- Noor's POV -

I ask Yasir if it's okay if I join him after I wash off my makeup and change into comfortable clothes. He agrees and changes into a grey pyjama set himself.

He really chose to wore that tight basic, grey t-shirt that hugs him in all the right places. I had my eyes glued on him for a good 15 seconds before realizing I probably looked like a creep.

Why does he have to look so good for?

Once I finished, he leads me to the patio table in the backyard, which is decorated with candles and fairy lights.

"Oh, what's this? Am I finally being treated right?" I smile as I take a seat.

He was about to take a seat beside me but I stop him, "No, don't sit here!"

"Why?" He raises a brow.

"My side profile is literally the ugliest thing. There's no need to voluntarily see my crooked nose all night." I pout.

"You're ridiculous..." He sighs and takes a seat in front of me.

The table is filled with a variety of a Turkish cuisine. There's seekh kebabs, lentil soup, pide (Turkish patty), kofte (meatball dish), pilav (Turkish pulao), shawarma...

The desserts include baklava, of course. But also künefe, halva and güllaç. There was a tea set right in the middle, probably filled with some kind of Turkish tea!

"Oh my God, you got us shawarma." I say excitedly, clapping my hands together.

"I've seen you eating shawarma enough times at the office to know that it's your thing." He replies.

"Are you calling me fat?" I gasp dramatically.

"What—No! When did I say that?" He stutters.

I burst into laughter. "I'm just kidding. But I can tell you're trying to fatten me up tonight."

"Maybe." He smirks.

"We actually met the night before my interview, do you remember?" I ask him as I think back to the shawarma restaurant.

He raises a brow. "Uh, no?"

I clear my throat to imitate his voice: "Next time, watch your step. It's impolite to talk under your breathe at someone."

He furrows his brows to think back and his expression instantly changes when the memory hits. "Oh, shit. That was you?"

I nod, grinning.

"You should've watched where you were going." He shrugs his shoulders.

"You were just plain rude, even after I apologized." I frown.

"I'm pretty sure I wasn't having a good day." He says.

"Still, rude!" I pout.

"Okay, okay. My bad. Please, indulge yourself in the variety of foods in front of us." He wants me to shut up.

"My pleasure." I grin.

The rest of the night, we exchanged stories from our school days, some were funny and some were questionable.

"What you did to that poor sophomore was unforgivable." I say through my uncontrollable laughter.

"He deserved it! He was going around saying that Lateef was scared of him." Yasir takes a sip of tea. "He really thought he was a big man up until I made it look like he pissed his pants."

"We could've been such good friends if our paths crossed in high school." Would things be really different if we were?

"I agree for once. You would've came up with better plans to get revenge." He chuckles.

"I would've, wouldn't I?" I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

We're in such a good mood... gosh, I haven't been this happy in a while.

"Should we head upstairs?" He suggest once I finish drinking the tea. "There also seems like a storm is coming through soon.

I nod. "I'm exhausted."

Yasir and I gather all the plates and place them in the kitchen sink.

Right before going upstairs, he lightly holds my shoulder, stopping me from going further.

"You have a little..." His words slip off as his thumb wipes off the corner of my lips softly.

My heart is beating so loud that it feels like it'll burst out of my chest. I don't dare move as the rest of his hand rests on my cheek, caressing it. I can't even breathe at this point, my chest tightens.

I know he knows that I'm putty in his hands, he can feel my body responding to his touch by letting him touch my face. He slowly pushes off the scarf I had lightly wrapped around my head but I barely noticed with all the emotions running through my mind.

We stare at each other as if we're in a trance, his eyes searching mine for something passionate, something to ignite the moment further. I'm sure he found it because he leans in, pressing his lips against mine.

The kiss quickly turns into something that's more of a fight of passion. His lips are demanding, fiery and intense. My lips, which are completely inexperienced, tries to keep up with the movements of his. He aggressively pulls me against his chest, wrapping his arm around my waist.

I should pull away before I lose myself in this, but my body resists my demands. My hands slide up his shoulders to rest on the sides of his face.

Suddenly, he picks me up bridal style and carries me up, even with my quiet and pathetic protests. Once we reach the master suite, he puts me down without a word.

He begins nuzzling my neck with gentle kisses, sending shock waves through my soul. My body squirms under his touch but not as a protest, as a pleasure.

"Noor..." His whispers ever so slowly, in a hoarse tone, making me even more insane.

My mind screams at me to push him away but my body instantly refuses as it becomes limp against him, almost trembling. His kisses slowly trails back up, slowly making its way to my lips.

