As soon as Ishaaq heard 'ice cream', he leaped out of his wooden bench seat and ran towards Hasan, repeating his words excitedly, "There is an ice cream truck just a walk ahead?"

Hasan nodded, and Ishaaq looked back at his group of friends, grinning ear to ear. "Come on, let's go!"

Ibrahim smiled at Ishaaq's enthusiasm. He was sitting there with his arms crossed until Ishaaq came to him and pulled him out of his seat. "Come on!" he urged.

Ayyub rolled his eyes at his best friend's child-like enthusiasm, grumpily getting up from his chair – albeit he did want the ice cream too, but he was trying to be indifferent. "Chill, you're acting like you never had ice cream before," he deadpanned.

"I never saw an ice cream truck before!" Ishaaq retorted.

Hussein observed the back-and-forth between the others and then stood up to join Ishaaq. "Let's go; the ice cream will melt waiting for us," he quipped. Ishaaq laughed. The boys then headed out to get the ice cream.

Sarah wanted to go too. That's when Maryam stood up and pulled her along with her to follow the boys. "Let's go too, Ukhti!" she beamed. Sarah gave her a fond smile, her enthusiasm and energy reminding her of herself when she was Maryam's age.

"Yup, let's go!" she agreed. She exchanged a temporary farewell with Sana who instructed her to follow her brother or else they'd get lost.

Maryam and Sarah chatted away on their way. Ishaaq teased Ayyub about gaining weight from eating ice cream, and Hussein defended him by saying that milk was good for getting taller. Ibrahim laughed at the boys' banter and pitched in sometimes with his experiences with his friends.

"You really said, 'Bye, I have to go get the milk?'" Ishaaq asked, repeating Ibrahim's dialogue.

Ibrahim nodded, holding back a smile. "I had to, Maryam was going to make some milkshake, and we were out of milk, so I told my friends on call that I had to go get the milk,"

"That's crazy," Ishaaq laughed. Hussein and Ayyub deadpanned at him.

"That's pretty normal," Ayyub pointed out.

"No, haven't you heard the meme?" Ishaaq grinned.

Soon after, they were already by the ice cream truck, and the boys were already on their way back to the seating area with their ice creams. Only Ibrahim, Sarah, and Maryam were left. Ibrahim let Maryam order first. With her ice cream in hand, she stepped behind to allow her brother and Sarah to get their ice cream. That's when she grinned, seeing the both of them quite awkward with 'who should go first...?' written on both their faces.

"You can order first," they both end up saying. Maryam was laughing aloud in her head at them. They looked like a teen duo where both of them have feelings for each other but are both nervous to fess up. What if they were PFFT.

And the ice cream vendor had to ruin the moment with her next words.

"Sorry, but we only have one more ice cream serving left..."

Those words stayed suspended in the air with Sarah and Ibrahim looking at the vendor in subtle disbelief. What shook them even more was what she said next:

"You can share, each cup has two scoops,"

Sarah? Share ice cream? With Ibrahim?

WHAT?

"I'll pay, but can we have one scoop in one cup?" Ibrahim saved the day with his quick thinking. Sarah let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Jazakallahu Khairan," Sarah said. She handed him half of the money for the bill which he reluctantly accepted.

"Wa Iyyaki, but you didn't have to," he insisted, frowning slightly in her direction, he would have given the money back, but she had already walked away with Maryam.

HE PAID FOR HER ICE CREAM. HE PAID FOR A MEAL TOGETHER. THEY'RE TECHNICALLY SHARING ICE CREAM RIGHT NOW AHH.

Ibrahim let Maryam and Sarah walk ahead and then had his ice cream. Sarah had to lift her niqab and eat it, or else her niqab would eat the ice cream as well. Maryam ensured no one saw her—it was good that no one else was around in this corner of the park for now.

The sun was lower in the sky, and soon it would turn that part of the sky golden. There was a cool breeze that made Ibrahim adjust his jacket and that made Sarah's niqab fall back on her face. Maryam's first instinct was to ensure the ice cream didn't get on her niqab, and then she laughed at Sarah's surprised then annoyed expression.

