//heyoooo!! This is slightly on the longer side so it may take a while. Let me know what you guys think about this. Thinking of stopping it, so shall I or continue? Let me know!! Hope you enjoy!!

//Aisha

We made it home at around three. Just before, actually. Aneel heaved as he placed the boxes of chicken and meat on the table. He kissed my cheek as he walked past.

"Just start putting them away, babe. I'm going to get the shopping up, okay?"

"Sure you don't want any help?" As I turned around to face him, I saw he wasn't there. "I'm guessing you don't." First thing I did was take off my abaya and replace it with the clothes I was wearing. I then took off my hijab and let my hair out which I put into a messy bun straight away. I cleared out the fridge was was mostly clean and placed everything in neatly. I then opened the first box when Aneel came back into the house.

"You already got changed?" I ignored him as he walked out again. He came back two minutes later, changed.  "Move over, I'll do it now."

"There isn't any space left, Aneel." I closed the fridge door and took Aneels hand that was in front of me to get up. "Thanks."

"That's okay. I'll just put it into the deep freezer in the store room." I shrugged my shoulders and I slowly moved past him. He placed two hands on my waist and pulled me back. "Aisha?"

"Hmm?" He kissed my shoulder before turning me around. "What can I do for you, Aneel?" I asked with a smile. He didn't say anything but continued staring at me for a full two minutes. His hand rubbed my back slowly and the other just stayed at my hip.

"I'm going to put them in the deep freezer," he whispered as he let go. I just stood still as he carried the remaining bags over to the store room. It only took a few seconds for his arms to wrap back around me. "I was thinking..." He said slowly. He kissed my shoulder again. "We have a few hours to spare." I began laughing as soon as he said that. Now I know what he actually wanted.

***

///Aneel

"White shirt or navy shirt?!" I screamed at Aisha who was in the bathroom. I heard the shower go off. "Aisha!" I groaned.

Seconds later, she was the doorway with a large towel wrapped around her. "What?" She looked annoyed. But I wasn't really focussing on that at the moment. Call me perverted, but I had the right. "Go and have your shower."

"Not now. In a bit." She sighed as chucked her spare towel in my face.

"I am not getting changed in front of you! If you are not going in, I'm going back to get changed in there."

"I never said anything!"

"You can tell by your eyes and your perverted face." I shrugged my shoulders and walked over to her. I pushed her wet hair away from her face. "Aneel, I'm going back in the bathroom. Now you can wait for another five minutes." She walked away from me and I laughed to myself. So cute! "Aneel?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"Can you give me my clothes please? I think they are on top of the bed." I turned around and looked at the bed.

"Only a pair of leggings and your bra and your underwear, Aisha." I opened the wardrobe and realised her side was empty. Her clothes were still in the luggage. Not knowing what else to do, I picked up one of my old t-shirts and took the clothes over to the bathroom. "May I come in?" She stuck her head out and glared.

"No. You stay out there. Do you want me to start your water for you? I shouldn't be more than two minutes." I leaned against the wall and smirked at her.

"That would very thoughtful of you, my dear. Sure you don't want me to rub some lotion on your back?" She wrinkled her nose.

"Pretty sure I can manage, pervert."

"Nick names for each other already? Our love must be blossoming." She just made a face and slammed the door in my face. "I love you too!"

"Shut up!" I continued to lean against the wall as she got ready in the bathroom. Once I heard the water turn on, I straightened up. She came out a minute later and screamed. "Why would you do that?!"

"Do what?" I asked honestly. She turned away from me and breathed in and out. "What? Did I scare you?"

Once she turned back to me, she slapped me on my stomach but it didn't affect me. Instead, I pulled her into a hug and she sighed. "You are annoying."

"But you love me," I mumbled against her shoulder. She looked up at me with a smile and leaned up to give me a kiss.

"I do." She ran a hand through my hair. "And I love you more when you are nice and clean." I stood back a smirk and let me eyes run up and down. "What?"

"You look good in my clothes. And don't even get me started on those legs."

"Aneel-"

"I know, I know, I sound perverted." I leaned down so I was beside her ear. "Can't blame me for looking so damn-" before I could finish, Aisha pushed me away with a laugh. "I'm serious. But anyways, I'll have a quick shower and then we can pray, yeah?" She nodded her head and pushed me into the bathroom.

