Javed's POV

Mum and I agreed it was perhaps time for me to settle down. I'd had all my fun and that lifestyle was now getting boring. Especially after the cancer scare, none of this seemed worth it. Mum and I were on the lookout for my wife but it was incredibly difficult. How could I find someone who had a balance of Islam and the west. I mean, someone crazy practising like Safia's cousin Hafsa, wasn't really my cup of tea.

I sent Hafsa a message on facebook a while back and she straight up told me she doesn't speak to men, especially ones like me. That sort of rejection angered me and I had to stop myself from writing an insult and trying to heal my wounded ego. According to Yusuf, my ego is damaging. He lectured me on humbling myself but everything he was saying went over my head. I decided I wouldn't act upon my ego-healing thoughts as that wouldn't harm anyone and that's what's important, right?

After much searching, mum set me up to meet someone. She had given the girl my number and we got talking on the phone. I learnt her name was Ambreen and she had a picture of herself on Whatsapp. Definitely very pleasing to the eyes. She had requested to meet me before speaking to her parents.

I agreed and we set a date. I was going to take her to a restaurant with delicious Mexican food. I was getting ready when Maryam came home. She walked into the living room, her head hanging down and her hair covering most of her face.

"Asalaamu'alaykum," She said, sounding very down.

"Salaam. What's up? You're home early," I replied. It was Saturday morning and Maryam usually come home from uni either in the afternoons or in the evenings.

"I'm just not feeling great," She sighed.

"Oh, are you sick?"

"No," I was running my hand through my hair when I suspected Maryam was crying. Her back shook a bit.

"Hey, what happened?" I asked, moving closer to her.

"Nothing... I... No, it's nothing," She responded, wiping her tears away.

"It's okay, you can tell me."

"If I tell you, you might tell me off and I'll feel a million times worse," Maryam said in a weak voice.

"I won't tell you off, I promise. Now tell me."

"I... Erm... There was... There was this guy..."

"What guy?" I asked, a little harsher than I intended.

"You promised!"

"Okay okay, continue."

"There's this guy who I like and he like, or liked me. I didn't do anything wrong," She waved her hands around, emphasising that point. "Really, we liked each other but we didn't do anything! I mean, we didn't even hug!"

"Maryam, I'm not Yusuf. I get it and I have no right to lecture you on this stuff. And we trust you so continue," I said, getting impatient.

"Well, this guy called Zaid became my friend and we ended up liking each other but recently, he's been falling into that whole party lifestyle and I told him off and he said I preach too much and I have no right to because I don't even wear a hijab. We had this whole long argument and he said he's starting to dislike me and that we shouldn't stay friends, let alone go any further. And then he left saying I wouldn't be able to do any better than him anyway." Maryam's voice became quiet and shaky before she burst into a fresh set of tears.

How dare he!

"Tell me who this Zaid is, I'll straighten him out!" I said, clenching and unclenching my fists.

"No, leave it. It was my fault."

"It was not your fault!" I almosted shouted and Maryam flinched.

"It's fine!"

"Tell me who he is, I'll kill him!"

"Leave it! Please!"

"Stay away from boys, Maryam. They're right idiots. When it's your time, I'll find you someone good!"

Maryam looked at me in a strange questioning way.

Then it struck me. I was a Zaid. I played with girls and their feelings and now my own sister was at the receiving end of this sort of cruelty.

Guilt washed over me and when I saw the hurt and pain in Maryam's eyes, I felt sick. I suddenly needed to go. I didn't want to face her with the way I was. Looking at her tears reminded me of all the sins I'd continuously been committing for the past decade!

"I have to go now. Might be meeting your future sister in law," I said with a little smile, hoping to cheer her up. "I'll see you when I get back. And listen carefully to what I'm about to say and keep this in your head. Forget everything that stupid-" I stopped myself before I swore. "That stupid idiot said and know that you're worth way more! One day, you'll have someone head over heels in love with you and you'll forget all about him." Unwillingly, a thought crossed my mind before I could stop it.

The way Hamza was in love with Amy and she'd forgotten about me.

In a way, I smiled at that. I'm glad she was at least happy with that loser.

"Thank you," Maryam said, sniffing.

"I'll see you later. And wish me luck,"

"Good luck," Maryam said with a small smile.

