Like she said, she had covered up everything for them for the semester and he had really missed attending her class. And he had no other excuse to go and see her in her office. The last interaction they had was the only thing he consoled his heart with and he didn't think he'd be able to forget about it any time soon.

Just the thought of how she was smiling, laughing at him as she smacked the back of his head with her wallet brought a smile onto his face. He was standing by his house as he wondered if she was going to Katsina today. He knew she had never missed a week without going back home, but then he still wanted to confirm.

Amir had called yesterday and had been begging him to please come, that was bored to his bones over there and Bilaal could only smile, because he didn't know when Amir became so obsessed with his presence. He was there, rooted to his spot when he saw her car passing and from all indication, she was leaving to Katsina. It was her usual time to leave, after all.

He immediately brought his phone out of his pocket and dialed Kamal's number. "Hey, man. Have you left already or can you please branch at my house so we can leave together?"

"I'll be at your house in ten minutes, then." Kamal said before he ended the call and Bilaal rushed back into the house.

He just took a few things and closed the house, immediately seeing Kamal's car moving toward him as soon as he walked out of the house. They said their pleasantries again and hit the road with Kamal chatting about everything and nothing that Bilaal nearly begged him to please keep shut. He was trying to think and he wasn't letting him be.

He had his eyes fixed to the road when he saw them move past a car that looked identical to her. Instantly, he turned and recognized it to actual be hers. What happened? He asked himself in terror because the only thing in his mind was that she had been kidnapped, because it didn't look like someone was in the car and he for one saw her leaving in it.

"Kamal, can you please go back to that car?" He asked, his voice shaking a bit as he recited all the kinds of prayers he could think of.

"What? It looks like that your lecturer's car, right?" Kamal asked, staring at the car through his rear mirror as he reversed. "What happened? Do you think she was kidnapped or something?"

"I hope not. Let me go and check, give me a moment." He hopped out of the car even before it stopped moving and rushed to her car.

He opened the driver's seat with his heart pounding in his chest and he didn't know when he heaved a sigh of relief when he saw her still seated in the car. But her head was placed to her knees and her entire body was shaking. Before he made a move to her or said something, Bilaal brought his phone out and dialed Kamal's number.

"I think you can leave, Kamal. It doesn't look like she can drive."

"Oh, she's in the car? Is she sick?"

"Yes, from the looks of it. Let's catch up later. Thanks, man." He said and ended the car. Kamal honked at him before he drove off and he turned his attention back to her.

He couldn't tell whether she was shaking out of fear or if she was crying. Bilaal squatted in front of her with his chest still heaving. "Are you fine? Did something happened? Were you robbed? Is something wrong with the car? Are you sick?" He just couldn't bring himself to stop asking her about what was wrong and she still had her face placed on her knees.

She released a short cry that made him realized that she had been crying. Something tightened in his chest. He knew that the last time he saw her crying and followed her behind he thought it was unsafe for her to move alone at night, she ended up slapping him. But right now, that was the least of his worries. He wanted to find out what was wrong.

"Ma'am, can you please look up? I'm worried sick at the moment. Did something happened? Were you robbed? Is the car faulty? What happened?" He said, sounding a bit exasperated. If only she knew how much he was suffering by just seeing her this way, she would've just made things easier for him and looked up.

Just like he had asked, Muhibbah looked up at him with her tears sprained face and he felt a shot of pain to his heart. The last thing he wanted to see on her face were tears. Because since their last encounter and he saw how beautiful she looked when she smiled and how comforting the sound of her laughter was, Bilaal never wanted for her to be anything but happy.

"Can you talk? Did something go wrong?" He asked again, talking so softly and calm as if he was speaking to a young girl.

She stared at him for a minute before she burst into tears. "He...made me do it. It wasn't intentional. I don't...I really didn't mean any of it." She was crying so hard and she seemed shocked to her bones and there was pain so prominent it was evident on her entire face.

"Who made you do it? What happened?" He looked around the place she had parked and noticed it wasn't safe for them to stay in that place. "Before anything, can you get to the passenger's seat? This location isn't safe."

Without arguing, Muhibbah came down from the car but instead of her to walk to the passenger's seat like he had instructed, she just stood by the car and cried even more. She seemed to be in so much agony and he wished he knew what it was for him to see if there's a way to solve every inch of her problems.

Bilaal walked to where she stood and he stood in front of her that she was forced to look up at him, tears still rolling down to her cheeks. "Can you talk about it? What happened? What have you so shocked and in so much pain? Did someone die from your family?" He couldn't help but think about that.

"Mama got me engaged." Bilaal had to take a step back to suck up the shock and instant agony the four words inflicted on him. He had never thought that there were words that would have so much power over him apart from the ones he had heard before.

He thought that he had created a shield so strong that no words could permeate over it as easily as her words did. 'Mama got me engaged.'  He wished he could unheard the words forever. Realizing that she was still waiting for his response, Bilaal quickly composed himself and stared at her, she was still crying.

"It's not safe for us here, ma'am. Please get into the car." He didn't know what to tell her regarding the engagement. Should he act as though he was happy for her even though he could see that it wasn't the same case for her from her expression? Or should he act bothered about it to match her own dilemma?

