The Two of Us

Chapter 17 - Let Me Go

"What did he do to you?" She asked, her voice icy. "I swear if he hurt you, I'll rip off his head and set it on fire."

"No, its not that." Sabrina said. "I'll explain in a bit."

She looked around and asked her friends if they were up for lunch at Subway.

* * *

"Oh my God." Emaan sat back, her eyes wide. "He what?"

"Good God." Leila whispered, her hand over her mouth. "No wonder."

Sabrina was glad she'd chosen Subway. It was further then Tim Hortons and besides, everyone went there. She needed a place she could tell her friends everything without pesky schoolmates overhearing anything. She felt a little guilty for telling her friends Khalid's secret but she reassured herself that they would never tell anyone else.

Sabrina eyed Leila. "No wonder what?"

"No wonder he's been crying in his sleep. Also...you weren't in New Hope around the time this must of happened but I remember for like a few weeks where he was absolutely out of it. Like, he'd zone out and his eyes were always red and he just looked angry and frustrated all the time."

"Oh." Sabrina said in a small voice. She hadn't given much thought to what it must have been like for him.

Emaan cocked her head to the side. "How did he do...it?" 

"I asked but he didn't want to tell me." Sabrina answered, softly.

"This is horrible." Leila said. "How did he accidentally kill his own brother?"

Sabrina winced at that sentence. "I don't know and ugh, I'm so confused. What am I supposed to do?"

"Do whatever feels right. If you don't think you want to marry him after this, then don't." Emaan told her.

"But...but....he needs you!" Leila cried.

Emaan and Sabrina stared at her. Leila went on, her grey eyes somber.

"Dont you see? Now that you know, you can help him get over it. Maybe he thinks you're the only one who can?" She explained. 

"But...how am I supposed to...I don't.." Sabrina stuttered. "I don't know how to help him with this."

"Sabrina, he loves you. Do it for him." Leila said. "I've seen how he is with girls. They're like his toys. But with you? You're different. He looks at you like you're the solution to all his problems."

"But Im not! And why are you on his side?" Sabrina asked, shaking her head. "He just confessed to murder and you still want me to marry him?"

"Sabrina." Leila began with a sigh. "His past does not define him. He may have done drugs and killed his own brother but now he's looking to change that. He's not the same person he was a year ago and if he believes you can help him become a better person than I think we should too, for his sake."

"But I don't know...how." Sabrina said, staring at her hands.

Leila was silent for a moment. "I think you do."

* * *

Sabrina was in a glum mood as she and her friends made their way back to school. There was an awkward silence in the car and Sabrina felt as if all of them were thinking about the same thing. When they arrived at the university, they grabbed their stuff and headed up to their classes but not before a boy in a thobe stopped them before they entered the building. Sabrina's heart stopped for a long moment. Behind Jamaal, stood Khalid.