This chapter is dedicated to R3Hijabi for being so adorable and you guys should definitely go check out her story "Not Your Expected Hijabi" Enjoy the latest slice of paradise - i.e. this chapter hehe 😛

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"It's beautiful."

The clouds that had now covered the skies were stained with fruity colours like grapefruit pink and mango gold as the sun dipped below the horizon, reflecting onto the sea. Watching this sunset made me feel hungry but I never looked away, almost forgetting Ilyas' presence beside me on the sand until he spoke.

"It really is," I murmured, tears springing to my eyes for some reason. I blinked them away, wondering why I suddenly felt so emotional. Maybe it was because I could have been home by now, if I had caught that flight this morning with my friends, and if I hadn't fallen off the yacht...so many 'if's, but dwelling on them made no difference. I was still here, with Ilyas, on this lonely island that didn't even have proper trees or food.

I got to my feet and approached the ocean, stopping until I was knee deep, not even bothering to roll up my tights which were caked with sand. This was the longest I had ever spent on a beach of any kind, and as a kid I had always hated leaving the beach because I had wanted to stay there forever, but forever wasn't fun when you were imprisoned there.

I hadn't realised Ilyas had joined me at the tide until I heard a splash, and saw his head pop up, just a silhouette against the vibrant rose-gold sunset. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Going for one last swim," Ilyas called back before disappearing underwater. I swear, if I didn't know any better I'd say that man was a fish or something. He had spent the entire day swimming while I lied on the beach, trying not to use up energy, and when he had returned from his swim he had speared two fish, bringing them back as trophies.

While he swam, I prayed Maghrib, and there was something so natural and beautiful about praying on sand, with no mat or anything. It made me feel closer to Allah for some reason. Just when I finished praying, Ilyas emerged from the waves, dripping wet, and if it wasn't for the fading light, I would've been able to see every detail of his body, but good thing I turned away, knowing very well that my eyes had seen enough for that day.

"Were you praying?" Ilyas asked as soon as he was within speaking distance, running his fingers through his hair, which was spiked up from the ocean.

I nodded, leaning back on my palm. "Yeah. Don't you pray?"

Ilyas shook his head, which consequently caused drops of water to spurt everywhere, and I flinched, but didn't say anything as I waited for his answer. "Nah. It's not for me."

"What do you mean?" I followed his movements as he picked up his shirt and used it as a sort of towel, dabbing at his arms and chest.

"I'm not a religious person, I guess," Ilyas replied with a shrug. "It's not my thing."

"I used to be like that," I didn't know why I blurted that out, but I knew where this guy was coming from; I had been there once.

"Really?" Ilyas sounded surprised, and I didn't know if I should have been offended or...

"Yeah. I was once a reckless girl who had no care for religion, but I changed."

"Why did you change?" Ilyas seemed genuinely curious as he sat on the sand again, and I watched the sky darken as I collected my thoughts, contemplating whether I should tell him how I used to be. I was not proud of it, nor did I go boasting it to people about how many parties I went to and how many friends I had.

"I got tired of it all, I suppose. I felt empty inside...once I graduated from high school, I took a year off, and in that year, my very religious cousin helped me get back on track," I responded simply.

"Empty, huh?" Ilyas chuckled mirthlessly. "That's not too far from how I...never mind."

"How you what?" I pressed.

"Nah, forget it," Ilyas shook his head, elbows resting on his kneecaps as he stared into the ocean.

"Come on, I wanna know," even to my own ears I sounded whiney, but eventually I dropped the subject and watched him watch the ocean until he turned his head to me and said, "It's getting dark. We better make another fire."

"Yeah," I exhaled.

Once we got the fire going, I realised how cold I was, especially with my low-key damp clothes clinging to my skin constantly and the wind that blew every so often, it was enough to give me chills.

"So what's the plan?" I brought up as we chewed our second helping of fish that day. It didn't taste as good this time, but it was better than nothing, as Ilyas had said.

"Plan?"

"Yeah, we need a plan to survive," I said.

"No, we don't," Ilyas continued to devour his fish ravenously, and I just sighed.

"I don't know about you, but I can't just live in these clothes forever. Plus, I'm getting sick of just eating fish," the Mentos mint I had ingested after eating the first helping of fish didn't last long nor did it completely eradicate the taste of fish. Plus, I missed carbs.

"It's not that bad," Ilyas countered.

"But could you eat this every day?" I inquired, arching an eyebrow.

Ilyas scrunched up his face in what looked like pain, before expelling a loud belch. "Mmm. Fishy," he grinned, while I gave him a disgusted look. Eventually he heaved a sigh, his grin disappearing as he muttered, "Probably not."

