Our Bizarre Life

Chapter 10: The answers.

REMINDER: Please pray before you read the chapter!

Chapter 10: The answers.

Harun

Raaida stood in front of me, waiting for answers I had no idea how to say.

"Let's start off with why you lied." She said, crossing her arms. She was still a little tense. She bit her lip by accident, causing blood to flow down her chin. She realized it all too well. She took the sleeve of her shirt and wiped her mouth. I stared at her wide-eyed.

"Because... no matter what I say or do, you always seem to be afraid of me." I said, after I relaxed my eyes, and stared at her calmly. "You also didn't seem to remember me." She stopped wiping her shirt and stared at me for a moment.

"That's clearly because you're not you." She said with a glare.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked her.

"The Harun I knew was the sweetest person I knew." I stared at her for a moment, having a hard time registering what she was saying.

"So what does that make me now?" I asked her. She lowered her gaze to my bruised knuckle and tilted her head to the side.

"Scary. That makes you one heck of a scary monster." She didn't continue any further. I sighed.

For some reason, opening up to Raaida was no longer a choice - it was an obligation. But I didn't want her to know anything... or rather, everything.

"So why did you marry me?" She asked with her brown eyes fixed on my face. Everything about her turned sharp - from her words to her actions.

"Because I liked you back then," I said with loose words, as I looked away. But I won't tell her that I still like her. Or that I spent way too much of my time observing her in the last year. When I looked up at her, she didn't seem surprised at all. She frowned, and her eyes twitched a little. Then she sighed, closing her eyes for a moment before answering.

"That's why I married you too. Because, back then, I liked you." She replied. She frowned. "Next question: Why did you ask if I was after your wealth?" She asked. I knew she wasn't that type of person but...

Wait... what? Did she like me?

Raaida cleared her throat. "Well... it was all an act because you didn't seem to remember who I was so...."

"So you just came up with whatever on the spot?" She asked. "How rude! I did not enjoy being accused of being a gold digger!" She almost shouted. When she realized the volume of her voice, she put her hand over her mouth with her eyes wide open. She stepped back a bit from me, laughing nervously. "I-I was joking..." She said, with an awkward laugh.

I dropped down on the couch behind me and glared at her.

Raaida

After he fell on the couch behind him, I jumped a little. His glare made me take another step back. "I'm not afraid of you," I said, trying to sound more confident, but my own voice was giving me away. He laughed at that for a moment before going completely silent.

"I guess there's no point in hiding it then." There was more to it? "Do you remember as kids...?"

"You always came to my rescue," I said, right away.

"Right... Well, that was after I got to know you a little. That summer we met, we met because I was given to my Aunt."

"Aunt? So that wasn't your mom?" I asked. He shook his head. Given?

"I never got along with anyone. Everyone easily got tired of me. They got tired of taking care of me and my selfish desires. I don't remember how much of a spoiled kid I was, but I know I was quite the handful. Everyone hated me and I hated everyone. That's how it was until..." He slowed down a bit. He buried his face in his hands. "Ugh... do I have to go on? It pains me just talking about it."

"Of course you have...." It was then that I noticed his red ears. "Wait, are you actually sick?!" I asked, walking up to him, removing his hands from his face and checking his forehead with the back of my hand. For a moment, he was shocked when he looked into my eyes. But the shock evaporated within seconds. He grabbed my arm.

"You've come a long way." He said in a low whisper. It was then that I noticed the extremely short distance between us.

My face paled. My heart stopped. And I suddenly felt like drowning myself.

I'm going to die, aren't I?

"Stop it." He said, sternly. "Stop running away. I don't remember you being this afraid when we were kids. And trust me when I say this - I was a million times more vicious as a kid." I pulled away immediately.

I breathed a long breath and sat down on the carpet. "It's no use. I tell myself you're not scary, but my heart is still not ready to accept it." I was starting to feel cold. When I looked up, he was staring at me calmly.

"So somewhere, deep down, you think I'll attack you at any moment?" He asked, actually sounding concerned. I nodded, with a frown on my face as I looked down. "That's probably because you don't trust me yet." He said. "Even though you're always the first to touch me." I could feel my face heat up like a microwave. I looked away with guilt.

It was true that I didn't fully trust him... but looking at him now, I felt that it was the only thing I could do. I stared at him, trying to figure out just what about him was so untrustworthy. When he caught me staring, he smiled.

He smiled a smile I only ever saw when we were kids. The same reassuring smile he would give me every time I came crying to him.

And that's when I realized I was wrong all along.

He's the same Harun I knew from back then.