"Uss Kauser ki bachi ne acha phasaya mujhe." His tone was that of a little boy.

"Toh aapko kya zarurat thi Aapi ke saamne galat lafz bolne ki. Aap ye sazaa deserve karte hai." Fida defended her dearest Kauser Aapi while setting their cupboard.

"Fida, kabhi toh meri side le liya karo. Ab mai tumhara shohar hoon. Pata hai Dadajaan kitna naraaz hai mujhse." Aziz complained to his wife while discarding his kurta.

Fida gasped looking at his chest. Not because she has seen him shirtless for the first time or because her husband has a swoon-worthy body, but he had a tattoo on his chest.

Her name, Fida, was engraved on his heart in bold italic letters.

"Aapne ye tattoo kab banwaya?" Her question caught him off-guard. This was not how he wanted to reveal his tattoo to her. He wanted it to be special. It was his wish to show her the tattoo of her name on their wedding night, but her condition didn't allow this.

"Kuch saal pehle... tumhari yaad mein."

"Dadajaan ko pata chala toh woh naraaz honge. Tattoo banwana haram hota haina." Her words held fear of outcomes.

He was disappointed. He was expecting her to smile, blush but she feared what if Dadajaan got to know about his tattoo.

"Fida, mai tumse pyar ke do lafz sun-ne ki ummeed kar raha tha." His words had no filter, he said what he felt. Disappointment.

He looked at her to find her eyes lowering, she realised her mistake. He moved closer to the cupboard, where she was standing. But not to hug her or kiss her, to get a kurta to wear. Fida kept looking at him until he wore his brown kurta. He was about to start with the few buttons of it, but one of its white button fell on the floor.

Fida smiled and brought sui-dhaga from a drawer of dressing table.

"Iss button ko bhi manzoor nahi ke aap mujhse naraaz ho jayein." She picked the said button from the floor, and romantically looked at her husband who looked away from her face.

She chuckled and gently held his collar. Her touch sent electric current into his body. He looked at her, into her eyes. He gulped, Romantic Fida is hard to resist.

Fida left his collar and first put thread into the pin. How effortlessly she did this task made Aziz wonder. He never succeeded in putting thread into pin, it was a torture for him.

She began with attaching the button to his kurta, solely focusing on the button. While Aziz kept looking at her, his upset mood long forgotten. Now he just craved some kind of intimacy with his wife.

His hands moved to her cheeks, and slowly started moving way down. Fida stiffened, her fingers stopped moving. Her entire focus was on not panicking at his touch.

His fingers traced her neck, making her close her eyes.

He is my husband.

He is my husband.

She kept repeating these words in her mind.

But as his lips touched her skin she couldn't control. She gasped in fear and pushed him away. Tears rolled down her eyes.

Aziz winced as the pin hurt his skin, it stinged. He pulled the thread and pin from the fabric, making the button again fall on the floor.

He looked at his wife who was now controlling her sobs.

"I'm sorry. Mai aapko dhakka nahi marna chahti thi. Lekin..." She apologized between her sobs.

"Lekin galti meri thi. Mujhe apni hadh paar nahi karni chahiye thi." He admitted his mistake.

He should have been careful with her.

"Aapka haq hai mujh par. Isme aapki koi galti nahi ke mujh mein yeh kami hai."

"Fida!" His tone was loud, his aura suddenly turned stern. "Tumhare andar koi kami nahi hai."

"Mera dil behlane ke liye bol rahe hai yeh aap. Aapki kuch expectations hongi mujhse, jaise har shohar ki hoti hai. Aur mai aapki expectations puri nahi kar sakti."

"Fida, mard ki expectations sirf bed tak limited nahi hoti. Aur meri toh bilkul bhi nahi. Pyar karta hoon mai tumse."

He wiped her tears, a little hesitant to take any other move, fearing if she again panicked. But his hesitance ended as she hugged him. His hands slowly held her into his arms.

He understood, it should be Fida who may take initiative of their any kind of intimacy. Their marriage can work only this way, his advances will only depress her. But he will try, to invoke her desires.

"I love you." She mumbled from his chest.

"I love you too." He kissed her forehead.

🤍🤍🤍

"Kauser, mat khao. Bohat hi kharab bane hai."

"Arrey! Tumne itne pyar se banaye hai. Mai toh khaungi."

Kauser ate the excessively spicy Malai Kofte with a half-burnt Roti, happily. Because Marwaan had cooked it with love, only for her.

"Mat khao, yaar. Tum bimar ho gayi toh?"

"Marwaan, itna bhi bura nahi hai." For some weird reasons the spices didn't effect her, it truly tasted delicious. Because it was made by him.

