They had been driving for over an hour and Mikaeel was sure he was going to fall asleep in the middle of Raees's very voracious spiel about all the speed cameras on the way. As it was, the road they were on was probably the most boring fucking road to ever drive on with nothing but fucking farms and cows on both sides for 2 hours. If they couldn't speed past all that shit, they risked falling asleep and dying right there and then with all those bloody cattle to cry for them.

It was barely even 8 in the morning at that and his cousin had the worst taste in music. Mikaeel didn't even know what the hell that guy was playing but it took everything in him not to reach into the front and rip his USB right from the slot and break it into teeny tiny pieces and throw it out the window.

"What the hell is this crap you're playing?" Raees's brother Yaaseen woke up to the most awful high-pitched sound and could only glare sullenly at the radio in front of him.

"I don't know. I'm just too lazy to change the track." Raees shrugged.

"It's one button." Yaaseen muttered, violently changing the track. "You can't be that lazy."

"I'm driving here. I can't do two things at once." Raees said.

"Don't talk shit. You can eat a five course meal and drive at the same time."

He stared at his brother blankly, knowing full well that Yaaseen was telling the truth before he glanced at Mikaeel. "You're very quiet there in the back."

"He was dying a painful death with your shit music."

Mikaeel said nothing. He didn't actually get a chance to speak as the brothers constantly tried talking over the other.

"You're so bloody moody when you wake up."

"I wouldn't be moody if you didn't play such rubbish every time I had to go anywhere with you."

"Don't blame me if your little GTI can't handle all those roads."

"Don't f-"

"Jurre. You guys are giving me a fucking headache." Mikaeel finally interrupted them. There was only so much he could take and he had finally reached his limits.

"Sorry boss." Raees sounded almost sheepish when he apologised.

"Ya sorry." Yaaseen rubbed the back of his head- Mikaeel slammed his palm into the back of Yaaseen's headrest just a little too forcefully but he wasn't about to apologise anytime soon.

"So," Yaaseen tried to change the subject, "What the hell was Talha thinking?"

...

"Hey man." Faheem said, hopping up on the wooden table Mikaeel was sitting on. They couldn't do anything until Talha actually showed up considering he was the one who made the reservations with the owners.

"Hey. Howsit?" Mikaeel glanced at him briefly before he looked back down at his scruffy pair of All Stars. It must have been almost 7 years old. The edges were all frayed and the black material had dulled into an almost whitish-sort of black. Hoori found his attire entirely too amusing considering how hard she tried to hide her smiles behind her yawns/

She wasn't very subtle about it, at all.

"Good. You?"

"Alright." Mikaeel huddled into his huge jacket. Only Talha would suggest fishing in the middle of fucking winter when he knew jackshit about it. He definitely didn't know that June was one of the best months for fishing and he was sure the only reason he suggested it at all was so that the little shit could smoke his hooka in peace away from his mother and younger sisters.

Joburg was cold but this cold was fucking unreal. He swore he could feel it going right through his bones despite the amount of clothes he was wearing. He blew, hopelessly, into his hands but seeing the little puff of white air just made it seem worse. It was so cold, they could barely even see the river in front of them through the thick layer of fog surrounding them and none of them wanted to risk sitting in the car with just the heater on in case the car's battery went.

 And that fucker Talha just had to get lost...

Asshole.

There was still frost on the grass and the windows besides them were misted over by the dense atmosphere around them. And just when they thought it couldn't get worse...

It got fucking worse.

The wind started howling around them causing the little droplets of dew on the trees and branches above to sprinkle all over them. Even the river seemed to protest against that one considering how violently it seemed to flow just then.

Mikaeel grumbled internally, actually missing his bed.

Not the person in his bed.

Just his bed.

He was actually just a little peeved to know that Hoori was probably still huddled under the covers. She had gone straight back to sleep as soon as he left the room and it was still too early for her to wake up.

Not that he was thinking about the way-

Fuck it.

