SIXTEEN

❝We were just kids when we fell in love❞

Aayan kept quiet as his wife stood there in front of him, crying into the palm of her hands. His own were folded into fists at his side while he contemplated whether he should step forward and console her or just stay the fück where he was. When Ifrah turned away from him and went to go near the lake, he got his answer.

So, he stayed the fück where he was.

He watched her for some moments; her shoulders weren't shaking anymore, so he got the idea that she'd stopped crying. He was somewhat relived. After staring at her back for another few seconds, he decided to go back and collect some branches to light the fire; the night was getting colder. Ifrah had sat down near the water by now.

Aayan came back after a while with some branches and dropped them on the ground before taking off his backpack and retrieving a coconut and his lighter. His caramel eyes darted towards Ifrah as he started the fire and watched her while she took off her shoes to cradle her feet in her hands.

He gulped.

Was she injured?

Never in his life he had felt this strong urge to throw himself off Burj Khalifa and hug her.

She was crying because of him, and he felt like the worst man alive.

The fire had started by now and he silently sat there in hopes that she'd come to sit in front of it on her own, because Lord knows he didn't have any idea what to do at the moment. He was really a loser.

His breath caught in his throat when Ifrah looked over her shoulder for a second before turning back around. A beat of silence passed before she stood up from the spot and swiveled on her feet, shoes in hand, to come and sit in front of the flames; opposing him.

An awkward atmosphere descended on them as they sat there without saying anything. Ifrah's lower lip wobbled when she caught her husband's face in the light of the fire and she burst out in tears once again.

Aayan looked at her in alarm as she glared at him.

“You left me alone for a whole day!” she started, making him cringe and he ducked his head in shame.

“I waited for the whole night but you didn't return. I know my reaction was a little too much but who does that?!”

He clenched his jaw.

“We're stranded on a freaking island with no idea of how and when we'll get out of here, my wrist is broken, I lost my fudging camera which was a birthday gift for your kind information, and it's been days since I last took a shower!”

All of the frustration from the past few days was finally coming out and Ifrah had burst like a volcano.

“I miss my parents, I miss home. There's a effing pimple on my face, my hair are all greasy and you know what's the worst part? I'm stuck here with you.” she spat out the last word like it was a curse before sobbing into her hands.

Aayan felt as someone had shot an arrow at his heart and he closed his eyes.

He messed up big this time.

Her sobs were shattering his heart and after some very long seconds, when he couldn't bear her crying anymore, he shot up on his feet before coming in front of her.

Ifrah felt his presence and looked up to see him staring down at her with a straight face. Her breath hitched when he extended his left hand to her and she gazed at it for some seconds before finally taking it.

She had seen the guilt in his eyes.

A feeling of ease washed over him when she grabbed his hand; he still had a chance to make it right.

Aayan lightly pulled her up from her sitting position and close to himself. Ifrah's face coloured slightly when her left hand landed on his chest and her eyes rounded. He didn't say anything as he moved his free hand into his jeans pocket and took out his airpods. She frowned when he put one in her ear and the other in his own before taking out his cellphone and pressing on the playlist.

I found a girl

For me

Darling just dive right in

And follow my lead

Perfect by Ed Sheeran started playing in their ears and her eyes got wider than before.

His free hand came to rest on her waist after pocketing his phone and he asked her in a soft voice; “You remember our wedding dance?”

She dumbly nodded her head. Aayan took it as a cue and pulled her away from the campfire before swaying her lightly to the beat.

'Cause we were just kids when we fell in love

Not knowing what it was

I will not give you up this time

Ifrah's body was on fire. She couldn't take her eyes away from his face, but his own weren't meeting hers. He was genuinely ashamed of his actions and just this realization was enough to make her anger dissipate.

They repeated the steps from their wedding dance; following each other's feet in a perfect rhythm. Ifrah's heart was beating a million miles per second as she stared at his face, illuminated by the moonlight and campfire.

She'd always found him good looking, but tonight he looked more than that; he looked breathtaking. Those thousands of butterflies in her stomach were a proof of it.

When his caramel eyes rested on her face, she ducked her head and her cheeks burned with a new intensity.

