styled ・Harry Styles

08.

AN!

first of all, peep the mood board for this chapter 👀do we like it?

Lots of arabic in this chapter! Please feel free to let me know if the language switching is getting confusing, I'm trying to think of ways to make it more understandable. A lot of times its hard for me to transliterate because Arabic has a completely different alphabet/some things are conveyed in nuance so just lmk if things are getting too confusing and maybe I will just start typing in English only and put a note that they're actually speaking arabic???? Idk, we shall see.

In any case, here are the translations for this chapter!

La = no

Khalas = stop it/enough

Mudiri = my boss

Sohbi = my friend (male)

Ay-dan = also

Ana bahhebbak = I love you

Maa salama =. Very common way to say goodbye to someone, literally means peace be with you

*there's a part where Monica's dad calls her "baba", this might seem backwards but super common in Arabic for parents to also call their children Mama or Baba, it's just a term of endearment*

Ezzayik habibti = how are you my love?

Tamam baba, alhamdulillah = good dad, thank god

huwa waseem giddan = he is very handsome

Na'am, a3rif = yes, I know

that's all bbs!! enjoy <3

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 

It doesn't take much longer for our flight to land, and Harry successfully manages to distract me from landing by asking me for all the details about dinner tonight.

"What should I wear?" He asks genuinely, making me laugh.

"It's just gonna be you, me, and my parents. Definitely no need to dress up, I'll probably wear exactly what I'm wearing right now, unless I can convince myself to shower and put some jeans on." I inform him.

"Okay, I think I can manage that. Are you sure I shouldn't bring anything?" He asks again.

"I'm sure Harry, I think you're overthinking this a little bit."

Harry shakes his head and laughs, "You're probably right. What time should I plan on being there?"

"Probably about 6 pm? I need to call my mom once I take my phone off of airplane mode to double check with her but that should be fine. Have you ever had middle eastern food before?"

"I have yes, I like it quite a bit."

"Okay perfect, you're already scoring points in that category, then" I say with a smile. "I'm not sure if you've ever been in a middle eastern household, but I'll just tell you this just in case– whatever you do, don't even try to deny any food or drinks. My mom will continue offering until you say yes– its just a cultural thing to be overly generous to guests." I inform, giving the same spiel I've given every guest that's ever entered the Younan household.

"Got it." Harry replies.

I've always admired Arab culture for this reason, how hospitable we all seem to be, even to complete strangers. My parents would often tell me how strange it was for them to move to Los Angeles, because in that city you're lucky if you know your neighbors name, let alone ever hold a conversation with them. It was definitely lonely for my parents here early on, missing their family and friends. Thank God some of my aunts and uncles came to America shortly after, and my parents found other Middle Eastern friends in the area so before I knew it, our house always seemed to have extra bodies in it and I wouldn't change that for anything in the world.