After we had finished praying, Aisha went and called her mum. I lay down on the bed and thought how different life would be if I had my mum still. Will I be the same? Would I even live here? Would I have even got the chance to meet Aisha? Get married to her? I wouldn't really be here, waiting for her phone call to finish to see her beautiful face. I wouldn't be smiling at the thought of her while I carry on my day. Or have her to be there for me when things don't go the way I wanted. Maybe-

The bed dipped down slightly. Since my arms were wide open, Aisha lay on my shoulder. She kissed my cheek and cuddled up to my side. "You're perfect too," she said.

"How so?" She held her face up by placing her chin on my chest. I smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"Anyone who can make me smile and laugh as much as you do is pretty much perfect to me. And make me feel beautiful whenever I'm with them." With a sigh she sat up.

"What about the times I get angry?" I sat up too. I held her hand and played with the tips of her fingers. "And I say mean stuff that I don't mean? What about when I look for things to hurt you with even though the things I say isn't true? To just make you feel how angry I am at that time? Because I am telling you now, there will be times like that because I don't really have the best patience in the world. And I know that is something that I need to focus on and I promise you that I will. I don't want to do that to you, I really don't want to hurt you. But when I do, what will you do?"

I heard her click her tongue and then felt her hand at the back of my neck. She slowly rubbed my neck and came down to my shoulder. That actually felt nice and relaxing. "So you said that you intentionally try and hurt me although it may not be true? In that case I will try and not get offended. I just have to remember that an angry Aneel is a lying Aneel. But I can't promise you that it won't affect me. I can't promise you that once you say it I will forget about it and will completely fine. I wish I could but I can't."

"No. I wouldn't expect any less. You would have the utmost right to be angry and upset. I- I guess I'm not so perfect after all," I said with a laugh.

"No one is. That's what makes us...perfect."

I leaned my forehead against hers as I softly laughed. I loved it when we had these intimate moments together. It's the time when we hold no shield and can really be ourself. I don't have to put a filter in my mouth, tiptoeing around words making sure I don't say anything offensive and this was the time where she came out her shell and was actually her, not afraid to have a voice.

"What did your mum say? Is she okay?"

"She said to say hi. And guess what?!" She jumped up, excited. Her brown eyes sparkled and it made me smile. "My mum and my brother are coming for my graduation!" She shrieked and I laughed.

"That's so great. Have they bought the tickets?"

"Today! My mum, Aneel!" She clung onto me and I automatically wrapped my arms around her. "Thank you! Thank you so much, Aneel."

"Why are you saying thanks to me?" She let go and grabbed my face gently. Both her hands were on my cheek, thumb gently rubbing circles.

"My mum told me that you spoke to her. Before the wedding." I sighed as I placed a hand over one of hers. Her hands still remained on my face.

"I knew how much it meant to you. And with your mum not going, it did make you upset so I thought since she is alright with me, I could talk to her and tell her how great you will feel if she was there. And you know what she told me? She said that you made it this far without her help because all she ever done was bring you down and she wanted you to celebrate your day with the people who supported you instead of being reminded of someone who didn't."

"No," she whispered. She had tears in her eyes as she dropped her hands. "She actually thought that?"

"She did. I then told her what she means to you or from what you told me." She sniffed and fumbled over for her phone. I didn't stop her or question her in what she was doing. Although she was crying a little, I knew she was really happy inside.

"Amma!" Her smile grew as she heard her mother reply. I kissed her cheek before moving all the way back against the headboard to give her a little space. Instead she frowned and crawled over to me, picking up my arm and placing it over her shoulder. Cheeky.

"No, it's fine. Aneel told me what you said when he mentioned the graduation. No,no. But, Amma, you know you are the reason why I am where I am. You are the reason why I actually went to UNI and got this far. And I don't even know how you came to that thought or what I just have done to make you think like that-" Aisha stopped and began crying. Actual full on sobbing. I didn't knew where that came from. I held her in my arms and she got control over herself again. "I love you, Amma, I really do. All I ever wanted was for you to be proud of me. I want you to know that I appreciate everything you have ever done for me and how grateful I am. It would make me so happy to see you amongst the group." She continued talking for another five minutes before hanging up.

Aisha placed an arm over my stomach and raised her leg over one of mine. "You okay?"

"I will be. I just miss her. Even if she did used to scream at me all the time."

"If it's screaming you want, I'll put on a scarf and scream at you." She laughed and then sniffed. "You know how scared I was when you started to cry? I actually didn't know what to do for a second." She patted my chest and moved up a little more. I left her head at the bottom of my chin and sighed. "Don't ever do that to me again, Aisha. You don't know how bad it makes me feel to see you cry like that."

