Infinite Encounters: Love Across Universes [Tere Bin]

5. five times meerab is in denial, and the one time she isn't

A/N: This is a standalone one-shot that came about due to some conversations on twitter, and how Meerax & Murtasim would be great contenders for the "i'll help you find a husband/wife" trope. And of course, my mind went to Murtasim being down bad for Meerab (I am rewatching TB and he's SO sus in the first few episodes), and Meerab not realizing she likes him. So, she is like "fine, I'll help you find a wife" and then just doesn't understand what she's feeling when he deliberately flirts with other women to make her jealous! So, this is that! 

Note: This deviates from the TB world as follows - the show mentions that Waqas/Anila used to be neighbours to the Khans. So, in this fic, they are still neighbours - which means Meerab grew up next door to Murtasim. As such, they're deffo more familiar with each other!

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1.

Meerab slumped onto the couch in their living room, her frustration evident in every movement. "Why must they interfere in everything?" she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Her eyes darted towards her father, Waqas, who sat across from her, his face a mask of patient concern.

"He's your father," Waqas said gently, trying to placate her.

Meerab's eyes flashed with anger. "Correction, you are my father. He gave me away as soon as I was born, refusing to look at my face. Suddenly, he moves back into the Haveli next door, and I must listen to him?" She scoffed, shaking her head defiantly. The thought of Anwar Khan exerting any influence over her life was infuriating.

Her mind wandered back to the first time she had met her biological father, who had disappeared from Pakistan after abandoning her. She had been ten, and the man who had fathered her had stood before her like a stranger, a figure she had only heard about. He had blamed her for the death of her mother during childbirth, a burden no child should ever bear. To Meerab, Anwar Khan was nothing more than a sperm donor. Her real father, the one who had loved and raised her, was Waqas. He and his wife, Anila, were her true parents.

"I don't understand why we must stay their neighbors," Meerab snapped, her voice rising with each word. "They relinquished all rights over me a long time ago!"

Waqas sighed, his calm demeanor unwavering. "You're still a daughter of their household, Meerab, their amanat."

Meerab scoffed again, the bitterness in her voice palpable. "They have a daughter – Maryam. Why do they need me too? They also have that Murtasim. Between him, his ego, and his anger, that's three sons too."

"Meerab, I don't know what you have against Murtasim –" her mother started, but Meerab cut her off.

"He's egoistic, rude, and a male chauvinist who thinks he can control my life," she spat, her disdain for Murtasim evident.

"Haan, then ignore him, you keep looking for reasons to fight with him," her mother suggested, trying to calm her down.

Meerab threw her hands up in exasperation. "And how do I do that when he's constantly in my face? He lives next door, he is everywhere I am, and you all insist he drive me to and from university with Maryam?!"

"Stop fighting with him?" her father suggested, his voice laced with a hint of hope.

Meerab scoffed, an incredulous look on her face. "I don't start it, he does, with his tiny brain and regressive mindset and -"

"What did he do now?" her father sighed, already weary of the answer he knew was coming.

"I was talking to a member in my group, who happened to be a guy, and he marched in and punched him because he touched my shoulder!" she whined, her frustration bubbling over. "There was a bug he was trying to brush off!"