THIRTEEN

❝Why are you being nice?❞

Ifrah pressed the back of her hand to cover the yawn as she lied on her side, facing her husband, and listening to his story of the time when he had went to Dubai with his group of friends. It had been hours since they started talking, and now she was barely keeping her eyes open as she swung between dreamland and reality. Aayan's deep voice was tuning in and out of her head as she struggled to focus on his words and decided that she should just close her lids and then pay attention to him.

She was enjoying his stories a little too much.

"You remember Faisal?" he asked her abruptly. It took her some seconds to process that he had stopped talking.

"Hmm, what?"

Aayan turned his head to see her speaking with her eyes closed and frowned. "Am I boring you?" he asked.

"No... " her reply came in a barely audible voice, and he bit his lip before turning on his side to face her. There was only some inches of difference between them.

"You like chocolate?" he asked as his mischievous side came out.

Ifrah gave him a single nod in answer. "Mhmm."

"How much?"

"Bohat... "

Oh man, she was totally knocked out!

The raven haired guy chuckled quietly to himself before continuing.

"Bohat kitna?"

"Bas bohat."

"Zaida ya kam?"

She didn't reply.

He watched as her breathing turned slow and regular but his own sleep was a miles away from him. So, he kept asking.

"Ifrah?"

A few seconds passed before she hummed in response; "Hmm?"

His chest fluttered.

"Do you... " he trailed off. What was he doing? He couldn't ask her this question when she's not even aware of her surroundings.

But he can't ask her when she's awake too; he would look like a loser.

After contemplating it for some seconds, he just went with the urge and voiced it out.

"Do you really mean it when you say that you hate me?"

Silence.

She was officially in dreamland now. Aayan closed his eyes as he tried to calm his wildly beating heart and opened them again to stare at her sleeping form. It was the second time he was doing this, but he just couldn't help himself. She had some strange attraction which was forcing him to glue his caramel eyes on her and just...

Watch.

They used to have sleepovers when they were seven, and often times Aayan had found his little self staring at his stupid friend as she slept. The sleepovers stopped when they turned nine, but even then he used to think about her before going to bed. The only difference now was that nine years old Aayan used to think about how he would take his revenge for her cruel pranks on him, and the grown up Aayan?

Well, it was better if his thoughts stay concealed.

He slowly moved his left hand to brush some stray strands away from her face and it lingered on her cheek for a second or two before he retracted.

He inhaled a deep breath before lying straight on his back and stared at the roof. There was no denying it now; he was attracted to Ifrah Raheem.

Just like he had been when he was a teenager.

A bitter feeling started crawling over him as he remembered that night from all those years ago and he let out a scoff. He wasn't going to make a fool of himself again by saying it out loud.

Better stay just the way they are.

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Ifrah's wrist was throbbing again but she ignored the pain and went out of the hut to go to the river. It didn't rain last night, and she was glad for it meant they could collect some dry branches to light the fire at night. They had survived without it for two nights but now they could actually feel warm because the nights here were cold.

And she wasn't a fan of it.

She reached the river and squatted down before using her right hand to drink some water and freshen up. Her hair tie had loosened, and it was annoying her more than she liked.

“Hey,”

Aayan's deep, raspy voice startled her for a moment and she stood up with a hand on her heart to stare at him. He was standing some feet away from her, eyes slightly droopy from sleep and hair in a messed up bunch on his head.

But he still looked like he could pose for a magazine right at the spot.

Shut up, brain.

She frowned when he came to stand beside her and said; “You scared me.”

Aayan passed her a lazy grin. “Mission accomplished.”

Ifrah's frown turned into a scowl.

He mirrored her previous movements and washed his face before standing up and rubbing his hands.

“Let's continue our trecking.” he said.

She gave him a nod before saying; “Okay, wait for me. I'm coming in a moment.”

He cocked a brow at her before shrugging and returned to the hut. Ifrah waited for him to disappear out of sight before she turned to face the river and took off her hair tie before running a hand through them to get rid of the tangles. She cringed when she realized that they were slightly greasy now and a small part of her felt like crying.

She wanted to get out of here.

When she was satisfied that the knots had eased out, she went to tie her hair back in a ponytail but froze all of a sudden.

She can't use her left hand.

What the actual biscuit?! She thought sourly while grinding her teeth. How can she be stupid enough to forget that she needs two hands to tie her hair? The urge to cry seemed more tempting than before and she bit her bottom lip to stop the tears from spilling out.