I left and sent Ambreen a message telling her I was on my way to the restaurant where we were to meet. She replied back that she would be heading out soon.

My mind was jumbled with different thoughts by the time I reached the restaurant. Ambreen was already waiting there. Whoa she was hot! I wasn't too fond of her dressing although it made her look elegant. It was skin tight and she had half sleeves with a huge hijab.

Keeping in mind that she was attractive, even though she may not have dressed what I would have wanted my wife to dress like, I approached her.

"Ambreen?" I asked, just to confirm it really was her.

"Javed? Oh wow, you're handsome!" I must admit it felt good when someone said that. Not many people did although I knew I was considered rather good looking. Mum's genes.

"Thanks. You look beautiful!" She giggled and lightly hit my arm.

"Let's go inside, I'm cold." she said, taking my arm. If she was cold, why didn't she wear a jacket?

We got inside and took a seat in the corner of the restaurant because corners were always the best.

Once we sat down, I looked up to observe this stunning girl. I took in her features and she started to look familiar.

"Have we met before?" I asked, curiously.

"You don't remember me?" Now I was even more curious. "I came with my parents to see your brother a few years ago. Yusuf, is it?"

"Huh? What for?"

"For marriage obviously!" she giggled again. "My dad was kind of fond of him. But I knew I couldn't marry him if he had such a handsome brother." I stared at her with a blank mind for a moment. Then the information processed and I began to recall a certain proposal.

"Oh," Was all I managed to say.

"He said he had a problem with my make-up, saying I wore too much and insulted my hijab. He's so different to you! So extreme," She said and immediately I felt defensive. But I stopped myself again from saying anything in case we got into an argument.

I observed her again and fought back a smile. Yusuf was right; she did wear too much make up. Then it clicked. This was the girl Yusuf described as a Hijabi Barbie! I had to bite back my laugh.

We ordered some food and I must say I found it ever so slightly annoying that she ordered such little food.

“Even Adam wouldn’t get full up on that,” I mumbled to myself. Unfortunately she heard.

“Adam?” She asked, tensing up at the name.

“Yeah, my nephew.”

“Oh,” There was a frown on her face and I wasn’t bothered to ask why she was reacting strangely to the name. Probably an ex or something. Ambreen quickly recovered and started going on and on about random things and I just acted charming, an art I've mastered in. Had to seem interested, ask a few questions, make a few comments of my own, throw in a couple of compliments and ta dah! Someone's interested.

I guess the lunch was going well. That was until Yusuf was brought back into the conversation again.

"You truly are the opposite of your brother," Ambreen said, slowly batting her eyelids.

"Yeah," I replied, ready to start looking uninterested. It was a moment I felt like I knew too much. Throughout the lunch, she had been doing flirty things and I kept thinking, is this what I want in a wife? She touched my arm at every opportunity and even leaned over to ruffle my hair at one point. Something I didn't appreciate. I had to run my hand through it a few times again to make sure it maintained the messy look and didn't get flat in any areas. I'd also heard that natural oils from your hands can make hair greasy so I was a little worried about making my hair greasy.

"I feel like you two don't get on well," She commented about Yusuf and I, wearing a concerned expression which I was sceptical of.

"We have our differences," I shrugged.

"He probably feels inferior, having a brother who outshines him in every way. He doesn't have a degree, right?" This made me narrow my eyes at her.

"I don't outshine him at all! He's a freaking Alim! How am I supposed to compete with that?"

"I meant, you're better looking and you earn more money."

"Material things don't make a person better than someone," I said, narrowing my eyes further. She didn't seem to believe me.

"Yes, but you seem to be a better person too. Definitely less judgemental. Can you believe he had the audacity to question the way I dress?" She asked, pointing to herself up and down. I was tempted to reply, yes.

"I think you got the wrong end of the stick. You and your parents came to our house to see if you and Yusuf would be compatible, right?" And what idiot thought of that idea?

"Well, my father did." Oh.

"Whoever thought you might be compatible for each other doesn't matter. The point is, that's what you were there for. And I was there to witness what he said. All Yusuf asked was if you'd perhaps consider wearing clothes which he thought would be more Islamic. What can you expect? The guy's an Alim."

"That's exactly why I don't like these religious people. They always think they're better than others." Now I was starting to feel angry. This was the second time my temper was surfacing in a day.