We're still kids but we're so in love

Fighting against all odds

I know we'd be alright this time

Aayan pushed Ifrah's body away from his and they stood arm's length away from each other before he pulled her back in as the chorus started and both of his hands came down to rest on her waist. The chestnut haired girl's arms went around his neck and Aayan's heart skipped a beat.

They slowed down to just swaying softly to the rest of the song and he buried his face in the crook of her neck, making her heart speed up to an alarming rate.

“I'm sorry,” his voice was low, sending shivers down her spine. “I shouldn't have left you like that.”

She closed her eyes as tears started gathering in them.

The music had ended by now, but they still stood there in each other's arms. Aayan had thought a lot over it and he finally spilled out his words.

“I don't smoke— never have, actually.” he told her and the dam broke. Ifrah's arms tightened around his neck.

“Then why did you have that pack?” she asked in a whisper, tears running down her face.

Aayan pulled back to stare her in the eyes. “I'd tell you about it, just not now.” he said with a pleading expression. Ifrah nodded her head after thinking over it for a bit; she knew he would tell her this time. But a huge weight had lifted from her shoulders.

The raven haired guy sighed in relief before once again pulling her closer with her hands. He smiled at her, making her breath hitch, while moving his hand to pull off her hair tie. Ifrah gaped at him as her chestnut curls sprung free and spilled down her back. She opened her mouth to ask what the eff he was doing but Aayan beat her to it.

“You said your hair were greasy, right?” he asked with his tongue in cheek, and Ifrah went red in embarrassment.

“I-I... ” nothing came out.

“Yaar,” he chuckled as he guided her hands around his neck again and snaked his arms around her torso. “I've seen you in braces, Ifrah. And there was also a phase when you used to shower only one time in a week— ”

“I was only ten!” she screeched in shame. But Aayan ignored her.

“ —So, it really doesn't matter how you look right now.” he told her, his caramel eyes swirling with emotions. “You'll always stay the same for me.”

Well, he knew how to make a girl feel special.

“Acha?” she said in a daze. Aayan chuckled softly while resting his forehead against hers.

“Jee. Churailain badalti thorri hain.” (Witches don't change, anyway.)

Really special, alright.

He watched with twinkling eyes as her face burned and she pushed him away from her with a glare.

“Bharr mein jao tum, chaval insaan!” (Go fall in a dumpster, you stupid man!)

She swirled around and stormed back to the fire, Aayan following after her in a fit of laughter.

“I was only kidding!” he said in between his chuckles.

“Shut up!”

He grabbed her right hand and pulled her towards him.

He was doing it a lot tonight.

“Acha sorry na,” he said with a grin but Ifrah kept giving him the death stare. “Dekho baal kitny achay lag rahy hain ab.” (Look how good your hair look now.) he tried to divert her attention, and bit his lip from smiling when he saw her face catching colour.

“Give me back my hair tie.” Ifrah said with a frown, trying hard to not blush but failing miserably.

Aayan tilted his head to the side and gave her an innocent look. “Leave them like this, only for the night.”

She gave him a hard stare.

“Please?”

It melted down.

She didn't say anything and turned her head towards the lake. Aayan took it as an 'okay' and grinned.

She looks beautiful with her hair down.

“You didn't tell me if I was forgiven or not.” he said.

Ifrah stole a glance at him before replying; “You are,”

He could feel a 'but' coming.

“But it's also the last time.” she faced him fully this time. “Today was the worst.”

Aayan's heart constricted and he looked down while squeezing her hand. “Yeah, I can guess. I'm sorry again.”

They didn't say anything for a while before his attention went to her left hand and he cursed.

“Ye kya kia hai?” (What is this?) he asked with a frown and craddled her injured hand; it was swollen pretty bad and had turned blue.

Ifrah's face crunched up in slight pain. “It didn't get the time to heal properly because I'm moving it constantly.”

Aayan passed her a straight look. “No shït.”

She glared at him.

“Let me bandage it again.”

“We're running out of them.”

“I don't fücking care, okay? I'm bandaging it and you'll take proper care of it this time if you want your wrist to return to normal.”

