Zara's POV

"Don't flirt with me again, okay?" I point my index finger at Armaan.

He looks at me with satire apparent in his eyes.

"When did I flirt with you, by the way?" He asks looking at me with fake anger.

"What you said earlier is flirt. What else?" I shrug my shoulder as I take a piece of carrot and place it in my mouth.

"Really? You think this was a flirt?" He crosses his both arms on his chest as a faint smile is playing on his lips.

I nod my head while chewing on the carrot and looking on the counter for something else to eat.
I take another slice of carrot in my hand. Before I can even raise my hand to reach my mouth, I feel my waist being grabbed and my both hands land on Armaan chest. I look at him in a baffled state when he brings his face closer to mine.

"What you assuming as a flirt is the true feelings of my heart, " he whispers in my ear.

He softly places a kiss on my earlobe as he looks back at me. He stares at my lips before leaning towards them. But he never reaches them as he takes my hand in his and eats the slice of carrot.

This is when it hits me. I pull myself away from him and look at my empty hand.

"This was mine. Why did you eat it?" I yell.

"You are mine so in this context, your everything is mine as well. Isn't it?" He chuckles while looking at me.

"What a logic," I roll my eyes at him at which he laughs loudly.

I glare at him before turning my gaze away from him. He again says me his. I can feel my cheeks burning hot. A small smile crosses my lips as I reminisce about his words.

"Zara, " I look back at him when he grabs my arm and pulls me towards himself.

He cups my face with his both hands, "jokes aside; what I said earlier is true. I think I never got to confess this to you but whenever I am with you, this world looks the most beautiful, the most enjoyable thing to me. When I am with you, I don't have to change myself because you are exactly like who I am."

"You get really serious, huh?" I show him a smile and the smile gets deeper when my eyes spot something on the counter. This just reminds me of what he did back then and it's a perfect chance for me to have my revenge.

I peek at Armaan before looking back at the dry, white thing. An idea comes into my mind and I take the flour in my hand and rub it on his face.

"You also look cute like this." I point my finger at a baffled Armaan while laughing.

He first stares at me dumbfoundedly and then he rubs his cheeks.

"You brat..." He laughs and takes the flour in his hand pour it on me.

I lay my hand on my stomach when it starts getting hurt due to laughing. I look down and my eyes get wide seeing flour everywhere. Not to forget, how much we both are engulfed by it. That is insane.

I stare at Armaan who is smiling while looking at me. In a split second, he pulls me towards him. He tugs a piece of my hair behind my ear as his ocean blue eyes are fixed on me. He softly rubs his hand on my cheek to remove the remaining flour. My breath hitches when he leans nearer to me and moves his lips on my cheek. He lifts my face up with the help of his index finger and thumb. He stares into my eyes before brushing his lips along my jawline. I gasp when he tugs my hair away from my neck; his fingers softly brushing against my bare neck. In a split second, he kisses on my neck sending chills down my spine.

I can feel his lips moving to my collarbone when my hand gets bumped into a glass and it falls with a thump. I abruptly drag myself away from him. I can feel my heart beating so loudly against my chest; first because of that sound and then because of what we were doing.

I can feel my cheeks getting blood red due to both shyness and embarrassment. I don't dare to look back at Armaan as I turn around and run away towards outside. Still, I can feel the heat of his eyes, following me. What just happened a while ago? I take a few deep breathes to calm myself down. I touch my flushed cheeks with my both hand as my mind recall everything from earlier. A shy smile crosses my lips just thinking about it.

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Shaiq's POV

"But I have one condition; you will be least affected by my presence and will marry whoever you like or love," she says directly gazing into my eyes.

I look at her in astound. What does she mean by this? And she has asked this thing as a condition.

"Zainab, what are you saying? I..."

"You are clearly understanding what I am saying, Shaiq and this is the least I can do for you, so please do as I am saying," she states.

"And what about you?" I mumble.

"I don't consider myself as someone who needs love in any form anymore. I no longer believe in love. I will be fine." She says as she tries to get off the bed.

"Do you still love him?" I don't know how it gets slipped out of my mouth.

She stops her movement to stand up and looks at me with a stern expression on her face.

She stares blankly at me before her lips curl up to form a smirk, "what if my answer is yes?"

"So I will be assured that you are lying because the Zainab I know would be least bothered by anyone's betrayal and will just move on, " I tell her.