"Shall I give you a ten minute warning so you can prepare yourself? You know,be ready and all that." I pulled her nose and she yelped.

"Shut it, you." I looked down and saw her close her eyes.

"Seriously, thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"I know exactly how much this means to you. That's why I did it." I ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "We should really get ready. They said to meet them at eight and we'll go together from there." Once she got up, I groaned and at glared at her. The space where she was before now felt cold as the air came into contact with the wet t-shirt. "Your hair was wet. You made my t-shirt wet. And now it's freezing."

She slowly smiled at me. "Sorry?" Softly, she patted my t-shirt and I rolled my eyes. Aisha laughed. She lay her head down again on my chest and sighed. "I love you."

A smile automatically grew on my face as I heard her. I kissed the top of her head. "I love you too." And just like that, she was out the room. Cheeky. I heard her laughing from the kitchen and got up. "You made my t-shirt wet again." She laughed even harder and with a smile, I got a towel from the bathroom before meeting her in the kitchen. "Come here and let me dry your hair."

"No! I'll do it. It's drying now, anyways." I saw her eyes looking behind me at the door. When she tried to make a run for it, I pulled her into me and dropped a towel on her head. "You're no fun," she mumbled. She stood with her arms around my waist, face against my chest with the towel still covering her face.

"I don't want you to get ill, that's all," I admitted as I started to dry her hair.

"That's sweet." I chuckled and leaned down to give her a peck.

"Is it? How sweet will it be if I say I don't want you to get ill so you don't sneeze and cough around the house spreading your nasty little germs? Or want to see you with green boogers running down your nose?" She mumbled something against my chest. "What was that?"

"I can taste the bitterness now."

"Hmm." I kissed her once again and pulled her into me. "I love you so much, you know that? So much!" She giggled as I ran a hand up her back and squirmed as it ran back down. "Ticklish, are we?"

"You are so mean! You can't use that against me." She raised her hands to my stomach and began tickling. Nothing. I watched her frown and she raised her hands again. "Where are you ticklish?" I shook my head with a smile. "Please?"

"You won't find out." With a frown, she took the towel off me, drying the rest of her hair. "You upset now?"

"I'm thinking. I'll make it my mission to find out." I twirled a piece of her hair around my finger and she smiled. "Thank you for coming to my graduation."

"Hmm. I'm proud of you. You went through all those last exams with all that stress of the wedding."

"But you helped with the maths. Thank you so much for that. But, you let go of my hair and I will start getting ready." I shook my head and pulled her closer to me again. "Aneel," she said.

"But I love holding you," I whined. She laughed a little and kissed my cheek. "You're gonna go now, aren't you?"

"Yeah..."

"You gonna leave me here all alone?"

"Yeah..."

"You gonna go and get ready and become even more beautiful than you already are?" She laughed again and pulled me off the counter. "You still have like two hours to get ready."

"I need that time. I want you to decide my clothes. I don't know which will be more appropriate. And, I have a choice between three."

She pulled me over to the bedroom where she opened the luggage and took out the clothes. Once she showed me the outfits, I made sure to make her try them on first. Aisha didn't really want to do that but I can be quite stubborn and persuasive. Mainly stubborn. She honestly looked good in all of them but I finally made my mind up with an abaya that I had actually bought her before we got married.

"I really liked this one but didn't really know when to wear it," she said as she swiftly swayed side to side in the mirror. Her hands ran down her waist and down to her thighs as she looked at herself. With a smile, I walked up to her and wrapped my arms around her. "You didn't have to buy all of these stuff," she whispered.

"I wanted to."

"What if I said no at the end?" I exhaled sharply and kiss her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked-"

"No. No. If you would have done that, I couldn't really have taken back the clothes, could I?" She slowly turned around and put her hands behind my neck. "What is it?" I asked as I ran a finger across her cheek.

She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She shook her head. "Forget it. It's for another time. You should start getting ready." I smiled at her and let go. Once a I took out my clothes I looked back at Aisha who was putting on some eyeliner. I had an urge to scare her but thought of not doing it in case she poked her eye. I went into the bathroom and washed my face again. I then grabbed the razor and began to clean up my beard. After washing it again, I held Aisha's clothes and brought it back to the room.

"You left them in the bathroom when you were getting changed."

"What? Oh. Oh, thanks."

