When the door opened, I could hardly believe what I saw. My pulse quickened along with my pace as I entered the room before me. I don’t know why I was so nervous. Before I realized it, the gaping expanse of the room that had once stood before me was now reduced to nothing.

As I lifted my head, my gaze slowly fell onto the most beautiful face I had ever seen..

I was frozen for maybe three whole seconds before the corners of my mouth resumed their usual softness and my eyes quit staring. I turned to look at others, every part of my face in a brilliant smile.

There he stood in all his glory,
Zain Abdullah.

His hair brushed back with and his thunderstorm eyes boring into me with a dead coldness. He was leaning against the railing of the staircase; his white-knuckled fingers gripped the railing, as if trying to gain control on his emotions. His face was livid. I’d seen that face more times than I cared to count, more times than I should have as his betrothed.

Her lips and cheeks were the color of a beautiful bride's wedding dress. They spoke nothing.Their mind was either soullessly blank, or completely ravaged by thoughts that tore at the very synapses of their brain, leaving them unresponsive in my presence.

"Hani, you forgot your Victoria Secret's shopping bag. Woman, how much you shopped lingerie. Are you even going to wear and show it to Zain!!!" Sameer kept on blabbering as he entered the house. He and his big mouth!! He dumped all the shopping bags on the floor, giving me a cheeky grin. I motioned him to look at his front.

"Hey Zain!! What a pleasant surprise" Sameer walked upto him and gave him a brotherly hug. "Today only I was telling Hani, that you won't be able to resist yourself anymore!!" Damn you, Sameer!! I surely wanna kill him now.

I cleared my throat before asking, "Umm..where's Mama, Dad and Adeel?" I asked looking at Zain.

"Adeel has slept as well as Mom and Dad" he said without any emotions. "Thank you, Sameer, for dropping her back to home safely. I'll take a leave now, I'm a bit tired. In Sha Allah, see you soon." He did a handshake with Sameer before going upstairs.

"Are you crazy??" I yelled at Sameer.

"What? I never did anything" he acted so innocent.

"I'll kill you, if you ever embarass me again" I said.

"I'll be happy to die, Hanya." He said in a serious tone.

"Hey, why so serious brother?" I asked punching his arm.

"Brother?? Really? Man, now I definitely want to be buried." He acted as if someone has stabbed him in his heart. Earning a smack from me on his head. "Why are you so violent?"

"Why can't you behave like a civil man?"

"That was an insult!!"

"Yes and now please go, I had to attend Mr.grumpy" I said.

"Someone's desperate, hah!!"

"Sameer"

"Okay, fine...I'm going. Bye." He laughed, and that's when I noticed that his laugh didn't reached his eyes. He has changed alot in these years. The once carefree Sameer was long gone and it took me this long to realize. No doubt he was still handsome, and any girl would fall for him.

He was handsome, dark hair falling across a light-skinned face, and pale, curious-coloured eyes flashed through the haphazard strands. His jaw was firm and strong, and his long nose left to its imperfections. There was an odd lightness about his eyes, though, and a small curve to his lips, as if there was something terrible, only he knew the answer to, and it was that brief, wicked glance I caught that said maybe he was broken, and he liked that. The hint of danger. Made him seem more like something he wasn't.

"Sameer, you're hiding something from me" I made him look into my eyes.

He just smiled. "You're just overthinking and yeah, I'm leaving in two days."

"Why?"

"The work that I had come for, has been done, sealed. Now, I've to go." He said placing a hand on my cheek. "Take care, your Sameer is always there for you. Now go otherwise your Mr.Grumpy will think that I've kidnapped you!!" He laughed

"Shut up". With that he left. I didn't knew Sameer can be this mysterious.

I sighed and went upstairs.

Turning the knob of my room door, I stepped inside to find him standing in the balcony. He was looking up in the sky, trying to find something. He was in his casuals. A Lower and a tshirt. Just by looking at him, my heart is filled with love. I never knew that love can be this dominant. It makes you feel so powerful yet you are the weakest of all.

He turned ever so slowly taking my breath away. His hands resting peacefully in his pocket, his fringes falling perfectly on his eyelash not hiding the fact that his eyes were glistening, shining ever so perfectly, that one could clearly see their soul through his eyes. 

I missed him when he was gone, but it was only now that he was back I realized how much Zain meant to me. Not seeing him for a month had been tough enough, but seeing him again brought back those feelings I had hidden deep in myself. Love, lust and passion. No man had ever been the object of my desire in my. I had put away love from my mind discarding it as though it was nothing more than a pair of shoes that I had outgrown, but now I walked barefoot.

Zain whooshes past me and perches in my bed. I wait for him to say something but he does not. He flips his cell,  in what I know to be a conscious act. So I look. I realize I have held my gaze too long. Zain does not have the decency to be embarrassed. But then why should he? There's nothing romantic between us.

"When did you came back?" I asked clearing my throat.

"When you were out!!" He simply said. I saw that coming.

"You could have at least called me once" I said softly.

"I didn't wanted to disturb you" he said lying down on my bed. Is he gonna sleep in my room? I thought.
"I'm tired, can you please switch off the lights." He said turning his back towards me. I switched off the lights.

It must be late at night when I heard shuffling sound beside me. I opened my eyes to see Zain lying beside. How did he got down? He was sleeping on my bed and I decided to sleep down. I looked at him and there were many creases formed on his forehead, he looked tensed, but why?

He was sweating and here I was freezing, one can never trust Canadian weather!! His eyebrows were furrowed, just by looking at him one can say that he was fighting with his innerself. I rested my hand on his forehead, gently stroking it. Immediately his eyes opened as he stared at me.

"What's wrong, Zain?" I whispered softly, scared to hear his answer.

"Memories, they will drive me insane. Make me into a monster." He whispered back tangling his fingers with mine.

I sighed. I looked at him for a moment before averting my gaze from him. "But yet I keep them deep inside, close to my heart they abide." I slowly said.

"I want to get rid of these terrible thoughts" he said bringing my hand close to his chest. My heart skipped a beat feeling his heart beat against my hand.

"But I want to keep them tucked, deep inside me." I said turning fully towards him.

"They confuse and anger me" He said now fully turning towards me, not leaving my hand. We were so close that almost our nose was touching.

"But yet they are my abditory." I closed my eyes.

"They are my worst enemies" he said.

"Yet my closest friends." With that I opened my eyes. I quickly got up but he never left my hand.

"Hani, please, don't go. Not today. Please only for today, just lay down beside me." He said softly, closing my eyes, I clutched the bedsheet tightly.

He slowly pulled me back making my head rest on his right arm as I buried myself closer to his chest, inhaling his scent. He's mine yet he's not mine. I closed my eyes tightly but not before clutching his tshirt tightly. He slowly pulled me more closer to him wrapping his arms around me.

There was something so warm, something that felt right, smelt right. I let my body sag, my muscles became loose. He gave me the respect of an equal but cradled me like a cherished child. In that embrace I felt my worries loose their keen sting and my optimism raise its head from the dirt.

Perhaps the hope had been there all along, but without some love it was trapped, like crystals in a stone. I felt him brushing my hair back with his piano player fingers and kissed the crook of my neck gently...The world around me melted away as I squeezed him, not wanting the moment to end.