Ishq | (complete)

56 | raakh

❝Waq Sab Kuch Cheen Leta Hai❞

Her eyes didn't waver from him just like the way his didn't from Zeeniya. She slept soundlessly on his chest as if it was the warmest and most peaceful place on the earth. Curled up like a tiny human, Zeeniya's hands held onto his shirt. Only if Laila could preserve the moment for eternity. She had held him when he let those red tears go. He was still hurting, but how could he ever heal from the loss of a child. How did one even begin to recover? She didn't know, but she could give him her strength, the one that held her together when she first realized that her own parents had abandoned her.

"You can put her down, your body is aching and bruised all over." He had his head on her shoulder as she caressed the back of his neck.

"Just a little more." His eyes didn't move and he patted Zeeniya's back soothingly. "I know if I put her down, I won't have the courage to pick her up again." His words held a heartbreaking murmur. His world was so close to him, yet he stood on the outline.

"We don't heal in one moment. You held her and she fell asleep in your arms. You were able to hear me talk about Wajdan. It's a milestone. It's a whole mountain you have crossed." She wrapped his arms around his shoulder carefully and rested the other hand on top of him that was holding Zeeniya. It was as if she was holding him and her, an entire world in her arms. "It will take time. Maybe not a lot or maybe a very long time, you just have to remember that you are trying. You will get hurt, healing hurts. It takes a lot of unlearning. A lot of forgiveness, especially for oneself, and sometimes you just have to remember that no matter how much we try, things will go as they are written."

"You won't give up on me?" He closed his eyes, leaning completely on her physically and emotionally.

"Never. I have to deal with the mess I chose, don't I?" She bit her lip.

"Rapunzel!" He shook his head wincing a little and Zeeniya stirred in her sleep as well.

"Shehryar Ali, when I said you are mine, I meant it. You are mine and I won't let you go at any cost. Good or bad, we are in this together. Whatever life throws at us we'll pick it up together." She put her hand on his jaw and smiled, leaning down to kiss his forehead.

❧❧❧

Laila ran the brush through her hair and braided them carefully, aware of her husband's gaze on her from the bed behind her. He had been quiet all morning, following her around with his eyes as she got ready for the office after her work from home for a few days. When she looked up in the mirror while pinning her dupatta on her shoulder, her eyes met his reflection in the mirror. They knew each other, they knew the worst and best of each other, probably more than they knew anyone else. Though, it was a whole new territory to be with each other without any reservations. To get to know each other without the pain caving in between them. Sometimes it was as if they were meeting each other for the first time, learning the curves of their fate, like the way their hands were learning to mold around each other without any pain or need to hold. Sometimes they just wanted to hold hands because they could or because they wanted to.

"Will it be okay with you if you move your stuff here?" He glanced at the bag Malka had sent a few days back that Laila had forgotten due to the accident. Unconsciously, She had been removing and putting back stuff in it or taking it back to the room that was hers. She had been busy with work and taking care of him to even notice it, but it had been on his mind for a while.

"You want that?" Her hands halted at the strap of her heels. Slowly her eyes caught the top of the dressing table. Just like the way their fates had intertwined, her personal items had found their way on his dressing table. The floral perfume bottle had been neatly stacked with the black and gray one. Her watch and silver earrings were in the same glass holder as the collection of his watches. Her makeup bag sat at the far end. She lowered her gaze to her heels and strapped her heels, staying there longer than she needed to be because her heart pounded in her chest.