The living room lights in Blair’s apartment were turned halfway on.
Not too bright, not too dim.
Kattie sat cross-legged on the floor with a mug of tea in her hands, while Blair leaned back against the sofa, her legs pulled slightly up.
Pablo sat on a wooden chair near the window, still wearing his jacket, like someone who hadn’t fully decided whether he was staying or leaving.
Their conversation didn’t begin with anything important.
Campus.
Lecturers who spoke too fast.
Assignments that always came all at once.
Kattie talked the most, as usual.
“Seriously, that statistics lecturer is like he’s racing his own thoughts,” she said, laughing.
“Sometimes I just sit there and accept my fate.”
Pablo laughed softly.
“Architecture’s the same.
The difference is, if you mess up a little, your building model ends up looking like it got hit by a truck.”
Blair smiled, looking at them in turns.
She rarely saw her two worlds meet like this: Kattie with her effortless cheerfulness, and Pablo with his quiet, grounded presence.
“Do you live alone?” Kattie asked Pablo.
“Yeah,” Pablo replied.
“A small apartment.
Not too far from here.”
“Small but aesthetic, for sure,” Kattie said confidently.
Pablo shrugged.
“More functional.”
Blair cut in, “That’s his code for messy but organized in his own way.”
Pablo looked at Blair.
“You’ve never seen it.”
“But I can guess.”
Kattie watched the two of them with a look that was a little too aware, but she chose not to comment.
She just smiled and stood up.
“I’m grabbing a blanket.
It’s cold.”
When Kattie went into her room, the living room suddenly felt quieter.
Not awkward, just different.
Like an empty space that had only just been noticed.
Pablo shifted slightly in his seat.
“Your friend… she’s warm.”
“She makes life feel lighter.”
“You don’t talk much about yourself,” Pablo said suddenly.
Blair turned to him.
“Why?”
“From earlier.
You listen more than you talk.”
Blair thought for a moment.
“Maybe I’m more comfortable being the listener.”
“Or,” Pablo said softly, “you’re used to feeling like you don’t need to be talked about.”
Blair didn’t answer right away.
She looked down at the floor, then smiled faintly.
“Maybe.”
Kattie came back with a blanket and immediately dropped onto the sofa.
“Alright, continue.
What topic haven’t we covered?”
“Pablo said I rarely talk about myself,” Blair said flatly.
“Oh,” Kattie grinned.
“That’s because you think your life isn’t important enough to share.
Even though it is.”
Blair let out a small scoff.
“Kattie.”
“What?
I’m being honest.”
Pablo looked at Blair, longer this time.
“She’s right.”
Blair raised an eyebrow.
“You two are really in sync.”
Time passed without them noticing.
The conversation drifted into more personal territory.
About hometowns.
About missing home without warning.
About how living far away changes the way someone sees themselves.
“Sometimes I miss home,” Pablo said.
“But going back doesn’t always bring peace.”
Blair nodded slowly.
“Sometimes home isn’t a place, but people.”
Kattie yawned, covering her mouth quickly.
“Okay.
I give up.”
Blair looked at her.
“Sleepy?”
“Yeah,” Kattie said as she stood.
I’m heading to bed.”
She paused, looking at both of them.
“Don’t be loud.”
“Kattie,” Blair protested.
Kattie just laughed softly.
“Good night.”
The bedroom door closed gently.
Only Blair and Pablo remained in the living room, now much quieter.
The clock on the wall showed it was almost midnight.
Pablo stood up.
“I should head home.”
Blair stood as well, but didn’t move closer.
“Yeah.
It’s late.”
They stood a few steps apart, like two people who didn’t know what to do with feelings that didn’t yet have a name.
“Thank you,” Pablo said.
“For today.”
“You’re welcome,” Blair replied.
“Me too.”
There was a pause.
Pablo put on his jacket, then turned back.
“We’ll… talk again later?”
Blair nodded.
“Sure.
Be careful on your way home.”
There were no grand promises.
No romantic lines.
Just a small agreement that this meeting didn’t end here.
When the door closed and Pablo’s footsteps faded down the hallway, Blair stayed standing for a few seconds longer.
She didn’t go to her room right away.
She sat back down on the sofa, looking at the now-empty living room.
Behind her bedroom door, Kattie opened her eyes for a moment, smiled quietly, then closed them again.
That night, nothing happened.
And precisely because of that, everything felt like it had just begun.