I'm surprised as to how my whole body is responding to this, as my lips automatically part to invite his. Our breathing is mingled as my heart flutters rapidly inside my chest.

He pushes me onto the bed and slips out of his shirt within seconds, revealing his extremely toned physique. My eyes couldn't comprehend what it is seeing, my mouth is slightly parted from shock this time.

He climbs onto the bed, hovering over me, his eyes full of nothing but lust and a desire for touch.

Wait... is this going where I think it's going...

"Yasir... I..." I place my hand on his chest as a way to stop him but my arm didn't have enough energy to anything but rest on it.

Oh, Hell no! I didn't even shave!

But that's not the main problem, Noor...

As if fate itself decided that now is not the right time, an extremely bright lightning beam flashes outside, followed by a loud, thundering sound.

When I tell you this scared the shit out of me, I jumped right into Yasir's arms, screaming, "Yasir!"

I squeeze my arms around him tightly as my breathing tries to stabilize itself.

"Noor! It's okay, you're okay. It's just a storm outside." He holds me against his bare chest... his bare chest...

Oh my God, I'm against Yasir's naked chest. But I'm way too terrified to let go because the thunder is only getting louder and the lightning feels closer than I'd like it to be.

"Let me close the curtains." Yasir was about to get up but I grab his wrist.

"Please don't leave me." My trembling voice came out sounding smaller, and more childish than I expected, even surprising me.

"I'll be right back, I promise." He says softly while stroking my cheek with the back of his index finger.

I don't know where the 'don't leave me' came from... I don't think I was talking about him leaving to close the curtains... I think my sudden fear of him leaving me forever suddenly resurfaced.

As promised, he slips right back into bed about to hold me again but this time I reject his touch.

"I'm sorry I overreacted. I'm fine. I'll be fine." It's as if I suddenly got defensive, I suddenly got really scared that I'm letting him get too close to me.

Girl, you think? At this point it's past the 'too close' level, my conscience mocks me.

"You're fine?" He scoffs. "Noor, you're trembling like a leaf."

That's when I notice, he's right. My hands are shaking like I'm on drugs.

He decides to ignore my previous answer and wraps his arms around me anyways. But I didn't argue this time because I'm genuinely feeling uncomfortable from the thunder and lightning outside.

"I didn't know you were such a sissy when it came to thunder storms." He teases me as I lay against his warm–bare–chest, which is more comforting than I thought it would be.

"Shut up, I didn't ask to be scared of it." I frown.

"My panicked princess seems to be making more appearances than my heartless princess." He says in an amused tone.

"You'll be seeing more of her than I'd like." I mumble, referring to him calling me his panicked princess.

His panicked princess... his princess. This may be just a little joke but it's really starting to feel too real.

"Noor." Yasir calls out my name out of the blue.

"Hm?"

"If I... if we kept going tonight, would you have let it?" He's quieter.

"No." I say flatly but it wasn't convincing enough.

"You didn't seem like you wanted to stop it." He says.

"I did—but I also didn't." I admit truthfully. "It would've been wrong if we... did the deed right now because of the terms of our relationship." I don't know if it will ever be right for us, considering his feelings for Nadira. "Gosh, this is so awkward. I don't even know what we are at this point." I cover my face in embarrassment.

"I don't know either..." There is clear conflict in his tone of voice.

Maybe I did open the gate to his heart. Maybe now I can infiltrate into his thoughts and emotions. Maybe it's time to begin my mission: kill Nadira.

Haha, just kidding! Unless...

Nope, no, that's not the mission, though I'd love for it to be but her death is not in my hands and it is none of my business.

My mission is one thing: get Yasir to fall for me enough to see that what he has with Nadira is absolutely bogus and toxic.

Will I succeed? Only time will tell.

But right now, I don't mind cuddling up to him and living out my dreams, though I would never admit this to him in real life.

I'll bathe in this sweet moment just a tad bit longer... just enough to fuel my energy to fight this war against Nadira to win the broken pieces of Yasir's soul back.

- - -

- A/N -

• They almost... they got so close to... you know. 💀

• The other day, I was thinking about this manhwa I read or more like skimmed bc I don't read manhwas but this one was so freaking popular at the time, so I had to! Anyways, I read it last year or two years ago, called Killing Stalking... my God I'm having random nightmares about it. To people who don't know what it is, I recommend NOT googling it during Ramadan or ever! It's crazy shit! 🤭

Next Update: Friday and Saturday, Insha'Allah!

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