Yumna

She couldn't describe it but ever since that night with him, she had felt different. For her entire life, she had lived in a hollow bubble that has preserved her childhood well into her teen years. It allowed everyone to view her as a sick child and not the growing adult who was screaming to get out.

But since that night, she felt as if finally that bubble had deflated. She felt as if she was able to step out of it and put it behind her. He saw her for who she was and he allowed her to be who she wanted to be. He didn't hinder her and he didn't treat her as if she was a helpless kid. 

He treated her as a woman,not a small girl.

And he taught her things she never thought she would learn. She had felt things that night with him that she never thought she would feel. Her body was taken to new, crazy heights and she had never understood just what her body was capable of feeling until he told her exactly what to do. She could almost see herself from above, moaning and crying out as he spoke to her, guiding her gently over the phone...

It was wrong.

It was very, very wrong but she wasn't having sex with him. It wasn't adultery just yet...

It wasn't as if he was inside of her. He just told her what to do and listened to her as she- She didn't really know if she came or not. She had never really felt what her novels described but she felt something. She definitely felt something.

Would she feel like that if it was him touching her?

She tried to imagine it. She tried to imagine him touching her in all those places she had touched herself in and she wondered if it would feel the same. She wondered if it would feel better if it was him considering he knew what to do...

Maybe he wouldn't fumble around like she had, trying to get herself acquainted with things in her own body. She almost felt shy to admit it to him the other night. He was sweet though. He only laughed and told her that he'd help her. He thought her inexperience was a bit of a turn-on and he had no problem at all trying to guide her through it. She shuddered, remembering the way his voice sounded as he asked her if she liked the feeling. She was powerless to resist and lying to him had been swept from his mind as her body jolted once more from a specific touch. She didn't think she would get that far but once she started... It was slow and painfully seductive and she didn't even consider stopping once she caught a taste of what she might feel.

 She walked out of her lecture, digging around in her bag for her lip gloss.

"Hey sexy." She felt his hands over her eyes before she felt the lightest kiss to her cheek.

"Hey." She tilted her head up to look at him, leaning back to enjoy the way his chest felt against her back. "Did you miss me?"

"You know I did." His grip around her tightened as he gave her a quick squeeze before he took a step away to lean against one of the tall columns outside her lecture hall. "Don't I get a proper hug?" He opened his arms, allowing her to step into them, nestling herself as close to him as possible.

"Did you think about me last night?" she lifted her head only marginally to look up at him, unwilling to let go of him just yet.

"Uhm hmm." He began to stroke the small of her back with his fingertip, enjoying the way she shivered at his touch.

"And what were you thinking?

"Good things." He smiled down at her, pecking the tip of her nose. She had forgotten that there were hundreds of people walking past them as she gazed up at him, lost only in the security of his arms around her.

"What good things?"

"Like how much I missed you."He brushed his lips over her forehead, "And how much I missed seeing you," his dragged his lips over her cheek, "And how I couldn't wait to be with you again..." the rough stubble of his jaw tickled her cheek as he tugged her earlobe between his teeth, nipping gently at it.

"Oh..." she gasped as she felt his tongue over the shell of her ear, "And were your expectations met?"

"You surpassed them all babe." His kisses moved across her jaw, causing her to tilt her chin upwards, allowing him the freedom to kiss where he wanted to. She tried hard to silence the voice in her head reminding her that it was wrong. She told herself that he hadn't kissed her lips as yet and that was truly wrong...

Little kisses on her cheek weren't really sexual. They were more sweet and innocent-

She gasped when she felt his lips brush against the barest corner of her own lips.

She leaned back, sucking her bottom lip into her mouth as if tasting the way he made them feel.

A peck isn't wrong... it's just a peck.

She leaned forward, brushing her lips softly, chastely against his own. They felt different than she had imagined them to. It was odd kissing another pair of lips. They were soft and as she applied a light pressure to them, so did he.

A little spark of something amazing shot through to her stomach as she kept pressing her lips against his own, testing them out. Testing the way they felt against her own. Her arms broke out into goosebumps as she felt his tongue run gently over her bottom lip, before she opened her eyes...

Only to see Raees frowning at them from over Muneer's shoulder. "I have to go." Yumna wrinkled her nose at Muneer's exaggerated face, patting him softly on his cheek. "I'll speak to you tonight."

"Okay." He kissed her quickly on her cheek before he walked away, whistling out the tune stuck in his head.

"What was that Yumna?" Raees asked softly as he lifted her bag from her shoulder and slung it over his own.

