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Dahlia Ahmad truly disliked rain.

It was a gloomy evening in the over-populated city. The sky, hiding behind pregnant and prowling clouds, was grumbling and flashing occasionally ― like a warning before its spontaneous leaking.

Dahlia Ahmed leaned against a wooden pole on their patio, her eyes on the infinite sky that stretched over their backyard.

All of a sudden, spits of water hit Dahlia's face and thunder rumbled overhead. The bickering of her sisters faded from the background as pitter patter of rain filled the air, and the constant lingering scent of spiced tea was dissipating to be replaced by earth and moss. She furrowed her eyebrows at the sky in disapproval.

Regardless of her displeasure, Dahlia closed her eyes, lifted her face towards the light drizzle and murmured a prayer. She simultaneously rubbed her arm to settle back the goosebumps that had risen ― the thin shawl around her head was a sorry excuse for a protection against the merciless weather. Within minutes, the rogue wind changed its direction, and before Dahlia knew it, the drizzle turned into an downpour.

"Whee!" With a sudden burst of cry, Ibrahim whizzed past her into the heavy rain, with the twin monkeys in toe. Asiyah squealed and ran into Ibrahim's arms, and Muhammad danced around them. Dahlia, though initially startled, started laughing at the scene before her.

"Ibi!" Zinnia's voice sounded distant over the vigorous pitter-patter, but it was hard to miss the outrage in her tone. Within seconds, the bearer of the angry cry was besides Dahlia. "They're going to get sick." She shrieked.

But the recipients of Zinnia's anger barely paid any attention to her.

"Ibi!" She shouted again.

Ibrahim put Asiyah down and jogged towards the sisters with a playful glint in his eyes. Before the two sisters could realize, he clutched their arms and jerked them out of the shelter. He pulled them into the middle of the lawn, despite their protests and struggles, as the two children cheered for him. Within seconds they were soaked to the bone.

Dahlia, though shivering, soon gave in when she saw the children's gleeful faces, and Ibrahim laughed loudly as Zinnia's dramatic "no" hung in the air.

Farrah's mind went over and over what Salman said.

That's my idea of a nightmare.

That's what he said. That her wedding to another man was his idea of a nightmare.

What did he mean by that? She never knew what anything meant when it came to Salman.

Farrah's mind went back to the raw, unfiltered expressions she had seen on his face.

They were so uncharacteristic of Salman, so far from the happy boy she always knew.

She had only seen his vulnerable side a couple times before. When he used to talk about his father when they were younger, and the few times he confessed how afraid he was of disappointing his grandfather, in the dingy kabab place they used to visit as kids after school.

She used to call that side of him her Salman, the one who didn't mock her or tease her, the one who wasn't afraid to bare his heart in front of his sister - the one his endless line of admirers didn't know about or the pretty girls of their school had never seen.

When she was getting over him, she convinced herself that side of him wasn't real, it was all in her head.

But seeing it again, hearing the words he said, Farrah was starting to doubt everything she ever believed.

Did she ever even stop loving him? Was it even possible for her?

She let out a frustrated sigh and dropped her head on her hands. Farrah couldn't remember the last time she was this emotionally exhausted and overwhelmed. Actually she did - back when she was utterly and crazily in love with Salman.

It was like nothing had changed. After all these years, he was still the beautiful, popular boy tormenting her, and she was still the insecure girl secretly pining after him.

They weren't those kids anymore, yet somehow they were.

Farrah couldn't do this anymore. The stability she had fought so hard to gain in her life was starting to wobble. The years of longing, pining, obsessing, it was all coming back and Farrah couldn't do it anymore.

Farrah wrapped a scarf around her neck over the t-shirt she was wearing and sauntered out of her room.

She decided, perhaps, it was time she bared her heart to Malika and ask her for advice. Farrah had no idea what she was going to say to her, or even to her mother if Rani caught her heading out this late in the evening, all Farrah knew was she needed answers.

It was pouring outside. She roughly grabbed an umbrella from the hooks behind their kitchen door an she swiftly exited through the main door, successfully dodging everyone she came across.

Farrah padded across the garden in the front of their house, her feet making sloppy splashes against the puddles of water starting to gather.

Another silhouette was walking in the same path she was, coming from the opposite direction. Farrah halted in her track.