"No problem." With one quick move, I took off my t-shirt and heard Aisha say something. "What was it?"

"You could have told me you were getting changed. I could have went to the bathroom." I shrugged my shoulders and took off my trousers. She groaned and walked off.

"What? I've seen everything of yours and you've seen everything of mine. Why you being so shy now? You weren't two hours-"

"Aneel!" I pulled her into the bedroom and places her back in front of the mirror. "God, why are you always so-"

"Perverted," we said at the same time. She slowly smiled and began laughing. "You're acting as though you don't like this," I said, motioning to my body. I stepped Beside her so she could see me. Instead of answering, she slapped my arm with a blush. "Hmm, now I know what you think of me. You find me incredibly sexy and-" before I could finish what I was saying, Aisha covered my mouth with her hand.

"If you want me to be happy for the rest of the night, you better stop with the pervertisdness. I mean it. I have had enough for the day." I looked straight at her and didn't know what to say. She looked really serious. Once she dropped her hand, she went back to her make up and I carried on getting ready. I didn't dare open my mouth. I didn't want to upset her because I knew something 'perverted' would come out.

"Aneel, you got something on your collar." I turned around to face her. She slapped off whatever was on my shoulder and frowned at me. "I'm sorry. I had no right to say that to you. I just-I've been brought up in a really different way and I'm just not used to that yet."

"It's fine." Leaning down, I gave her a quick kiss and a smile. "Can I be perverted about you now?" She rolled her eyes and rubbed her finger against my lips. "Have I got your lipstick on my lips?"

"Yes. Just a little though. But you really need to start putting more Vaseline on your lips. They are gonna start cracking." I smirked and placed my hands on her hips. I loved her hips! They were just so curvy and great.

"Don't worry. I have you to keep them moist."

"And there we go again," she muttered. With one last check in the mirror, she turned to me which meant she was ready. She straightened my tie then we both walked out the house. "Did you lock the door?"

"I'll do it now. Press the lift for me, please." She walked out the doors and I saw her press the button for the lift. Another man came through the stairs door and stood beside her. I quickly locked the door and walked over to her. You could tell she was uncomfortable.

"Hey, Tony." He waved over at me and I stood in between them. "The lift not working?" He rolled his eyes and sighed.

"It starts taking the piss after a while. They keep saying they will fix it but they never do." He glanced over at Aisha with a smile. "So I see you did get married."

"Yes. I was worrying for nothing. This is Aisha. And Aisha, this is Tony. He lives upstairs and their lift doesn't work from time to time so he comes here often."

Tony wasn't a bad guy. He just looked it, if that makes any sense. I am a big guy, not boasting, but he was even bigger than me. He was a good three inches taller as well. It made sense why Aisha would feel uncomfortable.

"It's nice to meet you," Aisha said. The lift doors opened and Tony let us go in first. Once we reached ground floor, we said goodbye to each other and went opposite ways. As soon as I opened the door, Aisha wrapped her arms around her. I took off my blazer and gave it to her. "No, don't be silly. Car isn't that far."

"Put it on. I had to move the car, remember? I let one of my neighbours park their car because one their guests are disabled. I parked it quite far. It will take ten minutes to walk it there so stop being all independent and put this damn thing on." She took it from me and and I put my arm around her shoulder. "There we go."

It only took five minutes. And we were walking slow. Aisha started to take off the blazer but I stopped her. "The car is gonna be cold. Keep it on."

The car was way colder than what I thought it was going to be and at that point I regretted giving the blazer to Aisha. But once I looked over at her shivering body, I knew it was the right thing to do. She had her jaw clenched tight as she fiercely rubbed her shoulders. She looked beautiful; Absolutely breath taking. Once I was out of my trance, i started the car and held one of her hands.

"You get cold really quickly, don't you?" I asked. She shifted closer to me and I chuckled. I did my best to wrap her in my arms without messing up her scarf and make up. "You are freezing, babe. How do you even get so cold?"

"I've always gotton cold fast. I think if you drive, the quicker the heater can go on." I nodded my head, kissed her cheek and let go. Putting my headlights on, I took one last glance at her and started driving. i didnt really get that far since the alarm for the seatbelt went off. "Really, Aneel?"

"What? Sometimes a great man can make mistakes and forget."

"And your excuse is?" She raised an eyebrow and I forged my offensive.

