"Well, it looks like you brought your own storm to the library today," smiled Dina, leaning against the counter. "Should we play a guessing game so I can figure it all out or will you tell me without my charades?"

Nicholas glanced up, raising a brow at the brightness that lit her dark eyes, tempting but subtle. They scintillated with a mischievous glint, veiling the obvious worry that she tried so hard to mask under wraps. He could read her like a book now.

Although he kept his lips shut, Nicholas leaned against his chair, crossing his arms over his chest in a challenge. A cocky grin teased his lips, but he held it back. 

Dina grumbled under her breath, shoulders dropping. "I was really hoping to skip today's episode of guessing."

"We never really skip it."

"A girl can hope," she shrugged, walking around to sit beside him. "So tell Dr. Dina all about your miserable day."

"I don't think you're certified to make a diagnosis."

She scoffed, flipping the flap of her headscarf over her shoulder like it was hair. "I've interviewed enough doctors to practically be one."

"I don't think that's how it works."

"In my mind, it does," she sassed him. 

Nicholas could only chuckle, momentarily forgetting all about his parents and their hostility towards him. His eyes rested on the exotic beauty before him and her mesmerizing brown eyes that lured him away from his shackles and doubts. She stood with an angelic glow to her like she held justice and ease in one palm while the other outstretched towards him, offering an escape from reality. 

Unfortunately for Nicholas, his eyes caught the glimpse of a book hidden under a pile of papers, one of his favorite reads during those stormy days. Under the spotlight of his vision, he saw the old leather copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, a classic tale of human nature and a vicious cycle of vengeance. 

Nicholas hated to admit that the void in his heart matched the pain the Count had felt when his life had been ripped from him. He was wrongfully caged due to traitors and liars, his naive innocence being the source of his troubles. He trusted the good nature of humanity until it had drained his life through years and years and years of torture within isolated brick walls. 

The taste of vengeance was the only sweetness to his sour life.

Like the mysterious count in the book, Nicholas had once believed that all people were pure of ill will, yet as knives grew sharper and words became crueler, he learned that society and culture changed the mindset of many. No longer was human compassion valued among his peers or his family, but rather a dark, tainted evil engulfed them in clouds of greed, suffocating and poisonous to the soul. 

Dina's eyes found the object of his attention as realization dawned upon her. She picked up the book, flipping through the pages with fondness, a faint smile gracing her luscious lips of red like the apples from Snow White. It was alluring, yet he knew her smiles would become too addicting for him to even function anymore. 

"I used to hate this book," she said, voice quiet among the hushed voices of a busy library. "I hated how cruel it depicted people, how villainous allies were to the main character, but most of all, I hated how it made me feel."

Nicholas raised a brow.

"It made me feel like... I couldn't trust people," she trailed off, oblivious to the world around her as the faltering claws of the past gripped her. Dina exhaled a shaky breath, slowly lifting her eyes to meet his. A look of sympathy crossed her, a tight smile settling rigidly across her lips like a painful strain. "But that's not how real life is."

"How can you be so sure?" he asked rather coldly. 

"Because I met you, Nemo."

Like the soft petals of a crimson rose, his cheeks reddened, a blushing ember crawling up his neck in sheer embarrassment. His mind went blank, all he could see were the roses behind her, a blossoming beauty of remarkable talents. Her brown eyes lit the road to destiny for him, the road to her arms, the road to his happiness, and Nicholas couldn't help but feel the need to hold her.

She had only said a couple of words and he was already speechless. Even with the nagging of his parents in the back of his mind, Nicholas felt his lips tug upwards, and he couldn't stop smiling. 

"I love you," he whispered. "I've never loved anyone the way I love you. Not now. Not ever."

This time it was Dina's turn to blush as she averted her gaze. Softly biting on her lower lips, a look of ambivalence threatened her eyes, but she suppressed it.

His hand itched to cradle her cheek towards him, delicately placing his lips upon the soft, rosy ones he had imagined all these nights. With a persistent love like theirs, he knew he could never get bored of the exotic beauty before him from her childish antics to her heart spoken words, she was the gusting wind of comfort, wearing the wings of purity like an angel sent from Allah to cure his bleeding heart.

