reached, how it had been stitched into the very fabric of their childhoods.

Belle swallowed hard. "Dad… was it really a match made in heaven? You found the love of your life when you were six years old?"

Dev nodded slowly, brushing his thumb over Rose's limp knuckles. His voice was quiet but sure.

"Yes. And that's why we named you Arjun and Belle." He chuckled, "I told you your mother always keeps her promises. But our life together? It wasn't that simple. Life never makes it that easy, does it, my darling?" 

He turned his face toward Rose as though she could still hear him. Then he sighed, gaze drifting back into the shadows of memory.

After that day, the Mahesh and Fernandez kids seemed inseparable. School projects, birthday parties, holidays - if Rose was there, Dev was close by. Teachers joked that the two families ought to move into one house.

But things changed when high school began.

Rose grew into her looks early, and everyone noticed. The gap-toothed Belle with the lisp was gone; in her place was a girl with straightened hair, lip gloss, and the confidence that came with the cheerleading uniform. She learned how to fill a silence before anyone else could - laughing louder, smiling quicker, saying yes before she had time to think no. 

She liked the way people turned when she walked in, the rush of being wanted. Sometimes she'd catch Dev watching from the hallway and pretend not to see him, just to prove to herself she didn't need him. 

Each time, it left her emptier, but she never admitted it.

Dev, on the other hand, was serious, buried in books. He was the kid who raised his hand to correct the teacher, the one who stayed late in the lab to finish an experiment nobody else cared about. Teachers adored him; classmates rolled their eyes. He didn't mind, or told himself he didn't.

Rose still talked to him - sometimes. She'd pluck a pencil from his shirt pocket, click it twice, hand it back with a grin. "Hey, Professor," she'd tease, before running off to join her friends. Dev would smile stiffly, but the moment would stick with him all day. She liked proving she could still make him flustered. It was a quiet kind of power, and she used it too often.

His pride kept him from chasing her. If she wanted to drift into that glittering crowd, fine. He wouldn't beg. But the distance grew, brick by brick until it threatened to become a wall.

In the hospital, his son leaned forward. "You just… let her go like that?"

Dev gave a small, sad smile. "I told myself I was being dignified. Really, I was being stubborn. I wanted her to come back to me without me asking. It took you long enough to ask Jessica out, didn't it?"

"Well I thought Uncle Bryan would kill me if I did … but point taken."

Belle frowned. "Mom could be… kind of mean, couldn't she?"

Dev chuckled, though his eyes were wet. "My love could be flighty and careless with feelings. But she was never mean on purpose. She liked being wanted. And I…" He shook his head. "I made sure she knew I wouldn't compete for her. That was my pride. Both of us were wrong."

Dev's kids leaned closer, waiting as Dev sighed. "Life got… complicated. High school does that. You two know."

Belle raised an eyebrow. "Complicated how?"

Dev glanced at Rose's still face, then back at his daughter. "Well, let's just say your Uncle Bryan and his brother Tom happened."

The first time Dev punched Tom Turner, he was six years old and dressed as Arjun. Tom had tried to snatch Rose's candy bag and ended up with a bloody nose for his trouble.

The second time came ten years later.

It was after school, sophomore year. A skinny kid with glasses - Peter, the type who carried a chess set in his backpack - was cornered near the lockers. Tom, now a towering senior with a letterman jacket and a permanent smirk, had him pinned.

"C'mon, just say it," Tom taunted. "Say you're a loser."

Pete's voice cracked. "I'm not…"

"You are," Tom said, shoving him.

That's when Dev walked by. Most people would've kept walking, but Dev was not most people. He dropped his books on the floor with a thud.

"Let him go, Tom."

Tom turned, amused. "Well well..l'll be darned, if it isn't Professor Mahesh. Whatcha gonna do? You gonna bore me to death with a math lecture?"

Dev squared his shoulders. "No. I'm gonna shut you up."

Before Tom could laugh, Dev swung at Tom with the perfect right hook. Tom went down hard, sprawled across the linoleum.

There was a stunned silence.

"Holy crap," Peter whispered, clutching his backpack.

Before anyone could react a slow clap started. Bryan Turner, leaning against a locker with his usual grin, shook his head. "Well, damn. You actually did it again Professor."

Peter blinked. "Again?"

"Yeah," Bryan said, strolling over. "The first time was on Halloween a while back for insulting Rose. This time it's nerd rescue. That's two knockouts, Professor. My brother has a losing record against you."

Tom groaned on the floor. "Shut up, Bryan."

Bryan smirked. "See, that's why I don't like you. You pick on people smaller than you. It's pathetic. Honestly, you had that one coming." He turned to Dev. "Respect, man. You didn't even hesitate."

Dev picked up his books, shrugging. "Somebody had to do it."

"Yeah, well…" Bryan extended his hand. "Congratulations. You're officially my new favorite person."

Dev stared at the hand like it was a pop quiz. Then he shook it.

From that day on, Bryan stuck close. He was everything Dev wasn't: smooth, playful, and impossible not to like. Girls called him a flirt, but he was the kind who knew when to stop, who opened doors and made people laugh without making them uncomfortable.

And Bryan had one rule: never, ever, act like Tom.

In the hospital, Arjun snorted through his tears. "Uncle Bryan? A playboy?"

Dev smiled faintly. "Playboy, yes. But respectful. He liked women too much to hurt them. Unlike his brother."

Belle leaned forward. "So that's how you became friends?"

"After I knocked Tom down the second time," Dev said, nodding. "Bryan decided I was worth his time."