"Hey, I may not be super religious but that doesn't mean I have to lose respect for them to justify my sins and feel better about myself. I used to do that before I realised how ignorant and stupid that is."

"Are you trying to say I'm ignorant and stupid?" She asked, all that fake sweetness slowly fading.

"I guess so."

"You're just as bad as him!" she blurted, her face reddening in anger.

"Shut up," I said with gritted teeth. I couldn't remember the last time I said these words and really meant them. And this must have been the first time I said them to a woman on our first date.

"Why? Don't like the truth. I don't get why you're defending your brother. I thought you were more like us."

"Don't utter another word about my brother." I put some money on the table and got up. "I guess we've both established that this won't work. Salaam." Ambreen looked like she was going to protest but I walked out before she got to say anything.

At least I finished my lunch.

On the way home, I thought about the chances of mum setting me up with someone who rejected Yusuf. Did mum do it consciously? Would mum do that? If she did, I doubt she thought of it the way I did. And I guess we both knew that Yusuf was so happy with Safia that he wouldn't mind me marrying someone who rejected him years ago. He didn't have any ego problems.

Strangely, I began to miss Yusuf. I wanted to tell him about Miss Hijabi Barbie and began to work out when he'd visit next. When I got closer to home, I thought to myself, why don't I go and visit him? I drove past my house and turned left at the end of the road, on my way to Yusuf's house.

I was kind of nervous when I got to the door. It was one of my first times visiting. There wasn't much of a point as the only people who I could come to see usually visited us every week or two anyway. That way, we were able to keep a bond between my gorgeous niece and adorable nephew. Thinking of them, my nervousness of possibly bumping into other residents in the house subsided.

"Asalaamu'alaykum," I said when Yusuf opened the door. He looked shocked.

"Wa'alaykumsalaam," He replied. "Is everything okay?" I shook my head in amusement.

"Believe it or not, I'm actually just here to see you just because I wanted to." At this, Yusuf looked even more shocked.

"Really?"

"Could you let me inside please? I'm freezing," I said, rubbing my hands together to emphasise my point.

"Oh. Yeah, sure. Come in." He moved to the side to let me in. He led me to the living room.

"You better tell Safia I'm here so she can cover up and such," I said.

"She's gone to her parents’ house with Adam. After ages his eczema has flared up again. He must have eaten something he's allergic to. He was getting agitated so she thought a change of environment and the presence of more people might distract him from the skin irritation," He explained.

"You should have come around to see us with him. It definitely would have cheered Maryam up."

"Is Maryam upset?" Yusuf asked and I wondered whether I should tell him what happened. Then I decided it was up to Maryam herself whether she wanted to share her problems with Yusuf.

"Uni stress," I told him. He nodded in understanding. "Not that you would know," I mocked. He just gave a blank expression and I smiled. "I'm kidding."

"So, what brings you here?"

"I'll get to that. First tell me, where's Maria?" I was hoping to at least see one of the two kids.

"Napping."

"Can I wake her up?"

"No! She's going to be really grumpy if you wake her up."

"I'll deal with it," I insisted. "If she cries and such, I'll calm her down."

"Fine. But before that, can you at least tell me what you're here for? Is it really just to see Adam and Maria?"

"Nah, like I said, I came to see you." Yusuf waited for me to continue. "Mum sort of set me up with this girl and I met her today. Turns out, she's the same girl who came to see you for marriage a few years back. She actually remembered me!"

"Who on earth are you talking about?"

"Some girl called Ambreen," I told him. He looked thoughtful.

"I can't recall an Ambreen."

"The girl you said adorned her hijab too much. If it makes it any easier for you to remember, she's really hot!" Yusuf looked left to right until it clicked.

"Oh her! She's wasn't hot!" He said, as if repulsed by the idea.

"All things aside and only judging her appearance, yes she is."

"I don't think I saw it. She made me feel uncomfortable."

"Can you not separate personality from looks?" I asked. The way he perceived people was always based on something within their personality.

"Half of someone's looks are derived from their personality. But even personality aside, she wasn't, as you're saying, hot."

"Because of people like you, and your wife too, and even her cousin, there can't be universally good looking people. You guys suck," I said. Yusuf just chuckled.

"Hafsa turned you down?"

"I think so. Rather brutally too."

"Not gonna chase her?"

