NINTEEN

❝Just one more time, please?❞

After the initial shock of the sudden change of events, Ifrah melted in his arms and returned the gesture. But right when Aayan was going to step up the game, a sudden thought made Ifrah's eyes to snap wide open and she immediately pushed him away with full force. A surprised yelp escaped his lips when he staggered back and was going to fall in the hole again if it weren't for his wife who quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him forward.

Ifrah let go of his hand when they were a safe distance away from the edge of the hole and stepped back. Her lips were tingling and a bright blush coated her cheeks when she saw her husband's slightly red ones and ducked her head.

Aayan's mind was still fogged up as he stared at his wife with a dumbfounded expression.

Why did she push him like that?

He took a step forward but stopped when she took one back and a frown appeared on his face. Thunder resonated across the sky and the first raindrop landed on his head, making him snap out of his clouded thoughts and he asked;

“What's wrong?”

Annoyance ran through Ifrah's veins and she gave him a murderous look.

“Everything.”

“What?” he asked, confused.

She took a deep breath before saying; “You destroyed my first... ” her cheeks reddened and she just settled with glaring. Aayan's face crunched up.

“I didn't find anything wrong with it.”

Oh God, this man!

“Of course you didn't! Jangli admi.” she was very irritated. “You weren't supposed to do that.”

His mouth fell open before he narrowed his eyes.

“Then who else was supposed to, huh? Aur kon hai jis se tum ye expect kar rahi thi meray ilawa?” (Who else were you expecting this from besides me?)

A fire of jealousy had started burning in his chest and he moved closer to her, but his irritation rate heightened when she took same steps backwards.

“Astagfirullah!” she exclaimed horrified. “I wasn't expecting this from anyone!”

“Then why did you react like that?”

“Because you destroyed my first experience, okay?!” she cried out, making his eyes go wide. “We are stranded on a freaking island and I'm not even in my best condition! This is not how I imagined my first kiss!”

He couldn't believe it.

“Are you for real?” he smacked a hand over his face while rain drenched them.

“And you didn't even ask for permission. Jangliyon ki trha munh utha ke—!” she cut off mid rant and pushed the hair away from her eyes.

Aayan took a deep breath while pondering over her words. Okay, she was somewhat right. He should've asked her. But the other things? This was not some Disney movie where she'd be dressed in a gown and he in a tux and then they'd kiss.

He badly wanted to scoff but thought better of it and stopped himself. She'd kill him.

Sighing, he stepped towards her again and caught her hand in time before she could move away from him. His back was still hurting and rain was pouring on them like crazy, but his focus was only on her.

Ifrah tried to wiggle out of his hold but he tightened his arms around her waist and leaned forward.

“Okay, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight. But now I am, so... may I?” he asked softly, making her heart flutter as always.

“No.”

His eyes snapped up to hers from her mouth as he frowned. “Why? I asked this time.”

He was sounding like a child asking for candy at the moment, and Ifrah's lips twitched into a smile from the corners. She barely controlled it and said with a straight face.

“Yes, you did. And I said no. I'm not obliged to reply in positive, am I?”

Aayan's expression turned into a painful one. “Yeah, but— I mean... yaar!” he groaned before resting his forehead against hers. Her breath hitched when he gazed right in her hazel eyes and tried again.

“Just one more time, please?” he murmured, his eyes falling back on her lips. She mirrored his action. “I didn't even get to enjoy it.”

Ya Allah!

He watched as his wife's face turned beet red and a slow grin made its way to his face. He fücking loved seeing her shy like this. Aayan's grin widened when she slightly nodded her head and he leaned in.

Just when they were a hair's breadth away from each other, Aayan felt a thing crawl over his leg and he quickly stepped away from her. Ifrah snapped out of the trance and looked at her husband with a befuddled expression as he shook his right leg like a maniac.

“There's something— Ahh!”

A scream escaped him when he felt the thing move up to his knee and Ifrah's eyes went round before she said in a panicked voice.

“Remove them!”

Aayan's head snap up to her in complete shock and she realized how he had taken her statement. Her face was on fire when she clenched her eyes shut and yelled again.

“Besharam insaan! I didn't mean it like that! Go behind those bushes and— ”

She was cut off by another scream from her husband and watched with a scared look as he immediately shrugged off his backpack before running towards the thick bushes.

She stood there in the rain as he got rid of whatever stupid thing had ruined the moment. Aayan's angry voice sounded in her ears after a while, making her gasp.

“Are you kidding me?! There's a fücking spider!”

“It didn't bite you, right?” she asked, internally freaking out. Spiders were the worst.

“No, but it ruined our moment! I wanna kill it.”

“Aayan! You can't!” her tone changed into a scolding one all of a sudden. “It's just an insect.”

A loud scoff came from the bushes.

“Tumhary uper phainkta hun, just insect sara dimag se nikal jaye ga.” (Let me throw it on you and your opinion would change.)

She shut her mouth in a mixed state of  fear and embarrassment.

Gadha.

When Aayan came back out, the rain had evolved into a heavy downpour and Ifrah rubbed the water away from her face before staring at him.

“Let's go back to the hut. This storm looks scary.”

To confirm her words, a loud thunder boomed across the sky and she jumped. Aayan hissed when he hiked the backpack over his shoulders; his back was hurting really bad. He grabbed Ifrah's right hand and started their way back to their camping spot in a hurry.

