Another Forever

3 | s c a n d a l o u s

• n o o r •

"I love you."

His words kept ringing in my ears as I rushed downstairs. A smile seemed to have permanently etched on my face and I couldn't shake it away. My whole body felt warm and fuzzy because of what just happened, and my knees were moments away from giving up.

Instead of going into my room, I went to Maheen's instead. She was lying on her stomach, her eyes fixated on a disgusting diagram in her Anatomy book.

"Hey." I said and lay down beside her, propping my head up with my elbow.

"Hey," she said in a distracted voice as she highlighted a paragraph. "Why is your face all red?"

"Is it that obvious?" I bit my lips to stop myself from smiling.

"Yep." She said.

"It's nothing." I said and hid my face in the pillow. For the next few moments, I imagined going back to the terrace and continued where we left. With our Nikaah getting closer, he wasn't the only one getting impatient. Something about him makes me want to be close to him and the thought enough was embarrassing. Astagfirullah!

"Maheen," I raised my head. "I met Usama on the terrace."

Maheen's eyes widened and she closed her book. "That explains your blush." She said, winking at me. "What did he do? Did he kiss you?" She asked.

"Oh my God, Maheen. What are you saying?" I slapped her arm. "Why would he do that?"

"Because you both are getting married." She said in a duh tone.

"Well, we aren't married yet, are we?" I groaned. "I swear this Netflix has spoiled you. In our culture, we don't do such things before marriage."

"You are so boring, Noor. I feel bad for Usama Bhai." She said and I rolled my eyes. "Okay, then what did you talk about?"

"He said," I bit my lips again, not sure how to tell her. "He said, he loves me."

Maheen gasped and then sat up straight. "He said what? What did you say in return?" She asked excitedly.

"I... Um... I ran away." I replied and she slapped her forehead.

"Ya Allah! Give some sense to this stupid woman." She closed her eyes and prayed.

"Maheen! What was I supposed to say?" I asked.

"That you love him too. You do love him, right?" She asked.

"I... I do." I whispered, playing with my fingers. "I mean, whenever I am near him, I feel happy and excited."

"Of course you do. He is the first, not to mention the only man you ever had a connection to. But the thing is, is this love?" She asked.

"I... I don't know." I whispered. "I mean, I don't have anything to compare it with. How would I know?" It was true, I never had any male friends and I never talked unnecessarily to my male classfellows. Even all my cousins were either female or too young for me. Usama was more or less the only man of my age that I have interacted with.

"Hmm." She tapped her chin.

"I want to say it back to him." I said, blushing.

"Then go." She said.

"At this time?" My eyes widened as I noticed it was close to 11. Going to his room at this time of the night would be scandalous. Not to mention, what will Usama think of me?

"Stop being a scaredy cat, sis. He deserves to know what you feel about him. Think from his perspective. He must be hurt that you didn't reciprocate to his feelings." Maheen said, confusing me ever more.