"Doubt there's anything to chase. She specifically asked me never to contact her again. And she put a please at the end as if that would soften the blow."

"That's funny! How do you feel about that?"

"She's too religious for me anyways. Thought she might be able to aid me with the deen and stuff but her level just makes me want to step away from the deen. I'll get there at my own pace and I need a wife more to my level. We can grow together, right?"

"Where did you come out with all this wisdom?" Yusuf asked, genuinely rather surprised.

"Dad's been advising me," I explained.

"Ah, makes sense. So you came to tell me about Ambreen?"

"Yeah. Made me think about what a small world it is." Suddenly Yusuf straightened in his chair as if a sudden realisation dawned upon him.

"Are you getting married to her?!" He asked, his eyes wide.

"Nope. But she remembered you and... and it wasn't so positive." I wondered whether I should tell him what she said. It angered me and I felt like I wanted to let it out.

"Can’t say I’m surprised. What did she say?"

"Same old stuff that you've probably heard before. Things that I must have said to you at some point in your life. But when it came from someone else, I felt furious."

"Tis the beauty of family," Yusuf said with a smile. "Get on each other's nerves and anger each other as much as you want but when outsiders are involved, you have that immediate sense of loyalty which makes you defensive." I nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of family, I'm going to wake my niece."

Yusuf led me to where she lay, looking ever so peaceful in her sleep. I slowly picked her up and put her head on my shoulder. She curled up and remained asleep.

"She's completely out of it," I commented.

"She kept waking up at night because Zidan was crying a lot. I brought her to our room but the room being different caused her to moan and cry too, saying she wanted to go to her own room. And then she was upset when I took her back to her room because Zidan wasn't there. Safia brought him to our room when I took Maria back."

"Yikes, sounds like you had a tough night! Too much room swapping. Almost makes me feel guilty to wake her," I said, rocking Maria back and forth.

"Then don't wake her!"

"I said almost makes me feel guilty. It doesn't make me feel completely guilty." With that said, I bounced Maria on my arm to wake her up. At first she refused and then she started crying. I tried to hush her but when she saw it was me holding her, she began to cry more!

"Daddy," She screamed, putting her arms out to Yusuf. He was about to take her when I walked away with her.

"I told you I'll deal with this." I got my phone out and put a kids’ show on YouTube. Surprisingly, it worked and she calmed down.

Yusuf and I continued talking about all sorts of things until he pointed out that it was time for Maghrib. I told him I'd take care of Maria and he could go the masjid and pray but he said he had a better idea.

"Why don't both of us pray together?" Yusuf asked and I replied with the first excuse which came to mind.

"I don't have wudhu." Yusuf pointed towards the bathroom.

"And we have running water," He said. Unable to think of any valid excuses, I gave Maria to Yusuf and did my wudhu. Yusuf lay out the kids toys for Maria to play with while he spread two prayer mats for us.

"Maria, we’re going to pray so behave now, okay?" I was still getting used to the idea of Yusuf being a father. That fatherly voice was odd on him.

"I pray too!" Maria said. Yusuf smiled at her.

"Okay stand next to us."

"Scarf?" She asked, pointing to her head. Yusuf pulled out a tiny scarf for her from one of the drawers.

"Safia's uncle and aunt went Umrah and bought Adam a jubbah and Maria a scarf. Adam's not too bothered about his jubbah but Maria loves her hijab," Yusuf explained while putting the hijab on Maria.

"Now that is cute." I took out my phone to snap a few pictures before Yusuf reminded me we needed to pray. When we finished praying, we saw that Maria had fallen asleep lying down on the prayer mat. Yusuf slowly removed her little hijab and took Maria to his bed before tucking her in.

"She won't fall off, will she?"

"No, she can climb down from the bed now. But I'm going to build a wall of pillows and cushions around her anyway, just in case." I hoped I could build a wall of pillows and cushions for my kids one day.

I stayed a while longer before I decided I should go as I knew Safia was to be returning soon.

Yusuf followed me to the door to see me off. I thought I heard a door opening but didn't think much of it. I turned to say Salaam to Yusuf when I caught sight of Amy.

Suddenly, a flash of Maryam's tear stained face came before my eyes and I felt a whole new wave of guilt drowning me.

