Another chance

Chapter 1 Izna and Arhan

Izna and Arhan were friends since early teenage years and it's been 10 years and still counting. Both can't live without each other and when they're together, they become a headache for everyone else around them. No one could understand the friendship they shared. They were often seen as a perfect couple and would be teased by their group of friends saying you guys might not accept it now but sooner or later you'll both end up together.

They would laugh it off saying it's the lamest joke to ever come up with. To a stranger, however, it wouldn't be absolutely wrong to mistake them for a couple. They would always be together, laughing around, joking, teasing each other, pacifying each other when the other is angry, let alone how both were very protective of each other. None of them could handle tears in each other's eyes and would always stand up for each other.

However, to them, there was no such thing. They always knew their limits and it was a very strong friendship that they always cherish. Throughout these years, they have build up a trust and a certain comfort level that would make things easy and a flow between them. They never had to try hard to say something. Arhan would often joke how she would make a perfect wife and he wished he was that lucky.  But somewhere he knew very well what Izna's choice would be and he's far from that. Since she gets to hear this often, at times this led to Izna  thinking about this since they were very at ease with each other. But, as much as she would have liked it, she knew when it came to a choice of spouse, he wasn't a perfect fit.

Izna came from a well established but down to earth Muslim household. She had a very strict upbringing with quite a conservative family. She was always the good Muslim girl and daughter and never did anything that one day could lead to put her father's name to shame. She was a girl of principles and high values. Other than her family, one thing she cherished the most was her friends and mostly her "boo" like she used to call him.

Arhaan on the other hand, came from a wealthy, very open minded family and since he has both working parents, he's been left on his own most of the time and not to say that he picked up some bad habits. No one was there to question him or keep an eye. He would pray on and off but mostly dodge it because he was too busy with something. He knew quite a lot about Islam but he doesn't really bother to put it in practice. Let's just say he's gone astray for a while now but alhamdulilah she's been working on it with him.

Some of Izna's friends from her high school didn't like Arhan because of the image he had. They would often try and convince her that he's bad influence and that she didn't deserve someone like that in her life and even if her parents come to know about his ways, they wouldn't appreciate her being friends with him. But she always retorted saying no one knows him deep down like she does. And unlike them all, she chooses to focus on that and help him change rather than just blaming him. Besides, friendship doesn't depend on lame things such as background or certain norms set by society. She was well aware how Arhan had huge respect for her and always treated her like she's a precious possession of his.

Unlike Izna's family that knew about Arhan being a friend but didn't know much about the depth of their friendship, Arhan's mum knew everything about Izna. In fact she would often snatch the phone off Arhan to talk to Izna which only resulted in a groan from Arhan since he hated being disturbed while talking to his "baby boo", that's how he would call her because of her whining and being a cry baby , along with his nickname given by her.

They both have been heartbroken and still recovering from the shitty pain of getting over their first love. They've had their fair share of downs but they always knew they had each other's back no matter what. Arhan would always tease Izna about how seeing her with him, any girl wouldn't even spare him a second look. Izna laughed it off saying it's the same for me boo but we know we're not ready and haven't found the one yet. But even if we do, they have to know how our friendship is and be okay with it, else its bye bye.

This was often a joke topic but which led both to think a lot about. They both felt like things would never be the same when they happen to share their lives with someone. Somehow it would create unnecessary troubles. Neither of them was ready to let go of their friendship, maybe that's why they thought they never found someone else, when in reality they both already held each other's hearts...