FIVE

❝Ainda mujhy hath na lgana❞

The couple stood quietly under the rain in an embrace for God knows how long before Ifrah pulled her face away from her husband's chest and stared up at his face with red eyes.

“You left me alone.” she stated in a weak voice with a hint of accusation, and Aayan pursed his lips.

“I didn't— I mean, well... ” he sighed while rubbing a hand down his face to get rid of the wetness from the rain. “Yeah, I kinda did,” he cringed when Ifrah's eyes welled up with tears. “But then I felt bad and returned. How funny, considering you yourself told me to leave you alone.”

The chestnut haired girl's eyes got narrowed. “I told you to leave me alone, ye nahi kaha tha ke dafa ho jao.” (I didn't tell you to get lost.)

Aayan raised his brows at her annoyance and then slowly stared down at her hand which was still gripping tight onto his shirt. He clicked his tongue before looking at her again.

“What a shame, here I thought you were done insulting me.”

His wife's face turned red and her hold on his shirt tightened a bit more before she let go of it abruptly and took some steps back. A wolfish grin made its way on Aayan's face and he straightened his shirt before saying; “Why did you let go? I was enjoying the closeness.”

Ifrah gave him a murderous glare but her face was as red as a tomato which made him chuckle. “Okay, okay, no teasing. But ainda mujhy hath na lgana. It was very awkward.” (don't touch me again.) he shuddered to add some effect to his statement and Ifrah scoffed.

“Sure,” she drawled. “It only happened in the heat of the moment, my bad.”

He nodded mockingly and the sky boomed with another thunder which made them snap back to reality and they noticed that it was raining very hard while both of them were soaked to the bone. Aayan caught sight of Ifrah's left hand and cursed.

“What the fück?” he stepped forward to hold her hand and she winced at the slight movement. “It's swollen, idiot. You should've let me check on it when I asked you to.” he glared at her after inspecting it, and Ifrah returned his look.

The wrist had turned blue like a bruise and was hurting with even the slightest of movements. Aayan sighed heavily and rubbed some water away from his face before staring at her.

“Look, we're gonna forget about arguing for some while and make escaping this stupid jungle our priority, okay? I've found a small cave in some distance and we'll spend the night there after treating your wrist because I don't want you to become a fücking baggage for me.”

He had said that out loud, but inside he was angry for her having the bruise in the first place. And this sudden feeling of sympathy annoyed him to no end.

Ifrah let out a scoff. “Wow, your last statement clearly makes me want to stop arguing.” she remarked sarcastically, making her husband roll his eyes.

“Enough of this.” He didn't wait for anything else and grabbed her right hand before dragging her away from there and in the direction of the cave. He had made sure to remember the path this time and it was already easy because the cave wasn't very far away from the cliff.

Ifrah was finding it hard to keep up with his long strides but bit her tongue to not make any kind of remark which will evolve into an argument. She hated to admit, but he was right about stopping their bickers because getting out of here alive was more important than that.

They could always eat each other's head off when they're back in their home.

WAIT.

Did she really thought 'their' home?

Her eyes widened and she stumbled over a rock which made her hiss and Aayan groaned but didn't stop his pace.

“Walk like a human for God's sake, instead of waddling like a fücking penguin!” he said out loud in annoyance and Ifrah glared at the back of his head.

“Stop cursing! My ears will start bleeding at the rate you're firing those F bombs at me!”

He didn't reply and they both continued their way to the cave while getting drenched in the rain.

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

“This is what you call a cave?”

Ifrah gaped at the little pothole on the side of a small hill and turned towards her husband who had a straight look on his face.

“Yes.” he replied without blinking as the rain fell on them and Ifrah scoffed.

“Our legs will stick out of it the whole night!”

Aayan raised a brow. “So? At least our heads will be covered. Don't be ungrateful now.”

Ifrah snapped her mouth shut at that. Why did he have to utter out pure wise words from his mouth? As far as she remembered; he was a thick head. Aayan ushered her inside the so called cave which had enough space to sit but they had to duck their heads. The chestnut haired girl cringed when she realized that their necks will hurt pretty bad if they remain in that position for too long, and got settled inside of it near Aayan. Their knees were touching and Ifrah internally dived into an ocean on the thought that they'd be sharing this stupid little space tonight.

