I used to dream of having a family. A real family. Not a foster one that didn't give a dime about you unless the government paid them to. They could never pay someone to love you.

For years, I had nursed this mental picture in my head: A loving mother who bakes cookies, gives cuddles, and reads bedtime stories. A hardworking father who watches football games and dozes off in front of the TV. Annoying siblings who steal from my stash of candy, and share secrets and clothes with me.

A home.

Then in my teens, I'd realized beggars can't be choosers. Any adopted family would have sufficed. If only there had been one.

Then that gruesome accident happened when I was fourteen. I'd been placed into a group home, suffering from PTSD, and I'd just stopped dreaming.

Running on survival mode since then, life had dragged onward; Psychotherapy, struggling to catch up with school, struggling to graduate high school, aging out of the system. Then I was placed in Hope House Shelter - as ironic as the name might sound - trying to keep a job and maintain my humanity.

In this journey of surviving, the struggles had never waned.

Until I'd met Akram and Asha.

They were the closest I had to a real family. At least in my selfish mind, they were a realistic version of my old dream. A limited version, maybe, but the best one I could get. They made the struggle tolerable. They filled this void in me that had never been filled before. They made me feel... enough.

Now, after that recent revelation of my past, my old dream had become a warped, discolored picture, in which I couldn't recognize what was left.

That was my shameless reality. The leftovers of a dream. A father with a questionable history. A man who had left his wife and daughter to face a dark fate all by themselves.

And now what? He'd returned to stake his claim? As if I would forgive him for the past fifteen years and go running into his arms?

Was he even aware of the damage he had done and still doing? Hell, did he even care how I'd lived all those years?! How I was bullied and traumatized and lost piece after piece of my dignity?

It made me sick to my stomach that I had already met him face-to-face, not knowing who he was. Who knew how long he'd been stalking me? Or what he really wanted?

Nope. I couldn't get myself to believe he only wanted to reunite with his 'daughter'...I couldn't swallow it. Not after so many years. A man like him must have a perverted motive.

"Aren't you happy he's alive?" Akram's quiet voice broke into my brooding silence, his eyebrows furrowed as he knelt down next to my bed in the guest room.

"Happy?" I cringed. "Happy to know my... 'dad' ruined my life? Happy to know I have a criminal father who dumped his family in a foreign country and let them pay for his mistakes? He would've had a pretty good excuse if he'd died."

Akram made a face. "That's a harsh way to put it."

"It's the truth." I sneered, staring at my pale, clenched fists on the blanket. "You heard what your brother said. He was involved in illegal business. He's a bad person."

"But he quit," Akram argued. "Maybe he was forced to do it. Laila said he wanted to protect you."

My head snapped up, glowering at his aggravating innocence. "I can't believe you're defending him. How can you trust people like that? He didn't protect me, Akram. He banished me. He had a family and he put them in danger. What was he thinking when he screwed up and let us face the consequences?"

"I'm sorry." His eyes softened as he reached to brush my hair off my forehead. "I just can't be mad at him. He's the reason you're here right now."

"That's exactly why I'm mad at him!" I exclaimed. "He started this mess. He's the reason you got hurt, and Mrs. Charan's café got vandalized. He's the reason I lost my mother... He's the reason I'm homeless all my life." My voice broke, tears of frustration brimming in my eyes.

Akram picked up my rigid hand, resting his elbows on the edge of the bed, his eyes reassuring. "Nobody's getting hurt again. You'll be safe here. Akmal and Laila made sure everything is---"

"I can't stay with your family for long," I interrupted. "I don't belong here."

"I can share. They'll be your family too." He tilted his head, showing off his innocent puppy expression.

I wiped my misty eyes with my free hand. "Your family doesn't even know me. I'm a stranger to them."

"You're not a stranger to me." A smile rippled across his lips. "Besides, mom's so excited to have you here."

"For how long?" I urged.

He shrugged. "As long as it takes."

"So you're not sure."

"It doesn't matter," he stressed, "As long as you're safe here with me... with us. "

My heartbeat accelerated, eyes tearing up again. "I'm too much trouble, Akram. Your family will get sick of me... You will get sick of me."

