Saad was, by no means, a man who reveled in the misery of others. However, the look on Areeb's face as it descends upon him that Maheer was not a toy that he can just snatch away from Saad- is something Saad will forever cherish in his heart.

There was a glowing satisfaction inside his heart. For the first time, Maheer had chosen to completely shut Areeb down. She did it in a way that was devoid of any emotion of love or sympathy; Saad was not aware that she was capable of it.

Well, he guessed Maheer must've had enough of Areeb at this point. That man was like a spoilt child; throwing tantrums and hurting people.

Saad never understood men like him. Always claiming to love a girl but never giving up on a chance to humiliate them.

"What do you want for drinks, Saad?" Meerab's cheerful voice broke him out of his thoughts. Saad looked at her to see the broad grin still in place. She must be very excited to see show them her favourite resturent.

To be honest, all of them were very excited. He could see the content smile on Maheer's face along with the smugness of Murtasim's smirk. The hassle with Areeb was done and over with. Thank God for that.

Saad never ever wished to face another idiot lover boy with no sense of boundaries. One was enough for him, thank you very much!

"I think I'll just get a mango juice." His answer seemed to satisfy Meerab as she goes back to the manu. Murtasim, on the other hand, seems content to just stare at his chirpy wife with an adoring twinkle in his eyes. It was kind of sappy actually.

"I used to come here with my friends all the time!" Meerab's grin grew bigger with each word she uttered "Everytime something big happened, I would treat everyone here."

"You never brought me here." Murtasim's confusion was clearly fake given the mischievous lit of his eyes. "We came to Karachi for your birthday so many times."

"I did." She stuck out her tongue in return. "I brought Maryam. Whenever I used to call you, you would be busy discussing some boring case with Baba."

"Ah." Murtasim gave a thoughtful nod. "So if I wasn't busy, you would've asked me out on dates."

"In your dreams!" Meerab's nose was rapidly reddening in fury at Murtasim's bold claims. "I wouldn't have dated you even in your wildest dreams."

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks" His brother seemed to be having the time of his life at the poor girl's expense.

"Hemlet, really?" Meerab rolled her eyes and huffed.

"Wait, you used to live in Karachi?" Maheer's question broke their tag of war. "Were you here for college?"

Colour drains from Meerab's face and her hands tighten around Murtasim's. There was a definite shift there; Saad could feel it. Maybe Maheer has asked something private.

"I-" Meerab looked at her husband and then back at Maheer. "I used to stay here in Karachi with Waqas Ahmed and his wife."

Her voice was strained; as if she was talking with great difficulty. Murtasim, for his part, kept staring at their joint hands with great focus.

"Saad's lawyer?" Maheer's curious question took Saad's attention. He had concluded Murtasim's familiarity with the lawyer. But he hadn't realized their closeness ran deeper than that.

"Yes." Murtasim spoke up. "He is Anwar Uncle's best friend."

It didn't seem wrong to send of his daughter to live with a family friend for few college. But something was off in the way Meerab and Murtasim were behaving.

"Oh." Maybe Maheer caught onto the awkward energy behind the conversation too, so she quickly changed the topic. "Did you two go to the same school? Saad and I did!"

Saad found himself smiling at her enthusiasm. He remembers their school days; it felt like a world of mischief and friendship. The days of innocent love and youthful dreams are gone now.

Meerab scoffed at that. "A co-Ed school? Really?" She rolled her eyes. "Maryam and I went to All girls' school our whole lives. That too a private school funded by the family."

"Which was a good thing." Murtasim added with a dismissive huff. "I went to our family's all boys school too. Heck I even went to an all boys college funded by our family."

"Exaplains why you are the way you are." Meerab taunted with a sugary smile.

"Why is it even necessary to go to a co-Ed educational institution anyway?" Murtasim sighed. "We go there to study, not to get married."

"Co-Ed schools are fun too." Saad found himself defending. "Maheer and I used to have all sorts of fun."

'It's never good sort of fun going on with friends of the opposite gender." Murtasim was firm in his thinking. He sounds like an old man.

"What's wrong with having friends of opposite gender?" Meerab frowned up at her husband. "I had male friends."

"What male friends?" Murtasim's hands twitched around Meerab's as he shot up straight in his seat.

"I had many." Meerab rolled her eyes at him again. "You even met some. Remember Rohail?"

