And He Created Them In Pairs

C H A P T E R 8

Laila's Pov

I say goodbye to my friends as they grab their things to leave. 

Hm. I should go shower now, my hair is starting to feel greasy  I think to myself as I run my finger through my long brown locks.  I grab a pair of silk pajamas and make my way to the bathroom. I look through Spotify for some good shower music while the water runs. 

I step into the shower as the steamy warm water hits my back. I let out a sigh of relief not realizing how stressed out I've been recently. I stand there letting myself soak in the water hitting me as I close my eyes and hum to the music, feeling at complete peace. 

"Hello?" I hear faintly.

My body freezes. I open my eyes and listen. Nothing. Am I starting to hear things? I shake my head and finish showering.

I grab my white towel and wrap it around myself as I put my hair in a bun. I walk over to my room humming to myself. 

"Oh my god."

I almost give myself whiplash turning my neck so fast. 

Ahmed stands there, his jaw wide open. 

"ahmed what are you freaking doing in my apartment!" I shout as I grab at everything around me to cover myself. 

He turns around and covers his eyes. 

"I'm so sorry I thought you would be....wearing something" He says. 

"But what are you doing here??? how did you get in here? Ahmed what the hell" I question finally finding something to put on. 

"Your parents made an extra key for me when you moved in here. you weren't answering the door so I got worried and let myself in...I'm sorry Laila" He says in a low voice.

"You can turn around now." 

He faces me and my heart skips a beat when I look at his bruised face. 

"I know...I got into some trouble and that's why I came here..I didn't know where else to go" He tells me eyes on the ground. 

I walk towards him and trace the cut down his cheek. He winces and jumps back. 

"Sorry. How did this happen? Wait we need to get you cleaned up. Come here" I tell him as I walk to the bathroom and grab the first aid kit. He sits on the toilet seat and I crouch down between his legs. 

"It's gunna hurt a bit ok" I say as I start dabbing alcohol on his cuts. 

He puts his hands on my waist and lightly squeezes as he closes his eyes in pain. I hope he can't hear my heart bursting out of my chest. I dab at a larger cut and he pulls me closer as he opens his eyes and looks at me. 

I stop and we sit there both of our breathing getting shallow. He looks at me curiously and I put one hand on his chest. Our lips are inches apart. I can almost feel his brushing against mine. 

The doorbell rings and I jump back. Ahmed looks down and I clear my throat as I feel the blood rushing to my face. 

"I'm gunna go get that" 

He nods, still not making eye contact. 

I walk over to the door and open it to reveal his friend from that day we had the MSA event. His face is also bruised up and he pushes past me breathing heavily. 

"um excuse me?"

"Where is he?" he asks, scanning the room.

"Where is who? you can't come barge into my apartment bruised up without explaining yourself. 

He finally looks at me. 

"Sorry. I just thought ahmed would be here. Has he called you at all today?" he asks. 

I shake my head and he lets out a sigh. 

"Ok. can you just let me know if he calls you or even comes here?" He asks. 

I nod as he makes his way to the front door. I lock it and walk back to the bathroom where Ahmed has his hands on his face. 

"ok you need to tell me what happened" I say.

 I sit across from him and he leans back as he prepares to tell me the details of his fight.