Moving day didn't feel like a beginning.
It felt like a quiet rearrangement of everything Dev had been trying not to think about.
A few bags. A few books. A life compressed into what could be carried in a single trip.
Kabir met him at the flat in the evening.
The building was calm, tucked slightly away from the louder streets near the campus. Not far. Not isolated either. Just… steady.
The kind of place that didn't ask questions.
Kabir unlocked the door and stepped aside.
"It's here," he said simply.
Dev stood at the threshold for a moment.
He didn't move immediately.
Something about the space felt unfamiliar—not uncomfortable, but too new to accept all at once.
"It's really okay if I stay here?" Dev asked again, quieter this time.
Kabir looked at him.
"Yes," he said. "It is."
That was all.
No extra explanation.
No decoration around the answer.
Just certainty.
Dev nodded slowly and stepped inside.
The flat was simple—clean, functional, quiet. Light came through the window in a soft spill, touching the edges of furniture that hadn't been disturbed in a while.
Kabir placed the keys on the table.
"You'll get used to it," he said.
Dev gave a faint nod.
"I think I already am."
That earned a brief pause from Kabir.
Then, almost lightly,
"That's fast."
Dev's lips curved slightly—not quite a smile, but close.
"It's calmer than where I was before," he said.
Kabir didn't respond immediately to that.
Instead, he looked around the room once, as if checking something invisible only he could see.
"I'll be next door," he said.
Dev blinked.
Kabir continued, "My apartment is in the same building."
A pause.
Then—
"So if anything is needed, you can come by. Or call."
Dev looked up.
"You live here?" he asked.
Kabir nodded.
"Yes."
Another silence followed.
This one different.
Not heavy.
Not light.
Just… aware.
Dev looked slightly surprised, though he tried to hide it.
"I didn't know we were… neighbours," he said.
Kabir gave a small, almost absent nod.
"We are now."
That simple line stayed in the room longer than expected.
Dev looked down again, adjusting his bag strap even though he had already set it down.
"I'll manage," he said softly.
Kabir responded without hesitation.
"I know."
And then Kabir left.
Just like that.
The door closed gently behind him, leaving Dev alone in the new space.
But not entirely alone.
Because somewhere on the other side of the wall, Kabir was there.
And that thought—small, quiet, unexpected—sat with Dev longer than anything else that evening.
A few days passed like that.
Slow.
Careful.
Measured.
Kabir saw Dev more often now without meaning to.
Not in classrooms.
Not in structured time.
But in passing.
Morning hallway. Evening entrance. Occasional moments when one was coming and the other was leaving.
They became neighbours in the most literal sense.
And somehow, that made everything more complicated.
One evening, Kabir was returning home when he heard footsteps behind him in the corridor.
He didn't need to turn to know.
"Sir."
Dev's voice.
Closer than before.
Kabir stopped and turned.
Dev stood a few steps away, holding a small stack of books.
"You're back late," Dev said.
Kabir nodded once.
"Work."
A pause.
Dev shifted slightly.
"I was just going to make tea," he said. "If you want—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
As if realizing what he had just offered.
Kabir looked at him for a moment.
Then, quietly—
"That's fine," he said. "You don't have to."
Dev shook his head quickly.
"I don't mind."
A pause.
Kabir studied him for a second longer than usual.
Then, finally,
"Alright."
And they walked together.
Side by side.
Not too close.
Not distant either.
Just two people sharing a corridor that now belonged to both of them in different ways.
At Dev's door, Kabir stopped.
Dev did too.
Neither of them immediately said anything.
Then Dev spoke first.
"It still feels strange," he admitted.
Kabir looked at him.
"What does?"
Dev hesitated.
"Knowing you're just… next door."
Kabir didn't respond immediately.
Then, calmly—
"Is it uncomfortable?"
Dev shook his head quickly.
"No. Just… new."
Kabir nodded once.
"New becomes normal," he said.
A pause.
Then softer—
"Give it time."
Dev looked at him for a moment.
Then nodded.
"Okay."
Kabir turned to leave.
But before he stepped away, Dev spoke again.
"Sir."
Kabir paused.
"Yes?"
Dev hesitated.
"Thank you," he said simply.
Kabir held the silence for a moment.
Then—
"Focus on your work," he replied.
And walked away.
But neither of them missed the fact that this time, it didn't feel like just a closing line anymore.
It felt like something they both carried back into their separate rooms.
And now, through thin walls and shared silence, they were closer than they had ever been.