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Ifrah put her bag in the corner and took a deep breath before turning around. A surprised scream escaped her lips when she found her husband standing right in front of her and she closed her eyes as her hand moved up to rest on her wildly beating heart.

Aayan bit his bottom lip with a smile while putting his hands on the wall on either sides of her head, caging her in.

“We were in the middle of something...” he whispered and Ifrah stared at him with wide eyes and red cheeks. But she'd made up her mind.

She ducked under his arms and moved away from him. Aayan spinned on his heels to scowl at her.

“Ab kya masla hai?” (What's the problem now?)

Ifrah's eyes narrowed. “I've decided that we won't be doing anything of that sorts as long as we're here.”

“Shut up and come here!” he tried to grab her but she ducked out of his reach once again.

“I'm serious, Aayan. I'm still not over the scene from that night and you can't force me into this stuff.” she told him in a no-nonsense tone and he pursed his lips.

With a deep exhale, he gave her a slow nod and said; “Sorry, you're right. But you should also know that I beat myself up for that stunt after you left. I still do and if I could, I would go back in time and change it.”

His eyes held genuine shame in them and Ifrah sucked in a staggered breath before stepping towards him and pulling him into a hug. Aayan reacted immediately and buried his face in the crook of her neck, his mind once again fogging up with her lavender scent.

How can she smell so perfect while being drenched like that?

“I won't lie and say that it's all okay now, because my mind still plays that picture. But it was a stupid misunderstanding and I forgive you.”

His hold tightened as he replied in a soft voice; “Thanks. I promise you that nothing like that will happen ever again.”

Both were quiet for some moments before he spoke again. “You smell so nice, by the way.”

Ifrah's face coloured. “Don't lie.”

Aayan chuckled before running a hand down her hair, making goosebumps rise all over her skin. “The lie would be me telling you that your hair feel like soft clouds under my fingers, because they really don't.”

When she started squirming in his hold, he gave out a laugh and squeezed her closer. “Sach bolo tou bhagny lag jati ho, jhoot bolo tou manti nahi. Banda kahan jaye?” (You run away if I tell the truth, and don't believe me if I lie. What should I do then?)

“Banda bharr mein jaye.” she replied sourly.

“Sach mein?” he asked in a mocked sad tone and she smiled while tightening her arms around his neck.

“Nahi.”

Aayan chuckled and swayed them from side to side while still hugging her tightly before moving away from her neck and placing a kiss at the top of her head. Ifrah gasped and slightly pulled away from him, but his arms were still resting on her waist.

“Why did you do that?” she asked horrified. “My hair are all greasy.”

“Doesn't matter, I had to kiss you somewhere.” he wiggled his eyebrows in the end, making her flush a deep shade of red and she slapped his chest.

“Baaz a jao tum in harkaton se.” (Desist from this behaviour.) she chided.

“Nah, life would be boring without your cute reactions.” he teased.

She chuckled involuntarily and his heart melted right then and there.

“I love you.” he told her abruptly.

Ifrah froze, and stared at him with wide eyes. He removed his hands from her waist before grabbing hers.

“I've loved you all my life, Ifrah. From the moment you destroyed my medal-worthy sand castle— ”

A teary laugh escaped from the chestnut haired girl's lips and she ducked her head.

“ —to this one where I have you right in my arms as my wife. And I'd keep loving you till my last breath, even after that if Allah gives us the chance to unite in jannah.”

Tears were running down her cheeks in an uncontrollable fashion and she just buried her face in his chest. Aayan's own eyes were shining with unshed tears and he kissed her temple before whispering;

“Ek to tum roti bohat ho, yaar. Mein ne aesi batain krna he chorr dena hai.”

“Shut up.” she sobbed, making him chuckle and he sniffled to stop himself from crying. He pulled her away from him before wiping her face and said with narrowed eyes;

“Stop crying or I'll be forced to ignore your words of not doing anything 'till we're here.” he warned.

Ifrah laughed and rubbed her eyes. Aayan smiled at her before tugging at her hands. “Let me light the fire and then we can eat that coconut; that's all we have right now. After that I wanna sleep because... ”

He trailed off, he didn't want to worry her by telling her about his back pain and cleared his throat before continuing. “I'm tired as hell.”

His wife frowned. She could sense that something was wrong, but he really looked beaten up. So, she quietly nodded her head with a forced smile. He passed her one last smile before moving away to start the fire.

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N O T E

Mein nahi ro rahi, samjh aii? You guys are crying!

Okay so, I have to say something.

Why do my poor Shazain is getting so much hate? 🤧

He didn't do anything! He always plays cupid. He knew they both liked each other and he was just trying to help. If you guys remember; he'd mentioned to Fania that he has a habit of teasing people (which is completely harmless BTW!) and he was doing the same with Aayan when he told him that he liked Ifrah and all that stuff. How could he have known that Aayan would actually take it the wrong way and it would go downhill? His intentions were NOT bad.

And he received hate in Pizza Calls too. Just forget for a moment that Fania and Fahad loved each other and look at it from Shazain's perspective; he liked Fania so much! How would a person react if they find out that there's no chance of them with the person they like? He was still joking around while hurting inside. If he would've been a bad man, he would've forced Fania into marriage instead of letting her go.

Boht buri baat hai... Mera bichara Shazain, dil torr dia uska ap logon ne💔

Hope you guys look at him differently now :'(

Have a nice day as always ❤