Our Love is Not Over

Chapter 1

In the wake of his Grandmother's passing, he found solace in another. In Kaveh.

They were the best of friends, inseparable, ever since they had met each other in the library that one fateful day.

Until they weren't.

—

"You're that Haravatat scholar, aren't you?" Kaveh asked, an intrigued smile playing on his lips.

Alhaitham looked up from his book and nodded his head in confirmation. "That's correct, Senior Kaveh."

"So you already know who I am," Kaveh smiled. "Alhaitham, was it? You're quite the talk of the scholars these days."

The man in question shut the book and put it back on the shelf. "The same could be said about you. Is there something you need?"

"I was just curious about you, that's all. Mind if we chat a bit?"

Alhaitham looked at Kaveh, with the enthusiastic look in his ruby red eyes, and looked at the pointing fingers of the scholars in the House of Daena, their barely concealed hushed whispers. They seemed to avoid him, but something about Kaveh's approach, his courage in reaching out, intrigued Alhaitham. "Sure," he said. Alhaitham never cared for his personal image within the Akademiya, but something about Kaveh...the way he approached him so smoothly, the courageous way he walked up to him despite the rumors surrounding him...for some reason he couldn't explain, something about it drew Alhaitham to him. Almost like a certain kind of respect.

Because Alhaitham could never be like that. He would never be able to care enough to accompany a lonely student around. He would be too lazy to deal with the rumors.

That was why, right? Because Alhaitham never cared about fitting in with the crowd. He was a genius, and he was set above others. Of course it was only natural for him to stand under a spotlight. What others did had never concerned him.

It was because he just wanted to live comfortably, wasn't it? There wasn't any other reason. He had no other reason. Or did he?

Meeting up with Kaveh everyday at the House of Daena made him think more deeply than he ever had. It made him reconsider every truth that he had based his life on. Kaveh had a unique set of values, different from the average scholars, but also very dissimilar from Alhaitham's ideals.

Alhaitham knew he was very different from Kaveh. He was successful, and Kaveh was a disaster.

Alhaitham never cared about what others thought about him, and he thus led a calm and comfortable life.

But Kaveh both desired to fit in and to follow his moral code—which led him on the path to devastation. Like talking to Alhaitham, for example. He wanted to fit in, but he also wanted to be there for Alhaitham, to be the ray of sunlight in the midst of the man's lonely rain.

Kaveh's values did not mix well.

Whispers followed them every time they were seen together, and the rumors spread like wildfire.

Alhaitham was the best student in Haravatat. Kaveh was the best student in Ksharewar.

Alhaitham followed the path of loneliness and isolation in favor of living in comfort and pursuing knowledge. Kaveh walked the path of self-destruction to people-please and follow his own moral compass.

In the end, if their lives were depicted on a stage, Kaveh's story wouldn't be the only tragedy.

And Alhaitham loathed the fact.