He was thinking about the way her nightie bunched up around the tops of her legs and the way the thin strap was falling down her shoulders. He had gone back into the room to fetch his jacket not realising that she had gone back to sleep and had almost stopped dead at the sight of her open back. She was wearing that pink nightie again, the one with the sheer back, and he was almost sure she did it just to get to him. He didn't even realise she was wearing it the night before considering he had crawled into bed hours after she had gone to sleep.

It fucking worked.

All he could do was snatch up his jacket and throw her blanket over her to cover up the view before he walked back out.

"There he comes, that shit." Faheem muttered darkly, spotting Talha's car at the entrance.

"He's lucky he's getting married next week. Umar would have fucked him up otherwise." Mikaeel and Faheem turned around, highly entertained at Umar's very, very apparent annoyance.

"I don't put it past him." Riyaadh said from behind them. "Aunty Sharifah has a soft spot for him. He can get away with it."

They all hummed in agreement and carried on watching as Umar practically stormed over to Talha, gearing for a fight.

"Who the fuck gets lost with a GPS?" He shouted, not even waiting for Talha to step out of his car.

"Don't blame me, boss." Talha shrugged. "Blame this guy." He gestured to his brother. "He entered in the wrong co-ordinates."

"Jou ma se..." Umar growled out.

"Hey, my ma is your aunty ne." Talha shrugged him off, smiling guiltily behind Umar's back. "Sorry guys. Blame Muhammad." Talha called out good naturedly.

"Go and get the fucking key!" Umar yelled at him again.

"Ya ya... I'm going." He said, yawning widely as he walked slowly away.

Umar just shook his head, storming off back to his car.

...

Their rods were all set up at different spots along the bank but neither actually bothered to check on them. They wouldn't call themselves avid fishermen and the idea of going fishing anywhere was more of an excuse for them to sit around and play Rummy and Bullshit till someone or the other gave up and walked away.

They had been playing for a solid 3 hours already by the time the clouds gave way to the winter sun but neither had shed their huge jackets even as the sun beat down upon their backs. "Here's a question?" Fayaaz asked, looking over the game. He was the Bullshit master by now and had won pretty much every game they played.

"What?" Uthmaan asked.

"Who's rooming with who?"

"Imraan gets his own bed." Mikaeel was quick to reply. "That fucker tried spooning me when we went to Drakensburg." Mikaeel sounded highly bitter and very, very disturbed about the whole thing.

"What!" Imraan sounded aghast at the revelation.

"Don't even try denying it." Mikaeel cocked his eyebrow, waiting for him to argue.

"Ya just keep quiet boss. Best thing." Umar said, his voice filled with laughter.

"Eish," There was a slight red stain creeping up Imraan's cheeks as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "You guys are ganging up on me ne."

"Don't be so hard on him Mika," amusement dripping in Faheem's vooice, "He just got married before we went to Drakensburg. I'm sure you know all about it."

No, he did not.

He didn't even need to count the amount of times either of them had woken up holding on to the other because it had just never happened. Both he and Hoori appreciated their space and neither had ever sought to go over the unofficial barrier set up through the middle of their bed.

Wait...

He could barely sleep the whole night.

The idea of someone else in his bed was a little disconcerting. The sun was barely streaming into the room when he felt her move and inch closer to him. She had been moving closer and closer to him for the past hour and he didn't know what the hell to do about it.

Fuck!

He could feel her pressed up against his back before she moved her arm to rest snugly between them. He wasn't even wearing a fucking shirt- it was too damned hot to consider it. It's not as if she had any reservations showing off before him. She was only too happy to wear that white... thing and have her legs on display for him so he might as well return the favour. She was damned well snuggling him as if he was a bloody teddy bear and he was sure if she had known she would have thrown a fucking fit about it all.

When she moved her head to rest on his pillow- that was the last straw.

He jostled her just enough for her to wake up before he turned his head and pretended to sleep once again. He could hear her gasp at their close proximity before she moved slowly away, tugging the duvet with her as she went along. It was almost amusing having her try to wrestle the covers away from him and he almost gave in.

Almost.

But he never really was a very nice person.

But when he finally turned around and saw her entire back in full view.

He should have just given her the fucking duvet...

