Saad's glasses fell. His left nostril started to bleed.

Khadija was shrieking, trying to pull her twin away from hitting his older brother but with the rage Muhammad was pouncing his hand to hit Saad again, there was no stopping him.

His knuckles were about to hit Saad's jaw one more time when Saad clutched his elbow, his glazed eyes staring at him. "What are you doing?" Saad asked, his tone leveled even after taking the blow.

"What I should have done long before."

"You have gone insane," Khadija pulled him away from Saad the instant his contour loosened. "You don't even know the whole thing."

"Stop letting him fool you, Khadija," Muhammad yelled, his gaze shifting behind her. She turned around to see most of her family members gathering at the entrance of the changing room. "You people want to know Saad's little secret?" he asked, mirthlessly.

Saad steadied himself, wiping the blood leaking from his nose with the back of his hand. He bent down to retrieve his glasses, his fingers searching the floor until they touched the round lens of the Harry Potter-style frame.

"What's happening here?" Maahi pushed the crowd, coming to stand where the commotion was taking place.

"You know Dad, Saad's not the person you think he is-"

"What rubbish are you blabbering, Muhammad?" Maahi asked, pushing him away as he strangled himself toward Saad who stood up, wearing his glasses, "What have you done to him? Is this how I raised you?"

Muhammad turned to face his father who was now checking Saad's face, his complexion turning rigid. "Ya Allah! What the hell happened here?" Maahi raved, facing Muhammad the next instant, and held him by his collar, "How dare you raise your hand on your older brother?"

"First, he is not my brother," Muhammad spat, looking directly at his father's eyes, "The next is, Saad's a player."

"What the hell-"

"Stop swearing, Dad-"

"Well, you crossed the boundary by hitting your brother, so don't expect me to act any leisurely with you. " Maahi's voice was dangerously low, his eyes boring into Muhammad's, "Also, I want you to stop your bakwaas. Now."

"He hurt my feelings, he broke my trust, Dad. Is this how little I matter to you?"

"He may have done anything, Muhammad, but you don't have the right to raise your hand at him," Maahi replied, leaving his son's collar.

"Huh? Right," Muhammad scoffed while Saad patted Maahi's shoulder to gain his attention, "Dad, let's just end this matter over here-"

"Yeah! Why would you want to let people know about your true nature-"

"Muhammad, stop your bakwaas," Maahi glared once again.

"Not today," He shook his head, "Saad's been loving the same girl he knows I have my eyes for. "

"You mean Asma?" Maahi asked, suddenly. Bewildered.

"Kulsoom. I love her with all of my heart and she loves me too." His words caused everyone to go to a standstill, " You know what Dad, no real brother would do that."

The silence in the room caused him to speak more while Saad closed his eyes as a few tears leaked outside them, his face growing red - more out of hurt than embarrassment. "Agar charity hi karni hothi na, toh aap koi orphanage mein karthe. Ghar ko orphanage nai banathe-"(If you wanted to do charity, you could have done it for an orphanage not turn the house into an orphanage)

Maahi gasped audibly, his pupils dilating. Any love he held for his own son vanished into thin air. Saad gasped too, as something inside him broke apart. The pain he felt standing there was no way in comparison to the pain he felt sacrificing his love for his little brother. The pieces of his heart were now scattered on the floor, along with his dignity.

Shabna who had been silently watching the whole commotion pulled Muhammad from behind and when he whirled to face her, he faced a harsh slap hitting his left cheek. The echo of which resonated throughout the room.

Muhammad's hand reached to his cheek, his eyes traveling to all the familiar faces of his family, and it hurt him more than the slap that none of them held sympathy for him. At last, they landed on a pair of glassy eyes, her face covered with a niqab. His eyes never left hers as she took steps in his direction.

"I don't love you, Muhammad," she said finally.

The family which was once whole was now ripped apart. Only fragments of them stood there, and they turned to glance at Kulsoom. "Who told you that I loved you?"

"Kulsoom, now is not the right time-" Khadija slowly made her way towards her cousin.

"It's already too late, Khadija. You people just assumed that I liked this guy," she pointed to Muhammad with her index finger, distaste clearly evident as she viewed him, "and remember, how every time I denied it?"

Khadija's pupils dilated. No, no, no. She had been wrong all this while. The realization only grew more when Kulsoom continued, her voice only a whisper as Fathima came to stand beside her daughter, holding her crumbling form. "Saad doesn't deserve this," Kulsoom cried, her niqab sticking to her face because of the tears. "You have no right to hit him or say those harsh words, Muhammad. Okay?"

Kulsoom cried, "I am so sorry, I should have been clear about my feelings but I didn't want to cause any problems in your family. When Muhammad didn't leave a stone unturned in letting me know how he had his eyes on me, mine were fixed on his brother who didn't even look at my face." Everyone gasped at her words, her face burned with embarrassment as she uttered her next words, "I have loved Saad, only him. I don't even know since when."

Saad breathed harshly, goosebumps grazing his skin at Kulsoom's confession. It was unexpected. All his life, he had lived shackling his feelings from not elevating above the four chambers of his heart. He didn't know how to feel when the person he had so many feelings for, reciprocated back to him.

Everything was a mess. Only one thought went inside his brain cells, he was the reason for it all. Had he not been adopted by this family, they would have been living a peaceful life right now. "I am so sorry, Saad." He heard Kulsoom cry even more. Her form slumped down as her mother, Fathima held her.

His heart was so heavy. So shattered. So lost.

"I am sorry," He finally whispered, " I am the reason for all of this. I thought I should let go of my love for my brother for everyone to be happy, but letting it go only weighed heavy on my shoulders every day," He voiced out his thoughts, "It's so easy to misunderstand things these days, just like we all assumed Kulsoom and Muhammad being in love, everyone assumed the same with me and Asma. "

"Me and Asma are good friends," his voice was hoarse, and his constricting throat made it hard for him to speak but it was that moment in his life, in which it was like, now or never, " I am sorry for looking after you, Muhammad, and hurting you in the process. I have loved you as my brother since the day you were born, and I will continue to do so even if you believe it or not."

"I am sorry for coming in all of your lives," He broke into a sad smile, his eyes carrying a faraway look while moisture secreted in them slowly leaked outside. "I am sorry for hurting you...," He couldn't say her name. Yet, wanted her to know that he was sorry for causing her to feel things while going in the opposite direction from her.

He deliberately started walking and when he crossed Maahi, the latter put a hand on his shoulder, whispering his name to which he replied, "Where are you going, Beta?"

"It's better if I leave, Bhaiya," Saad shook his head. Maahi's eyes were teared up, just like his heart was. It had been twenty years since Saad started living with him since the day he was adopted. Twenty years since he started calling Maahi his Dad, and when Saad addressed him as his brother, the way he used to call him in the orphanage broke Maahi's heart in a way that it had never been broken before.

Saad didn't meet Shabna's eyes, he didn't have the courage to. When he passed Kulsoom, her cries turned into wails, creating more cracks in his broken heart.

He had ruined them all, even if they forgave him. He would never forgive himself, that's what he thought as his slow steps turned into quicker ones, and once he was outside that wretched room, he was running so fast. Only God knows where.

My heart's a mess,
what about yours?