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I'll imagine we fell in love.

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Nitish found himself smiling as he replayed his conversation with Ishanvi in the garden. There was something about her—something calming, something warm. He couldn't quite put it into words, but being around her felt like settling into a comfortable silence after a long, chaotic day.

As he walked back to his dorm, Meera's teasing voice echoed in his mind: Don't lose her, bhai. She's my only source of sanity. He had laughed it off at the time, but now he wondered if there was more truth to that than he'd realized.

For the next few days, Nitish started noticing Ishanvi more. She wasn't loud or the type to dominate a conversation. Instead, she had this quiet presence that somehow anchored the people around her. In group settings, she listened intently, her eyes lighting up at other people's stories. She was thoughtful in a way most people weren't, often saying just the right thing to make someone feel heard or understood.

It wasn't until a lazy Thursday afternoon that he found himself drawn to her again. He was sitting in the library, attempting to finish an assignment on celestial mechanics, when he spotted her at a table by the window. She was scribbling notes in a notebook, her brows furrowed in concentration.

He hesitated for a moment, then made his way over. "Mind if I join?"

She looked up, startled, but then smiled. "Sure. I'm just finishing up some readings."

He sat across from her, pulling out his own notes. For a while, they worked in companionable silence. The sunlight streamed in through the tall windows, casting a golden glow over the library. Every now and then, Nitish found himself glancing at her—at the way she tucked her hair behind her ear when it fell into her face, the way she bit her lip when she was deep in thought.

"You're staring," she said suddenly, her tone teasing but her cheeks faintly pink.

"Was not," he said, grinning.

"Was," she shot back, her eyes narrowing playfully.

"Fine," he admitted, leaning back in his chair. "I was just thinking... you're different."

She blinked, clearly taken aback. "Different how?"

"I don't know," he said, shrugging. "You're... warm. It's hard to explain. You make people feel comfortable. Like they don't have to pretend around you."

Her expression softened, and for a moment, she didn't say anything. When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet. "That's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me."

He felt a strange flutter in his chest at her words. He hadn't meant it to be such a big deal—he was just saying what he felt. But the way she looked at him then, like he'd just handed her something precious, made him want to keep saying nice things to her, just to see that expression again.

They stayed in the library until the sun dipped below the horizon, their conversations drifting from books to life and everything in between. Nitish found himself laughing more than he had in weeks, the weight of his own academic pressures momentarily forgotten.

As they packed up to leave, he turned to her. "You know, I'm glad Meera got such a cool roommate. You're a good addition to our little world."

She smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "And I'm glad I ended up here, too. Even if it's overwhelming sometimes."

They walked out together, the cool evening air brushing against their faces. As they neared the dorms, Nitish felt an urge to say something, to put into words the strange pull he felt toward her. But he didn't.

Instead, he watched as she waved goodbye and disappeared into her building, her silhouette fading into the warm glow of the dorm lights.

That night, as he lay in bed staring at the ceiling, he let his mind wander. He imagined what it would be like to fall in love with someone like Ishanvi—to spend days unraveling the layers of her thoughts, to feel the warmth of her laughter filling the spaces between them.

It was silly, he knew. They had barely known each other for a week. But still, the thought lingered, curling around him like a soft, persistent whisper.

I'll imagine we fell in love, he thought, a smile tugging at his lips. And for now, that was enough.