"My goodness me, Aisha. How could you be so cruel?" She laughed it off and leaned over to kiss my cheek. "Well, I might be feeling a bit better." Only after fifteen minutes of driving, I reached the building that I worked in. It usually took half an hour due to the traffic and morning roadworks but at this time it was pretty clear.

I swung our joint arms back and forth as me and Aisha walked to the lift. She giggled and pulled my arm back. "You are so childish." I laughed and put an arm around her shoulder, kissing her cheek.

"I'm just happy. I liked today. Getting to spend the day together. Just me and you." She smiled up at me and I carried on. "That's pretty much the only reason why I lied. I was genuinely going to go work in the morning for a meeting and then lunch onwards was going to spend it with you. I just wanted to do that before I start work officially so I get to spend time with you."

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. I shook my head and let her walk into the lift first.

"No. Don't be. I just want you to know that I didn't lie for no reason." I kissed her cheek again and she lay her head on my shoulder. "You look really beautiful today," I whispered.

"You look quite dashing too."

"Always do." She smiled and took the arm off my shoulder so she was just holding it. My thumb rubbed in circles around the back of her hand as I slowly raised it to my lips.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

The lift doors opened and we both stepped out. The floor was pretty much empty, only a few people here and there. I walked to the office that the boys and me had and saw everyone was already there. Christopher saw me first and ran up to me, giving me a hug. Rashid and Nazrul did the same. I greeted Nazrul's wife and she went to go and hug Aisha. Them two turned out to be pretty close over the last couple of months.

"Can't we all just take one car?" Nazrul said. "We will all fit into mine." I shrugged my shoulders and went back to holding Aisha's hand. "Well then, let's go."

"Who did you leave the kids with, Bhai?" I said to Nazrul.

"We left them at Amma's house." Rashid and Christopher began talking to each other about a football match as we made our way to the car. Aisha somehow let go of my hand and went to talk to Priya, Nazrul's wife.

They were older than the rest of us, thus The reason why I call him Bhai out of respect. He was about thirty-three and has four very young children. Once we got to the car, both the girls say at the back and I sat in the middle with Christopher. Mid way through the noisy journey, Aisha put her hand on my shoulder and I looked back at her.

"Why do you seem so upset?" She lowered her voice so only I could hear her.

"You're not sitting beside me. I miss you." I watched her roll her eyes and laughed. "I've just got a few things on my mind. I'm not upset, babes."

"You sure?" I nodded my head and she kissed my head. "Don't think too much, okay? And you can share it with me too. That's what we have to do, right? Share each others problems and face them together." I just sat there looking into her eyes. How did I get so lucky? How did I get so lucky to get such a good wife? Such a caring one? Alhamdulillah. Thank you, Allah. "What? Why you looking at me like that? Did I say something-"

"No, no, no. What you said is perfect. You're perfect. Don't worry."

The rest of the ride was how it was before. I didn't talk much as I stared out the windows.

I couldn't get over the fact how one person could change you so much. If it wasn't for her, I would probably be as close to my Aunty as I am now. Or actually had a purpose for waking up in the morning other than just going on throughout my day. I had someone to look after. Someone who had their trust in me.

"Aneel? You need to move. Me and Bhabi need to get out." I snapped out my thoughts and jumped out the car.

"I'm so sorry, ladies." I pushed the seat forward and held Aisha's hand as she got out. Being clumsy, she ended up nearly falling but I was right there to catch her. "Careful!" She blushed and walked over to the rest of the crowd. Priya had already gotten off the other side. Aisha smiled at me and laced her arm around mine.

"What is it? There is something you're not telling me."

"Nothing. How many times do I have to tell you that I'm just thinking?" She closed her mouth and let go of arm. I sighed when I realised how harsh the words actually came out. "I'm sorry. That wasn't nice of me-" she forced a smile and kissed my cheek.

"It's okay. I won't pry anymore, I promise. I guess I should have stopped asking."

"No," I said. I stopped walking and she did too. "No. It's not okay. It was never meant to be said like that. I'm okay. I'm just thinking how different life would be if you weren't in it. Or how different life would be if my mum was still here. I'm just missing her, Aisha." She sighed and when I thought she was going to walk away, she wrapped her arms around me tightly. "I just miss her," I whispered. I felt my eyes burning and tried to swallow the lump in my throat but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't hold back my tears. "I miss my mum." And here I was. In a car park sobbing into my wife's neck. How much more pathetic could I get?

