Written Among The Stars.

Chapter 26 - Protecting her.

Aaban and her were out for shopping for the wedding in the nearby market when he had received a call in between and told her to continue shopping and that he would join her in a few minutes.
The sun had set now and there was still no sign of him coming back. She was still in the middle of nowhere. She didn't know a single way here. Moreover, Aaban hadn't told her anything about this kind of situation. She was now extremely worried and she didn't know how to contact him because she hadn't activated her phone number yet.

Mustering up the courage, she started to walk through the crowded market streets to a less crowded area in a hope to find him or atleast give him a call somehow. It was just getting dark and the streets were getting illuminated by the street lamps. She kept on walking, not knowing her direction. How could he just leave her like this when he knew that she didn't know the way back?

As she began to walk through the silent street, she heard footsteps behind her and her heartbeat fastened. She didn't dare to look back even once and kept on walking. The sound of the soles cracking against the charcoal suggested that there was more than one person following her. She closed her eyes and recited a dua for her protection, walking as fast as she could. The footsteps were getting closer and closer with every passing second. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and that terrified her to the core. She screamed as an instinct. She stumbled on her feet and stood up straight not looking in front of her. The men had now started to circle around her.

"Where are you going, beautiful girl?" One of them spoke, with a nasty grin.

"Let me drop you." Another one jumped in.

"Come. Join me in our car. We'll have lots of fun."

Her heartbeat was now audible to her. She didn't know what to do. She hadn't been in this kind of situation ever before. Her face was red and her tears began to fall down, hearing those disgusting words from their mouths. She clutched onto her bag tightly and was preparing to run as fast as she could when she heard some other footsteps behind her. She looked over her shoulder and glanced at the new entry. She wasn't able to make out the face in the darkness but the scent told her something and she could never be wrong about that. Seeing him standing there, her breaths returned. She was wiping her tears frantically while running towards him. She crashed into him, breathing heavily. He immediately wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back trying to calm her down.

"Haneen! What happened? You are worrying me." He asked worriedly.

Her hands were fisted on his chest and her eyes were tightly shut.

"Take me home." She hicupped.

"Did they do anything?" He asked sternly. She just shook her head, not wanting to leave his secure hold.

"Okay, sshh!" He calmed her down, rubbing her back continuously. "I am here now!"

His shirt was wet with her tears and she was scared to the core as he could hear her loudly beating heart and feel her trembling with fear in his arms. And  that's why before taking any action, he preferred to calm her down. When he was sure that she was a bit okay, he pushed her behind him and stood in front of her. He waited for the men to attack before doing anything. Just as expected, the leader of the gang latched at him. A hard blow came to his face as his fist collided with his mouth and his lip began to bleed immediately but it was the first and last of all, for all the next blows came from Aaban. He fought like a pro and soon the men were down on their knees. Grabbing Haneen in his arms securely, Aaban guided her to the car. The driver was already there. He settled her at the backseat and joined her from the other side as the driver started driving. She buried herself in him still terrified and shocked at the previous scenario. Aaban didn't ask her anything as he knew that she was still traumatized. He held her securingly in his arms and walked her back to the apartment. They entered the living room and everybody looked at them with curious eyes as they saw Haneen in a distressed state. He slid his hand through hers and avoided meeting their eyes. He took her to their room. Once they were inside, he locked the door and settled her at the edge of the bed, kneeling down in front of her. She was still sniffing and her eyes held some unshed tears. He cupped her face in his warm hands as she closed her eyes and a tear drop rolled down from her closed eye lid to his hand. He wiped away her tears with his thumb and brushed away her fringes with his hands.