NINE

❝I think your ancestors were bats❞

After some very long hours of work by Aayan, they were both standing in front of the little hut which was going to be their camping tent until they find a way out of the jungle. Ifrah was very impressed with how he had made this whole thing all by himself but she didn't mention it to him.

And besides, he was a well known architect. So, it wasn't like he was making houses for the first time.

There was just one thing which was bothering her, and she faced her husband to ask what was on her mind but quickly swirled her head back when she saw him in only a vest.

Right.

He was still not wearing a shirt.

She cleared her throat before speaking. “Why does it not have any walls?”

The hut only had a floor and four branches at the corners so that it made a cube. The upper part was to be covered with leaves to make a roof, but she was still confused about not having anything in place for the walls. Aayan swiped the sweat from his forehead with a finger and faced her.

“Because the walls are supposed to be made with leaves.” he informed her, and Ifrah's face crunched up in a frown.

“What?” she asked while looking at his face. “You're not going to make it more... I don't know, safe?”

Aayan cocked a brow. “What do you mean by safe?”

She let out a sigh before saying; “What I meant to say is that leaves are not the strongest material out there to make walls. We're in the middle of a forest, any kind of animal can tear it down.”

The raven haired guy rolled his eyes and stepped forward to touch one of the branches he had joined horizontally at the four corners which divided them into two parts, and said; “See this? I have splinters in my hands by only attaching four. I don't want to injure myself while making full covered walls, okay?”

When Ifrah pursed her lips, he further said; “And it's just a temporary place for us to stay. If you want me to make a doll house for you that bad, wait till we reach back home and I'll do something about it in the backyard. You can play there all you want.” he ended his words with a sickly sweet smile which made Ifrah's left eye twitch and she scoffed.

“Very funny. I don't want you to make me anything, I was only voicing out my thoughts. Do whatever you want.”

She turned around to go sit back on the rock which had become her new lazying spot, and huffed out a breath when she saw that Aayan was glaring at him.

“What?” she snapped.

“Mein yahan mar raha hun aur tum har do minute baad ja ke farig baith jati ho.” (I'm dying over here and you go and sit there relaxing every two minutes.) he stated with a scowl, and Ifrah felt the ridiculous feeling of guilt when she took in his disheveled, sweaty and clearly tired state. She bit back her irritated comment and stood up with a heavy sigh before asking;

“What do you want me to do?”

A slow and mischievous smirk started playing across Aayan's lips at her question and she immediately turned red.

“Ullu ke pathay!” she said out loud, and her husband chuckled.

“What? Why are you screaming all of a sudden? I didn't even say anything.”

“Don't try to be smart with me! I know what goes in that dumpster-like head of yours, so stop giving me that look!”

Aayan innocently tilted his head to the side which resulted in his sweaty black strands to fall over his eyes, and Ifrah's heart rate quickened at the picture.

“What look?” he asked, confused.

Ifrah knew it was anything but and she clenched her hands into fists.

“You know very well what I am talking about.”

They kept staring at each other for the next few seconds before the caramel eyed man tipped his head back to grin at the sky and his eyes found Ifrah's when he lowered it back and said;

“So, you knew what I was going to say to your question?”

“Yes.” she replied with a straight face. Aayan left the spot he was standing at to come and pause only two feet away from his wife and rested a hand over his heart.

“Haye, tou kya ab tum meray dil mein bhi jhank sakti ho?” (So now you can even see what's in my heart?) he said in a dramatic way, which made an involuntary smile to appear on Ifrah's face but she kept her muscles in control and replied with a poker expression.

“Shut up. That smirk gives away your dirty thoughts.”

Aayan moved closer and wiggled his brows. “What kind of dirty thoughts?”

The chestnut haired girl stepped back while glaring at him and crossed her arms over her chest. “Be serious, idiot. It's getting dark and we still have to find something to eat.”

He sighed and straightened up before saying; “Go and collect some banana leaves.”

Ifrah's shoulders slumped down after hearing that and she made an annoyed face. “I'm starting to hate the word banana.”