"Then we have to leave. Tomorrow," I said firmly.

"Fine," Ilyas agreed reluctantly.

"And we'll find another island, which will hopefully have people on it who can help us get back to Fiji," I continued.

"But we are in Fiji," Ilyas found it necessary to point out.

"I meant the main island, idiot," I snapped.

"Geez, no need to get snappy," Ilyas held up his hands. "Maybe the fish I caught is a snapper or something..." he then began to laugh at his own joke, while I just rolled my eyes. "Oh, come on, you've gotta admit that was funny!"

I shook my head, fighting back the smile that threatened to stretch my lips and chewing on a hunk of fish.

"I'm sure even the fish would've found it funny," Ilyas muttered, and for some reason I lost it and almost spat out what was in my mouth as I laughed. The smile Ilyas sported looked malicious by the light of the flames, but soon it turned into a full blown laugh that joined mine, a symphony of laughter that bounced across the sea and floated up into the clouds. However, it soon died out, and once we finished all we could eat of our makeshift fishy supper, rain began to sprinkle us lightly, putting an end to our makeshift campfire.

"Great, now it's dark again," Ilyas remarked dryly.

"Now I don't have to see your ugly face," I giggled.

"Likewise," Ilyas retorted lightly just as the rain got worse. "Shit. Sometimes I really hate rain," Ilyas grumbled as the sky fell on our heads in buckets. A cold wind blew which made it even harder to bear and so we had to find shelter - and fast.

"We could use the boat as a roof!" I yelled over the torrential downpour. I swear, rain falling hard on a body of water was so loud.

"Good idea!" Ilyas yelled back. It didn't take us long to find the boat, which was already half filled with water, and once we turned it over to drain out the water we used a couple of sticks from the fire to prop up the lifeboat above our heads. The rain beat a steady drum on the boat's underside, and though it was dark, we were at least sheltered from the rain.

"I guess we'll have to wait for the rain to pass," I sighed.

"Knowing Fiji, it'll probably rain all night," Ilyas said.

"How about we pass the time by talking?" I suggested, since talking was all I knew how to do. After all, I did have a bachelor degree in communication.

"About what?" Ilyas asked, and I rolled my eyes.

"If you haven't noticed already, we're not exactly buddy-buddy. Meaning, I don't know anything about you, and you don't know anything about me," I pointed out.

"Well, I do know that you are addicted to your phone," Ilyas said. "At least, you were addicted to it, back when it was still -"

"Hey! Don't bring that up, it's a touchy subject for me. I'm still grieving, you know," I sulked.

Ilyas laughed lightly. "Okay, then. What about your reckless past? I'd love to know more about that."

"Oh, trust me, you don't," I said darkly. "Unless you tell me what you were gonna say earlier, at sunset."

"I don't remember," Ilyas replied mechanically.

"You know, when you were saying how you were not too far from being 'empty' or something..." I jogged his memory.

"You don't wanna hear about that."

"Maybe I do. Try me."

Ilyas released a stream of air beside me, his shoulder accidentally bumping mine as he shifted. "Okay, Huda. I'll tell you about my dark past, if you tell me yours."

"Deal," I agreed without hesitation. This should be interesting.

***

"So how did it feel?"

"It felt amazing. But weird at the same time," Ilyas described. "I could barely see straight, and my heart felt so slow, but I loved every second of it. Except when I went outside in the snow and tried to make myself into a snowman. It didn't work, of course, but I got really sick because of it. And that's when I swore I would never get high again."

"Wow." We had been exchanging stories like this for what felt like hours now, and so far I had learned that Ilyas was a Pisces (which totally explained his love for swimming), he could play the guitar, he hated cheese but loved it on pizza, he just finished his double degree of IT and economics in Germany and he was able to speak the language fluently (which he demonstrated at my request). He had also learned some things about me, like how I had a degree in media and communications, an annoying little brother and six thousand followers on Instagram. Compared to the wild stories of his stay in Germany and how many places he had been to in Europe, my life didn't seem that amazing, and to come to think of it, it hadn't even started yet. I still had so much more to see, and right now, I couldn't see anything.

"Hey, I think the rain stopped," Ilyas poked his hand out of our shelter and confirmed, "Yep, it has stopped."

We decided to flip the boat back up and use the inside as a bed. However, only one of us could lie in it.

"It's all yours," Ilyas offered, and I smiled, even though he couldn't see it.

