UNCONDITIONAL

XXVI

Prem's alarm pierced through their eardrums at 4:30 AM sharp. Noor jerked up startled when Prem reached over and turned it off.

"Ughh Prem! You still have this alarm?" Noor whined in her sleepy voice.

Prem rubbed his drowsy eyes and cleared his throat a little before speaking. "Yeah, I forgot how much you hated it." He smiled.

Noor shook her head before letting herself drop onto his chest again. "Are you gonna go work out?"

"Yeah." Prem answered running his hand along her arm.

"Don't. It's Saturday, do it later." Noor tightened her hold around him.

"Noor." Prem yawned. "I gotta go." He shuffled a little.

"Prem..." Noor complained. She didn't understand why he was so adamant on going. He turned over and carefully placed her half asleep face on the pillow next to him. He admired the most beautiful woman he knew for a second and then placed a soft kiss on her cheek and headed out. Noor slept for the next hour before eventually waking up and ordering Peter to bring her morning toiletries over to Prem's room. She had just finished brushing her teeth when she felt a hug from behind. She looked up at the mirror to see Prem.

"Good morning baby." He whispered in her ear before proceeding to kiss her ear and neck.

"Mmmm," was all Noor's mouth allowed as she melted in his arms. He turned her around and looked at her for a moment before giving her a kiss. Leading her out of the bathroom, Prem placed a small blanket on her shoulders and took her by the hand towards the glass door over to the balcony.

Stepping outside, Noor saw breakfast laid out on the coffee table between the couches in the seating area. "Prem!" She gasped in surprise.

"It's Saturday, remember." He leaned in and placed a kiss on her cheek this time. They made way to the couch next to the table.

"Oh my god!" Noor's smile was inerasable as she studied the items laid out before her. Ever since they got married, it had been Prem's routine to make them breakfast every Saturday, which they would then eat watching the majestic sunrise from their balcony. "I missed this!" Noor sighed as she began taking a seat, but he stopped her midway.

"Me first." He said taking a seat on the corner of the spacious couch and spreading his legs to make room for Noor. She took a seat in her favorite spot and wrapped the blanket around them both. They stared at the large mountains behind the peaceful lake and the strides of red that grew in the morning sky. Prem grabbed a fresh strawberry from a plate and held it before Noor's mouth. She took a bite and looked up at him after eating it.

"You know I haven't had a strawberry in two years." She told him.

"Why not?" Prem furrowed his eyebrows as he ate the rest of the strawberry in his hand.

"Because you weren't there to feed me." Noor lowered her face to his neck and laid it there for a second before he brought up another one to her lips and she took a bite.

"I'm sorry." Prem apologized. "Will you ever be able to forgive me?"

Noor burst out laughing. "For not feeding me strawberries?"

Prem smiled. "No...for putting you through what I did. If I knew my brother couldn't possibly do that to Gurleen, I should have known, the love of my life couldn't possibly do that to my brother. I'm sorry." The pain in his voice was sincere.

Noor took a deep breath. "It's not your fault. In reality it's no one's fault. We were both under influence. I, under a literal drug, and you, under intense pain and anger. Somewhere in our karma, it was written that we must see that day. That we must lose everyone we did, in the horrific way that we did, and that we must separate and suffer like we did. It played out as it was written. We're mere puppets of destiny. We did as fate made us do."

"And yet this fate...it managed to keep us together. Despite everything." Prem said staring straight ahead.

"And yet it kept us together." Noor repeated. "Despite everything." Prem kissed her cheek once again as he put his arms around her and held her closely.

They watched the morning sky change colors and the sun come up from behind the mountains. The morning was magical, and the breakfast was delicious. They ate, they talked, they laughed, and they cried. They were back, more passionate and deeper in love than they had ever been.