At school, Bryan became the bridge between Dev and Rose. He could hang with the popular crowd at parties, toss out one-liners that had cheerleaders doubled over, and then show up at Dev's house to play Street Fighter till midnight.

He was also Rose's protector.

"Look," he told Dev once, lounging in the cafeteria, "I know how you feel about her. Don't deny it. It's written all over your face."

Dev bristled. "It's not…"

"Relax, Professor. I'm not the competition." Bryan grinned. "She's like a sister to me. But she's in that crowd now, and you're not. So I'll keep an eye out for her. Make sure the wrong guys don't corner her. You can thank me later."

"Why?" Dev asked suspiciously.

"Because I like my best friends not being miserable," Bryan said, stealing one of Dev's fries. "Besides, someone's gotta balance out my brother being the human embodiment of a wedgie."

Dev cracked the smallest smile. "Fair enough."

And Bryan did look out for her. At parties, when Tom tried to drape his arm over Rose's shoulder, Bryan would swoop in, waggle his eyebrows, and say, "Hey, Rose, save me a dance before jackass here calculates the square root of boredom." Everyone laughed, Tom scowled, and Rose got a breather.

Rose herself liked Bryan, even trusted him, though she teased him constantly. "You're ridiculous," she'd say, smacking his arm when he cracked another joke.

"Ridiculous, but charming," Bryan would reply.

And Dev, though he hated to admit it, was grateful. Because for all his books and grades, Dev was not built for crowds. Bryan was. And if Bryan was Rose's shield in that world, maybe, just maybe, Dev could still hold onto the hope that she'd remember the boy who had once defended her.

The hospital monitors ticked on, steady and unbothered, while Dev's voice grew rough. He stared at Rose's hand in his, thumb brushing the knuckles.

"Things might've gone differently," he said, "if I hadn't let my pride get in the way. If I hadn't fought with her that week."

"What happened dad?"

Dev's voice dropped low, steady but full of regret. "It wasn't just Tom," he told his children. "It was us. We broke before Tom even had a chance."

It started in the library. Rose plopped her notes onto Dev's table, still in her cheer jacket, hair tied tight, smelling faintly of hairspray.

"Professor… please help me," she demanded, sliding the pages toward him.

"You skipped three classes. I'm not doing your work for you," Dev muttered, not looking up.

"I had cheer competition. Come on, Dev… help me puhleeze! You're my best friend."

"No."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't be a jerk, Dev. I really want to get an A on this. I told you - I'm going to be a doctor too."

Dev laughed under his breath. "You? A doctor? Yeah right."

Her head snapped up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're too busy with pep rallies and hair spray. Pretty cheerleaders don't…" He bit it back, but the words hung in the air.

Rose's face flushed. "Pretty cheerleaders don't what, Dev? Think? Work hard? You think just because you're good at school you're the only one who gets to dream?"

"That's not what I …"

"Forget it." She yanked her notes back, stuffed them in her bag, and stormed off, ponytail swishing behind her.

Halfway down the hall, her anger burned into something colder - satisfaction. Let him stew for once, she thought. Let him see what it feels like when someone else walks away. 

Bryan had been at the next table studying. He slid into her empty chair, shaking his head mournfully. "Nice job, Professor. Real smooth."

Dev bristled. "I didn't mean…"

"You did. And now she thinks you don't respect her at all. You like her, right?"

Dev stiffened. "That's none of your business."

Bryan smirked. "That's a yes. Here's the thing, she's flighty. She runs with the crowd. But deep down, she cares. You've got to tell her what she means to you before some idiot like my brother does."

Dev folded his arms. "I'm not begging anyone."

"Don't beg. Just being honest. Drop the ego, Professor. It's heavy."

But Dev stayed stubborn.

Their parents, meanwhile, stayed as close as ever. Potlucks, game nights, trips together - the Maheshes and Fernandezes were still each other's lifelines. But they noticed.

At the next family dinner, Fran and Sharada tried everything, board games, old stories, even their shared favorite dessert, to pull the kids into the same conversation. 

Rose excused herself early to finish a project; Dev buried himself with homework. 

When the door closed behind the Fernandezes, Sharada sighed. "We used to have to drag them apart." 

Fran forced a smile. "They'll come back around. Maybe another Halloween will fix it." 

Sharada nodded, but her eyes stayed on the empty porch, where two small shadows had once waited side by side holding hands.

"Funny," Fran said one evening while folding the laundry. "We hardly see Rose and Dev together anymore."

Sharada sighed. "They used to be like twins. Now…"

The mothers exchanged a glance, both sad but helpless.

Rose didn't tell anyone about the argument, but it chewed at her. 

In class she kept glancing toward Dev's seat, half-expecting him to look back, half-hoping he wouldn't. 

When Bryan caught her alone in the hall and said, "He didn't mean it," she only shrugged. 

"I know," she said, but her voice cracked. "He just… said what everyone thinks." 

That night she told herself she was done caring what Dev Mahesh thought. 

By morning she was checking her reflection twice before homeroom, wondering if he'd notice she'd straightened her hair.

He did… but only when she was talking to her friends. He wanted to go tell her that she looked nice with her hair like that - but his pride won out. She was sad that he didn't care enough to tell her she looked pretty.

Halloween in their junior year sealed it. It had always been their day. Every year, Rose would grin and whisper: "Hey mishta, you got some candy for meee?" And Dev would hand her the best piece in his bag.