"That was none of your business Raees." She replied, her anger unable to truly mask how ashamed she felt. She had never, ever wanted him to see that and the idea of him watching her... sin like that caused her heart to clench painfully within her chest.

"We've been friends since grade 8, Yumna. I think it might be my business." He stopped her as they reached the benches, sitting down on the table as he rested his feet on the wooden bench below. She looked down at the navy star of the converse sign on his shoes, tracing it with her eyes as if to distract her from the boy before her. "He's not a good guy."

"How do you know?" she looked up at him, surprised to see annoyance pinching his features.

"I only need to look at you to know he's not a good guy."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at your shirt,"he gestured to her form-fitting check shirt that left nothing to the imagination, "I can see you're not even wearing a bra because your shirt is that tight."

"Why are you even looking Raees?" Utter shame and mortification coloured her cheeks but she couldn't very well admit to being wrong. No one ever wanted to have someone tell them that they were wrong and she was only human. "Maybe you should keep your eyes to yourself, Raees. Consider that."

"Oh so he can look at you but I can't?" he glowered down at her, making her feel as small as crickie on the floor. "What about the rest of the guys here? Should they keep their eyes to themselves as well?"

"I didn't-"

"Wait for someone better, Yumna." He said, his voice gentle once again. "Not him. Wait for a good guy to marry you for the right reasons before you..." he couldn't say the words. He didn't want to think of her in those terms.

"Someone like you?" she knew she had just crossed a line she could never come back from. It had always been an unspoken understanding between them. They had friendship and nothing else between them and neither was anything else ever implied. "Are you going to marry me, Raees? Do you want to be my first? Hmm, is that what you want?"

"Don't go there Yumna. You know it's not like that." He backed away, shocked at her outburst.

"Yeah it's never going to be like that Raees!"she stood up, shouting down at him, "Because I'm still that sick, sad girl who couldn't breathe in class and needed to go home everyday. I'm still that girl that needed you to look out for me when the boys thought it would be funny to hide my medication away and watch me go mad looking for it." She had never realised that she was still harbouring those memories but as she spoke, more and more memories were unlocked till her head began to ache with them. "I don't need you anymore Raees and that's why you're pissed. I don't need you to look out for those girls who used call me shit names and I don't need you to tell me that it's okay that the boy I had a crush didn't like me back because he thought I was a weak little shit who was just crying for attention."

"Yumna, I never did it because I wanted to protect you. I protected you because I was your friend."

"I don't need you to protect me now, Raees. I really don't."

"I can't sit back and watch you change for this guy."

"I'm not changing for him. Maybe, I'm just showing him some appreciation."

"By throwing yourself at him?" he stood up, shouting above her to be heard.

"I'm not throwing myself at him."

"Yes, you are. You're acting like some desperate girl who's-" his head snapped to the side as she slapped him hard across his face.

"You've been a really great friend Raees,"her voice had dropped to a shaky whisper, "But I don't need your kind of friendship anymore."

He cupped his jaw in his hand, screwing his cheek around before he shook his head. "Fine, whatever you say Yumna."

He handed her the little black bag from the table before he walked away, without another glance at the girl behind him...

Yaaseen

"Hey Mum." He sat down at the table, watching his mother putter around the kitchen trying to do ten different things at once.

"You okay, boy?" she placed her knife down as she watched him cross his arms on the table before he rested his forehead against them. He only ever sat like that when something was wrong and if she knew him well enough, something was very, very wrong.

"Why did you tell me to work?"

"What?"

"Before I got married, you told me that if I wanted to get married, I'd have to make my own money. Why?"

She walked towards the table, taking out the chair across from him, "Marriage is hard Yaaseen. It doesn't float on love and fresh air and if you wanted to get married, you needed to learn that lesson."

"But we're fighting everyday Mum. I didn't think we would be fighting this much." Her heart shattered into tiny pieces as she watched her baby. Yaaseen was always her favourite- even if she had never said the words. He was her favourite and she hated knowing that she had thrown him into the deep end, watching him slowly drown beneath the surface.

"All couples fight. You have to fight and you have to argue but that's how marriages are made. You fight and you make up and you fight and you make up and eventually, you begin to learn what ticks the other one off so you try not to do it.... That's how you learn to live with each other."

"But there's so many things that's going wrong. And I hate that I can't afford what she's used to."