"Shh. It's okay to miss her. It's okay." I stopped crying then. I sniffed and loosened my grip on her. She leaned back and wiped away the tears around my eyes. "It's okay," she whispered.

"God, this is so pathetic-"

"No, Aneel!" I straightened up as she screamed. "No! It's okay to cry. It's okay to show how you are feeling. It's not pathetic. It's called being human." I leaned my forehead against hers and heard her sniff. "I don't like hearing you cry. It's like a stabbing to the heart."

"Hey," I said as I raised her head so I could meet those beautiful eyes of hers. "Stop it. Don't you dare start crying. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I made you feel like that. But now you know I feel whenever I cry." She laughed and lightly hit my chest.

"You okay?" I nodded my head and kissed her cheek. "I love you."

"I know," I said with a smile. I closed my arms around her and closed my eyes for a few seconds. "I love you too."

"No matter how much I love you holding me, I think we should really go back to them. They are there standing, waiting for us." I let go of her and we both slowly walked over to them.

None of them said a word but I knew they had questions floating round in their heads. Once we were given our seats, I got up and headed to the toilet. I splashed some cold water on my face when I heard the door open.

"You okay, man?" Nazrul asked. He handed me a few tissues and I thanked him. "Is it about your mum still?"

"Yeah..." He patted my back before pulling me into a hug.

"I'm here for you, you know that." Once he let go, he playfully slapped my face. "Come on. Pretty sure Aisha isn't softening you that much, is she?"

I laughed and continued drying my face. "No. I don't know. Whenever I'm with her it's like she can see right through me and there isn't a need for a shield, you know? Hate it though, can't hide shit from her." He laughed and then opened the door for us. "But she's the best."

"Priya doesn't even ask. She will just sit and stare, waiting for me to spill whatever it is. These women, man. They can see through us but still to this day, we can't figure them out."

"True, true." I turned to face him just before we reached the table. "Thank you, Bhai. For everything you have done." He smiled and took a seat beside his wife. Aisha was in a deep conversation with Rashid and I was pretty sure they were debating about something. Them two were always against each other.

I quietly sat down in between Aisha and Christopher. She looked over at me and jumped with smile. "You're back."

"I am." She held my hand, entwining our fingers, then turned back to Rashid. Christopher laughed and slapped my shoulder. What was up with everyone doing that?

"You okay?"

"Yeah." I glanced back at Aisha and then at our hands. "I'm just really happy after a really long time." He smiled and showed me a picture of a girl. "Already married-"

"Get lost. This is my girl. I have been seeing her for two years now and I'm thinking of popping the question. You think it's the right time?" I shrugged my shoulders. I never knew he was seeing her for two years. Whenever j asked him he would say that he hadn't been seeing her for long.

"If it feels right to you. I can't say because I barely know anything about your relationship."

"Yeah, true. I think it's time. I love her and she loves me. Is should be fine, right?" I shrugged my shoulders once again. "Thanks anyways man. You should really start looking at the menu though."

"Okay. Sorry I can't help further." I looked back at Aisha who was now silent. "Did he win?"

"Shh. I'm thinking of a comeback."

"Okay then," I said with a laugh. She opened up her menu and began scanning with her beautiful eyes. "Have you decided?" She looked up with a glare.

"I just opened it. Why do you always do that?"

"Whatever man. Stop being so upset because you lost," Rashid said. Aisha gasped and looked up at me for her defence. "I win. Again!" She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Leave her alone now," I said to Rashid whilst laughing. I put an arm around her and she lay her head on my shoulder. "It's okay to lose."

"Not you too," she exclaimed as she straightened up. I pulled her back down beside me and she grunted.

"But you love me still," I whispered. She immediately smiled.

"Maybe," she said with a smirk. Just when I was about to respond, Nazrul screamed my name.

"What?"

"Are you two done staring into each other's eyes? I asked what you wanted to eat."

I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed. Great. I blushed and heard Aisha giggling. "I'll have a beef steak. With extra chips. T-bone steak to be exact."

"Aisha?"

"Urm, can I have a minute to check over the menu?" He nodded his head and went round the table again.

"I would suggest the prawns or the sea bass. Their fish dishes are literally the best," Rashid said. She stuck her tongue out at him and he gasped, looking at me. "Did you see that?"

"I didn't see anything." Aisha laughed and held my hand again. "So what you going with?"

"I'll go with the prawns. What does it come with?"