"Bohat bura hai. Kaysan ne mere muh par meri beizzati ki ke woh zehar kha lega lekin phir kabhi mera banaya khana nahi khayega. Aur Shafaq ko toh khasi lag layi yeh kha kar."

"Lekin mujhe toh bade maze ka lag raha hai. Tumne bhi toh meri banayi pheeki chai kitni baar pi hai."

"Woh baat alag hai." That is different because he loves her, he can even eat poison from her hands.

"Marwaan, mujhe araam se khane do." She warned him.

"Marwaan." They heard Neelofer, Aziz's mother's voice. And the next moment saw Neelofer and Shahana coming their way.

Neelofer and Shahana sat on the dining table facing a confused Kauser and Marwaan.

"Kya hua, Mumani Jaan?" He inquired.

Both the ladies smiled at him and exchanged glances before Neelofer put a photograph on the table.

"Tumhare liye meri behan ki beti ka rishta aaya hai. Uski badi khwahish hai ke uski beti ki shadi tumhare jaise padhe-likhe aur samajhdar ladke se ho."

It felt as if someone threw a bomb over him. Everything shook inside him.

"Arrey wah! Ek shadi khatm huyi nahi, dusri bhi aa gayi. Ab samjhi Naheed Marwaan se itna sharmati kyun thi. Mai toh kal hi shopping ke liye jaungi."

"Kauser, Marwaan ne abhi jawab diya nahi hai tu pehle hi chalte ghode par sawar ho jaa. Usse kuch bolne de." Shahana scolded her daughter, completing the quota for the day.

Kauser's excitement was agitating him. He knew he will never get Kauser's love, but marrying someone else still wasn't acceptable for him. He will never get over Kauser, at least not until she get married to someone.

"Mumani Jaan, meri taraf se inkar hai." His reply was clear-cut. No excuses said.

"Par kyun? Kuch vaqt socho toh sahi iss rishte ke baare mein." Kauser tried to make him change his answer, unaware that her insistence will only make him refuse it again and again.

"Mumani Jaan, mai Kauser se pehle shadi nahi karunga." Saying so he left the table.

His answer angered Kauser.

It didn't sit well with her. So to clear out this suspicion she rushed to wash her hands and went in the direction where Marwaan disappeared.

🤍🤍🤍

"Marwaan, yeh kya betuki baat kahi tumne Amma aur Badi Amma se. Agar maine zindagi-bhar shadi nahi ki toh tum bhi shadi nahi karoge?"

Marwaan turned around to look at her, standing in the balcony.

"Bilkul." That was his answer.

"Dimag kharab ho gaya hai tumhara?"

"Kauser, acha hi hai naa. Tum bhi shadi mat karna aur mai bhi shadi nahi karunga. Aur saari zindagi hum aise hi rahenge." He was hopeful and serious. Expecting his silly request to get fulfilled.

"Marwaan, aise nahi hota. Kabhi naa kabhi toh humein shadi karni hi hogi naa."

"Kyun? Maine nahi karni kisi se shadi."

It seemed as if a mother is talking to her little kid, trying to make him understand how this marriage thing works.

"Tum dono ek dusre se hi shadi karlo." The voice paused their childish exchange. It was none other than the Grandpa Irfani.

His words left the two defenceless.

"Dada Jaan, yeh kaisi baat kardi aapne. Marwaan aur mai?" This view was unsettling to her.

"Toh? Kya burai hai isme? Marwaan padha-likha, aurat ki izzat karne wala ladka hai. Aur woh tumhe pasand bhi karta hai."

Kauser's eyes snapped to Marwaan listening to Dada Jaan's last sentence.

"Dada Jaan, aapki galatfehmi hai yeh." Marwaan tried to reason, without any actual reason. When from inside he was dancing.

"Kauser, mujhe hairaani ho rahi hai ke tumhe kaise yeh aaj tak nahi dikha ke Marwaan ko bachpan se tum par crush hai aur ab tak yeh crush mahobbat mein tabdeel ho chuka hai. Iss gadhe ko mahobatt hai tumse, lekin kabhi izhaar karne ki himmat nahi hui. Aur naa hi kabhi hogi. Kyunki isse lagta hai ke uska tumse do saal chota hona bohat badi problem hai."

Marwaan was shocked at how his Nana Abba knew everything about his one-sided love story. He knew literally everything.

And now he felt like the stupidest creature on this earth.

But it doesn't change the fact that he feared Kauser's rejection. She always saw him as a brother, not as a potential suitor.

Will she reject him?

Will their bond get destroyed?

Or...