A Few Hundred Poppies

1 Month Later

A/N: Here's the last chapter of A Few Hundred Poppies! Damn, I liked this one ( ;_;). To everybody who's stuck around till the end, thank you so so much, it means the world!!! Follow me for upcoming (and Insha Allah better) works, much love <3

-

"Hey."

"Hi," I breathed, letting myself melt into my bedsheets at the way his voice made my chest tremble slightly.

"You know, I'm on a walk."

"Oh yeah?" A smile broke out across my face when I heard Rani's protesting 'mrewol' from aside. "I guess cats aren't big walkers." It was a week after a whirlwind of exams and sleepless nights, and the day before the new moon of Ramadan.

A tantalising smell of beef managed to seep in through the slit under my door, making me sniff at the air. From the kitchen, Ma and Khammi's loud exchange could be heard as they argued over the right time to put in the garlic cloves in the curry.

"Yeah...and there's this lake in here. It's small. Almost cute. And you know what, come over, and bring a change of clothes. I'm gonna teach you swimming," Samar said.

"I-I kinda have guests over," I hesitated, despite having perked up at the idea at first. "Khammi's here with Fariah."

"Seriously? It's nine in the morning," he complained as Rani again meowed loudly from beside him.

"Fariah's still asleep, by the way." I chuckled, moving my gaze to Fariah, fast asleep beside me on the bed.

"I guess you can't come, then. That's too bad, I was gonna take off my shirt," he teased, and I could hear his smirk breaking out into a grin over the phone, squeezing my eyes shut to stop imagining the sight of his bare body, but all that it did was make it embarrassingly vivid.

"Are you trying to be sexy?" I twirled a stand of hair around my finger, giving up on suppressing a wide smile.

"I don't know — is it working?" He asked back, making his voice sound Elvis-deep on purpose. A small laugh erupted from my mouth.

"Be there in twenty, asshole."

"I'll be waiting, midget."

-

"Do I get a last wish before you jump at me with a knife?" I asked, making Samar roll his eyes. It must've been at least ten minutes since he'd started leading me deeper into the woods, switching between a zigzag puzzle of mossy trails, and my legs were growing tired. "At this rate, I won't have any energy left for swimming— SUBHANALLAH!"

Out of nowhere, we'd emerged into a beautiful clearing, the sun seeping in and engulfing the trees surrounding the clearing and the small lake in a very summer-like glow. As I turned to face Samar, he was already unbuttoning his light blue flannel, catching me off guard. Noticing my gaze trailing on his dexterous fingers as they moved, he smirked. "Like what you see?" When I looked away, blushing, he let out a small laugh. "You're adorable. By the way, I'm not a savage, I'm wearing an inner."

I fiddled with the end of my blouse as Samar stepped into the clear greenish water, making a lapping noise ring out across the floor of the clearing. "Coming?"

Unable to formulate a reply, I bit my lip, looking up at him nervously. "Hey. Is- are you still afraid of the water?" he inquired, taking my palms in his and stroking them with his thumbs. "It's alright, Aditi, if you don't want to," when he made to step back to the ground, I pushed him back by the chest. I breathed deeply. "I've got to face my fears sometime."