"So quiet, boss? What happened?" Imraan grinned at him.

"Voetsek." Mikaeel said, looking down at his cards as if nothing had happened.

...

From all of them, Imraan had been the only one to have caught anything at all. No one even knew what the hell he used in his bait but the two monster sized barbers sitting in his net must have loved that shit for them not to have let it go. He was still gloating about it by the time they settled around the braai stand after supper that night. It was still freezing and the house itself was colder than sitting around outside.

Mikaeel looked down at his phone. It was almost 8 and he was sure Hoori would be eating her supper by then. She hadn't asked him for his help with anything for the past two weeks save for opening a bottle here and there so he was sure she would manage. She seemed to be getting better.

Right?

"What the hell are you doing?" Raees looked at Talha as if he was off his head as he popped open a can of pepsi and began to pour it into the base of his hookah.

"Just try it." Talha said as he used his fingers to scoop out the tobacco from the packet.

"No sies man." Raees looked marginally disgusted at the idea. "What flavour do you have there anyway?"

"Cherry." Talha looked at him, slightly offended that his cousin could even doubt his taste. "It goes together just fine."

"Fine... But of it's not lekker, you're setting up a new one."

"Ya. Stop whining." Talha sounded annoyed as he lit the little round piece of coal perched on the top with his lighter.

Mikaeel looked down at his phone again, tired of listening to the two of them squabbling with each other as he scrolled through his contacts...

"You know ne, guys?" Raees's voice piped up again.

"What now?" Ziyaad asked, grabbing onto the hookah base before he took a deep drag- pleasantly surprised that Talha was actually right about the Pepsi.

"I hope there's no jinns in this tree." He said, pointing towards the massive branches of the oak tree above them. "Otherwise I'm screwed."

"Why?" Fayaaz asked, passing the hookah around to Riyaadh.

"You see how handsome I am." Raees said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What if one of them falls in love with me?"

Yaseen snorted, almost choking on the smoke he had just pulled in. "You don't have to worry about that hey..." He muttered, too lowly for his brother to hear.

"Ya, Mickey Mouse here should be the worried one." Fayaaz joked. "Here man, take my seat rather. You mustn't sit right under the tree."

"Fuck you." Mikaeel laughed, giving him the finger before he looked back down at his phone.

How's the fishing going?

"I'm serious. From all twelve of us, you're the only one with any signal. It's saying something."

"Ya, I don't use shit service providers." Mikaeel said before he resumed his typing.

Okay. Did you have supper?

"Good point." Fayaaz mumbled

Ya, I did. Did you?

"So, Talha. Are you ready my boy?" Umar asked, smiling lazily as he looked at his cousin. "Coming over to the dark side next week?"

"The dark side?" Talha looked at him warily.

"Ya, next Saturday is the day you officially lose your balls. Enjoy the last few days, bra." He remarked, drily.

Ya. What did you eat?

"I lose my balls? Nah man, you talking shit."

"Ask Ziyaad. The only words you will ever use from now onwards is ya honey, sorry honey."

Toasted cheese and you?

"... Ask Mikaeel."

"Ask me what?" He asked looking up from his screen.

"You just answered my question already." Umar rolled his eyes at him. "Go back to talking to your vrou please... By all means."

Had a braai. It's too fucking cold to sit inside.

I'm sorry!

...

It was almost 10 by the time they poured water over the grey, ashy coals and walked back inside. The house was worse than a mortuary but they were all a bunch of popsicles as it was- they doubted it could ever get any worse. "How many rooms are there?" Imraan asked. Neither of them had actually bothered to really go into the cabin. They had dumped all their bags in the lounge and had walked straight back out again.

"Four." Talha replied. "One room has two single beds, there's the sleeper couch in the lounge and the rest are all double beds."

Did you lock up already?

"No man." Uthmaan grumbled. "I say we write down all the room numbers and pick it out."

"Except Imraan!" Fayaaz called out from the kitchen.

"Ya guys. I'll take a single bed." He accepted that offer almost instantaneously.

Ya I did. Are you still sitting outside?

"Put Uthmaan with Imraan." Umar said, messing with Imraan.