"You can't afford what you're used to either, Yaaseen. You're learning how difficult it is to make money and to save it. We've always given you everything and you've never really understood where that money came from, but now you do." She spoke gently, stretching over the table to ruffle his hair, "You needed to learn to appreciate what you have and if you learn it now, you'll carry it for the rest of your life. You're learning how to budget and how to spend. Nobody really mentions it, but being rich isn't just about spending money. It's about knowing that any moment, you could lose everything."

He looked down, carefully considering her words.

"Money isn't a fixed thing Yaaseen. People go bankrupt every single day because they didn't realise that they were spending too much." she said heavily, considering the own scare she had early on in her marriage. "Money and finances are the biggest stumbling block in any marriage and I didn't want both of you believing that you could just have everything. When you access your trust fund in 3 years time, I don't want you busting it up on stupid things. I want you to learn how to be wise with your spending." She stood up, running her hand through his hair one last time.

She looked down at him, feeling nostalgic all of a sudden. She could still see him as the little kid without any front teeth tottering around her kitchen in his vest and jockeys. she remembered whacking him on his hand when he used to sneak her biscuits as she was decorating them and running wild with Raees as they played whatever rubbish games it was they had developed. He was the cutest kid with his easy smile and happy eyes...

And here he was- her baby was all grown up and she hadn't even realised how it had happened...

Raees

I saw what happened. Who was that girl?

Hi Adeela. How are you? I'm well thanks.

Whatever. Who was that?

A friend.

Yoh, some friend. I thought she was going to take your whole head off with that klap.

Felt like she took my whole head off...

Would have done the world a favour.

Yet here you are... still talking to me.

I find you entertaining. Don't look too deeply into things.

Really? Entertaining? Is that it?

Yeah that's it.

Nothing else?

No.

Really?

Yes.

I saw you checking me out this morning.

I was doing no such thing.

Yeah you were. You were staring at me for an hour straight.

Maybe your hair looks better instead of that untidy mess it was yesterday.

So you were checking me out?

Shut up Raees. I was looking at your hair, okay.

Okay... for the record, you looked good today too.

I know I did.

Smartypants.

Smartypants?I haven't heard that since I was 5.

So were a smartypants since you were 5 years old.

I was a smartypants since I was born, okay.

Okay madam. If you say so.

I do say-

"Hey Adeela." She turned around as soon as she heard his voice, unable to stop the way the odd shock to chest as she did.

"Hey." She didn't want to admit it but she really had been staring at him for an hour straight. She knew he was good looking but with his shorter hair... it had done something to her and no matter how hard she tried, she simply could not stop looking his way.

"So..." he felt nervous as she looked up at him, arching her eyebrow as she waited, "I'm hungry. Do you want a crisp?"

"Yeah, okay." she smiled up at him, giving herself over to the butterflies in her stomach as she walked with him to the small shop outside their building.

Afrah

"You doing okay there Yumna?" Afrah would have never considered herself to be close to her sister. They had never really played together or laughed together. They had grown up on their own buzz and for some reason, they didn't feel the need to actively seek each other out. But even so, it didn't mean she liked watching her sister cry- especially when the dunce didn't even know she was crying at all.

"I'm fine, Afrah." She smiled tightly up at her sister before she turned her head back towards the tv. "You're watching the twins today, right?"

"Uhm no..." Afrah looked down at the sleeping toddlers, passed out on the couch besides Yumna. "I'm writing maths tomorrow so you're supposed to be doing it."

"Please. I need to be alone today."

"And I need to study Yumna." Afrah replied, putting her foot down.

"I can't look after them today." She looked up, irritated that Afrah had chosen that moment to grow a backbone.

"You don't actually look after them anymore, Yumna." Afrah pointed out, "You're always busy on your phone or you're gone somewhere and they end up looking for me anyway."

"Please." She ran her hand through her hair, yanking slightly at the edges. "Just for today."

"No." Afrah said, firmer still. "I'm locking my door so don't bother." She walked away, truly frustrated with her sister for the first time in a very long time. She faltered when she heard the mumbled brat from beneath Yumna's breath but chose to ignore it all the same. She walked up to her room, shutting it silently before she flopped face first onto her purple, soft, happy duvet.

*Ziyaadh is online*

My sister is mean.

Why?

She tried to force me to look after the twins again.

You said no, right?

Yeah. I didn't really like saying it though. It looked like she really needed me to do it for her.

Well you really need to study for maths so...

You just need me to study so that I can teach it to you tomorrow

Yeah but you still need to do it.

Lol, you're useless sometimes.

I know. It's why you take pity on me.

Yup, that would be correct.

