"Every heart sings a song, incomplete until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song."                   Plato.

****

Shahid's lower head and silence are enough to convey the unanswered answer to Sidhra.

"No, no this can't be true, this can never be true, please tell me this isn't true. Break your damn silence, Shahid and reply. Did we, did we really did it last night?" Words were hard to come out of her mouth because of her nonstop tears but she still wants herself to accept the truth.

"I'm sorry Sidh, we weren't in our right sense yesterday." Shahid slowly replies.

"No, I took a mocktail and you a lemonade, then how come we lost our sense?" She angrily asked while glaring at him.

"I think our drinks were spiked." Shahid shrug.

"We both were alone then how can anybody spike our drink and why will someone do it?" Sidhra asks being confused. 

"I wish I had the answer but all I can conclude is that some people do it for fun and maybe are a victim to their prank." Shahid tries to reason.

"Why do I find it hard to believe." Sidhra again glares.

"Ok so tell me what all you remember about yesterday night?" Shahid slowly goes near her.

Sidhra tries to think but all she remembers is having dinner with Shahid then going to the club and having a drink and all she can remember is the worried expressions of Shahid before her memory becomes blank

Sidhra puts her head on her knees and cries understanding the fact that whatever Shahid is saying is the only possibility.

Shahid keeps his hand on her shoulder but she instantly shifts away and he takes his hand back.

"Just stay away from me, Mom was right, I should have listened to her. I ruined myself." She shouts more than anger, guilt is eating her from inside.

"I'm sorry Sidh I wanted to save myself for my wife as I wanted her to be my first but here I lost myself to you." He shook his head and sat beside her maintaining a good distance.

"What? Do Guys too think like this?" Sidhra gets shocked hearing his words.

"Why? Don't we guys have the same muscular heart or feel like you? Aren't we human beings like you?" Shahid replies in an offended tone.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just..." Sidhra stops her sentence and lowers her head as while talking to him she unknowingly moves a little exposing her bare shoulder a bit.

Shahid gets up, goes near his cupboard and taking out a trouser and a T-shirt throws it in Sidhra's direction on the bed.

"You can wear it, other things that you'll need are present inside the corner cabinet in the bathroom." He then leaves closing the door behind him with another pair of trousers and a t-shirt.

After taking a relaxing bath she wraps herself in his bathrobe and peaks outside to see if anyone is present there. When she finds none she comes out and dries her hair, then wears Shahid's clothes. When she goes near the bed in order to remove the sheets she finds the sheets changed and her clothes neatly folded and kept on the study table.

Tears start forming in her eyes but before she can break down again she hears a knock. She opens the door and finds him standing outside with a tray in his hand. She moves aside to let him enter.

He keeps the tray on the bed and says, "I hope you aren't amongst those who take their anger out on food."

She silently sits down and starts eating. Suddenly she asks, "did you are something?"

He nods his head in agent and replies, "yeah, I too ate these pancakes and coffee."

When she finishes eating he keeps the tray on the side and sitting a few inches away from her says, "I know this shouldn't have happened but we can't go back in time and undo things. I wanted to do this in a better way maybe when we could have developed even more understanding but I guess this can't wait now, so, will you marry me Sidh?"

Sidhra looks at him with her mouth wide open and bulging eyes,  "no Sha, you don't need to do this. Please don't pity me." Tears appear in her eyes.

He rubs her tears from her cheeks with his thumb and says, "in nigahone jabse tujhe dekha hai, dilne ahad sa kar liya ke ab tuhi isme rahenga... Pyar tujhe mana hai, akhri sas tak ab tera hi intezar rahenga... Bada ziddi sa man hai, jab take tum khud na samajho ye kuch nahi kahenga... Pata na tha tumhe par mujhe khabar hai, Shahid ki mohobbat ka afsana hai ye to adhura raise rahenga..."
(Since the time these eyes saw you, heart took a promise that only you'll remain in here... I considered you as love, so till the last breath I'll wait only for you... This heart is very stubborn, until you yourself understand it won't tell anything... You never knew but I knew, this is Shahid's lovestory how can it remain incomplete...)

"Stop it please Sha, we both are at fault but that doesn't mean you'll have to carry my burden for a lifetime." Sidhra cries hard.

"I really love you Sidhra." Shahid cups her face.

"Ye tumhara pyar nahi balki taras hai." Sidhra breaks down in front of him and he feels somethingricking in his heart.
(This isn't love but is a pity.)

"No Sidh I always loved you, since the time I first saw you but afraid of your rejection I never had the curage to express it but now I have both courage and a solid reason. Ye talluk jazbato ka hai, yu zahir kia nahi jata. Ye nagma-e-mohobbat hai, yu sar-e-aam gaya nahi jata. Ye ehsas mere dil se tumhare dil tak hai, yu bhulaya nahi jata."
(This is a relation of feelings, just can't be expressed like this. This is a song of love, just can't be sung openly. This is a feeling from my heart till your's, just can't be forgotten like this.)

"Par Mama says pyar khayali tasavur hai koi hakikat nahi," Sidhra replies.
(But Mama says that love is just an imaginary fantasy, not a reality.)

"Then she's wrong." He replies.

