**A Wattpad featured story**
Bekhudi || بیخودی
❝ He gently dragged his hand around the delicate skin of my neck, slowly caressing it under his stifling touch. I felt his breath curling against me, as a wave of sultriness rod...
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Ik baat hooton tak hai jo ai nahi, Bas ankhon se hai jhankti, Tumse kabhi, mujhe se kabhi Kuch lafz hai woh mangti.
ایک بات ہونتوں تک ہے جو آی نہیں، بس آنکھوں سے ہے جھانکتی تم سے کبھی، مجھ سے کبھی، کچھ ہے وہ مانگتی۔
The stars were drowned by Karachi's endless chaos of smog and pollution. The pale wintry moon hung low in the charcoal sky, silent and tired. Despite the softness suspended in the air, my anxiety hung onto me tight like pregnant, monsoon clouds unable to move.
Sleep had barely touched me last night, but when the muezzin's soft voice descended from the minaret upon the silence of the dawn, I finally decided to give up on sleep. Despite the excruciating pain in my body, I don't know how long I sat on the prayer rug for, kneeling with my feet folded behind me and my hands held up in prayer.
Today, I wasn't sure what I was praying for, what I was asking for or what I wanted. I hadn't uttered a word, yet in my silence I knew Allah could hear me, because a newfound hope slowly began to ease the heavy weight on my heart. I looked outside the window and saw the welcoming orange of the morning sun beginning to bleed into the sky. The endless canvas of blue was still deserted, yet it bought with it a new hope, a new beginning.
"You have everything anyone could possibly want, then what is it you've been praying for?" I heard Aliyaar's amused voice behind me when I lowered my hands and ran them over the rich warm fabric of the prayer mat.
"How long have you been here for?" I asked, loosening the dupatta from around my neck. My eyes narrowed infinitesimally, when I felt him walk up to me and sit besides me. Despite the soft bars of light slanting in through the curtains, the room was dim and dark. But despite the darkness, his golden molten eyes caught mine.
"For a while." He admitted. "I had a feeling you'd be awake."
"Did you not go back home last night?"
He shook his head. "I didn't want to leave you alone. Not tonight."
I replied with a measured silence, but I could hear my heartbeat rise to my ears, my face warming with the blood coursing through my veins.
"Shany."
He breathed out, his voice low and unassuming, soft and adoring. And for a moment I felt the world around us beginning to melt away; all worries, thoughts ebbed away into the crags of silence. In that moment, I had found my peace.
He looked pristine. Despite his bedraggled hair, he looked faultless. Under the soft rays, his skin glistened like copper dipped in honey and the faint shadow of hair that darkened his jaw only accentuated his levelled features.
I didn't answer him, instead I closed my eyes and my lips moved softly through the memory of prayers. I held my hands out and blew upon them, before slowly opening my eyes. He was watching me with a distressingly keen air about him. Despite my nervousness, I leaned forward and raised my hands to touch his face. His eyes slowly fell shut and the sharp planes of his face began to smooth as I dragged my fingers down his face.
