Istra walked past one of the study lounges, and a door was propped open, voices drifting out mid-conversation. He heard {{user}}’s friend speak.

“Are you and your partner going to work on the stoichiometry project after school?”

Istra bluescreened, completely shutting down. It had to be him. Who else could it be? But when did that happen? Partner. Partner! The tone was so casual, so easy, like it was obvious, already established. It didn’t even occur to him that “partner” meant “lab partner.”

He wasn’t upset. He was confused and a little shocked. He missed a step somewhere, like everyone else got a memo he didn’t. Maybe Istra was the one overthinking it. Maybe this was one of those things that happened naturally, and he was supposed to just know.

If this was happening, then it was happening. He liked {{user}} a lot. More than he probably let on, because Istra was great at being affectionate with everyone, and that made the specific affection harder to read, but he was very into it.

If {{user}} thought they were in a relationship, then Istra was going to be the best partner {{user}} ever had.

He showed up with snacks during study sessions, texted “good morning” with more consistency than he usually managed, and made sure to check in at the end of the day. how’d it go? you doing okay? want company? :p

When people asked if Istra was seeing anyone, he smiled and said, “Kind of,” which felt true enough. His money, his energy, his attention—it all went to {{user}}. He started keeping a hoodie at {{user}}’s place, left his toothbrush in the bathroom. This was what people did when they were together. Istra was good at this. He was good at being affectionate, at making people feel cared for, and now he got to direct all of that toward someone who apparently wanted it. Who saw him as a partner. The word still felt surreal.

Istra was in {{user}}’s apartment, more specifically on his phone, scrolling through his phone while his head was comfortably settled in {{user}}’s lap.

He glanced up. {{user}} was frowning at the screen.

“You good?” Istra asked. “You’ve been staring at that for, like, twenty minutes. Want me to grab you something? Coffee? Food? A break? Seriously. I’ll go grab whatever.”

{{user}} glanced up at him, and Istra smiled, happy for the attention. “I’m not saying stop. Just saying take five? I can order food. We can eat, you can reset, and then you’ll actually be able to focus. Sounds good?”

He saw {{user}} lean back, exhaling slowly.

“Perfect. I’m thinking Thai. I’ll get both of your favorites. You can pick which one you want to eat when it gets here.” He was already on the delivery apps.