"No!" Imraan cried. "That guy snores like a bloody 18 wheeler. I won't sleep guys."

"We'll just pick it out from a cap." Faheem said, ripping out the clean border of an old newspaper in the lounge before he tore it into pieces and began scribbling out the room numbers in his untidy scrawl.

No. What are you doing?

Choosing something to watch. Have you seen my hard drive?

Ya sorry. I left it in my draw next to the bed.

Thanks.

"Now that's sorted," Talha said once all the rooms were chosen, "Grape or apple?" He lifted up two separate boxes. He had every intention of finishing up all his tobacco before the weekend was over and they were very, very far behind schedule.

...

What are you still doing awake?

The lounge seemed to have been filled with a permanent fruity smoke and had been that way for the past 2 hours. The boys had gone from playing Tannie to Rummy to their own version of poker before some of them called it quits for the night. Talha was already setting up the third hookah by the time Muhammad pulled out the monopoly board even though he had dark circles under his eyes and could barely speak without yawning.

"You seriously not even going to take one puff?" Talha asked Mikaeel, looking at him as if there was something wrong with him.

"No." He pushed his chair back, stretching out his legs as he waited for Muhammad to set up the board.

"Suit yourself..." Talha shrugged. "Who's the banker?"

"I'll do it." Riyaadh offered casually.

"Huh uh." Fayaaz objected. "You'll pull out those ten rands when you think we aren't watching."

Riyaadh only scratched his neck uncomfortably. He had probably pushed his luck a little too far the last time he played.

Playing monopoly. You?

Uhm...

"Hey guys, is it one R500 note or two?" Muhammad asked.

"Two." Uthmaan replied, tossing the little silver dog into the air as he watched Talha move the board to the side to make way for his precious lime green hookah pipe.

Uhm?

"Alright. There we go." Muhammad appointed himself as the banker and sorted out all the notes before straightening his glasses. "Who dices first?"

... I'm reading.

Oh. Getting ideas?

"Man, put your phone away." Talha snatched Mikaeel's phone out of his hands. "Fayaaz is dying watching you because he still has no signal."

"That's not my fault." He mumbled, tossing the little squared black and white dice on the board...

...

Did you even catch anything?

He was only thankful that he was rooming with Riyaadh and not Fayaaz. It must have been nearing 3 in the morning by the time they all left the lounge. They were all too tired to actually play and had begun making up rules as they went along. He still wasn't sure how Fayaaz conned him out of his Eloff Street property but the little bastard ended up doing it anyway.

No.

If at all possible, the cabin had descended to below freezing at that point and the only heater they had looked like a piece of shit and none of them were brave enough to attempt switching it on. He didn't even want to know what the hell kind of insects were crawling all over the floors- he only needed to take a peek at the top horizontal fold of the voile above him to catch a whole fucking community of whatever the hell it was living in there.

Did anybody catch anything?

He almost dropped his phone when he felt the slight vibration against his palm. What the hell was she still doing awake at this time?

"Hey," Riyaadh walked into the room and headed straight for the window with his box of cigarettes in his hand. "Do you mind?"

Mikaeel shook his head, ignoring the slight chill that permeated the room as Riyaadh cracked open the window to allow the grey wisps of smoke to go out.

Imraan caught two fish.

He reached over to switch off the lampshade- forgetting that Riyaadh was even in the room at all.

And the rest of you were sitting pretty?

You think I'm pretty?

He was almost asleep. He had drifted from being awake to being asleep and from dreaming to thinking when his phone buzzed against his pillow...

Goodnight Mikaeel.

A/N So 3 things...

1. Don't smoke hookah! It's 60 times worse than cigarette smoking! And don't pour pepsi into your hookah either...

2. This is dedicated to sprinkleofhayat for just being an all around awesome person :) Thank you!

3. Also, a special dedication goes out to my wonderful friend RaeesaChand. And believe me, my friend. I am actually honoured knowing I have the future World's most flippen awesome doctor  on speed dial!

Actually... 4 things.

4. Hope you enjoyed it sister! (real life sister...)