Prologue

The life cycle of a butterfly lasts for an average of thirty days. In human time that was nothing.

Aera can proudly proclaim that she was the most unbothered person on the planet when quarantine was declared. Staying at home, alone and in peace, has always been her thing. Now she doesn't have to make up any excuse to avoid social interactions.

Because when a stranger knocked at your door in the middle of the night, asking for shelter amidst a crisis, there was simply no excuse to be made.

Within that thirty days the butterfly would go through the craziest of cycles, starting as an egg enclosed within a shell that is both impenetrable and fragile.

Gian embodies everything she hates about people. He's loud, too energetic, and always loves inserting himself in other people's business. Aera would make him leave if she could, and she tried for days on end.

An apartment unit does not have enough room for two people who clash in every way possible.

Then that shell would break to let out a creature that was hideous and scary and weird.

In the process of trying to drive him away, they somehow ended up gravitating towards each other. Finding comfort in the unexpected company, deep secrets tumbling out in the middle of the night. The guy who got stranded for sightseeing was suddenly showing her perspectives she had never seen before. The girl who barely talks was suddenly telling him the things he needed to hear all his life.

But at the end of the day, you should never ever trust a stranger.

Soon the creature would enclose itself completely for the second time, never to be seen like that again. It was a period of transformation.

Was all that loudness mere distractions? If a person wears his heart in his sleeves, then what does he hide beneath that chest?

How can the silence be so mean and unforgiving? Does the refusal to speak simply means that there was nothing to be said anymore?

In thirty days, a butterfly's life will be complete, coming out of the cocoon as a changed and majestic creature. But humans aren't butterflies and thirty days weren't enough.

In thirty days, you're world can turn upside down. You can learn a new way to breathe. You can grow into something you've never imagined to be. You can laugh like you never did before.

In thirty days, you can fall inlove.

In thirty days, you can find the person you'd want to spend forever with. But that thirty days will be over.

This is a tale of healing, growth and blessings in disguise– a story of how the question "Can I stay for a while?" turned into "Can you not leave at all?"