I looked at the open menu and squinted my eyes so au could see. "Urm, it's king prawns with roasted potatoes, salad and I think mushroom sauce." I kissed the top of her head when she looked up with a smile. "You good?"

"Yeah. You okay now?"

"Yes. Do you want any starters?" Nazrul asked. I shook my head and he sighed. "You never want anything.

"Can we at least half, Chris?" He scoffed and looked at me.

"Really? You know me." I leaned back in my seat and Aisha straightened up.

"Can we half, Chris?" she asked. He scoffed again and raised his eyebrow at her.

"Really?"

"Yes." He rolled his eyes and ignored her. I held her hand again.

"Told you."

Once we all ordered, Chris went round and gave everyone an envelope. Curious, I began to open it but he insisted we waited till we got home.

"Here, give. Let me put this in my pocket," I said as I put mine in the inside pocket. She handed it over with a smile. "Thank you."

"Aneel, I'm going to the toilet quickly. I'll be back in a bit." She stood up and Priya stopped her. She whispered something and got up also.

Chris leaned back in his seat, putting an arm on my chair. "These women. These women always have to go with each other to the toilet. I mean, why?" I shrugged my shoulders and pushed his arm off. He put it back on the chair.

"Why didn't you being Amy?"

"Because I didn't want to upset Rashid. He would be the seventh wheel." Rashid snapped his head towards us and scrawled. "Calm down, Rashid. I'm not leaving you baby."

Rashid rolled his eyes as we all began to laugh. He was the youngest out of all us men so we treated him like a younger brother. I wish my brother was here now. Hmm, maybe I should call him and check up on him. I excused myself from the table and scrolled through the contacts until I found him. I was surprised when he picked up immediately.

"Yellow," he greeted. I smiled to myself.

"Yellow there." I heard him laugh childishly. Sometimes it seemed as though he was the younger brother. "You guys okay?"

"Yes. Just cleaning up after my wife's vomit. I'm just great. What about you?"

I whistled out and heard him groan. Before I could reply I heard Maya say how sorry she was. "It's okay, Jaan. I love you. Go to sleep." He groaned once again. "Aneel, can I call you back later? She isn't feeling too good and I stink of vomit."

"That's fine. Enjoy," I said with a small laugh. I hung up and walked back inside finding Aisha staring at the entrance. Once she saw me it was as though she completely relaxed. "Heyo."

"You okay? I came back and-"

"I'm fine. Don't worry, I'm not gonna break down without you." She frowned at me and I pulled her nose slightly. "stop being so serious. I'm just kidding. I phoned my brother."

"Is Bhabhi feeling better?" I shook my head as I laced our fingers.

"No. He's taking good care of her though. You gonna take care of me when I get ill?" She wrinkled her nose.

"Nope." My eyes widened and I turned towards her. After a few seconds, she began laughing. "Jut kidding. Of course I will. Only if you promise to do the same for me?" She raised her other hand and stuck her pinky finger out. "Pinky promise?" I smiled at her and latched my pinky into hers. "You have to say it, Aneel," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I tilt my head to the side as I adored her smile. She had these wrinkles that appeared just at the corner of her eyes. It wasn't noticeable but if you looked close enough you wouldn't miss it the next time. She also had the slightest dimples that made her look so cute.

"I pinky promise."

///Aisha

Aneel put his hand down and I smiled. My face actually hurt from smiling so often but it was something that I loved. He just made me so happy and feel good about myself. When I'm with him, I feel pretty much perfect and that I'm actually good enough for someone. Rashid asked me a question and I turned back to him.

"No. Just be quiet." He stuck his tongue out at me and I gasped, turning to Aneel. He laughed at the both of us and leaned back in his seat, putting his arm behind my chair. "Aneel, can we please just through him away on the way home?"

"You two kids," he said pointing at us. "Behave."

"The babies of the group arguing again?" Chris asked. I groaned. Babies. Is that how they see me?

"I'm not a baby," I mumbled. Aneel kissed my cheek again and I couldn't hide my smile. "Stop it."

"Stop what?" He asked, clueless. I looked around the table and everyone was doing their own thing. He leaned in closer with a smirk. "Stop loving you?" First thing I did was stuck my tongue out at him. Why did he always want to make me feel uncomfortable? "So mature," he said whilst rolling his eyes.