"No way." Akram brushed my hand lightly with his lips. Then he lifted his sincere gaze to mine. "In fact, I really, really wish you could be a part of the family."

"Too late for adoption," I quipped, my heart secretly dancing to his genuine touch.

He chuckled, his face morphing into a vague expression. "Well, actually, there's another way..."

"What's that?"

His throat moved, eyes intently watching my face. He took a deep breath and announced, "Marry me."

I blinked several times. "W-What did you say?"

"Marry me, Melody," he repeated more steadily.

I gawked at his bright-eyed expression. Then I squinted unwittingly.

I wasn't sure I'd heard him correctly even after he'd reiterated the words. It took me a minute to restart my brain, load the definition of his phrase and all the possible interpretations, then abruptly, I bursted into convulsive laughter. His sense of humor was way better than his brother's.

Akram narrowed his eyes, watching my dumb reaction.

My hand hovered over my mouth, trying to curb the noises I was making. "You're joking, right?"

He stayed silent for an excruciating moment. His eyes were intense and there was tightness in his lips.

His eyebrows lifted. "Is that a 'no'?"

My heart sank.

"Ok. Not funny."

"I'm not joking."

I felt the blood drain from my face. A slight dizziness came over me. My hands jerked up to hold each side of my head.

"But... Why would you...?" I shook my head in a daze.

He couldn't possibly be serious.

Unless...

He parted his lips to answer, but I stopped him with my forefinger hanging in the air. "Wait," my voice choked. "Akram, you have a big heart, but... it'd be very stupid if you do something like that out of pity."

"Pity?" he muttered, eyes wide and disturbed. His fingers raked his cocoa hair, nearly pulling it out. "God, Mel! You seriously think everything I do is because I feel sorry for you?"

"What else?" I challenged. "You always want to accommodate me like... like I'm your needy, three-legged puppy."

"Dear Lord! You still don't get it." Akram sprang up from the floor and sank on the edge of the bed. He seized my shoulders with his hands, leaning toward me until I could smell his sweet, cinnamon-scented breath. "I don't pity you, dummy, I'm in love with you."

"YOU WHAT?!" I jumped in place, the springs of the mattress bouncing underneath me. My heart was performing a hundred backflips per second.

He did not just say that!

"Shhh! You don't want Akmal to barge in with a loaded gun, do you?" His eyes darted toward the door, but his expression seemed a bit amused.

My jaw dangled like an idiot, my frozen brain unable to process whatever he'd just said.

"I am... In love... With you," he repeated slowly, emphasizing his words, his eyes glowing with a deep shimmer. "It's a done deal. I won't hide it anymore. I love you and I can't help loving you for the rest of my life."

A shower of goosebumps tingled all over my skin.

My shaky hands slid to cover my mouth.

What on Earth was he saying? Had he gone crazy? Poor Akram. My worthless life had taken its toll on his sanity.

No. Wait! Maybe I'm hallucinating, because this is complete madness.

"I thought I was obvious." He caressed my face with his fingertips. "I thought words didn't matter if I could show you how I feel, but..."

Nope! Hallucinations are not so vivid...

I died then. And this was my twisted version of purgatory. I'd been punished to taste everything I would never have, then it would be snatched away from me over and over again. I brought this on myself.

"I wanted to wait until graduation to tell you, but today I felt like..." he paused for a second. "Like I should man up."

'This isn't real!' a wretched voice shouted in my head. My brain cells were scattered all over the place and I couldn't find the part that controlled speech.

Crap! If I'm not dead, I need to, at least, make sure I'm awake!

I inhaled, squeezing my eyes shut while I silently yelled in my mind, 'wake up, wake up, wake up!'.

Then I reopened them as wide as I could manage.

Akram's anticipative eyes were scrutinizing my face, a worried frown on his forehead.

I must've looked like deranged woman, because his composure began to waver.

"Melody." He shook me gently. "Please say something."

I gulped. My lips trembled, struggling to get the words out of my barren mouth.