When they returned to their families, the fathers had decided that they would leave tomorrow around this time. Sana was seated on a park bench under a flowering tree. It had white flowers that she didn't recognize. Sarah and Maryam had joined to sit with her there.

By this time, Ishaaq and Hussein had already finished their ice creams and were bugging Ayyub who still had some left. Ibrahim joined Hasan as they watched the scene unfold before them.

Meanwhile, Hania and Ismail were running around the garden, stopping sometimes for Hania to pick up some fallen flowers in good shape. Ismail then had an idea.

"Hania, since Akhi Hasan and Ukhti Sana fought, should we give them flowers?" He suggested. Hania turned to look at him and then thought about something deeply, then gave him the brightest grin ever. He returned that mischievous grin, knowing what she was going to say next.

"You'll give Akhi Hasan a flower and say it's from Sana," she smirked.

"And you'll give Ukhti Sana a flower and say it's from Hasan," Ismail grinned evilly. They both giggled at their mischievous idea and then ran to find some prettier flowers. They found two beautiful marigolds and exchanged a confirming glance before heading out on their missions.

Unsuspecting Sana saw Hania walking up to her with a poker face. "Hania, are you looking for Ismail?" she asked, surprised the two weren't together.

"No, I'm here to give you something from Akhi Hasan," Hania smiled innocently. Sana scoffed. What does that dude want now? "He told me to give you this," Hania said, pulling out the marigold from behind her and holding it delicately in front of her.

Sana's eyes widened. Sarah's face stretched because of how much she was trying to hold back a laugh and Maryam's mouth was agape.

And Ismail had already handed Hasan the marigold saying it was from Sana. Hussein's eyes widened beyond his glasses, Hasan froze in his place, Ibrahim covered his mouth, Ishaaq was holding his head from bursting, and Ayyub raised a brow since he thought his sister would never do that.

Hasan cleared his throat and put the marigold safely in his bag. Ishaaq and Hussein both were shell-shocked by the event so they both ran around the area trying to wrap their heads around it.

"Ismail, are you sure Ukthi Sana said that?" Ayyub questioned, there's no way their elder sister would do something like this.

Ismail grinned. "I think Ukhti Sana looks pretty happy about it,"

Ayyub and Hasan looked ahead to see Sana– that was when she threw the marigold to the floor.

Woah, Sana, what are you doing–

Hasan was still confused. Sana, even more.

When the boys decided to take a walk around the hills once more before leaving and were gone out of sight, Sana picked up the marigold and quickly put it in her bag before Sarah and Maryam could notice.

Ismail and Hania then get together and keep discussing enthusiastically how their plan worked very well.

Sana was normal after the incident, so Sarah didn't talk about it any further.

However, Sana was actually wondering why Hasan would give her a flower. Does he like her? What does that matter if she doesn't? Or does she like him? Those were her only thoughts on the way back to the hotel for the second night's stay.

Ibrahim and Hasan couldn't sleep peacefully in the car because of Ishaaq's antics with Hussein against Ayyub. They gave up and decided to talk calmly instead.

"What does a marigold symbolize?" Hasan wondered aloud.

"I think they symbolize marigolds," Ibrahim replied.

Hasan sighed, unzipping the side of his bag that he remembered keeping the marigold in. "It's a beautiful flower though, Subhan Allah,"

"Yeah, Subhan Allah," Ibrahim agreed. "The wedding venue could be decorated with them," he jabbed at Hasan.

Hasan huffed in amusement. "In Sha Allah,"

It didn't take too long to reach the hotel. They all prayed Maghrib in their rooms. Since they didn't have anything to do for the rest of the evening, Sarah wanted to go to the terrace of the hotel to see the hill view. Maryam and Sana would have joined her, but they were busy doing facials for each other as per Maryam's request.

"You sure you'll be okay on your own?" Sana asked, frowning through her face mask.