"Afrah!" she groaned as she heard Israa's squeaky voice from just beyond her door.

"What Israa?"

"Yumnini's sulking downstairs and we're bored!"

"So?" she called back, not at all in the mood for entertaining the brats.

"So let us in." Ismaeel chorused in along with his sister.

"No." she shouted back, already standing up from her bed.

"We'll give you food!"Israa tried bartering with her. "And money. And marshmallows... and you can hit Ismaeel all you want." She added as an afterthought.

"Really now?" The twins shrieked as she opened her door, running in separate directions...

When in doubt, go for the chubby one.

Not even a moment later, Israa could be heard laughing manically all through the house as Afraa tackled her to the floor...

Layla

They had been walking on eggshells around each other for the past few days. They were civil and polite but neither felt truly comfortable in each other's presence just yet. She had noticed that her basin was clean every morning and he had begun to clean up any scuff marks on the bathroom floor. She was sure he noticed that she had begun to pick up her hair from the shower drain- even though it grossed her out enough to have her almost throw up.

But things were just stiff and awkward. 

She cringed thinking how childishly she behaved and cringed even more when she thought about the way his face fell after he saw the dress in her cupboard. It was a stupid move on her part and to be so callous and apathetic about the whole thing made her feel even worse.

She was such an idiot sometimes.

She had just about tossed the salad in her bowl when she saw it-

Big and black and faster than  God damned sonic the hedgehog...

"Yaaseen!" she shrieked louder than humanly possibly as it crawled towards her legs. "Yaaseen! You get yourself over here right now!"

"What?" their bedroom door banged open in his rush to get to her before he stopped dead near the table. "What are you doing?" she had climbed onto the chair, frozen in fear as she stared down at the little being on the floor.

"Killitkillitkillit."She pointed down at it, closing her eyes as it stared up at her. Yaaseen leaned over to the side, hiding his smile as he spotted the spider inching its way up her chair.

"What'll you give me if I kill it for you?" he smirked up at her, already reaching for the handle to the broom cupboard.

"Really?" she looked down at him, highly unimpressed. "You're asking for sexual favours now?" she cringed as it crawled even further up her chair.

"I didn't say anything about sexual favours," he swiped at the spider, dropping it to the ground before he swept it away towards the door. "But now that you mention it," the door closed with a soft click as he walked up to her chair, "I wouldn't mind some kind of a reward."

He grinned up at her, causing any and all resolve to melt as he offered her his hand. She rolled her eyes playfully as she climbed off her chair, pecking his cheek with a quick brush of her lips. "My hero." She winked, turning her back to him before she took her bowl in her hands once again.

He could only look at her, eyes widened in astonishment. "That wasn't a sexual favour at all..."

"The reward needs to fit the bill. You didn't kill the spider, did you?" she teased.

"I did save you from it though." he wound his arms around her stomach, kissing her lightly on the back of her neck.

"And that was very heroic an all but..." she shrugged, "Somewhat lacking in the wow department."

"Oh?" he poked her ribs gently, causing her jolt in his arms, "So I was supposed to go to battle with it?"

"Uh huh." She turned around, smacking a loud kiss to his cheek. "There. That's sufficient enough reward."

"I highly disagree with this but..." he let her be as he walked away, "I'll take what I can get." He was barely a step away when he felt a heavy force collide with his back.

"Shut up you." She laughed, peppering his neck with light kisses. She didn't see it coming as he bent down, gripping both her legs in his hands before he stood up and wrapped them around his waist. She squealed and scrambled, trying to find her grip around his neck before she nestled herself happily against his back. "Are you just showing off now?" she kissed his ear, highly chuffed at the way his shoulders tensed beneath her.

"Yes, I'm trying to impress you, how." He jostled her playfully, causing her to tighten her grip around his neck as she giggled madly above him.

"I'm thoroughly impressed." She whispered in his ear, reaching back to shut their door before he walked over to their bed, dumping her unceremoniously onto the covers.

She looked up at him, out of breath from her laughter, waiting impatiently as he wrestled her shoes off and even worse when he tried to remove her skinny jeans from her legs.

"Thoroughly impressed, you said?" he asked, causing all sorts of funny things to happen to her stomach as he pressed a kiss over her belly-button.

"Uhm hmm." She gasped as his kisses travelled up her body till finally, he found himself where he needed the most to be.

"Show me." His voice was rough against her lips, watching her as he held himself above her...

Just waiting...

And she reached up, curling her hand around his neck as she pressed her lips to his...