"W-when?"

"When what?" he puzzled.

"When did... that happen?"

His face relaxed and a small smile showed up. "I'm pretty sure it was that day at the park."

My eyes went round again.

Seriously? My public humiliation day? Hard to believe. There must be a mistake somewhere. A misunderstanding. A catch... Something!

"How?!" I couldn't stop myself from questioning him.

His lips were a full curve this time. "How what?"

"How d'you know such a thing?"

"Well, you kind of... feel it first." He chuckled once. Low and shy. "It's like... I've felt you. And I just knew there was more to come."

"Explain, please," I asked clinically. The shock was hampering my responses. My brain was sluggish too.

"Okay, then," Akram sighed, scratching his eyebrow the way he did when he was nervous or shy. "When I saw you that day, you were reading and smiling and making all those cute faces." He scrunched up his nose playfully. "I felt this... compulsion to walk over and talk to you. To know you. I've never felt so... captivated by anyone."

I could say the exact same thing about him. Only I was too chicken to follow through.

But... Wait a second!

"You were watching me?" My face flushed. I could never forget that day, but I'd never seen him looking in my direction. I was the peeping Tom back then. His brilliant presence had distracted me from reading a proper sentence.

"I tried to be subtle." The corners of his eyes creased. "I actually prayed for an excuse to approach you."

"Really?!"

"Really." His grip slid off my shoulders to embrace my hands. "Then almost immediately, the boy started crying and you ran to his rescue. It felt like... a sign."

"A sign."

"That my prayer was heard." He nodded, pressing my hands between his palms. "Mel, it was incredible, what you've done with that boy. The park was crammed and you're the only one who had the courage to help him. "

"Oh, come on," I scoffed, my embarrassing meltdown in Central Park replaying in my memory. "His mom could've called the police. I looked like a lunatic."

"You looked beautiful." His thumbs drew soothing lines on the back of my hands. "Magnificent"

I studied his earnest expression, my cruel mind still waiting for a prank to unfold.

"You sure your eyes are okay?" I joked. It would've made more sense if he was talking about another girl.

His face fell. "You don't believe me."

I shook my head quickly. "It's not that. I just, uh... I mean, how d'you know It's L---?" The word was too heavy for my tongue. "It could've been anything."

His eyebrows puckered. "Like what?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "Compassion? Kindness? Pity?"

He glared. "Again?"

"I'm sorry. I never..." my voice trembled and my head sagged. "I don't know how you can be so... so sure."

"Okay. Let me try again." He rubbed his forehead for a moment.

Then he reclaimed my hands, unleashing the power of his gaze on me. "There's a moment in a person's life when he knows... his world won't be the same anymore. That moment was when I saw you. Something... earth-shattering happened to me that day. And I knew my whole life was going to change."

"I honestly don't get --?"

"Please." It was his turn to interrupt. "Let me finish?"

I was more than willing to listen to him forever, but I mentally prepared myself to listen as a bystander - Someone fair and neutral, or else neither my mind nor heart were going to survive this.

I nodded, biting my tongue and peeking at the defined wrinkles between his brows. He looked resolute. Determined.

"Before I met you, I was a loner. I lived for myself. I had no friends and I didn't care to make any. I enjoyed my own company - My music and my coffee and junk food." A brief chuckle rolled in his chest, then his expression softened. "My mother's my best friend. My father didn't support me when I chose a musical career. She did. She wanted me to do what I love. Helped me get to Juilliard. Bought me my own piano - Even the apartment I'm staying in." His head hung low. "She gave me everything without conditions and I just took it without a second thought. So... all in all, I've been a self-absorbed, spoiled brat."

Shaking my head, my lips parted, wanting to object to his self-accusations, then I remembered I shouldn't interrupt.

"Remember when I told you that I used to search for 'the one'? It wasn't a serious effort. I'd just turned eighteen and..." He paused, his eyes wandering. "I wanted to... satisfy my ego, I suppose. To prove that I could make my own choices. I wasn't dating. I was testing people based on my personal values. I stopped when I realized it couldn't work that way. I was making it about me."