"Amy," I said before I could stop myself. Hamza appeared from behind and came to stand in front of her, glaring at me. Amy mumbled something to Hamza and ignoring the death glares I was receiving, I called Amy's name again.

"I think you better go," Yusuf said.

"Hold up." Yusuf stood between me and Hamza, as if a barrier and I pushed past him to get closer to Amy. "Just want to apologise," I stated.

"Good, now go." Loser said. His existence annoyed me. What is it about him that made Amy fall in love with him and made Yusuf such good friends with him? Without paying any attention to him, I spoke to Amy.

"I know I've wronged you in the past and I truly regret it. You probably hate me and I don't expect you to forget but I hope you have it in your heart to forgive me." Amy's bored expression confused me. What was she feeling?

"Done? Good. There's the door," Hamza said pointing towards the door which led outside. It was like the whole hospital scene all over again. Why didn't the guy let her speak?

"Amy," I said again, hoping to receive some acknowledgement.

"I don't have so much spare time to remember, nor feelings to waste on hating you," Amy finally spoke. The words cut me but also liberated me. I felt some of my guilt fade.

"It's good to know that," I said, smiling at her. Of course Hamza misinterpreted my smile and took a small step to cover Amy behind him fully. He looked at me with hatred and rage. "It's a pity your husband has feelings of hatred to waste on me," I said, looking at Hamza challengingly. What about this guy really irritated me?

'Javed, please just... Leave," Yusuf pleaded hesitantly.

"Yes, leave before I lose control," Hamza threatened and that's when I really didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay and challenge him. Somewhere inside me, the desire to anger him grew.

"Is that a threat?" I laughed sarcastically. "Amy, you did well."

"Do not say my wife's name."

"He's a funny guy," I said, punching him playfully on the shoulder. That did it.

A sudden fist flew across the air and crashed into my jaw followed by a gasp from Amy. It was really painful but strangely satisfying.

"What the flip dude? Calm yourself down!" Yusuf shouted pulling Hamza away from me. Hamza was breathing slowly and loudly, ready to strike again.

"Get him out of here before I do any more damage!"

"Control yourself." Yusuf tried to sound calmer.

"What he said," I added and looked over at Amy who was stood near the stairs, frozen in shock.

"I'm gonna kill him," Hamza took a step to charge at me when Yusuf pushed him back.

"Go back upstairs or get out of here and cool down!" Yusuf yelled.

"You're telling me to get out of here? Why don't you tell him? Sorry to say but your bro's a moronic twit!" I guess that was the best he could come up with without swearing.

"Ouch," I said, feigning hurt.

"Hamza, watch what you're saying. Believe it or not, that is actually my brother and I won't tolerate crap being said about him." I was surprised Yusuf was actually defending me. The next thing we heard was Maria's cry.

"I... I'll go check on her," Amy said, awkwardly walking past me to get to the room Maria was in.

"So I'm the bad guy because he's your biological brother? What the heck, Yusuf?"

"We know he's an idiot anyway. Why are you letting him get into your head? Just ignore him like I do."

"And there I thought you were truly defending me out of brotherly love," I said, shaking my head sadly. My jaw still kind of ached. Hamza may have been a loser but he could throw a good punch. Or maybe that one was just luck.

"I can't ignore him like you do. All I see is this fool who goes around trying to destroy lives. Because of what he did to Amy, he nearly destroyed my sister's life too! He nearly broke your marriage and I'm not his brother so I can't tolerate it like you do."

"Hey, that was not intentional," I pointed out.

"Both of you, I don't have the time or energy for this. Please, just stop," Yusuf pleaded, sounded exhausted.

"I'm going to check on Amy. He better be gone when I come out of the room." Hamza walked past me with a final glare and I smiled back, just because I knew it would annoy him.

I walked to the door and turned back for the last time to see Yusuf looking very disappointed.

"You just had to ruin it, huh?" I guess he was feeling embarrassed. I thought about apologising but in the end, I shrugged and walked away.

---

A/N: ANOTHER CROSSOVER? With Truly Yours again?! Hehe. Just want to thank @SnortleChortle again. Thank you!!

Oh, and by the way, I want to thank each and every one of you for all your support because I WON A WATTY! :O :O :O :’) :’D :D

Truly Yours should have won one too if SOMEONE didn’t drop out last minute. Kidding, we love you Snortie.