Her husband chuckled at her irritation and left to collect the leaves before telling her to hurry up, and the poor girl could only do as he had said for clouds were starting to appear once again. And she didn't want to get soaked like yesterday.

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It was raining heavily outside the hut as both of them sat quietly and listened to the nature showing its marvel. They had covered the whole base with banana leaves and to Ifrah's surprise, it didn't come out that bad. Layering the leaves had given the same effect as any wooden wall would, and she was somewhat relived to find that a simple howl of air wouldn't blow it away. Only one thing was bothering her now; the space.

Sure, the place was bigger than the so called cave they had spent the previous night in, and they could easily stand in it. But it was still small, because Aayan had left a small space for a window, near which they were going to ignite the fire to keep the animals away and that left a little room to sleep.

I'd be stuck near this idiot again.

She thought sourly while stealing a glance at her husband who was looking out of the said window and watching the rain. Her expression softened when she caught the scratch marks over his arms under the light of her cellphone and she sighed.

Kaam tou bohat kia hai wesy is gadhay ne.

(This donkey has worked really hard, though.)

She reached for her backpack as Aayan turned to face her and she took out the first aid box before staring at him again.

“Give me your hands.” she said with a straight face, making the guy to raise his eyebrows in surprise.

“Why?”

Ifrah rolled her eyes before scooting closer to him and grabbing his right hand wordlessly and opening up the bottle of disinfectant. She dabbed it with some cotton on the tweezers and lowered it on his hand but he snatched it back.

“Wait! I don't need it.” he told her with slightly round eyes and Ifrah raised a brow.

“I'm just taking out the splinters. They will get infected.”

“No, they won't. They're just normal ones. I got them a lot of times before.”

His wife narrowed her eyes. “They're not normal. You don't get a dozen of them on one hand alone. Now, please cooperate because I don't want you to get sick due to some stupid splinters while we're stuck here.”

Aayan gave her an annoyed expression in return.

“I said it's not— ” he started but was cut off by her steely look.

“Aayan,” she said his name like a warning, and he froze. He didn't know why he paused all of a sudden, but the light from the cellphone was making her light hazel eyes to shine beautifully, and the way she was looking at him right now made Aayan's brain to stop functioning and he didn't protest any further when she took his hand back in hers and started taking out the splinters.

Thunder boomed across the sky as he sat there staring at her ducked head while she worked on his hand and Aayan's heart did a weird kind of flip when his thoughts wandered around the idea that she cared about him.

Pfft! As if.

He thought while averting his gaze away from her and it landed on her wrist where the bandages were covered in dirt now, and had become loose.

“We need to change them.” His quiet voice broke the slightly awkward silence which had descended on them and Ifrah looked up to see him gesturing at her wrist. She nodded her head before taking his other hand and Aayan raised his right one close to his face to inspect. His eyebrows raised up in appreciation when he saw that there were no splinters anymore but he clicked his tongue to not say anything.

Better not make it any more awkward than it already is.

A few minutes later they both were done with the first aid work; her in taking out his splinters and him in reapplying her bandages. Ifrah was putting away the kit in her backpack when her eyes caught his blue shirt and she picked it up before throwing it on him. Aayan gave her an irritated look and she said;

“Wear it now. It's not hot anymore.”

Her stupid husband's lips pulled into a teasing smile at her words and she groaned.

“What is not hot anymore? Me or the weather?” he asked with twinkling eyes and Ifrah narrowed her gaze.

“Shut up!”

He chuckled at her response but pulled on his shirt none the less and watched as she lied down on the floor with a sigh. He 'tsked' at her and said;

“You're acting as if you were the one who made this roof over our heads and not me.”

Ifrah waved her hand flippantly while replying in a tired voice. “Let me sleep, okay? I've not worked this hard in my life before. And every joint is hurting right now.”

Aayan scoffed at her dramatics before inhaling a deep breath and lying beside her at some distance. Ifrah's eyes flew open when she felt him near him and she turned her head to pass him a glare.

“I'll bury you alive if you end up pressing against me at night.” she threatened, and her husband gave out a mocked laugh before turning to face the wall.

“You're not that special.”

“Good.”

