under the covers [hs au]

chapter fifty-five.

a few more chapters left. please leave some comments :)

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The goddamn honeymoon phase.

Goddammit, Samira.

The feeling in Samira's heart was equivalent to a scene of sunshine and roses. Regardless, she worried about muddling clouds that would leave her world dark again. Leave it to Allah, Samira reminded herself, because now that Samira knew herself down to the bone, maybe the worst would no longer come her way because she now knew how it looked.

Even if some of it hurt, she intended to let in the good. That was what she had to do for love, right?

She'd scowl at the mirror—her stupid, foolish smile at the thought of Zafri. Samira liked how Zafri rolled the 'r' of her name. The little curls that fell over his forehead and around his nape. The cleanliness of the stubble mottled around his cheeks and chin. How he scrunched his sharp nose whenever he laughed.

And Zafri was such a fucking dork, and Samira tried so hard not to eat it up. Zafri enjoyed nature documentaries narrated by David Attenborough. He went out to eat every week at the best restaurants but was a terrible cook. Just for his sisters, Zafri learned to make chai because they hated doing it for any guests. The brands he got his clothes from were always sustainable. In his parents' kitchen were—at least twenty—different types of tea, and Zafri drank two cups a day. Chamomile, turmeric ginger, lavender. After morning prayers, he took walks at the creek. The cologne Zafri wore every day, Jo Malone, was from his father's dresser.

Samira remembered when Zafri's family got a cat, just before he left for college. Samira always thought Zafri's cat's name was pronounced 'Billy' but recently learned it was pronounced billi in Urdu because it literally meant cat. She completely lost it.

Zafri had a lot of pictures of Billi. A lot.

As mentioned in Colorado, Zafri sent her a playlist a week after. Going through every song, Samira felt like her younger self in a car, listening to her parents' favorite tunes from an old cassette. It went from Tumse Milke Dilka Jo Haal to Munbe Vaa. Some English mixed in, and there were many Taylor Swift songs—Samira vibed to Enchanted at least once a day.

Samira disclosed how hard it was for her to wake up before sunrise. So, Zafri decided that they'd meet at a cafe in Columbus straight after fajr on Monday mornings. Both of them were psychopaths for liking coffee without milk or sugar, as Surat mentioned. But Samira agreed with Zafri, how he wanted to eat something sweet with the bitterness of coffee, like a cookie or a muffin.

Zafri donned a sweater at one of their coffee dates. It was a striped turtleneck, threaded in various shades of green. He looked cute in it.

"That's a cute sweater."

"Do you want it?"

"No, please. It was just a compliment."

And the next day after work, Samira found a gift bag with that same sweater at her doorstep. His tonka cologne remained profound, despite the airy smell of linen. Samira did not hesitate to fall asleep in it.

If Samira ever mentioned any preferences, Zafri would make an effort to get it to her. Almost like how Wapa went out of his way to bring Samira a basket of mango—just because she mentioned, lightly, that she liked mango.

When Samira said she wasn't doing so great, Zafri got her a weighted blanket, a note saying: Here's a hug. Use it when you need it.

Her bedroom had a cactus, a crown of thorns, and an aloe plant—all from Zafri. She watered them every evening after work and got particular soil to keep them healthy. Each one had a note that read, 'water me and you', written by Zafri.