Begin

III

Moving into a new house is a lot more easier when you don't own a lot of things, your last house was made of a single room, and the new house already has someone living in it. That's what Kaveh learned, knowing that was also probably the last time he could experience that.

Alhaitham's apartment wasn't anything fancy, but with its two bedrooms and the living room, it felt like a castle to Kaveh. Luckily, he had enough money to pay for the first month, although he had the feeling that Alhaitham was lying about the real rent he was supposed to pay.

He had already decided with Alhaitham that he would clean the house since he felt bad about the whole situation. When he offered the deal to him, Alhaitham just shrugged his shoulders and said he was okay with that.

During the first week, Kaveh cooked. He wanted to help as much as he could, feeling like he could never repay him enough. On the other hand, Alhaitham let him do what he wanted, not bothering to fight him on that.

One thing that Kaveh didn't take into account was the fact that two jobs plus the house chores were just too much. The eighth day, he came back home exhausted but still insisted in cooking, under the worried look of Alhaitham, who, knowing what was going to happen, kept checking him the whole time. After burning a pan and almost collapsing, Kaveh gave up.

Watching Alhaitham cooking from the chair by the kitchen counter, Kaveh couldn't refrain from staring at his body: the shirt moved with the muscles, hinting at the real shape under it. When Alhaitham turned to his side to take something, Kaveh could see his face, pink lips closed and cold eyes, too focused on what he was doing to look at him.

The only moments when their eyes met, Kaveh looked down, feigning interest in the table in front of him, too embarrassed of what he was doing.

When Alhaitham put the plate in front of him, he had been too distracted to notice he was already done. He murmured a thank you.

Alhaitham didn't reply, simply sitting in front of him and starting eating.

When Kaveh actually looked down on his plate, he frowned, feeling a sense of deja vu. When he ate the first bite, that feeling just increased.

"What is this?" Realizing how bad it might sound as a question, he quickly added: "I mean, it's good, but what is it?"

"It's originally a meat stew, a tweaked a bit the recipe, so now it really tastes nothing like the original, but it's kind of my specialty. I'm glad you like it."

Kaveh looked at it again, trying to remember when he ate it before: "So you invented it?"

"Yes."

"Did you already cook it during university?"

Alhaitham looked down at his food: "Maybe."

Kaveh sighed: "I hate when you do this. Can't you just give me a straight answer?"

Alhaitham looked to the side, making it clear to Kaveh that he was avoiding him: "You remember it?"

Kaveh parted his lips, indignated: "So you knew that?"

"I didn't think you remembered it. You certainly don't look like you remember when you ate it."

Kaveh was getting progressively more angry: "Well, you could tell me, maybe. I know we were in the same university, but I didn't think we actually ever talked!"

Alhaitham sighed, leaning back on the chair, staring at his food with annoyance: "We did, although not for much. I won't tell you more."

Kaveh groaned in frustration: "You're so annoying when you do this, you know?"

But then he actually started thinking about it. When could he have talked to him? Alhaitham said it wasn't for long, but it was definitely long enough for him to have tasted his food. Did he just not take his money for the cafeteria and have to ask someone else? But his friends would've lent him their money for sure, so that hypothesis was out of the question.

Maybe a project together? But what project could be so short as to make him forget about it? A memory of a fight on a project that he had to restart only after a few days he began working on it resurfaced.

He looked up, wide-eyed: "You!"

Alhaitham, who was now destroying the remaining food in his plate, sighed, letting go of his fork: "So you remember?"

Kaveh hesitated: "O- Only a little. We had a group project together, but we fought, and we changed group after only a few days, right?"

Alhaitham nodded: "Yes, you insisted on doing the work with the other classmates, although they only slowed us down."

A flash of a memory. "You were being an asshole. It's a group project, and everyone should do something. They would never learn if you don't help them."

Alhaitham finally met his eyes: "They won't learn, and it's not my job to teach them if they chose the wrong path."

"You're as arrogant as ever. You should've given them a chance."

Alhaitham got up, putting away his dish: "We already had this discussion. It's useless talking about it now." He sighed: "That's exactly why I didn't want you to remember."

Kaveh got up, too: "You can't run from your problems."

Alhaitham turned around, smirking: "Oh, but I can, I'm doing it right now." Saying this, he went to his room, patting Kaveh's shoulder midway: "You should also go rest. And quit your job at the pub; you can't keep going on like this."

Kaveh stared at the closed door, suddenly feeling all the tiredness of that week. As he went to his bed, he quickly texted the owner of the pub that he couldn't work that day, and he needed to meet him the day after. He fell asleep right away.

___

Kaveh couldn't stop himself from comparing the Alhaitham of the past, and the one he was living with: although he was clearly the same cold, stubborn and arrogant person that he met during university, he became kinder. He never said it, but he always helped Kaveh when he needed it: be it during that time in the kitchen, or when he had to pay the rent but he couldn't afford all of it without both jobs and he let him pay only a part of it.

___

Meeting friends in a while was like a breath of fresh air for Kaveh. He was looking a lot better: the bags under his eyes were only slightly visible and could be attributed to his architecture job.

Meeting at a club and being able to drink some alcohol was also a breath of fresh hair. Being able to relax without having to thinking about how much time he had left before his shift. Although unwillingly, he listened to Alhaitham's advice of leaving the job at the pub. He wasn't happy about agreeing with him, but he knew that he was right.

One thing he didn't remember was how bad he was at handling alcohol. One glass, and he already spilled about the new apartment and about Alhaitham. Luckily, he wasn't that drunk, managing to stop himself before talking about everything and just about them living together now.

They looked surprised to know of the two of them living together, apparently remembering the fight. Kaveh wondered if he was the only one who completely forgot about it. One thing he did omit, was his feelings for Alhaitham. He didn't know if they would approve, and he knew he didn't have any chance, anyway.

As the night came to an end, they asked him if they could come visit his new house, more curious than ever, because of how evasive Kaveh had been about where he lived before.

Kaveh was too drunk to refuse.