"Then I met you." He pushed my chin up with one finger, sincerity flowing from the oceans of cinnamon in his eyes. "And all I wanted, then and there, was to be close to you. Like, my heart was suddenly taken. I craved more. I wanted you and me to be... us."

He swept his finger against my jaw and I closed my eyes, my selfish, thirsty soul soaking up the music in his voice as he continued, "then it wasn't about me anymore. It was about us." his voice turned low and husky. "Our special nights out. Strolling down Manhattan together. Our fleeting smiles across the café. Our late-night texts. And this..." He held up our entwined hands. Mine looked so small, wrapped up safely in his graceful fingers.

"I've been crazy about your hand, you know that?" He demonstrated, interlocking our fingers. "I never wanted to let go, because, to me, it was our connection. It was us. And I savored. Every. Second. With you," he asserted, holding my hand against his chest. "I didn't know it would be so easy. It was as easy as breathing to fall in love with you."

A salty sting burned my eyes, a huge lump growing in my throat. But they didn't stand a chance against the amount of butterflies swarming in my stomach. My heart wanted to break free and leap into his arms, but at the same time, I felt a twinge of sympathy for him. He was making a big mistake. I wasn't that great girl he was talking about. Although I terribly wished that I was.

"Melody," he called my name and my eyelids fluttered, tears on the brink of flooding my face. "Right now, all I care about is you. I'm yours. Heart and soul. Present and future. But I'll do whatever it takes for you to be mine... Unless you..."

"Why haven't you said anything before?" I rasped, trying to hold back the waterworks. It hurt my heart to hear his beautiful words, knowing how much I didn't deserve them.

"I was afraid."

"Of what?"

"Scaring you away." His gaze dropped. "I couldn't predict your reaction. I didn't want you to... doubt my feelings."

"You said you wanted a friend."

"Friendship is a part of the deal, isn't it?"

"Is it?"

"You know Asha loves you, right?"

"She does?" I blinked, baffled by the idea.

His eyes narrowed. "Why do you think she cares about you, then?"

"Because..." I bit my lip. "I'm a needy, three legged puppy?"

"No, silly," he crooned, rubbing my knuckles soothingly. "It's because you deserve to be loved. You're the bravest, kindest, most beautiful person. I wish you could see that."

I shook my head rapidly. "I'm sorry. This... doesn't make sense to me."

"It doesn't have to." He cupped my face in his hands. "Love is not meant to be analyzed. It's meant to be felt and believed." He caressed my cheekbones. "Do you believe it, Melody?"

I swallowed, taking in his handsome face, his soulful eyes, and his words that sounded too impossible. Too undeserved. I wanted to believe it. I really wanted to... But there was this dark, tarnished existence inside my head that resisted the possibility.

"I wish it was that easy." A tear fooled me and slid down my cheek.

He wiped my tear, my face still secured between his hands . "Why not?"

Another tear seared my eyelids and broke free. "Because I'm all wrong. I've nothing to offer. I mean, look at me. I'm plain, useless nothing with a tail of destruction following me. You don't deserve this... this..." I struggled to find a suitable word, "failure."

Akram grimaced. "Don't say that."

"It's true." I reluctantly pulled my head away, freeing my face from the heat of his palms. "You don't know me. Hell, even I don't know me. I'd just been told my father's a criminal. Doesn't that give you any idea about my messed up genes?"

"You're not your father!"

"No. I'm worse." I sobbed.

"Mel, stop." He grabbed my wrists firmly. "I don't care who your father is, or where you came from. I don't care about this bull you keep saying about yourself. I love you!"

"You shouldn't. You deserve much better. I'm worse than you think. You shouldn't tie yourself to someone like me. Think about your family. Think about yourself and your future. I'm not good for you. I'm not good for anyone," I gasped out my words, using less oxygen than I should. The room started to whirl a little, my stomach churning.

Akram groaned and gathered my hands up. He placed them on each side of his warm face, pinning them with his palms.

"Just tell me one thing." His eyes smoldered with unfathomable emotions. "Tell me what you wanted to say this morning... please."