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It was some time later in the night when the rain had stopped and wind was rustling the leaves around the forest when Ifrah's eyes opened in a haze and she blinked them a few times to make sense of her surroundings. Once she realized where and with whom she was with, her mood turned depressed all of a sudden and she sent some silent prayers to Allah to help them out of this jungle as soon as possible.

She was going to close back her eyes but something at the ceiling caught her attention and she squinted to have a better look before they turned wide.

Oh. My. God.

A bat was hanging upside down on the single wooden branch they had used in the middle as a support to place the leaves and the part which made Ifrah terrified out of her mind was that it wasn't any normal sized one.

This bat looked like it took after the size of a freaking dog, and the chestnut haired girl yelped before rolling over on her right side and immediately moving closer to her husband.

Desperate situations call for desperate measures.

She gripped the back of his shirt in a fist and shook him while calling his name. The bat moved above her and she let out a silent scream before burying her face in his back.

“Aayan!”

Her muffled voice made her husband stir in his sleep and he frowned when his eyes opened up to feel her wife pressed against his back.

And she told me to not do that!

“What the fück are you doing?” he nearly growled out his words but Ifrah slapped his back.

“There's a bat hanging over us! And it's a freaking giant!” she told him in a panicked voice and Aayan's eyebrows creased together before he tried to roll over, but his annoying wife was hindering the movement and he clenched his teeth.

“Let go of me so I can look!”

“Don't just look at it! Do something to make it go away!”

“Pehly mujhy daikh tou lainy do meri maa!” (Let me look at it first!) he ground out and rolled on his back when Ifrah let go of his shirt. His caramel eyes widened when he saw the bat and the usual curse escaped from his lips.

“Oh shït.”

He looked on his left to see his wife already looking at him with wide eyes and his mind screeched to a halt for a second before he scowled at her.

“I think your ancestors were bats, that's why it's here. Probably wanted to meet you.”

Ifrah swatted his arm with her right hand and glared at him. “Shoo it away.” she ordered, making Aayan highly amused with her choice of words and he smirked despite his annoyance.

“We can't just shoo it away, babe.” he mocked the words she had used and his wife's glare intensified. “Just let it be, it will go away in the morning.”

“What if it doesn't?”

“It will.” Aayan pressed on his statement and gave out a sigh. “I can't sleep peacefully around you.”

That earned him another hit from his wife and he hissed in pain. “I can't sleep like this!” she said in an angry voice and Aayan groaned before fully turning on his side to face her. Ifrah's face turned red and her eyes went wide when he draped an arm over her waist and pulled her closer.

“What the eff do you think you're doing?!” she asked while moving back but he held her in place and threw her a dangerous glare which showed that he was losing his patience.

“For the love of Allah, woman! Just close your eyes and go to sleep. I'll cover your stupid self to give your mind some satisfaction that it won't drop on you, which it won't, but still. At least you won't eat my head all night with your annoying comments about that fücking bat.”

Ifrah opened and closed her mouth like a fish. He was somewhat right, she can return to sleep knowing that his arms are shielding her but the small egotistical part of her wasn't ready to become a damsel in his hands. The bat fluttered its wings and she let out a yelp and all thoughts regarding her ego went out of the window before she shut her eyes while burying her face in his chest.

Aayan's breath hitched at the action and he froze but Ifrah's voice snapped him out of it.

“Just remember this one thing in the morning; raat gai, baat gai. Understood?” she threatened with a muffled voice and he sighed while scowling at the space in front of him.

“Of course. I don't wanna remember this shïtty moment myself.”

But a small part of him, the part which found Ifrah Raheem attractive, did stated otherwise in his mind, and he sighed before closing his eyes to fall back to sleep. Hoping that she couldn't feel his wildly beating heart at the moment.

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N O T E

This is the second time Ifrah disturbed our boy's sleep, and he's like;

Remember when I said in chapter four that it was my favorite? Well, now this one is my fave 😂

It's also longer than the previous ones... What can I say, I got carried away while writing it 👀

I guess the future chapters are going to be longer like this one because I've decided to make it a regular story and not a short one ;)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed 😐