"Stop embarrassing me," she mumbled under her breath and hiding her bashful smile. "You always do this."

He chuckled. "I didn't do anything."

"Shut up!"

"I just said I love you," he grinned. "Is it a crime for me to proclaim my love in the very library that we met?"

"A hundred times yes!"

"Now, you're just being cruel to the poor man who's fallen in love. Have some mercy, Dina," he feigned hurt by placing a hand over his chest. "Your words wound me."

She pouted. "You're so mean."

"I'm just honest."

"Brutally honest," she corrected before shaking her head. "Stop changing the subject! Why are you so upset?"

Like a cold bucket of water, the fantasy of surrealism where Dina was his only thought and bane of existence, he was suddenly brought back to reality. The gruesome and vile world clamped its jaws against the frialing body of an insecure male who had lost any sense of family through blood. 

The panging pain returned, and he desperately clutched his breath, paralyzed by feelings of helplessness. Allah, he thought, why do they think I'm crazy? Why do my parents deem me as a disgrace?

Instantly, Dina caught Nicholas right before his body gave out. "I got you," she said, holding onto his arm. "Relax. Just listen to my voice, Nemo. I'm here. Shh."

Closing his eyes, he tried to focus on the angelic tone of her voice, the soothing touch of her body, and the prickling guilt he felt for causing her to sin. He opened his eyes, prepared to push her away.

"Dina-"

"Shush," she scolded. "You need to take a drink of water and relax. This much stress is bad for you, Nicholas. What's going on?"

"N-Nothing."

"It's not nothing! You're overwhelmed. How are you supposed to continue through your daily tasks if you were a second away from fainting? Do you have any idea what this stress can do to your body? You have to take care of yourself!" she yelled, completely forgetting the fact that they were in a library. 

A couple students had sent sneering glares her way, bringing their fingers to their lips in an attempt to shush Dina.

"You're in a library, shut up," hissed one of Dina's tormenters.

Dina's jaw clenched at the girl. "Mind your own business. Just because you don't care about the librarian doesn't mean that I don't."

The girl slowly backed away. 

"Dina, this isn't worth fighting people about," he tried to calm her. 

She turned back to him, arms crossed. "Start talking," she demanded.

Nicholas swallowed the nerves down. The fury that blazed her eyes only matched the redness that puffed her cheeks and the dangerous scowl haunting her lips. He did not want to anger the primal beast that circled within her. He knew that Dina would eat him alive if he did.

Sighing, Nicholas stopped fighting. "My parents visited," he muttered. 

Her eyes widened. "And?"

"They disowned me."

The words tasted bitter on his tongue, but they were the brutal truth.  

A looming darkness had extinguished the light, demons crawling from their metal cages that had once rusted with loss. A chill rolled down Nicholas's spine, coiling around his vertebrae like a serpent's grip, and within a flash, poison etched his veins. 

----

*Long author's note ahead.*

I'VE COME BACK FROM THE DEAD! Just kidding :P

I came back from that long hold on all my books, and if you don't follow me, you're probably pissed. Truth be told, I was editing another book on Wattpad to finalize some edits for publishing. ADII is an old book of mine that took years to write, and it was written during a time where I was still crafting my writing. 

SO THE EDITS TOOK FOREVER PLUS THOSE AWFUL COLLEGE APPLICATIONS AND AP CALCULUS AND AP PHYSICS.

*clears throat* This is fine. This is fine. This is totally fine.

Another reason why I was gone for so long was family reasons. My paternal grandfather had a tumor, and my dad abruptly left to visit him in Bangladesh. The shock of it was pretty jarring. Recently, my grandfather passed away. Although we weren't the closest, he was a part of my family, a part of my father's life, and he was bonded to me by blood. 

I can no longer be the judge of his actions. May Allah forgive him for his sins and have mercy for his heart. It still hurt quite a bit because a part of me wondered so many unanswered questions. The only thing that really kept me going was these books. 

So thank you for being my loyal supporters through the most stressful year of my life. Thank you for not abandoning this story and giving Nicholas and Dina a chance. Also, keep a heads up for publishing updates ;)

Don't forget to vote, comment, and follow!