But that year, she skipped it. She went to a party with Jenna and the squad instead. Dev sat at home pretending he didn't care, declaring to all and sundry that his physics homework was all that mattered. That October 31st, Dev sat on the porch with two full-size Snickers in his palm. Every year, she'd show up with that lisping grin: "Hey mishta…" and he'd hand her the best candy.

Midnight came. No Rose. No knock. He ate one bar at 11:58, the other at 12:03. Pride told him to laugh it off. But when he brushed his teeth, he caught his reflection in the bathroom mirror and whispered the line himself. It sounded pathetic even to him.

Bryan found him at school the next day. "She ditched you. That sucks. I told her off for that today. She cried, man. She knows she messed up. Go talk to her."

Dev shrugged like it was nothing although he was breaking inside. "People grow up dude. I get it. It's cool."

"Don't be an idiot Dev. You're heartbroken. Anyone who knows you can see it," Bryan said.

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine." Bryan leaned in. "Drop the act. Call her out. She needs to know that you care."

"No." Dev's jaw tightened. "If she wants to come back, she knows where to find me."

So he waited. And waited. But Rose never came. It was like she didn't care.

Her mother did, though. The next day Fran caught Rose scrolling through party photos.

"Rose," she said gently, "you stood Dev up to go to that party with your friends. You didn't even tell him about it. He's been your friend forever. Don't forget who stood up for you when no one else did."

"I just… I don't know how to fix it," she said, twisting a strand of hair. "If I apologize, he'll think I was wrong." 

Fran gave her a look that only mothers could manage. "And you weren't?" 

Rose blinked, then whispered, "Maybe. But he hurt me first." 

Fran shook her head. "My love. Pride is a poor friend. Don't lose your real friends over something like that."

But Rose stayed quiet. She felt too guilty to push through her shame, too afraid Dev would laugh at her if she asked for forgiveness.

During family dinners, the two sets of parents still sat together swapping stories. The laughter was easy, but the gap between the kids was a wound no one knew how to bandage.

"They'll find their way back," Fran would whisper.

"If they don't wait too long," Sharada would reply.

Bryan had been needling him for days. Every time Rose walked past with her friends, every time Dev stared too long at her instead of his textbooks, Bryan was there with a grin and a jab.

"You like her," Bryan said one afternoon after practice, slinging his bag over one shoulder. "Don't bother denying it. The whole world knows. Except her."

Dev bristled. "She knows."

"No, Professor," Bryan said, shaking his head. "She doesn't. You act like a stone. She can't read that. You've got to actually say it. Use your fancy words that you keep using with the rest of us. Like exfoliate."

"Exfoliate is fancy?"

"You know what I mean you doofus."

Dev glared, but Bryan leaned in, his grin softening into something almost serious. "Look. She came to you for help. She wanted to prove herself, and you shut her down. You owe her an apology. And then you owe her the truth. You love her. Tell her."

Dev sat with the words. They felt heavy, but they felt right. For once, he let go of his stubbornness. He nodded.

Bryan clapped him on the back. "Finally. My greatest achievement. I convinced the Professor to act like a human being. Go get a haircut, put on a shirt without ink stains, and for God's sake, bring her something that isn't homework notes."

The next day, Dev stood in front of the mirror, his hair trimmed neatly for the first time in months. He'd ironed his best shirt. In one hand he carried a small box of candy, in the other a single red rose.

He had rehearsed what he would say. First, I'm sorry. I was wrong to mock you. You'll be an incredible doctor. Then, I love you. I always have. Please be mine. Simple, honest. 

For the first time, he believed he might actually pull it off. But when he reached the main hallway at school that morning, the crowd was already there with their phones out recording something.

Down on one knee in front of the trophy case, helmet under one arm and a gaudy bouquet in the other, Tom grinned like he owned the world. His friends had gathered, the cheerleaders squealed, and half the school pressed in, chanting.

"Say yes! Say yes!"

Rose froze, her eyes darting from the crowd to the phones recording them. For a heartbeat, she glanced past them and saw Dev. He was standing at the edge, his face grim. Bryan was at his side, whispering urgently, "Go on, Professor. Tell her. Make it right."

For a moment, she thought about saying no. About walking straight to Dev. 

Then she saw the phones, the crowd waiting, Tom's smirk, Jenna mouthing 'say yes.' 

And she did what she'd always done lately - whatever would make people cheer.

But Dev stayed rooted, his pride locking his jaw. He couldn't bring himself to step forward, not with all those eyes on them.

Rose's cheeks flushed. Her friends squealed louder begging her to accept. Tom's grin widened.

"Yes," she whispered. "I'll go steady with you."

The hallway exploded with cheers. Tom stood and swept her into a hug. She let it happen.

And then Tom smirked - not at her, but at Dev. Smirked like he'd won twice. Rose pretended not to notice Dev's wilted face.

Dev didn't grandstand. He didn't shout. He walked to the nearest bin, set the rose and candy box inside as if they were fragile, and left. Bryan shouldered through the crush to follow. Behind them the hall boiled with noise, but Dev heard only the soft crunch of cellophane and his own breath.

Dev skipped the rest of the day. He didn't remember walking home, didn't remember tossing his backpack onto his bed. The rose's scent still clung to his fingers, sickly sweet.

He stared at the ceiling until the streetlights flickered outside. Somewhere, music drifted from a passing car - the kind of song Rose would hum along to. He turned on his desk lamp, opened his chemistry notebook, and stared at the equations until the numbers blurred.