He smiled at me and I noticed that...twinkle in his eyes. There were really no words to describe the emotions in his eyes. His fingers lightly grazed my shoulder as he turned to Chris who asked him a question. Priya poked my shoulder and I turned to her. Aneel's arm still remained behind me and although he wasn't touching me, I still felt like his arms were wrapped tightly around me. It's not a bad thing; quite the opposite. There was just something about his hugs that made me feel so safe and...content. Yes, safe and content. Maybe it's the muscles he has...big muscles.

"Aisha!" I snapped out of my thoughts and looked around. Nazrul met my eye. "Move your glass and phone, the food is here." Just as I turned to my left, I saw the waiter holding my plate above my head.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" I quickly moved my stuff and he placed it down with a smile. "Sorry!"

Aneel rubbed my shoulder and when I looked at him he looked concerned. I nodded my head at him, telling him everything was fine. He kissed my head once again and moved his arm away. "Aneel," Priya said from beside me. "Your phone is ringing."

His brother's name flashed across the screen and he jumped up. "I'll be back in a bit."

Nazrul rolled his eyes and began eating. "Him and his brother. Two peas in a pod." I smiled to myself and put my hands on my lap. Priya tapped my shoulder.

"You not eating?"

"I'm gonna wait for Aneel."

"You don't have to. He won't mind." I shook my head. I was going to wait for him. Even if my food did get cold. Just at that moment Aneel walked back in with a smile on his face.

"Why you not eating?" he asked. I didn't say anything but just picked up my knife and fork. "Aisha?"

"Nothing. I was just waiting for you." His smile returned and he squeezed my knee lightly. "Start eating then."

"Don't worry, I will. You're so cute you know that?" I felt the heat rise to my cheeks and he squeezed my knee again. "I love you," he whispered in my ear.

"Aneel, just eat." He chuckled and dig into his meal.

///

After we all left the restaurant and got back to our cars, Chris said that we could open the letters. Aneel gave me my one as he leaned back against the car.

"So...I have decided that we should all go away for the weekend. Just us lot. And Hasan and his wife." I opened the envelope and took out a picture of Dorset. "We will take a coach there or if you want, your cars and I want to pay for everything." Aneel shook his head.

"No. This is a fucking holiday man. I'm not letting you pay for that."

"Stop being a girl. I'm paying and that's final. Come on guys! You guys did so much for me and I want to start paying you back." Aneel put a hand on his shoulder with a small smile.

"I did that because you're my brother. You don't have to pay us back. Brothers look out for each other, okay?" He stood up straight and sighed. "This is too much, Chris. I can't let you do this."

"Fine! Let's talk about this soon." Chris frowned and the boys joined in a group hug. Priya came beside me with a smile on her face.

"They are so cute when they are like this, aren't they?" I laughed as they let go of each other.

"They are." Aneel smiled at me and slowly made his way over.

"Mind if I steal her away?" Priya put up her hands and backed away with a laugh. He took off his blazer and put it around my shoulders. "That doesn't exactly help but it makes things better." Nazrul came up to us as I put my arms through the holes.

"Can we please go for ice cream? Please? Please? Please? Please?"

"Nazrul!" His wife screamed from the car. "You're acting like Khalid." Khalid was their oldest child, age seven. Nazrul sighed but gasped seconds later.

"We are so going for ice cream. Come on, we can walk there as well!" I glanced at my phone and my eyes widened when I realised it was almost midnight. I pulled Aneel's blazer tighter around my body. Why does it have to be so cold?!

"Aisha, you wanna go?" I looked up and met Aneel's eyes. "Wanna go?" he asked again. I shrugged my shoulders and he sighed. Turning back to Narul, he said, "we'll go. Walking, right?"

Despite Rashid answering for him and saying yes, Aneel unlocked the car. He opened up the boot and took out a bag.

"Here, you wear this. It's a twenty minute walk from here and you're already freezing." I didn't know what he was saying at first but when he pulled out a thick jacket, I understood. I stood still for a few seconds, surprised that he would do that for me. Once I remembered that everyone was watching, I quickly took off his blazer and traded it for the thick jacket. Aneel came up in front of me and started to do up the zip. "Is that better?" I nodded my head and welcomed the warmth from the jacket.

Aneel's arm snaked round my waist and his fingers drummed against my hip. "Aneel?" I asked quietly once we all began walking. He kissed the top of my head which meant I should continue. "Thank you."

"I didn't do anything, babes."

"You gave me your blazer and then your new jacket. Wait, that means I'm the first person to wear this."

"Could have sworn you wait longer than a week to start stealing your husband's clothes," he said with a laugh.