After some minutes, she was able to gather herself and spinned on her heels to go back but paused in her tracks when she found her husband already standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. Her heart leapt to her throat when he cocked a brow.

Ifrah felt self conscious all of a sudden.

She had never let her hair down in front of him since she turned twenty, and he was shamelessly gazing at her right now.

Someone kill me please.

“What are you doing?” he asked while stepping towards her.

“Nothing, I— what are you doing here?” she narrowed her eyes at the end. Aayan gave her a straight look.

“I thought you'd come back in a moment.” he mocked her words, making her cheeks to turn red, before saying; “So, I came to check on you.”

Ifrah tucked her hair behind her ear while looking in the other direction. “I was just... uh... trying to tie my hair.” she blurted out in sudden nervousness, and Aayan blinked at her.

“Oh,” he said dumbly before grabbing hold of his senses and cleared his throat. “Why though? They look okay to me.”

They look more than 'okay', dumb-head!

His inner voice screamed at him, and he watched his wife giving him a disbelieving look.

“No, they don't. I like my hair in a ponytail.”

Well, I like them down.

But he didn't say it out loud. Instead, he said; “Then why the hell are you standing here doing nothing?”

Ifrah glared at him before raising her left wrist. He caught the bandage on it and his full lips turned into an 'O' before he smiled awkwardly. He scratched the nape of his neck and stepped a little closer to her, making her give him a guarded look.

“Mein baandh dun?” (May I tie them?) he asked her in a low voice.

Ifrah's heart skipped a beat.

No, it skipped more than one beat.

She stammered for some seconds as he stood there, waiting for her answer, and this strange look in his eyes. She decided to spin on her heels and faced the river without saying anything. Aayan took it as a yes and came closer before gathering her hair in his hands.

Ifrah's heart was beating like crazy as she felt him breathing down her neck. She wasn't aware that his own was in the same condition.

What the fück? I'm just tying her hair, not anything else!

Aayan thought with clenched teeth while moving his free hand to ask for the hair tie. He took it from her outstretched hand before twisting it around her hair and stepped back when his job was done. She checked it with her hand before turning around and faced him.

“Thanks.” she said while ducking her head.

The raven haired guy nodded awkwardly while rubbing his neck. “Let's go.”

He left her there to collect herself and she took a few breaths before following after him. After grabbing their backpacks, they started trecking on the path from the previous day while following the signs. Ifrah was staring at the back of his head with creased brows as her mind swirled with questions.

He was acting really strange.

It's called being nice, idiot.

Her brain told her. She pursed her lips. It was very hard to digest the fact that Aayan Abdullah could be nice. Especially towards her.

“Why are you being nice?” before she could think over it, the question had tumbled out of her mouth. And she stood there wide eyed as her husband stopped walking and slowly turned around with a confused expression.

“What?”

Ifrah's eyes wandered around the forest before setting back on his face. “I mean... you're acting a bit different since yesterday.”

Aayan raised his eyebrows while tilting his head to the side. “Oh yeah? What kind of different?”

“I don't know, you're just... nice, I guess?” she replied nervously, mentally digging herself a grave.

“Is that a bad thing?” he asked with a faint hint of a smile.

Ifrah shook her head in a haste. “It's not but, it's uncommon. We always— ”

“Argue with each other, I know.” he finished her sentence. “But we're stranded on an island, and I don't think that arguing is gonna help us out of here, do you?”

She replied with another shake of her head and her husband 'tsked'. “Good, then.”

He spinned on his heels and started walking again. Ifrah went behind him after drowning herself in misery and embarrassment. They had walked a short distance when Aayan's voice reached her ears.

“Tum aurtain waisy kisi haal mein khush nahi hoti.” (You women are never happy in any situation.)

“Excuse me?” she asked while glaring hard at his back.

“You're excused.” came his smart reply, and she clenched her jaw. But she didn't retort back and settled with a scoff; it was better that way.

At least he hasn't actually turned nice. Ifrah didn't know how she'd deal with that.

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N O T E

We got a little glimpse at Aayan's side of the story today 👀

Seems like Ifrah wasn't the only one who got her heart broken :(

So, I was thinking about holding a Q/A session with Fahad and Aayan on my instagram after this story is finished, just as a fun activity. What do you guys think about that?

Comment a 💙 here if you are willing to participate (I don't wanna stare at a blank screen lol)

Or type #AuthorKaScrewDheelaHai if you think that this idea is lame 🙂

I won't really mind TBH, just be honest with me :)