"Who?" Murtasim doesn't seem to recollect Meerab's friend.

"The one from my birthday." Meerab looked on in exasperation. "You shoved cake down his throat."

Now that's the story he would love to hear.

"Oh, that one!" Now, Murtasim seemed to have remembered this particular guy. "That boy was trying too hard to be a man. I was just teaching him how to be one." He let out a sarcastic laugh. "You should be grateful that my gun was in the car."

Bafflement took over Saad and Maheer Should he be saying stuff like this in public?!

"There is no hope for you." Meerab gave up with a sigh and went onto start a separate conversation with Maheer about clothes and bags. She did not seem to be bothered by her husband's casual mentions of murder.

How were these people so nonchalant after saying the most outrageous stuff?!

"Wait!" Maheer, his lovely but nosy wife, of course, refused to let the topic. "What happened on your birthday party?"

Meerab, after dramatically glaring at her smiling husband, narrated the fascinating tale of the birthday fiasco.

"This caveman-" She pointed an angry finger to her husband's chest, "came to my surprise birthday party. UNINVITED. And had the audacity to pull me out halfway through like a damn goon!"

Murtasim, the one accused of the crime, laughed out loud at his wife's theatrics. " I was angry. I was supposed to pick her up for her surprise party in Hyderabad. The actual one, not that poor excuse of a garden party. And she refused to pick up my calls!"

"So your solution was to barge into my party?! Couldn't you have politely entered like a normal person?! All my friends were there."

"I told you I was angry! You weren't picking up my calls, I was looking for you all over the city!" Murtasim was now looking at Maheer and Saad for a verdict. "You know, I'm a busy man. I left all my work just to pick her up and she cuts off my calls. How was I supposed to react?!"

"Ask him how hard is it for him not act like a neanderthal in public?!" Meerab demanded an answer from the couple on the other side of the table; her voice rising to match her temper. "And as soon as he gets into the vanue, he starts to pull me with him? Who does that?!"

Saad looked at his wife for help and as expected found her engrossed into the drama. He doesn't know what else he was expecting. Maheer and Neelu were the biggest fan of neighbourhood drama. This must be a heaven for her.

"Well, Meerab, you should've been more considerate of Murtasim's time." Meerab visibly deflated at that while Murtasim wore a winning smile. "And Murtasim, you?" Murtasim's satisfied smile fell as Saad continued. "I understand why you were angry but you should've taken Meerab's position into consideration. You have embarassed her in front of her friends. That wasn't very nice."

Now it was Meerab's turn to give the victory grin. "Now, tell them what you did to Rohail."

Murtasim gave her a glare. "That moron was being too touchy feely! He refused to let her go even after she clearly told him I was her cousin!"

"You should've let Meerab deal with it. I'm sure she is fully capable of that." Saad's words seem to not sit right with Murtasim. His frown only deepened.

"He was clutching onto her hand and stopping her." Murtasim's dark gaze was now traced onto him. It seems like his words didn't resonate with how Murtasim views things. "Meerab is a girl of our family. I wouldn't let anyone behave like that to her. "

"As the only male child as well as the oldest, I agree with those sentiments." Saad assured the disgruntled Murtasim. "But at some point, you have to learn to see these girl as adult human beings who can do things for themselves. I would protect Maheer and Neelu with my life, but I also don't doubt their abilities and judgement. Yes, just like any human being, they might make mistakes and get into trouble. And when they do, I know they will ask for my help because they trust my abilities as much as I trust theirs. If I continue to get aggressively protective everytime they encounter a problem, they will never learn. And the world is a horrible place for girls with little experience."

Murtasim stared at him for a moment, as if trying to process his words, Meerab stared at him with something akin to admiration. Saad believes he got his point across.

When Murtasim spoke next, his words were harsh but calm. "I don't know how it is for you but the girls in my family have been raised in a protected environment since birth. They have had everything done for them with just one command. And it will remain this way when they eventually get married. After me, their husband's will be responsible for their protection just like how I protected Meerab before as her cousin, and now, as her husband. Our world is different from yours. Daughters are Amanat, they must be treasured."

"No matter the difference in our world, daughters are, first and foremost, humans. They need to learn to be one. Their opinions, their voices must be heard. If that voice is wrong, I will correct them. But I will always listen to them. I will protect them but I will make sure they can protect themselves too." If there was anything Saad stood by firm, it was his opinions.