When his mother knocked softly and asked, "Kanna, you're not going to the game tonight?" he only said, "No, Amma. I have work."

But he didn't have anything to do. He just couldn't bear to see Rose cheering for Tom. He couldn't feel his heart break for her again.

That night, Rose locked herself in her room and cried until her throat hurt. Her friends had called the proposal "the most romantic thing ever," but all she could think about was Dev's face in the crowd - the way he had looked at her once, and how he hadn't looked at all today.

Her mother knocked, gentle and worried. "Rose, anak, are you all right?" Rose wiped her eyes and said, "Just tired, Ma." But when she caught her reflection in the mirror, all she saw was someone who had said yes for all the wrong reasons.

Silence pressed in, broken only by the muffled laughter of trick-or-treaters echoing from the lobby below. A nurse in cat ears paused at the doorway, then retreated, sensing the weight in the room.

Belle's voice cracked. "She said yes… just to spite you?"

Dev hesitated. "To spite me. To please the crowd. To hide her own shame." 

He paused, glancing at the slow rise and fall of Rose's chest. 

"And maybe… because she thought she didn't deserve better back then." 

Arjun muttered, "And Uncle Bryan was right. You should have told her."

Dev bowed his head over Rose's hand, kissing her knuckles softly. "Yes," he whispered. "But I didn't. And that mistake cost us years."

The monitors kept up their steady hum, the faint whoosh of the HVAC filling the gaps between Dev's words. His children leaned forward, hooked now, waiting.

"So how did you meet again?"

Dev smiled faintly through his tears. "It happened on Halloween again. Of course it did. Fate has a sense of humor."

"We all got scholarships to the same college. All of us pre-med but Rose and I never talked to each other. Even Bryan and our parents had given up on getting us together again."

Dev stopped as he gazed into the distance as if reliving those days, "Your mom stayed Tom's girlfriend, even when he graduated early on his football scholarship. She still showed up in Bryan's stories, still floated around campus like she owned every hallway. Meanwhile, I buried myself in labs and lectures, the kind of student Professors praised but classmates whispered about. They whispered a lot about me."

"What did they say?" asked Belle, holding her breath.

"That I was brilliant but gay," Dev said, chuckling at the memory.

Belle and Arjun gawked, then burst out laughing.

Dev joined them. "That's what happens when you don't date anyone. Senior year, two different girls asked me out, but I turned them down. Those kinds of things get people talking."

"Why?" Belle asked softly, already knowing the answer.

"Because I was still waiting for your mom," Dev said simply. "Even when she was on Tom's arm, even when the whole world told me to move on. Bryan was the only one who knew the truth."

"Then how did you guys get together again?" asked Arjun.

"That's thanks to your uncle Bryan again. Of course it was him, that menace," said Dev fondly.

"You need a break, Professor," Bryan said, clapping Dev on the shoulder. "One night. That's all. Stop acting like a seventy-year-old man trapped in a twenty-year-old body."

"Yeah Dev, come out with us," said a giggling Elle wrapped around Bryan kissing him constantly. "Maybe you'll find the guy of your dreams there." 

"I have exams," Dev protested.

"You already have A's locked in every class. You're insufferable. Now you're coming. Right Elle?"

"Right sweetie…" cooed Elle. 

Dev rolled his eyes and finally gave in. He was fond of Elle. She was the little sister he had never had. Of course he would do what she wanted.

That night, he stood in front of the mirror, adjusting the old bow and sash. Arjun again. The noble Pandava prince. Nobody would get it - just like when he was six - and somehow that felt right. A private joke between him and the girl he'd lost. He wistfully recalled the beautiful doll that he went trick or treating with that night. The love of his life.

At the party, he stuck to the corner, nursing a soda, watching the chaos swirl as Bryan and Elle were in their element. There were costumes everywhere, pirates, vampires, bad superheroes. He felt ridiculous and invisible all at once. This wasn't his scene. He was about to throw the can in his hand and walk out the door when he stopped because someone poked him in the back. He froze when he heard the most beautiful voice he had ever heard.

"Hey mishta… got some candy for mee?"

The voice, playful, with the faintest echo of a lisp.

Dev turned, his heart beating like a drum. And there she was. His Rose. In a Belle costume. Just like the first night they met. For a second he couldn't breathe. She laughed nervously, tossing her hair. "You should see your face. I didn't think anyone would be dorky enough to come as Arjun again."

"Why… why are you here?" Dev stammered.

Rose shrugged, eyes bright but tired. "Because Bryan and Elle said I had to. And because Tom's drunk somewhere being an ass. I got bored. Then I saw you. And…" She bit her lip. "I couldn't resist."

Dev swallowed hard, his eyes stinging. "You remembered. After all these years."

"Of course I remembered you idiot. I never forgot," she whispered.

The bass thumped through the frat house, lights flashing red and blue across walls sticky with spilled beer. Dev shifted uncomfortably in his corner, fiddling with the bow across his chest. Rose's Belle gown caught the glow, making her look like a storybook figure lost in a nightmare. They sat on a battered couch, voices almost drowned out by the music.

"I thought I was punishing you for the library, for the way you made me feel small. But I was really punishing myself. I liked the attention, the praise, the noise. And I hated that no matter how many people looked at me, it never felt the same as when you did."

"I'm so sorry Dev," Rose said suddenly. Her eyes glistened. She blurted out a stream of words without stopping, "I've been such an ungrateful wretch to you. I'm so sorry. For everything. For scuttling our friendship. For the library, for Halloween, for… for saying yes… to him."