She smiles wearily as she looks at me, "you know me so well and it's such a pity, I have lost a best friend."

"Zainab, I have told you, I am still the same."

"No, you aren't!" She yells making me look at her in a baffled state.

Tears start coming out of her eyes as she diverts her gaze from me and looks away. I can hear her soft sobs.

I rub my forehead in apprehension as I look at her again who is still whimpering. What should I say to her now? Despite able to console her on her every problem, today I myself don't know what to do. I take her hand in my both hands which makes her look back at me.

"Believe me, Zainab. We can get back to normal. It's not that big of a problem which you are assuming that it is. You want me to accept your condition? Okay, I'll do as you say. But please, don't become this stranger to me. I need my best friend to come back; the same fun-loving and chirping Zainab. Will you?"

I can notice her facial expressions change from stern to soft as a faint smile appears In her face.

"Are you saying the truth?" She asks.

I nod my head while returning a smile to her.

"Thanks, Shaiq," she mumbles as she squeezes my hand.

"So I get my previous Zainab back or not?" I pinch her nose.

"Yes, moron." She playfully smacks on my head.

This just makes my smile to get deeper. This isn't easy but at least I have succeeded In bringing back her smile.

 
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                      < [ One month later ] >

Zara's POV

I wipe the tears off my face with the back of my palm when I find Armaan entering the room. I drag myself away on the bed as I turn my head in the other direction. I can feel his stare on me when he sits beside.

"Zara, what happened?" I hear his full of concern voice just near me.

I shake my head sideways, my face still on the other side. I sniffle my nose as I wipe the incoming tears from my eyes.

"Wait, are you crying?" He grabs my shoulders and makes my face towards him.

He stares at me before cupping my face with his both hands.

"Why are you crying?" He again asks.

"I...I am missing my Dad," I whisper, and with that, a tear again cascades down my cheeks.

He smiles faintly as he wipes my cheeks with his thumb.

"You really scared me. I thought something happens to you," he states while rubbing the side of my face.

I have been really anxious because of the whole Dad's case lately. How much I want to get it out of my head, still I am not being able to do so.

Armaan comes near to me and takes my hand in his.

"You know whenever I miss my Mom, I always meet her at her grave. Shall we go to your father's?

"No, I don't want to," I shout hurriedly.

I won't be able to go there and meet him considering how much hurt I am because of him.

Armaan looks at me in confusion.

"Why so?" He asks with a raised brow.

I can't believe I have just blurted this in front of him.

"I just...dont feel like to go there. I may go someday else."

He just nods his head but from the dubious look on his face, I am sure he isn't persuaded by it at all.

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Yes, I never loved you because of how you are! You are so disgusting.

My eyes flutter open as an intense pang arises in my heart. My heart is throbbing so hard that in this silence, I can hear its swift beating. I have again had a nightmare with Dad in it. I still remember his terrifying words in my dream which actually makes me awake. I touch my forehead to find the beads of sweat on it. In fact, my whole body is full of sweat right now.

Why I am seeing dreams like this?

Dad, are you angry with me? I don't know obliviously I will hurt you. But I always loved you and I still do.

I find the tears oozing out of my eyes. I cover my mouth to hinder the sobs as Armaan is probably sleeping and I may end up irritating him.

Suddenly I feel the suffocation due to a lump of tear getting stuck in my throat. I abruptly sit up in an attempt to go out of the toom.

I flinch my eyes when the bright light impinges on them.

"Zara, are you okay?"

I hear Armaan's sleepy voice which makes me turn around to look at him. He is rubbing his eyes while his stare is on me. Then suddenly, his hands stop where it is and his eyes get wide as he spots the tears in my eyes.

He grabs my arm and turns me towards him as he looks at me with narrowed eyes.

"What happens? Why are you crying?" He asks.

I stare at him with teary eyes without blurting any word. He is fully awake now as evident by the anxious look on his face.

"Zara-"

He doesn't get to complete what he wants as I hug him causing his body to get stern.

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Salam guys!

First of all, I am so proud yet a bit sad to tell you that Entangled Love is going to end soon. Just 5-7 chapters (except the epilogue) are there and then we will say goodbye to our gang for which I am so sad. But I am proud at the same time because I never thought I will be able to complete it.

So regarding this chapter, how is it?

If you like this chapter, don't forget to vote and comment.