Murtasim clearly disagreed. "They do not need to protect themselves if I am doing my job right."

"Really?" Saad's voice held challenge. "So let's say a girl of your family, in her innocence that you insist on protecting, wrongfully judges a situation because you protected her to the point of devoiding her of the chances to learn otherwise. And in doing so, she finds herself in a problematic situation that she is afraid to share with you. What will she do then?"

"Then I will get her out of the trouble." Murtasim's answer was clear.

"But the question is, will they come to you for help or will they keep it secret in fear of your anger?" Saad's questions seem to fuel Murtasim's anger. "Why will they trust you when you clearly do not trust them enough to listen?"

His last words quitened Murtasim; a look of calculation clear on his hardened face. He tilts his head a little, as if to get a better once over. "You know, Saad, I have just realised how different the two of us are."

"I wouldn't say so." Saad smiled, a soft humorless one. "Our opinions might differ but the fact that we are bull-headed about it is the same."

Murtasim let out a surprised chuckle, eyesmkving over to their wives, the thoughtful expression was still in place.

♡

"Meerab?!" Her friend, Ruthba's voice startled Meerab out of the conversation with Maheer. Their celebratory lunch was going better than expected.

Murtasim and Saad was busy in their own conversation, the brothers getting along surprisingly well despite Murtasim's casual mentions of violence here and there and Saad's disdain of it.

"Hi!" To say Meerab was surprised to see her college friends here would be an underestimation. In the back of her head she knew, it wasn't very far fetched to see her friends in their old hangout. But for whatever reason, she wasn't remotely prepared to face any of them.

Even though she wanted to meet them all again, she couldn't help but feel inadequate. Gone was the boisterous girl with big dreams. In her place sat a married woman who was quickly falling for the very husband she was cornered into marrying.

"Long time no see. Its like you disappeared from the face of the earth!" She came and stood next to their table, eagerly looking at the other occupants of the table. Meerab realised how rude it was of her to not even introduce them to each other.

"Oh, I was just busy with life." Meerab answered flippantly, refusing to make things awkward on a joyous occasion.

"Oh, you're Meerab's cousin from the birthday, right?" Ruthba asked Saad, instead of Murtasim. This caused laughter to erupt at their table.

"That's Saad. It wasn't him in my birthday party. It was actually this one." She pointed a finger towards Murtasim who greeted her politely.

"Oh, my apologies. I'm Meerab's friend, Ruthba." She smiled sheepishly and greeted back.

"I am Murtasim Khan. Meerab's Husband." To both Meerab and Ruthba's surprise, Murtasim introduced himself. Her friend was now gaping at them like a fish.

"You got married?!" She screeched. "I wasn't even invited!"

"Yeah." Meerab gave an awkward smile. "It was a small family affair."

"Geez!" Her friend didn't seem to get the clue as she kept on going in front of Maheer and Saad, making things further awkward. "That was quick. Weren't you the one who always had marriage at the very bottom of your priority list?"

Meerab let out a painstaking laugh at that comment. "Well, things changed!"

They sure did. Everything changed to the point she couldn't even wrap her head around anything. Things spun out of her control and she couldn't fight back. Meerab, the one who always fought for others, stopped fighting for herself.

"Wait, your cousin, Murtasim?" Ruthba's face coloured with confusion- brows furrowed and forehead creased.

Oh shit.

"Yeah, why?" Maheer leaned forward, interest clear in her eyes.

"Geez, Meerab!" Ruthba rolled her eyes as she laughs as Meerab's embarrassment. "After all those rants about him being a caveman, one would think you really hated him."

"She used to rant about me?" Now, Murtasim was the one leaning forward with interest. "What exactly was she "ranting" about me?" He made sure to emphasize greatly on "ranting."

"Yeah, okay, bye Ruthba. It was lovely meeting you here." Meerab tried to push her away but that girl was Mount Fuji all of a sudden.

"Oh yeah, she would constantly complain about how you don't let her breath. Always escorting her everywhere and calling her at random times."

Yeah, just tell him everytime, why don't you? Now he would think I was obsessed with him.