Dev stared at her. The apology he'd dreamed of hearing for years sounded small, almost fragile. "I'm sorry too Rose. I was just too pigheaded to apologize to you. I was cruel. I shouldn't have laughed when you said you wanted to be a doctor. I knew better. I just… wanted to protect myself."

Her breath hitched. "And I should've come back. I wanted to. But I was ashamed. Too proud to admit I missed you."

Dev let the silence sit for a moment before asking softly, "Are you happy, Rose?"

Her lips trembled. She shook her head. "No. God, no. I'm so sorry, Dev." A tear slipped down her cheek. "I thought I could make it work. That saying yes to him for everything and going with the flow would make everything easier. But it didn't."

Dev reached out instinctively, and that's when he saw it - a dark bruise along her forearm, half-hidden under the sleeve of her costume.

He froze. "What happened? Who did this to you?"

Rose yanked her arm back, as if ashamed. She opened her mouth, but before she could answer-

"Rose! Where are you? You bitch!"

The shout ripped through the party. Music cut, voices stilled. A drunk Tom Turner stumbled through the doorway, red cup in hand, eyes glassy. His letterman jacket hung half-open, his swagger sloppier than usual but no less menacing.

"There you are!" he barked. "Leaving me alone again? What the hell, Rose? How many times do I need to tell you that you belong by my side."

Rose shrank into the couch, shivering. Dev felt his chest tighten, fury rising. 

"Shut the hell up Tom." 

Tom scanned the room to see who could have stood up to him. When he spotted Dev - in his Arjun costume, bow slung over his shoulder. Tom burst out laughing.

"Oh, this is rich. Look at you, Professor. Still playing dress-up? Still trying to be the hero?"

Bryan and his girlfriend Elle rushed in behind him. "Tom, cut it out," Bryan snapped. "You're drunk. Let's go."

"Stay out of this, Bryan," Tom growled. He yanked Rose to her feet, wrapping a hand around her wrist. "And you. Don't you ever walk away from me."

Rose winced. "Stop, Tom. Let go. You're hurting me!"

Dev stood, fists clenching. "She said let go."

Tom sneered. "Or what? You'll quote Shakespeare at me?" He shoved Rose behind him and jabbed a finger at Dev. "She's mine, Professor. Always has been. Always will be. Fuckin' nerd. She's too pretty for you."

"Don't talk to him that way Tom," Rose said suddenly, voice trembling but clear. 

The slap came fast. The sound cracked through the room like a gunshot. Rose staggered back, hand to her cheek, eyes wide with shock.

The crowd gasped. Someone muttered, "What the hell?"

That was it.

Dev stepped forward, his whole body trembling with fury. "Touch her again," he said, low and dangerous, "and I'll break you."

Tom laughed. "You? And what army? Buzz off nerd." 

But Dev didn't hesitate. He swung - clean, sharp, perfect - and Tom went down hard. The crowd erupted, half in shock, half in cheers.

Tom scrambled up, snarling, but Dev was faster this time. Another punch, then another. Years of bottled rage and heartbreak - all of it poured into his fists. Elle grabbed Rose, pulling her back as whistles and claps broke out around them. Finally, Tom slumped, beaten, on the floor. The crowd roared its approval.

Dev didn't even look back. He took Rose's trembling hand and pulled her through the crowd. She was sobbing, stumbling against him.

"I'm sorry," she cried over and over. "I'm so sorry, Dev. I don't know why I stayed with him. I don't know why I let it happen. I just…"

Dev tightened his grip around her shoulders, steadying her. She was shaking, clinging to him as though afraid he might vanish.

"It's over," Dev said softly, voice fierce with promise. "You're safe now. I won't let him hurt you again."

Rose buried her face in his chest, still apologizing through her sobs, sounding almost like a prisoner who had just stepped out of her cell and didn't know what freedom felt like.

And for the first time in years, Dev held her - his Rose - and refused to let go.

The party noise faded behind them as Dev and Rose slipped out into the cool October night. The campus was quiet, leaves rustling underfoot, jack-o'-lanterns flickering faintly on dorm steps. Rose's Belle gown shimmered in the lamplight, Dev's Arjun costume still comically heroic against the night.

For the first few minutes, they said nothing. Rose leaned into him, arms wrapped tight around herself, still trembling. Dev let her cling, his hand brushing hers now and then.

Finally, she broke the silence. "I can't believe I stayed with him."

Dev shook his head. "Don't blame yourself. People… get trapped. Sometimes by others. Sometimes by their own pride."

Her laugh was watery, broken. "That's me. Too proud, too worried about what everyone thinks." She looked up at him, eyes shimmering. "I should have come back to you years ago."

Dev swallowed hard, his throat tight. "I should have gone after you. I thought… if you wanted me, you'd come."

Rose sighed, shaking her head. "Always so stubborn."

"Always so careless," Dev countered gently.

They both laughed together - the first time in years. It felt good.

For the next two hours they wandered the campus paths. Past the old library where Rose admitted she sat sometimes, hoping he would notice her. Past the science building where Dev confessed he used to imagine her waiting for him after labs, even when she never did.

They talked like the kids their mothers had once teased them for being - "the twins," always together. Rose told him how she still dreamed of becoming a doctor, no matter how much people thought she was just a pretty face in a cheer uniform. Dev admitted that he'd built his whole life around medicine, but somewhere deep down he wanted a family too, the kind of home their parents had shared across fences and dinner tables.