She didn't argue. She simply walked to the other side of the car and entered. Bilaal used a few seconds to compose himself from the effect of her words on him, begging Allah that it wasn't the truth. That maybe she had misunderstood the whole situation or her mother was trying to punish her for something and she used that method on her.

He knew that he likely would never have a chance with her, but then he didn't see her slipping away from him so soon and so easily like this. He got into the car after so much talks to his inner self to stay calm and collected. He turned the car on and they started moving.

It took them minutes with no sound coming from them apart from Muhibbah's whimpers as she continued to cry even though he could see how she was struggling to stop her tears but the news must've probably hit her so hard to have her so shocked that she couldn't even control her tears.

"Do you want me to act as if I didn't hear what you've said or you want to talk about it?" He found himself asking. Because it was killing him, seeing her crying this badly and he had no idea what to do in helping her to overcome the pain.

"You know about what happened with Baban Fatima, right?" She said, sounding so innocent, so pained that he nearly reached out for her hand to comfort her. "There's this man Alhaji Nasir, the one you overheard our conversation with Mama about...I don't know how to explain all this to you. I mean, I shouldn't be sharing any of these with my student."

Bilaal turned to look at her for a few seconds and then looked away. "Can you not consider me your student for the time being? Just think of me as...a friend?" He asked, his voice so low and soothing that she had to wipe off tears from her cheeks.

She sighed, palmed her face while she started wiping at her tears. "A friend it is, then. It's been ages since I last had a friend." She said with a bittersweet smile and Bilaal felt a tug at his heart.

"Now, tell me what happened?"

"Alhaji Nasir is the man Mama badly wants me to marry, but he's not a good man. He even told it clear to my face his reasons for marrying me and how he'd divorce me once he fulfills them. You understand?" He only nodded, anger raging in him. Because if he were to see Alhaji Nasir at this moment, nothing will stop him from strangling him to death with his bare hands.

"I made it clear to Mama about his intentions and everything. But you know? She calls me a spinster and she's afraid that I'd never get another man once this one slips away. In her eyes, I'm done for for men, no man will ever want me and I should be grateful to him for wanting me." She let out a soft cry, as if talking about it was taking a toll on her being even though it had obviously been long since her mother said that to her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. He wished he could comfort her better, but this was the only thing he could do at the moment.

"So, I rebelled and told her that I'm not going to marry him, everything ended at that. She was angry at me, yes, furious even. She stopped speaking to me and everything. Even though she claimed that she was still going to get me married to him, I knew she wouldn't unless something happened. That's why I was careful about all that Baban Fatima issue. You know I really didn't do it, right?" Her voice broke when she asked him. And she turned to look at him with her eyes the shade of blood, desperate to have someone by her side.

"I trust you even before you clarified it for me. I knew that you didn't do it." He said, a soft smile easing into his eyes at the relief he saw in hers. "Did he get to find out and threatened you with it into accepting the marriage or what?"

"He threatened me that he will tell Mama about it if I don't apologize for insulting him and all the bad things I said to him. So I sent him the message he requested for. I didn't know he was going to show Mama that message and tell her we've reconciled and were ready to get married. Sareena just called me that his people have just left the house and our wedding date has been picked a month after my younger sister's wedding that's in a week. So basically, in five weeks."

Bilaal had to breath out heavily. The information was just too much on him and the way she was crying so bad wasn't helping with his train of thoughts and everything.
"I'm so sorry, I really don't know what to say to you to ease your pain. What do you think could be done about it?" He asked slowly, hoping that there really was a way.

"I don't know. Mama will never listen to me even if I'm going to die and come back, I know it." She said, agony filled in her voice that it broke his heart.

"What about your father then? I don't know much about marriage, but I do know that a woman can't be married off without a Waliyyi, right?"

There was a shadow that blanketed her eyes at the mention of her father and she quickly shook her head. "He won't listen to me and even if he does, he won't say a word about it." That was all she said and it was enough to let Bilaal realize that she didn't want to delve much into the issue of her father.

"There must be a way to stop it, we have to look for that way." She nodded.

"Can you please slow down a bit? I need to wash my face before we arrive." They had already drove into the 'Welcome to Katsina' monument and he did just as she said. She slid down the glass and washed her face, trying all she could to look normal but her expression was so fair it didn't cooperate well.

"If you don't want anyone to know that you've cried this much, we can branch somewhere, maybe to a restaurant, eat and think of a way out of this so your eyes will refresh? Because I'm sorry, but you're so fair in complexion that it instantly shows you've had a good cry, with just a single stare at you."

She turned to him with a slightly annoyed expression and he smiled. "Who asked you to tell me about my expression? Or mention that I've cried? I bet the next thing you'd say is..."

She was talking with her lips slightly pouted that had Bilaal in a chokehold. "That you look adorable when you cry? Yes, definitely that too." He threw his head back and laughed when she hit his arm with the water bottle she was holding.

"Maybe I should make sure you fail so that you continue to see me, right? Since you find me adorable!" She said in a threatening voice. But the idea of taking her class again sounded thrilling to him.

"I'd really love that, ma'am." She just looked away from his face, not even hiding the wide smile that graced her lips. And for making her smile, Bilaal felt so relieved as if he had won a lottery. How blissful it felt!