"That's because she would get into so much trouble, I had to practiaclly babysit her." Murtasim looked like he was biting back laughter at this point. Saad was hiding his own smile behind his glass whereas Maheer was just brazenly grining.

"Do you not have anything else to do?" Meerab gritted out through her grinding teeth.

"No, I have all the time in the world. " Her friends grin was vicious. "Oh and she would say how Murtasim was going to die single and miserable because no girl would ever put up with him!"

"Damn." Saad gave up on holding the pretense; he laughed as he leaned towards Maheer's shoulder.

"Fine, I said it." Meerab threw uo her hands in the air. "He was annoying as hell!"

"Look whose talking." Murtasim scoffed out. "You are the most overdramatic person I know."

"What's that supposed to mean, Mr. Matching-Shawl-collection?"

"You tell me, Miss. Red-Dress-and-red-lipstick?" Murtasim gave her an innocent smile and Meerab had to fight hard to hold back the smile that was threatening to break free.

"See!" Ruthba clapped. "This is exactly how you used to fight him over the phone. It was so entertaing to watch."

"So you two have always been fighting." Saad eyes them with someone akin to indugence.

"Fighting, shouting, cursing, hexing-you name it and they have done it." Ruthba supplies helpfully. Maheer and Saad break out in fits at that.

"I can't say for her but I have never been anything less than a gentleman." Murtasim shrugs out.

"Do you even know what that word means?" Meerab glared.

"I knew you would end up marrying him." Ruthba's declaration halted the conversation. Meerab was flabbergasted, Murtasim was sporting an equally confused look.

"Is your friend delusional?" Murtasim whispered in her ears.

"Oh, don't look at me like that!" Ruthba exclaimed in offense. "Even if to fight, you two would always talk over the phone. Meerab would go on and on about how annoying Murtasim was, it was honestly exhausting. We are meeting for the first and I feel like I know everything about you. That's how much she would talk about you."

Meerab was sure her face was red as a tomato whilst Murtasim was sporting the most obnoxious victorious smile. He was never going to let her live this one down.

"Murtasim was always picking her up or dropping her off. It was so odd. Half of the college probably thought he was your boyfriend. I mean, what kind of cousin shows up to a birthday party and drags a girl out ?"

"The Murtasim kind," Meerab deadpenned. Murtasim's shoulder shook with laughter next to her. He was enjoying this way too much.

"Not the Saad kind, that's for sure." Maheer added, looking at Saad with mirth-filled eyes.

"Hey, I'm a normal man." Saad raised his hands in surrender. "I do normal man stuff like politely asking my cousin to leave a party."

"You could never pull of my abnormal moves anyway."

"I don't want to. There's a difference."

"Okay, now you two don't start." Mahher gave them a firm look. Both of them quitened and went back to drinking.

Just then, someone calls Ruthba from behind. "Well, that's my queue. I'm so happy for you!" Meerab recieved a warm smile from her old friend. "Congratulations! May you have the happiest life ahead!"

"Thank you." Meerab felt the smile warming up on her face.

It was nice to hear such heartfelt blessing. Everyone around here moved onto the next phase after deciding for her. No one bothered to tell her that happiness might come from it, people just expected her to be accepting and submit to fate. Not one person connected that fate to her happiness. They wanted her to be happy but no one wished for her happiness once.

"And you?" Ruthba's next comment was directed to Murtasim, who had a flabbergasted look after hearing the authorative tone. He really wasn't used to that one. "Keep her happy. You got the loveliest girl of our batch. She used to get love confessions everyday. Consider yourself lucky, Mister!"

Oh, good God! Too much information again!

Her husband's possessive hold around her hand got tighter, squeezing it harder with each word that came out of Ruthba's mouth. He had a pretentious polite smile on his face as he noded in agreement. "Confessions everyday?! You need to tell me all about it."

She was telling him a grand total of nothing! Meerab had zero trust over his impulse control and jealousy was definitely his biggest trigger. If she told him anything unacceptable in his fuadal views, she will have a husband charged with murder.

"She's exaggerating!" Meerab said with a false cheery tone and a comforting squeeze of her hand.

And as Murtasim let it go and smiled that knowing smile of his, she thought this lunch wasn't a bad idea, after all.

♡

Hello, everyone. Long time no see. I realised recently that I never released some of the drifts I had. So I though why not now. I hope you enjoy this and tell me how you liked it. Thank you.