They spoke about the years they'd lost, the birthdays and holidays when they'd been under the same roof but not the same heart. Every sentence was a bandage, every memory a small confession.

At last, they reached her dorm. Rose lingered by the door, reluctant to go in, her hand still clinging to his.

"Thank you," she whispered. "For tonight. For standing up for me like always. For… for being you."

Dev nodded, his chest aching. "Get some rest. You deserve peace."

He turned, forcing himself to walk away. His steps echoed on the pavement, steady but slow, each one heavier than the last.

Rose stayed rooted at the doorway, eyes locked on his back. She watched him until the night swallowed him whole, until she couldn't see him anymore.

Her lips trembled into a faint smile. "My Arjun," she whispered into the empty night. "The noble and mighty prince." 

For the first time in years, hope bloomed in her chest.

Back in the hospital, Dev's voice softened, his lips twitching with a smile.

Arjun pumped his fists. "Yes! Dad, you actually decked Tom in front of everyone again? That's awesome!"

Belle sighed dreamily, "This is the most romantic story I've ever heard."

Then her brow furrowed. "But wait - you still didn't tell Mom you loved her?"

Dev chuckled, shaking his head. "No. I was still me. Still too proud. Still too stubborn. But… the spirit of Halloween wasn't done with us yet."

When Dev got back to his dorm room, it was alive with chatter, the glow of the TV flashing across pizza boxes and half-empty soda cans. Tekken blared on screen, and Peter whooped in triumph.

"Unbelievable!" he shouted, bouncing on the futon. "Our boy went to a party, dressed as a Hindu superhero or whatever, and laid out Tom Turner in front of half the campus! That's the third time he's knocked him flat! You remember the time you did that to protect me in High School Dev?"

The other guys raised their sodas in salute. "Dev Mahesh, legend!"

Dev rolled his eyes, fiddling with the controller. "I didn't lay him out for fun. He deserved it, just like he did with you Peter."

"Doesn't matter," Peter said, grinning. "The Professor goes to a frat party and the quarterback goes down. If I didn't see you sitting here, I'd think it was a Marvel crossover."

One of the others leaned forward, whispering. "You know he's gonna come back, right? Guys like Tom don't like to lose in public. He's probably getting a crew together right now."

The room went tense. Another chimed in, "Yeah, man. What if he shows up here?"

Peter jumped to his feet, rummaged under the futon, and pulled out an unused aluminum baseball bat. He thrust it at Dev. "You're the hero, Professor. You defend us!"

The room laughed nervously, but Dev actually took the bat. His knuckles were white on the handle. They mulled how they would defend themselves when there was a knock on the door. The boys almost screamed when they heard three sharp raps on the door. The room froze.

"Oh God, it's him," Peter hissed. "He brought the football team. We're dead."

Another guy dove for the light switch. Someone else whispered, "Barricade the door!"

The knocks came again, louder.

Dev sighed, squared his shoulders, and marched toward the door, bat in hand. He pulled it open and took a batting stance.

"Tom… if you don't go away I'm going to beat the life out of you ag…"

Instead of Tom, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen stood there. Mascara streaks ran down her cheeks. Her Belle gown was wrinkled, her hands shaking. Her eyes went wide when she saw the bat.

"Dev… what are you doing?" she whispered, frightened.

He dropped it instantly, heart seizing. "Rose?"

Before he could say more, she stumbled forward, clutching his shirt, and buried her face in his chest. Her sobs wracked through her body. The room gawked. Peter's mouth fell open.

"Is that… Rose Fernandez?"

"The babe Rose Fernandez? She's real?" another whispered.

The most beautiful girl on campus was standing in their nerd cave, sobbing into Dev's chest. 

Then Rose lifted her head, tears streaming, and blurted, "I can't lose you again. Please, Dev, take me back. I don't care what people say about you. I'll even be your beard if I have to. Just don't shut me out anymore."

Gasps filled the room. Controllers clattered to the floor.

"She knows?" Peter squeaked. "You told her you're gay?"

Rose blinked, startled. "You are gay, right?"

Dev opened his mouth. Nothing came out.

The silence was deafening. Even the game music on the TV felt muted.

Peter slapped his forehead. "Oh my God. The hottest girl in college just offered to be the Professor's beard. This is history."

Another muttered reverently, "The man was playing Tekken an hour ago. Now Belle is proposing to him. This can't be real life."

Rose clung tighter, desperate. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if it's true. Just say yes, Dev. Let me stay. Please."

Dev's face burned. His chest tightened until he couldn't hold it in anymore.

"I AM NOT GAY!" Dev roared, his voice echoing down the hall loud enough for the whole floor to hear.

The boys jumped like someone had fired a gun. Rose froze in his arms, wide-eyed, mascara-streaked, staring up at him.

Dev's chest heaved. His voice cracked, but his words came fiercely. "I've only ever wanted you, Rose. I was waiting for you. Always you. Every day. Every year. Only you."

The room went dead silent.

Peter blinked, stunned. "Wait. You're… straight?"

Another whispered, reverent, "And in love? WITH HER?"

"That's what they mean by reaching for the stars. I get it now," as the others nodded sagely.

But Rose wasn't smiling. Her eyes brimmed with fresh tears, but her expression was raw, wounded. "You were waiting for me?" she whispered, her voice trembling.

"Yes," Dev said, breathless. "Always you. Only you."

"And you're not gay? Really?"

"Really. You are the only one for me."

Her tears spilled over. She shoved at his chest with her fists, her words coming out broken and furious. "Then why didn't you tell me? Why, Dev? Why? Why did you not rescue me from Tom?"