He was sprinting in the rain with his arms over his head in a poor attempt to shelter himself from the peltering. He came forward and she saw Salman's face emerge from the shadows. The nerves in Farrah's stomach twisted tighter.

"Fari?" Salman asked, resting his arms besides him. "What are you doing here?"

"I... this is my house, " she fumbled with her words. "What are you doing here?"

"I was coming to talk to you," Salman replied, the confusion in his face making way for a hint of nervousness.

"Oh," Farrah breathed and looked down at her shoes. She had her mind set that she was going to speak to Malika. That's what she convinced her heart for. She wasn't prepared to face him, not yet. Her heart raced in her chest.

She finally noticed the damp patches on his clothes, and the water dripping from his hair. Farrah looked over her shoulder to locate the gazebo in the center of their front yard. "C'mon," Farrah called over the rain as she gestured for him to follow her, skipping in that direction.

They both entered the gazebo, sheltered from the merciless downpour, the pitter-patter now magnified to a dull thud. Farrah lowered her umbrella.

The garden lit up around them. Both of them looked up and let out gasps of surprise. The little fairy lights draped around Rani Hussain's tulips and hibiscus trees were twinkling. Farrah's eyes briefly landed on Salman, his ever so bright eyes were basking in the warm light.

"The guards must have lit them," she said when Salman caught her looking, gesturing to the security guards in the distance, close enough to see them. Farrah took comfort in the idea that at least she wasn't alone with him anymore.

"I'm so sorry for everything, Farrah," he started with an exhale, when at the same time she asked. "What do you want, Salman?"

Farrah's heart dropped to her stomach. He came to apologize for what he said, to tell her he didn't mean any of it. She began to feel embarrassed over the thought of dissecting and mulling over his words all day - words he probably didn't even mean.

Salman let out a humorless chuckle "You go first," he said, beckoning at her.

Farrah swallowed. "I'm sorry for barging into your house like that the other day. It was incredibly rude."

A corner of his lip lifted up in a crooked smile. "That's not what you were saying."

"I was getting to it eventually," Farrah lied.

"No." Salman shook his head, that smile still on his lips. "You asked something else."

Farrah shifted weight on her other foot uncomfortably. What was she supposed to say? That she couldn't sleep all night because of the few words he spewed in the heat of the moment? She felt like an idiot.

When he was met with silence from her part, Salman started with, "when I heard your parents were considering you for Rashid bhaia, I was devastated." He said, his voice soft. Salman looked down at his hands. "That's why I'm here."

His words hit her like a brick. It was like her heart forgot how to beat properly. It was thrashing against her ribcage erratically.

"Why?"

He shrugged in reply, letting out a laugh simultaneously.

"Tell me why you would even care about that." She demanded, tears pricked her eyes.

"It's hard for me to imagine you with anyone else, let alone with my cousin of all people."

Farrah stilled. The words she had been yearning to hear her whole life. For all those years.

"I knew it should have been me who was considering to marry you, instead of him. I have been lying to everyone, including myself, about how I truly feel about you"

He swallowed. That raw, vulnerable emotion was there again. The look in his eyes was something Farrah had never seen before.

"I don't believe you." Farrah shook her head, her voice strained. "You're joking."

"I swear, Farrah. If there's anything I've ever meant with my heart and soul, it's this," he said earnestly.

"I don't believe you." The tears pooling in her eyes stained her cheeks.

"How can I prove myself to you? Tell me," Salman insisted. "I'll do anything."

"Have your mom talk to mine." Farrah replied, her voice more firm than before. "Show me you're serious about this. Actually, it is what you should have done in the first place."

"Fine," he said adamantly.

"That's the only way I'll believe you."

"Then that's what I'll do."

Farrah stared at him, a million emotions sparkling in her eyes. "Are you serious? You promise you're not just saying?"

"I would never joke about us, Fari."

The sincerity in his eyes pierced her heart. The raw vulneribity of her own heart was beginning to peak through. "Then I'll wait."

He took a couple steps back. "Whatever it takes."

He walked into the rain again, his eyes never leaving her and flashed her that lopsided grin through the haze of water, leaving her in the shelter.

"Expect to hear from me in a couple days."

Salman walked away with that, giving her a last look that made her heart as restless as the weather.

We have reached about the halfway mark for the story. In my personal opinion, this is where it gets super interesting from 👀