Amara's POV

"I tried. I tried so damn hard but I couldn't. All my life, you let me live however I wanted and for once, I wanted to be able to do what you told me to. I just wanted your praise and appreciation, that's all." Peter's words slip out as if he's been holding them back for ages.

"Once I saw Amara tonight, I almost gave her up. I almost broke her so horribly tonight that I hoped that she would never come back to me; that she should hate me inside out." His voice cracks and my heart clenches at the thought.

"But even when I was breaking her into pieces, I looked into her eyes expecting rage and hate, but there was none." He turns to look at me as he squeezes my hand. "She still looked at me as if she would give me the world, if I asked. I couldn't watch her crumble any further, I couldn't destroy her for my own selfish reasons."

"I realized I've loved Amara since the moment I laid eyes on her all those months ago but I was so afraid of not being accepted by you or Amara that I hid from all my problems."

"Mom, Dad," He faces his parents, "if I married anyone but Amara, I would've been miserable forever, knowing I could've changed our fate. Not only would I be miserable, so would Sarah and Amara. I know you expected better from me but I... I couldn't let her go."

His father sighs and all of us look into him with hope that he'll accept it and come around.

"We thought we would never see this day." He says.

I place a hand on Peter's shoulders to comfort him.

If I have to leave Peter for his parents to be happy, I'd do it in a heartbeat because his parents will always come before me. His parents' respect and blessing is more important than anyone else.

"Dad..."

"We thought we'd never see the day where you act as a mature, responsible adult." Mr. Bilal finishes his sentence as he looks up to smile at his son. "Don't get me wrong, what you did today was extremely reckless and could've been handled privately but it also showed that you've grown as a person."

His mother steps forward to hold Peter's hand in hers with tears in her eyes. "Your father's right. When I saw you speak about Amara with such love in your eyes, I could tell something in you had changed for the better. In fact... I had a bit of a feeling that you liked Amara." She winks.

His parents give Peter a brief hug and approach me. His mother embraces me with warmth and says, "I can't wait for you to be a part of the Bilal family."

"Ever since he's been around you, Peter's been taking an interest in Islam. He's been visiting the local mosque to understand it more. Even though he was born into a Muslim family, we never pressured him into anything." He pays Peter's back. "I'm happy to see such amazing changes growing within him all because of Amara."

I quickly shake my head. "Oh, no! It wasn't just me. I'm sure Peter had it in him all along. He just needed a little push, that's all."

"She's so humble. Nothing like our narcissistic son." His mother laughs.

"Mom!" Peter groans.

"Please excuse us. We have to explain Peter's little stunt to the guests." Mr. Bilal says.

"Amara, dear, we will love to sit down with your parents to talk about this officially!" Mrs. Bilal holds my hand excitedly.

"I'm sure my parents would love that." I smile as I give her hands a little squeeze out of my equal excitement.

Once his parents leave, Daamir steps up. "Am I crying? I think I'm crying." He announces.

"Shit, I would've married Peter if he said all that about me." Rooble teases.

"You're too late now. I'm already taken by the most wonderfully beautiful person." Peter grins as he raises up my hand as if we just won something.

"Daamir might be joking but I was crying. Peter really pulled out some Shakespearean speeches for this and it was perfect." Zoya laughs.

"I can't thank you enough for this, Amara." Sarah says as she gives me a quick hug. "You've saves us all."

"I should be thanking you for this opportunity to be able to even do this." I smile.

"She's right." Peter says. "If you didn't make this happen, I would've never told Amara the truth."

"Should we give the happy couple some time to themselves?" Dina grins.

"But not too much time. We don't want trouble." Beena smirks as she winks at me, making me blush.

Our friends leave, leaving us by ourselves.

"You're most definitely crazy." Is the first thing that comes out of my mouth.

"Did you expect something else from the Peter Bilal?"

"I suppose not." I laugh. Then, I go quiet for a few seconds until a question pops up in my head, "Did you mean everything you said?"

He holds my hands in his. "Every damn word."

"You're sure you won't regret this?" I whisper.

"I love you, Amara. The only thing I would've regretted is if I never told you that."

The butterflies in my stomach have increased its intensity. My heart is so full that I couldn't stop smiling.

Suddenly, I start laughing. "This is crazy. Everything happened so fast, I'm confused and can't believe it."

Unexpectedly, Peter places a soft kiss on my cheek. "Well, believe it now because you're going to be Mrs. Peter Bilal soon."

"I..." he places a kiss on my forehead. "Love..." he places a kiss on my eyes. "You..." he finishes it off my pecking my lips.

This instantly puts my heart on overdrive because all I wanted to do was hold him in my arms and stay there for a while.

"That was a little corny." I giggle.

"Get ready because I'll be corny for the rest of our lives together."

When I first saw Peter, I thought he couldn't be someone who could be such an important part of my life. But somehow as time went on and I finally saw Peter, my heart said oh, there you are. It's as if my soul was searching for him this whole time.

Even though life was throwing every curve ball at us to tear us apart to the point where we had given up on each other, somehow, we made it. We came right back to each other stronger than before.

It's funny how I thought I was the only one falling apart but Peter had quietly been breaking on the inside with the battle he had been fighting with himself.

There's always two sides of a story. Always listen to both sides, whether the other side is genuine or not. No one is completely innocent or perfect, but viewing something from both sides will give one a better understanding.

If Peter and I had left things unsaid, we would've left a part of ourselves broken. Always remember, you need both sides to build a bridge.

"I've been saying I love you multiple times in the past few hours, I haven't heard anything back!" Peter frowns.

"Oh? What about all those times I've told you I loved you and you left me hanging?" I give him a questioning look.

Peter shows his signature pout that can have anyone doing his bidding in seconds. "I love you, Amara."

"That's unfair. Now you're just playing dirty." I furrow my brows.

He throws his head back and begins chuckling. The sound of his laughter is one of his most attractive feature about him on a long list. It makes my heart flutter.

He embraces me into a comforting hug while resting his chin on my head. "I can't wait to spend every waking moment with you."

That sentence hit me hard. I realize how lucky I am to be spending the rest of my life with the man I truly love.

The path God sent us on was to strengthen our relationship as well as our faith. It was so beautifully laid out that Peter and I were able to meet in the middle.

"Peter..." I says his name in a soft tone.

"Mhm?"

"I love you." I whisper into his chest loud enough for him to hear me.

"That's my girl." He chuckles as he places a kiss on my forehead.

Peter Bilal will forever be my always and I will be his.

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A/N: I'll post a full author's note in a separate page! ❤️

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