The boys gawked when Rose hammered on Dev's chest with her fists in anger and frustration, "Do you know how many nights I wished you'd come after me? Do you know how many times I wanted to hear you say those words? We wasted years!"

He grabbed her wrists gently, his own eyes wet. "I thought you didn't want me. You said yes to him. You were always with the crowd. I thought…"

"You thought," she cut in, shaking her head. "You assumed. You let your pride do all the talking, and I…" She choked, pressing her forehead to his chest. "I would have never said yes to Tom. Not if you had told me. Not if you had given me even the smallest reason to hope."

The room was silent but for her sobs, muffled against him. The guys, moments ago buzzing with shock, now shifted uncomfortably, realizing they were intruding on something private.

Dev wrapped his arms around her, his own voice breaking. "I'm sorry Rose. I was stupid. I thought… I thought if you wanted me, you'd come back. I didn't know you were waiting too."

She tilted her head up, face streaked with tears, lips quivering between laughter and sobs. "Idiot. We were both waiting."

Dev froze, stunned by the words, by the way they sounded like release, like a lock finally breaking open. And then Rose's hands were on his face, pulling him down.

The kiss landed like lightning.

For Dev, it was his very first. Awkward, unpracticed, but it didn't matter, because the moment their mouths touched, everything inside him caught fire. All the lonely years, the stubborn silence, the nights he'd ached for her without daring to hope… they all poured out in that kiss.

For Rose, it was different. She had kissed before, but never like this. Never with the dizzy certainty that this - this - was where she belonged. The rest had been noise. This was the symphony she had always dreamed about. His lips were clumsy, even trembling, but it made her laugh through her tears because it was him, her Arjun, the brave and mighty prince who always defended her when no one else did, the man who had waited even when she thought she'd lost him forever.

They pressed closer, desperate, almost gasping. Apology, anger, relief, and joy all tangled into one breath. It was undeniable. They didn't need words. The kiss itself said it: we were always meant to find each other again.

When they finally broke apart, Rose rested her forehead against his, her breath shuddering, eyes bright with something fierce and unshakable.

"My God," she whispered, smiling through tears. "That was the greatest kiss of my life."

Dev's chest heaved, dazed and burning. "Mine too," he admitted, voice cracking. "Though.. It was my first one. I don't have much to compare it to."

"Idiot," said Rose laughing. "So definitely not gay then huh?" 

"I guess not."

The boys lost it. Whistles, shouts, soda cans drumming on desks. Someone yelled, "The Professor scored! Belle kissed the Professor!"

Rose pulled him toward his room, both of them laughing through the tears. The door slammed shut to another round of wild applause.

Left behind in the stunned quiet, Peter whispered, "I just witnessed the greatest plot twist in history."

"Fairy tales are real… the Beauty found her Beast," said a wailing boy.

Dev's voice softened, the smile lingering faintly through his tears.

"After that night," he said, "we promised each other we would never waste another day apart. Rose swore we'd never let pride or shame steal time from us again. She promised me that we were forever. And we meant it."

Belle's hand tightened on her mother's. Arjun leaned closer, listening, as Dev carried them forward.

Their parents had celebrated as though it were their own victory. Sharada and Fran cried into each other's arms, laughing through tears about how they'd known all along. Dr. Mahesh clapped Dr. Fernandez on the back, toasting with beer bottles. For years they'd joked about their children being inseparable - now, finally, the joke had become the truth.

Even through the testing times, through sleepless nights of med school, through the brutal schedules of residency, Dev and Rose held on to each other along with Bryan and Elle. They studied side by side, pulled each other through exams, and fell asleep with textbooks open across their laps. The harder the work, the deeper their love grew.

Med school wasn't just romance - it was survival with caffeine. Dev and Rose rented a dingy apartment a block from campus that smelled perpetually of instant noodles and antiseptic. Bryan and Elle moved in next door "for moral support," which quickly turned into communal chaos.

"Moral support?" Rose teased as Bryan appeared with take-out boxes again. "You mean you're here for free food."

"I bring emotional nutrition," he replied, dropping onto their couch.

Elle rolled her eyes. "Emotional nutrition, my foot. You just want to copy Dev's notes."

They studied together, cooked together, and occasionally collapsed together in exhausted heaps, the four of them sprawled under piles of textbooks.

"Look at us," Rose murmured once, half-asleep over her anatomy book. "Like our parents all over again."

Dev smiled. "Only with less curry and more caffeine."

She reached across the table, brushed his hand, and whispered, "Same love though."

When Arjun was born, the four of them had turned the delivery ward into a circus. Bryan paced outside, chewing his fingernails, shouting, "I'm the godfather!" at confused nurses.

"You're the god-annoyance," Elle told him, shoving him a coffee.

Inside, Rose lay drenched in sweat, gripping Dev's hand. When the baby cried, Bryan's knees gave out. He cried harder than the newborn.

"That's my nephew!" he bawled through tears.

"He's your godson," Elle corrected gently, smiling through exhaustion. "Arjun."

Bryan nodded, choking up. "Perfect name."

Two years later, when Belle arrived, Elle got her turn to weep uncontrollably. "I'm an aunt! An actual aunt!" she squealed, hugging Rose so tight the nurse had to pry her off.

"You mean god-mother," said a delighted Bryan, glad to have his own back.

Things repeated when Bryan and Elle had Jessica and little Matthew. This time it was the Dev and Rose who acted as if they were the parents rather than Bryan and Elle.