"Why now, why like this Sha, why?" Sidhra hugs him and cries unable to control her emotions. She needed support and that's what he became during her weakest time.

"I'm sorry Sidh, I wanted to gain your trust, your friendship, your family's approval, your hearts approval before proposing you but what can I do when things went the other way round." He pats her head slowly to calm her.

"You know I too like you since the beginning," Sidhra replies after some time.

"Really? You never told me." Shahid moves her face away from his chest and says in an offended tone with furrowed eyebrows.

"How can I? I mean what would have been your reaction? I never knew you too like me and I never want to lose you, you are a very special person in my life." Sidhra replies.

"As there isn't any problem now so you can answer my question." Shahid raises his eyebrow.

"I need time Sha. I know about our feelings but marriage isn't a thing to be taken lightly. This is about our whole life. I have my own family. I need to discuss this with Mom and Adi." She replies in a sad tone. Upon her Mom's mention, Shahid tightens his jaws but quickly replace his expression with a small smile. He has reached this far and he can't let her Mom destroy everything by disagreeing for their marriage.

"I don't know about your Mom but in regards with Adi, I know he'll be happy to know, just don't say about yesterday night to him. You know one day he himself told me that he wishes to have a brother-in-law having my qualities. Maybe Allah answered his prayer." Shahid chuckles.

"I'm really confused. How can my life take a sudden turn on such a rough path in just one night? How can I, how can we? I still can't believe it, there wasn't any pain which I should have felt this morning, it's as if yesterday was only a nightmare." Sidhra expresses her doubt and Shahid's face becomes pale.

Maintaining his composure he replies, "it's shocking for me too. Maybe I was more than just gentle being inexperienced and as we both were tired maybe we just had it once but if you need a proof you can go and look at the stains on the sheets, they are placed in the laundry basket."

"No, I didn't mean it that way, maybe reality is sometimes different than what we read in novels," Sidhra replies.

"Don't worry dear, here take this." He forwards a tablet.

"What's this?" She confusingly looks at the tablet as she remembers taking a tablet with orange juice which he placed on her bed after he entered her room hearing her scream. The tablet has decreased her headache.

"Contraceptive." One from him again brought back the guilt which got less because of their conversation. She quickly gulps it.

***

"Are you sure about it?" Adi happily reconfirms.

"Yes, bro I really like him and now when he has proposed me by himself I really don't want to lose him," Sidhra replies feeling guilty as she's telling him half of the truth.

"Ok but let's wait for some time and make things better between Mom and him before disclosing this fact in front of Mom or else you know what her reaction will be." Adi expresses his view.

"No problem bro. Even I didn't give him my answer. I just asked for some time and he agreed." Sidhra agrees with him.

"That's good. Now we need to work on our mission. Mission to convince Mom." Adi and Sidhra both laugh unaware of the fact that there's someone else listening to their talks with tightly closed wrist and clenched jaws outside the door.

***

"I won't let this happen. Stay away from my family. You want money I'll give you, you want beauty I'll make you meet many beautiful girls, just tell me what you want to stay away from my daughter." Minar angrily shouts at Shahid. She reaches his house as soon as she hears her children conversation.

"Money is something that I can shower on anyone. I have so much that you won't be able to earn in your whole life and about girls, yeah I'll meet them too but first, let me marry your daughter." Shahid smirks.

"I won't let this marriage happen in the first place and as far as I know my daughter will remain unmarried throughout her life but won't marry without my concern." Minar storms out from his house.

"I don't think she'll ever agree for this." Abdul Hadi comes out from the kitchen as soon as Minar leaves.

"I knew so I already had a backup plan, you'll come to know soon how her fate breaks." Shahid angrily replies. Just then his mobile starts ringing.

"Hello." He greets receiving the call. "Sha... Sha... I... I didn't... Got my per... Periods." Sidhra somehow manages to utter these words between her sobs.

"How many days love?" He calmly asks.

"It's past one week. But you gave me the tablet then how can it be possible. I'm afraid to do the test as I'm feeling nauseousness many times in these ten days." Sidhra replies.

"Don't worry dear as a medical student you know sometimes medicines can fail in certain circumstances and you also know about the symptoms, right. So as we are eighty per cent sure let's not delay things. I want my child to be born in wedlock." Shahid increases her nervousness.

"What about your family Sha? Will they agree?" Sidhra asks her biggest doubt.

"Yes dear, I already talked with them and they don't have any problem. They want to attend our wedding too but if we'll marry early we ourself will go to meet them during our vacations if you agree." He removes her doubt.

"What about Mom?" She panics.

"Let's tell Adi about everything. I'll do it and then we can have a court marriage. You can do nothing after that. In this way, our dignity won't be at stake. Just think about it Sidh how can we kill an innocent life and it's not like we weren't going to get married, instead of after sometimes we are going to get married early and I don't think your Mom will ever agree for this marriage. She'll straight away till you to abort this life growing within you. Just imagine yourself holding our cute little baby, how can we kill it?" He gets successful in convincing her to do court marriage.

****

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

ASSALAMALAIKUM/HI my dear readers...

I typed this chapter in a hurry and didn't got a chance to read it before pressing the publish button so you all are free to point out the mistakes...