“You could've said that without cursing.”

“Then it wouldn't have gone through your thick skull.”

Ifrah gasped. “You— ”

“Chup karo aur yahan aao.” (Keep quiet and follow me.) he said in a no-nonsense tone before dragging her with him to their bags.

Ifrah decided to snap her mouth shut and just do as he says; there was no energy left in her to protest anyway.

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They had decided to camp by the lake for the night because the cellphones would soon run out of battery if they use the torch. So, they were going to save as much as they can.

After Aayan had bandaged her wrist, they both ate the chips which were left along with the berries Ifrah had collected. Turned out they were really blueberries, and the chestnut haired girl had given him a smug look for ten minutes straight.

He had, as always, rolled his eyes with a grumble.

Aayan was now clearing some space to sleep by moving the stones away from the ground. There was a clean patch of sand too, but it was far from where they had settled the fire. His eyes moved to see his wife who was wetting her handkerchief at the lake and a soft smile appeared on his full lips. She told him that the skin on her feet had turned red at some spots because she haven't removed her boots for several days, so she was going to treat them with a damp cloth.

His eyes widened when she turned to look at him and he hastily ducked his head while clearing his throat.

Zaida na daikh, pagal lagy ga.

He huffed out a breath and faced her again. “The space is cleaned.”

She gave him a thumbs up and he lied down on the ground, using his backpack as a pillow. Ifrah came up to the place but abruptly stopped in her tracks with a frown.

“Did you cleaned the space only for yourself?”

Oh shït.

Seems like he was too lost in staring at her like a creep that he forgot to make more space.

But he wasn't going to admit that out loud.

“No. There's enough space for you, too.” he said with a straight face.

Ifrah crossed her arms over her chest after tucking some loose strands behind her ear.

“Mujhy tou nazar nahi aa raha.” (Well, I can't see it.)

“Tum andhi ho.” (You're blind.)

Her nostrils flared and she was going to start a lecture but Aayan stopped her in time.

“You can sleep here.” he said with a wide smile while patting his right bicep. “We can cuddle, too, if you want.”

Ifrah felt her face getting hot and she gaped at him. “What?” she asked in disbelief.

Aayan had the nerve to look innocent. “What, what? We're married, right? So, we're not doing anything illegal.”

“Aayan!”

“Ifrah!”

She inhaled a sharp breath when he gave her a teasing look. But he soon burst into chuckles and said; “Come on, yaar. We both are tired. I don't have the power to clean space for you.”

“Then I'll do it myself.” she replied stubbornly. Aayan narrowed his eyes.

“No fücking way! You're not moving that wrist of yours, you hear me?”

She huffed angrily and stood there for some moments, contemplating it. She didn't want to give him any ideas, but her heart fluttered when the memory of them dancing from a while ago appeared before her eyes. In the end she gave in and lied down beside him with face as red as a tomato.

Aayan's own heart was thudding in his chest and he moved his arm behind her head to give it support and pulled her closer. She pursed her lips as tingles shot up her entire being and felt his other hand come to the top of her head.

“There, there. No need to be scared of the bugs, okay? I'll protect you.” he cooed while patting her head like people do to children and earned a slap on his chest from his wife.

“Chavliyan marni hain tou mein chali jati hun.” (If you wanna act foolish then I'll take my leave.) she scolded, making him chuckle and he adjusted comfortobally on the ground.

“Night.”

Ifrah didn't respond, just closed her eyes and tried to sleep while listening to the erratic beating of his heart.

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N O T E

Hayeeee

I've waited so long to write this chapter 🤧 (The song is attached in the media section if you wanna get the real feels)

Now we move towards the end :(

How was it?

They'll be staying calm for a while now lol 😂

Also, I asked about the Q/A session and most of you guys responded in positive. But there's a tiny problem; some people don't have insta ☹️

What should we do now? I really want to hold it there because mujhy boht shauk ha background pics use krny ka, aesthetic and all that 🙂 and also because I don't wanna add these type of things in my books. So, any suggestions? 🤔

Have a nice day and stay blessed ❤