Sarah nodded. "Of course, I'll be back after seeing the hill view and clicking some pictures," she explained.

"Alright! We'll be there as soon as we take the masks off!" Maryam gave her word. Sarah smiled at them and then waved before leaving the room with her phone. She fixed her Niqab in the mirror placed on a wall in the elevator lobby, then waited for the elevator to arrive.

By then, someone else had left their room too.

He took the opposite side to Sarah and waited for the elevator to arrive. The hotel was only nineteen floors tall, and the terrace was the highest floor. He recognized her by her green bag.

The elevator door opened and there were two other brothers in there. Ibrahim got inside and held the door open for Sarah to enter. She was hesitant because she would be the only girl there. But he gestured for her to join, and for some reason, she felt like she would be safe with him. The terrace was just 'R' on the button panel. He had already pressed that button.

"What floor?" he asked.

"It's already there," she replied. Her voice further ensured him that this was indeed Sarah.

He just nodded and kept his gaze lowered throughout. Sarah was occupying one corner while the brothers were on the opposite side of her, keeping a respectable distance. The two brothers got off around the fourteenth floor. The two of them were alone for a while.

Sarah felt really self-conscious as the brothers got off. She noticed their height difference accidentally while watching the number display change as they ascended the building.

Ibrahim pretended there was no one else in the elevator with him, but he was quite stiff – that showed he did care about how he was presenting himself.

The deafening silence was interrupted when the doors slid open to a family with toddlers. Sarah smiled with her eyes at the babies walking around and waved at them. Ibrahim retreated behind the elevator to give the family space. Now, Sarah and Ibrahim were at the back with the family in the middle. And still, they kept their gazes lowered – sometimes.

Ibrahim caught a glance of Sarah waving at the toddlers with smiling eyes. Then he stared down at his side and saw a little girl about the age of three staring up at him with wide hazel eyes. He chuckled and nodded at her, and she shyly hid behind her mother.

And soon enough, they were on the terrace. The family had gone to the corner of the terrace that was a restaurant. Sarah and Ibrahim walked together – with space in between of course – to the open area under the night sky to gaze upon the stars and the moon shining down on the hills, highlighting its silhouette.

And there they were on the corner of the terrace maintaining respectful distance, admiring the stars in silence. Until Maryam ran over to Sarah and Ibrahim, greeting them both.

"Wa Alaikum Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu," they replied to her in unison – a weird feeling when their voices overlapped, but they both shook it off.

"Why do you have mud on your face?" was Ibrahim's first question, closely inspecting what mischief she must have done.

"It's a mask, you know, the one they use in spas," Maryam explained.

Ibrahim tilted his head, raising a brow. "How would I know?"

"Right, well, I had fun that's all that matters," Maryam nodded to herself.

Sarah chimed in, "Include me next time,"

"No, you're already pretty as you are," Sana mentioned as she caught up to the girls.

Sarah turned away, blushing perhaps, "Shush,"

Ibrahim was going to laugh at their banter but decided to pretend he didn't register their presence and spoke to his little sister instead. "Sleep early, don't stay up too late, okay?"

"I know," Maryam groaned, she knew she'd be fast asleep when it was her bedtime anyway.

"Good night then," he said ruffling her hijab.

"Heyy!!" she exclaimed, fixing her hijab.

He just chuckled and walked away, letting the girls have their space. 

a new year and an update!

I'm SURE I won't be able to update regularly, but Jazakumullahu Khairan Katheeran for sticking by.

I'm sorry for not updating these author notes but if my fluff is getting better it's cuz I met a cute 'couple' irl who's so cute n halal cuz they aren't even a couple and stuff but their little siblings are such good wingmen I'm learning so much from them HAHA. I got the inspo I needed from them xD. 

Also, do you guys remember Bright Buds Institute? I feel like I'm not mentioning it much and you all have forgotten. It's actually supposed to be a very important part of the story and I'll mention it more in draft 2 TvT.

Alright, I just want to know - your favourite character is who? Be it minor or major, just want to know hehe <3