Stranded Bickers | ✔

THIRTEEN

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They used to have sleepovers when they were seven, and often times Aayan had found his little self staring at his stupid friend as she slept. The sleepovers stopped when they turned nine, but even then he used to think about her before going to bed. The only difference now was that nine years old Aayan used to think about how he would take his revenge for her cruel pranks on him, and the grown up Aayan?

Well, it was better if his thoughts stay concealed.

He slowly moved his left hand to brush some stray strands away from her face and it lingered on her cheek for a second or two before he retracted.

He inhaled a deep breath before lying straight on his back and stared at the roof. There was no denying it now; he was attracted to Ifrah Raheem.

Just like he had been when he was a teenager.

A bitter feeling started crawling over him as he remembered that night from all those years ago and he let out a scoff. He wasn't going to make a fool of himself again by saying it out loud.

Better stay just the way they are.

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Ifrah's wrist was throbbing again but she ignored the pain and went out of the hut to go to the river. It didn't rain last night, and she was glad for it meant they could collect some dry branches to light the fire at night. They had survived without it for two nights but now they could actually feel warm because the nights here were cold.

And she wasn't a fan of it.

She reached the river and squatted down before using her right hand to drink some water and freshen up. Her hair tie had loosened, and it was annoying her more than she liked.

“Hey,”

Aayan's deep, raspy voice startled her for a moment and she stood up with a hand on her heart to stare at him. He was standing some feet away from her, eyes slightly droopy from sleep and hair in a messed up bunch on his head.

But he still looked like he could pose for a magazine right at the spot.

Shut up, brain.

She frowned when he came to stand beside her and said; “You scared me.”

Aayan passed her a lazy grin. “Mission accomplished.”

Ifrah's frown turned into a scowl.

He mirrored her previous movements and washed his face before standing up and rubbing his hands.

“Let's continue our trecking.” he said.

She gave him a nod before saying; “Okay, wait for me. I'm coming in a moment.”

He cocked a brow at her before shrugging and returned to the hut. Ifrah waited for him to disappear out of sight before she turned to face the river and took off her hair tie before running a hand through them to get rid of the tangles. She cringed when she realized that they were slightly greasy now and a small part of her felt like crying.

She wanted to get out of here.

When she was satisfied that the knots had eased out, she went to tie her hair back in a ponytail but froze all of a sudden.