“Give me your hand.” His deep voice made her snap out of her wandering thoughts and she reluctantly moved her injured hand towards him. Aayan grabbed it with slight care, which surprised her to no end, and took a closer look.

“Yep, you twisted it real bad. We have to bandage it. Do you have the first aid kit with you?” he asked without looking at her and she nodded before noticing that he couldn't see her, and cleared her throat while telling him that it was in her backpack.

It was a miracle that her bag had stuck to her even after all that went down today.

Aayan started working on her hand and she tried her best to not gag at his sweet gesture while her heart fluttered stupidly. She suddenly let out a scream when he twisted her wrist a bit and snatched it back to cradle it against her chest. The man looked at her in alarm while she threw daggers at him with her glare.

“What the hell do you think you're doing?!” she asked loudly and Aayan frowned at her.

“I was twisting it.” he told her as if he couldn't understand her sudden yell and Ifrah's jaw dropped in disbelief.

“How can you say that so casually?! It's already twisted, you dumb head. Are you trying to take some kind of revenge?” she narrowed her hazel eyes and her husband gave her a deadpan expression.

“I have to align it correctly to wrap the bandage, or else you'll have a bent wrist for the rest of your life.”

Her breath hitched at the thought and Aayan passed her a meaningful look, before grabbing her hand once again and continuing his treatment. He clenched his jaw and muttered a 'sorry' when she yelped in pain and spared her a quick glance to see that her eyes were filled with tears.

He didn't like the fact that he was bothered by her tears; not because he found them annoying, but because he didn't want to see her cry.

Sirf ek din is larkii ke sath akela reh ke ye haal hai, aur kuch din raha tou pura satak jaun ga mein.

(Only one day alone with her and I'm feeling like this, a few more days will make me go nuts.)

When he was finished with his work, and her hand was securely wrapped up in the elastic bandage after he had iced it with the instant cold pack, he let out a huge breath and swiped a hand over his hair to move them out of his eyes and looked up at his wife. She was sitting cross-legged with her lips pursed and he closed the kit before passing her a water bottle and painkiller.

“Take it, the night would be easy.” he said and Ifrah took the pill but completely ignored his water bottle and grabbed her own. Aayan rolled his eyes and screwed open the cap before drinking the water. They were sitting with their necks bent slightly due to the height of the cave and he rubbed his nape after putting away the bottle and stared at her when she spoke.

“I'm hungry.” she said and ducked her head in embarrassment, making Aayan to inhale a deep breath.

“So am I, but we'd have to sleep with empty stomachs tonight, 'cause this storm is not showing signs of leaving any time soon.”

As if to confirm his words, a loud thunder resonated across the sky and Ifrah jumped in surprise, which ended up with her head banging on the roof of the cave and she hissed. Aayan 'tsked' at her and said;

“And I thought that you can't be any more pathetic.” She glared at him but he ignored it and said; “Let's just sleep, because I'm fücking worn out.”

“Stop with this word!” she stated in irritation and her husband passed her an innocent smile.

“Sorry, it's kinda part of my vocabulary now.”

She clenched her jaw as he put his backpack on the side of his head and made sure to place his cellphone on the first aid box before lying down like it was his normal routine to sleep on the dirt and closed his eyes. Ifrah watched him with her left eye twitching in annoyance, but sighed later and mirrored his previous movements. She groaned when her left arm ended up pressing up to his right one and Aayan's eyes flew open.

“Yaar, tumhara masla kya hai?” (What is your problem?) he scowled at the mud roof and Ifrah replied;

“Tum mery sath kyun chipak rahy ho? It's disgusting.” (Why are you sticking with me?)

Aayan shouted an 'ugh' and rolled on his left side to give her space and said; “Lo meri maa.”

Ifrah kicked his leg at the remark but smiled and got comfortable (as much as she could on the muddy ground) before closing her eyes. They both slept in that cave with their legs out in the rain down past the knees and somehow, it was peaceful.

At least for a few hours.

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

N O T E

Something's gonna happen

So, our boy is not that bad, hunh? 👀

P.s Apki behn ko covers change krny ki bimari ha 🤧