The Only Exception

5. Shared Walls

Week 7

It was a cold night in early October, the kind that crept under doors and settled into your bones without warning. The heating in the apartment groaned and clicked as it struggled to match the drop in temperature, but inside Asi's bedroom, there was a pocket of warmth that wasn't mechanical.

Asi and Ruya were curled up in the same bed, limbs tangled, half-covered by the duvet and a fleece blanket that Ruya insisted on bringing out from the top shelf of the closet. They were lying on their sides, facing each other, foreheads nearly touching, the space between them stitched together by shared breath and years of knowing each other too well.

The suitcase stood like a sentinel near the door, zipped and ready. Two boxes were stacked beside it, labeled in Asi's handwriting: Books / fragile and kitchen things. There was nothing in this room that didn't mean something, and yet it was all going.

Ruya shifted slightly, tucking one of her cold feet under Asi's leg with a quiet sigh. "I don't believe this is our last night as roommates."

Asi exhaled slowly, her hand sliding over Ruya's arm in an absent, comforting motion. "I know."

They weren't crying, not really. But there was a weight in the room that pressed right behind the eyes, the kind of pressure that threatened tears without releasing them. The silence stretched out between them again, thick and bittersweet, like the last note of a song they both knew by heart.

"I can't believe he's taking you from me," Ruya said. Her voice was half-teasing, half-aching, the kind of thing you say when you know the world is moving on without your permission.

Asi let out a soft laugh, her breath fogging faintly in the cold air. "Ru, you know it's the right thing to do."

"I know," Ruya admitted, eyes searching Asi's face in the dim light. "But I can still hate him for this."

"Yes," Asi said. "You can."

That earned a tired smile from Ruya. Her eyes shimmered for a moment, but she blinked it away. "The apartment's going to be so empty without you."

"C'mon," Asi said, nudging her. "Adem's moving in. You'll never find a moment of peace."

Ruya groaned into the pillow. "Oh my God, don't remind me."

Asi laughed, the sound muffled by the blanket. "Please try not to murder him."

"I can't promise anything."

There was a pause, then Asi's voice dropped, low and sincere: "I'm going to miss you so much, Ru."

"I'm going to miss you so much, Asi."

They wrapped their arms around each other properly then, clinging tighter than they had in years. This was the kind of hug that said everything neither of them wanted to say out loud: I'm scared. I don't know what's coming. I don't want to lose this. It lingered for a long while, time slowing down just enough for them to feel it fully.

Later, the lights were off but neither of them slept.

Ruya spoke into the darkness. "Do you trust him?"

Asi turned her head slightly on the pillow. "Which version of him are we talking about?"

"The one you're moving in with."

There was a beat of silence. "I think I do," Asi said quietly. "Not always with my feelings. But with the practical things. The serious things."

"Not with your feelings? Yeah, sure."