From then on, birthdays, Christmas, Diwali, and Halloween blurred into one long family scrapbook: four parents, two houses, one heartbeat. The children never knew where one home ended and the other began. And always, Halloween remained sacred. Halloween was the thread of their lives. It was the night Bryan proposed to Elle, the night their families gathered every year, the night their love felt most alive.

Residency ended, and life circled back to its beginning. Saint Mercy Hospital - where both their fathers had once done rounds - offered them positions.

"Full circle for you guys. Just like your dads," Bryan said, throwing his keys on the new counter of the duplex they'd all bought together. Dev and Rose lived on one side; Bryan and Elle on the other, the backyard fence already knocked down to make one big lawn.

Rose laughed. "We're literally our parents now."

"Then I call dibs on being your dad," Bryan said. "He's pretty cool. Unlike you."

Elle smacked his arm. "You can be the nosy uncle at best."

Their evenings became echo-images of the old days - barbecue smoke along with curry steam, children's toys instead of hospital charts, the same shared laughter drifting between kitchens.

Sometimes, Dev would catch Rose watching Bryan and Elle argue affectionately over the grill and whisper, "Reminds me of Amma and Auntie Fran."

Rose would nod. "And look at you, still trying to keep everyone fed and calm. You really are your mother's son."

Every year, Rose dressed up - sometimes as Belle, sometimes as something silly - and Dev would come home to her waiting with a grin. She would slip into that childish lisp, tilt her head, and whisper, "Hey mishta… you got some candy for meee?"

It became their private joke, their vow, their way of saying that no matter how old they got, no matter how hard life became, they were still those kids walking hand-in-hand down a suburban street.

Years later, on quiet evenings, Dev and Rose would sit on the porch swing, watching their kids chase fireflies with Bryan and Elle's kids.

"You know," Rose mused, "I used to think we'd never match what our parents had."

Dev smiled. "We didn't match it. We just… continued it."

From next door, Bryan's laughter boomed. "Stop getting sentimental, Professor! The grill's on fire again!"

Elle's voice followed. "That's what happens when you trust a surgeon with burgers!"

Rose leaned her head on Dev's shoulder. "Same chaos, different decade."

Dev kissed her hair. "And the same forever."

Even after the children had grown and moved out, Dev and Rose still lit pumpkins, handed out sweets, and ended the night with that same line, laughing and going to bed together as man and wife.

Then came last year.

It had started like every other Halloween - the porch glowing with carved pumpkins, bowls of candy overflowing, Rose fussing about whether the cobwebs were "too realistic" for the neighborhood kids. Dev had donned his cheap vampire cape, popped in plastic fangs, and leaned dramatically in the doorway.

"I vant to suck your blooood," he intoned in the worst Dracula accent imaginable.

Rose doubled over laughing, swatting his chest. "You're terrible! You sound like a Tamil uncle with sinus problems."

He pouted, she kissed him, and for a moment it felt like they were young again - him the stubborn Professor, her the flighty princess. Forever, as she whispered into his ear.

The doorbell rang, the candy bowl emptied. Rose gasped. "We can't run out. I'll just run to the store. It won't take more than five minutes babe."

"Rose …" Dev tried, but she was already halfway out the door, tossing him a grin over her shoulder. "Keep the cape on. Maybe practice your accent! I might want to hear it again tonight… in bed," she winked lasciviously.

The door clicked shut and the bell rang once.

Dev laughed, rummaging for leftover mints. He opened the door to a gaggle of disappointed kids. "Sorry, we're out…"

"You suck mister. Let's go guys. I told you not to come to this house."

"That lady is nice. This guy sucks. Boo…" 

Dev shrugged. You can't make everyone happy, he supposed. His reverie was interrupted when his phone buzzed urgently.

He picked it up expecting to be called into the hospital for some emergency. But his life turned upside down. "Dr. Mahesh? There's been an accident. Your wife…"

The words collapsed into static. Accident. Critical. Head trauma. Saint Mercy Hospital. The cape slid from his shoulders. Candy spilled across the floor. 

In the corner, a jack-o-lantern night-light flickered, throwing crooked shadows across Rose's beautiful face. The machine at her bedside sighed and clicked. Outside, someone in vampire fangs laughed too loudly at the nurses' desk.

Dev's voice cracked as he choked out the final word. "And then the coma."

Silence filled the room.

Belle sobbed openly now, clutching her mother's hand. "It's not fair. After everything… how could this happen to her?"

Arjun's shoulders shook, his fists pressed to his eyes. "She was so strong. She loved us. She loved you. How could she just…" He couldn't finish.

Dev gathered them both, pulling his children close, his forehead pressed to Rose's limp knuckles. "Now you see. This is why I cannot let her go. Not after everything. Not after every promise we made. She is my forever. My Rose."

He stood up and gently kissed her on her lips, his tears soaking her skin.

The children nodded through their grief. "We won't give up either, Dad," Belle whispered. Arjun pressed his palm against his mother's arm. "Never."

The three of them stood there a long time. At last, Belle wiped her face. "Dad… we should let you rest." Arjun nodded, hollow.

Dev smoothed Rose's hair once more, then set a single full-size Snickers bar on the tray by her pillow - the good kind, the one he always saved for her. "For later, my darling," he whispered, and even he didn't sound like he believed it.

They turned, the three of them, ready to tell Bryan they would hold on together. 

But Dev heard it. So faint, so fragile… like a breath escaping from a dream.

"Hey mishta… you got some candy for meee?"