The Perfect Girl

42

"He holds her close,                                                                                                                                                                          Love is all he knows,"

Hiba's POV

I was reading over my notes, studying for an upcoming exam in the kitchen.

I had so much work to do that even the thought of it made me feel overwhelmed.  I tried my best to keep my mind far away from the thought of all the other assignments that I had due.

Arms draped over the back of my chair, resting on my shoulders.  I turned around, smiled at Khalid.

"What are you doing?" he asked, smiling back.

"Studying."

He sat down next to me, "How much longer?"

"I'll take a break in about half an hour, inshallah."

He nodded, pulled out his phone, and just sat there as I studied.  It was an awkward thing, knowing he was there, just silent.  Eventually, I sighed, gave up trying to focus, and turned to him.

"What do you want?" I asked in exasperation.

He laughed, "Why are you so mad, sweetheart?  I didn't do anything!"

"Why are you just sitting there?" 

He raised an eyebrow, "I can't sit in my own kitchen?"

"You're distracting me!" I grumbled.

He smirked, and I realized my mistake.

"I distract you?"

"N-No, I just mean--" I groaned, put my head in my hands, cheeks heating up, "I'm an idiot."

He chuckled, tugged at my shoulder, "Love..."

I pulled away, looking away.  I knew I was being dramatic, and I was enjoying it.

"Sweetheart," he said, "I was just teasing you."

I pouted.  He tapped my nose, turned my face upwards, pecked my lips.  I tried not to smile, but he only had to kiss my forehead, then my hand and my lips began to turn up.

"There's a smile," he teased, "I know you're trying to stop it.  Come on, smile, love."

I allowed myself a grin.  I suddenly felt childish, a little embarrassed.

"Okay, seriously, what did you want?" I asked.

"Well, that was a quick mood change," Khalid muttered, "I didn't want anything."

"Then why were you sitting next to me?"

"I was waiting for you to finish," he shrugged. 

"Yeah, but like, why?"

"Cause I wanted your attention, love," he admitted.

My stomach did a flip, twisting and turning.  

I exhaled, closed my computer, and said, "Screw this.  Let's go do something."

"Don't you have work?" He asked.

"Don't discourage me," I said sternly, standing up.

"Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know!  You come up with something.  God, do I have to do everything around here?"

"Jeez, okay." he grumbled, "Are you hungry?"

I was.  And I didn't want to be.

"Kind of," I mumbled.

"What do you feel like eating?"

"I don't know," I said, "We could cook something."

"Or order something, if you want," he suggested.

"If we eat out, what do you want?"

"I kind of feel like fried chicken," he said.

Could he have picked a more fattening option?  I brushed away the thoughts, agreed, told myself it wasn't a big deal, told myself I hadn't eaten breakfast today and my calorie intake would still be low, it was alright.

There was still a sort of defeat weighing down on my gut.

***

After we'd eaten, we sat down on the couch to watch a movie.  

"What do you want to watch?" Khalid asked.

"How about a Disney movie?"

He raised an eyebrow, stifled a laugh, "Disney?"

I rolled my eyes, "Just put Tangled on, you jerk."

"Okay," he laughed, finding it online and quickly playing it.

I could feel cramps beginning again, and I was getting fed up with the pain.  It felt as though a knife had been stabbed into my abdomen and then twisted.  I took a sharp inhale, clenched my jaw.  

"Cramps?" he asked softly.

I just nodded, digging my nails into my palms.

"Do you need medicine or anything?"

I shook my head.

"Is there anything I could do?"

"Just be quiet and watch the movie," I said, jaw still clenched.

He sighed at my irritation, shook his head, lifted me up and onto him.  I curled up, head in his neck, exhaled.  His warmth was comforting, and I felt a little bit of guilt tug at my chest.

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

"Mhmm," he said and rested his head on top of mine.

I gripped at his shirt.  The pain was messing with my body's temperature control, and I was shivering.  

"Are you cold?" he asked.

"A little,"

He reached down beside him and picked up one of the blankets we kept stashed there.  He draped it over me. His arms were wrapped around me, holding me so close.

"Have you always had such bad cramps?" he asked, "I mean, like, before we were married."

"Yeah," I whispered.

"You never said anything."

I laughed, "What was I supposed to do?  Announce it on the streets?"

"No," he shrugged, "I just mean, you like, didn't act like you were in pain."

"Well, you should ask my brothers.  I took out my pain on them quite a lot."

He chuckled, smiled, tucked the edges of the blanket around my body, and focused on the screen.