Aira didn't notice when "us" stopped feeling temporary.
It wasn't a conversation.
It wasn't a promise.
It was just the way Reyhan started showing up without being asked.
That morning, it rained unexpectedly.
The kind of rain that doesn't warn you—just falls.
Aira stood near the entrance, bag hugged to her chest, watching everyone run out laughing, umbrellas opening like sudden flowers.
She hadn't brought one.
Before she could overthink it, someone stepped beside her.
Reyhan.
He didn't say anything dramatic.
He just opened his umbrella.
"Come on," he said.
They walked close—not because they had to, but because the umbrella made it easier to stay near.
Aira could hear the rain hitting the fabric above them.
Soft. Constant.
"Do you ever think about… later?" she asked suddenly.
Reyhan glanced at her.
"Later how?"
"After this," she said vaguely. "After college. After everything we're used to."
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he adjusted the umbrella slightly so the rain wouldn't hit her shoulder.
"I don't plan ten years ahead," he said quietly.
"But I don't imagine you missing from it either."
Aira felt that more than she expected.
It wasn't a proposal.
It wasn't even a promise.
It was just… assumption.
The kind that feels natural.
They reached her block, but neither of them rushed to move away.
"You look like you're thinking too much," Reyhan said gently.
"I am."
"About?"
She hesitated.
"About how easy this feels."
He smiled faintly.
"Easy doesn't mean fragile."
She exhaled slowly.
That was what scared her sometimes.
Not chaos.
Not distance.
But how steady this had become.
Steady meant it mattered.
And things that mattered had weight.
Before leaving, Reyhan stepped closer—not touching, just near enough.
"You don't have to brace yourself for something to go wrong," he said.
Aira looked at him carefully.
"Promise?" she asked softly.
He didn't answer with a big speech.
He just said—
"I'm here."
And somehow, that felt heavier than forever.
That night, she wrote slowly.
Not because she needed to.
But because she wanted to remember this exact feeling.
RULE #85: Don't get scared when it starts feeling permanent.
Because sometimes,
peace is not the calm before the storm.
It's just peace.