Dev handed her a small silver key tied with a red ribbon.
Hiya blinked at it, confused. "What's this?"
"Your new favorite place," he smiled.
They turned the corner, and there it stood — a small but sunlit apartment, just five minutes from the university. The building was modest, but the balcony overlooked a park, and morning light spilled through sheer curtains Dev had already picked, remembering how she once said she liked waking up with the sun.
Hiya gasped. "Dev… you didn't—"
"I wanted our first home. Not just a borrowed space. Ours," he said.
Inside, it smelled like fresh paint and new beginnings. The sofa was still covered in plastic, and the dining table only had two chairs, but the wall near the entrance already had a photo of them from their rooftop wedding — grainy, golden, and perfect.
As if that wasn't enough, Dev guided her down the street the next morning with a sly grin and stopped in front of a silver hatchback, shining under the soft morning sun.
Hiya stared. "Wait… that's ours?"
"Our second baby," Dev winked. "Don't worry, you'll get your license before I let you drive her."
She jumped into his arms, laughing and teary. "I married a madman."
"No," he whispered into her hair. "You married a man who's building a world for you. One little piece at a time."
✦
A week later, the new semester began.
Hiya stepped onto the campus in her fresh salwar-kameez, hair braided neatly, books clutched to her chest. She wasn't just someone's wife anymore. She was a student. A peer.
A woman walking toward something she had chosen.
The halls buzzed with unfamiliar faces and nerves, but she didn't flinch. Not even when she caught sight of a familiar figure near the biology lab — Devika.
Their eyes met.
Devika offered a sharp smile. "Well, look who decided to study."
Hiya smiled back — sweet, polite, but unshaken. "Good morning."
Devika blinked, as if thrown off by her confidence.
They passed like shadows. Nothing more.
But inside the department, Hiya's presence stirred quiet whispers. She's his wife? She's a student now? Some professors blinked in surprise when they matched her surname to Dev's.
A few classmates welcomed her with genuine kindness. One boy — Arjun — warm, nerdy, and a bit too eager, quickly offered to help her with anatomy notes and project guidance. He wasn't flirting. Not really. But he lingered more than others.
Dev noticed.
Especially the day he saw Arjun walking with her, holding an umbrella above her head.
That evening, when Hiya walked into their home, Dev didn't say anything — but she found her favorite snacks already served, her tea exactly the way she liked it.
"Long day?" he asked casually, avoiding her eyes.
She tilted her head. "Are you jealous?"
He didn't answer. But his silence was loud.
Hiya leaned in, wrapping her arms around his neck, whispering against his ear, "I've walked through this storm to reach you. No one can distract me now."
Dev smiled — but a flicker of insecurity still lived in his eyes. She knew he'd carry it until he saw himself the way she did — worthy, chosen, loved.
That night, Hiya hung fairy lights on their balcony. They sat with tea, knees touching, a quiet song playing from her phone.
And between those lights, that soft music, and the wind rustling the curtains, their journey felt real. Not perfect. But theirs.
A small apartment.
A car.
A university.
And a future being stitched together — with books, kisses, and the kind of love that keeps growing.