"Really? Thanks!" I didn't bother arguing, and hurriedly climbed in, about to snuggle under the blanket when Ilyas said, "But I get the blanket."

"Seriously?" I grumbled, but I tossed it over the side of the boat anyway, suddenly feeling very cold. If only we could -

"It's only fair, if you get to sleep in the comfy lifeboat," Ilyas said, and I could hear him shake out the blanket before setting it up on the sand beside the boat.

"What if it starts to rain again?" I asked, stifling a yawn.

"Then we'll deal with it," Ilyas replied. It seemed to be his way of life - just dealing with things as they came, and as I got comfortable in the cushioned lifeboat, I realised that it wasn't too bad an approach, for now it was the only way to live.

***

"Bye bye, island," I waved to the place we had called home for the past twenty-four hours as we paddled away while the sun climbed the heavens. I watched Ilyas move the oar through the water in long even strokes, and after a while I could tell he was getting tired, so I offered to take over.

"No, really, I'm fine. I'll do it," Ilyas wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, looking flushed, but I shook my head.

"Please, let me. You seem to do all the work around here, and I feel bad," I gently took the oar from his hands and tried it out for myself, forgetting how much muscle power it took to move this tiny inflatable boat. I wondered how Ilyas had found this boat at the time he had seen me fall, and felt inclined to ask him.

"Basically, this boat was attached to the back of the coast guard's boat," Ilyas explained. "Once I dived into the water, I snuck behind them and unhooked the rope it was attached to, the same rope I used to save you, and pushed it over. Those idiots didn't notice anything because they were too busy trying to stop the yacht."

"Did I ever thank you for doing that?" I asked, and Ilyas shrugged.

"I think at the time all you cared about was your phone," he reminded me, and I groaned.

"Right now, I couldn't care less about my phone," I said. "All I care about is getting out of these clothes." Ilyas smirked, and I reddened, realising what I had just said lacked context. "I mean, you know, because - you know what I mean!"

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," Ilyas chuckled in amusement.

"Aren't you too old to think like that?" I snapped, feeling flustered.

"You're never too old for a dirty mind," Ilyas sniggered.

"I think you need more than just a shower, but a whole baptism," I retorted. "And a glass of Zam-Zam water."

"A glass of water would be nice, I am pretty thirsty..." Ilyas licked his lips. "Damn it, now you've made me aware of how thirsty I am."

"You and me both, mate," I said, feeling a little puffed out from all the rowing. I was so hot and thirsty that when I saw an island appear in the water, I was sure my eyes were deceiving me.

Ilyas cupped his hands around his mouth and announced, "Land ahoy!"

"Whoo!" I had enough energy to cheer, but not enough to continue paddling, so on a whim I jumped out of the boat, immersing myself in the cold ocean's embrace. When I popped my head back up there was a big splash and Ilyas had also abandoned ship, and he had a competitive glint in his eyes as he declared, "Race ya!"

"Oh, it's on, Fish Boy!" I hollered, but as soon as I started swimming, I realised I was too exhausted from all the rowing and Ilyas was already halfway there. "He really is a fish," I murmured, watching him zip up ahead. It was too deep to stand so I did breast-stroke until I could walk the rest of the way and face a triumphant Ilyas.

"Wow, you really suck," he remarked, breathing hard.

"Well, if I hadn't spent all my energy rowing, maybe I would've had a chance," I shot back while wringing the hem of my dress.

"So who's gonna get the boat?" Ilyas jutted his chin to the lifeboat we had left drifting in the middle of the ocean, and I cursed.

"We really didn't think of that, did we?"

The boat was at least three swimming pools away, and no way was I going all the way back to - "Not it," Ilyas touched his nose, and I groaned, realising what that meant.

"Fine, I'll get it," I began to trudge back into the water, but Ilyas stopped me.

"Don't worry about it, it's already too far now."

He was right. The boat just kept going on its own, and the worst part was that the blanket and my bag were on it, which included my makeup supplies and my waterlogged phone.

"Now let's go see if there's any people on this island," Ilyas said, turning on his heel. Before us was what looked like a huge mountain that would probably take hours to get over, or around, and the more I looked at it, the more it grew until it turned into two mountains that blurred with each other.

"Are you coming or not?" Ilyas glanced over his shoulder, and I tried my best to focus my eyes on him, but he kept blurring and shaking like a mirage. I clasped my head and winced.

"I don't feel so good," I mumbled.

"Huda, are you okay?"

Those were the last words I heard before I collapsed into my old friend - darkness.

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It is currently 1:20am and I feel like collapsing into darkness but at least I updated! And thanks for over 1K reads!