I froze, my thoughts melting away.

"Please. I need to hear it," he pleaded, his eyes closed, just like when I'd thoughtlessly touched his face before.

My heart drummed painfully in my chest, my senses heightened by his closeness; his hot breath blowing on my face, the warmth of his skin touching my fingers, the gentle outline of his mouth, the beauty mark on his cheekbone, the slight dent in the middle of his chin. For a split second, I almost gave in and allowed myself to indulge in the impossible dream. The impossibility of Akram being mine.

It was such a sweet, sweet dream. Too sweet to come true. I couldn't cope with it. It felt wrong. Sinfully wrong.

I moaned, "I can't!"

He drew in a sharp breath and opened his eyes. "You mean, you... you don't...?"

"I just can't."

His face paled, a plethora of heartbreaking emotions running across his face. "So, it was all my imagination?"

"God! Don't make this harder than it is."

"Just tell me. Anything. And I promise I won't bother you again." His voice was strangled and my heart broke for him. I wished I could tell him everything he wanted to hear, but the wretched voice in my head was holding me down.

"I'm scared," I whimpered, wiping my tears on my shoulder, afraid to pull my hands off his face. "I can't afford this. I can't afford to hope and then..." I broke off.

"You think I will bail on you too, don't you?" A pained look marred his eyes.

"No. I know you won't. Not on purpose."

"Then what are you afraid of?"

"Fate," I admitted, instinctively tracing his features. "If I say it out loud - and it becomes real - I'll tempt fate to take it away from me."

"Fate brought us together, Mel," he murmured. "Can't you see that?"

"I'm s-sorry." My voice was ragged. "It's not that... Simple."

"I really need to hear it," he whispered, his eyes glistening. "Please."

"Don't make me say it." I sniffled. "I'm trying to protect my sanity here."

"Well, I'm losing mine right now." His throat quivered. "Should I grovel?"

"No!"

"Then please tell me," he persisted. "Do I mean anything to you?"

"You're everything to me! Everything! You're my whole life, okay?!" I bursted out.

Then I collapsed.

Tears gushed out like a tsunami. My chest was tight, my mouth dry. The room was now spinning like a merry-go-round.

Akram dropped my hands and a morbid fright seized my heart.

A jolt of warmth engulfed me whole when he suddenly wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a full-on, undeniable, very-much-real hug.

I surrendered to the peaceful warmth in his embrace. My neutral bystander self couldn't stand up for herself any longer. I needed him too much. I just couldn't say that word and deal with my fears. It would make things far worse if one day I had to be without him.

"Thank you," he breathed stroking the back of my head with the most tender touches. "That's more than I ever asked for."

I buried my head into his chest, my body shaking with each sob. His heartbeat was on fifth gear. I could hear it racing with mine.

"I love you, " he whispered, his breath tickling my ear. "I will always love you. Just in case you're still in doubt."

"S-sorry I didn't..." I sniffled, my tears soaking his shirt. "...say it right."

"It doesn't get more right than this," Akram's joy was audible in his tone, his arms surrounding me like a security blanket. "I guess words do matter. Forgive me for pushing it, I'm a big hypocrite." His inward chuckle resonated through his chest.

He held me silently for a few minutes, until my tears dried up. The room stopped spinning and I could breathe normally.

My head was inches away from his heart, feeling its speed slowing to a normal pace. Hearing each breath. The feeling was overwhelmingly pleasurable. I didn't want the moment to end. The wrong, sinful feeling was long gone. It felt safe. Perfect.

We both flinched when a firm knock on the door bursted our otherworldly bubble and brought us back to reality.

"Kids, dinner's ready." Sophie's decisive voice rang from the outside.

Akram cleared his throat and unlocked his arms from around me, slowly pulling away.

"Are you ok?" His thumbs caressed my damp face. "Will you come out for dinner?"

I nodded again, chewing my chapped bottom lip. I was slightly dizzy from weeping and being in his arms for the longest time ever. Sophie's interruption made me resent her a little, but I mentally scolded myself for being so ungrateful.

Surprising me yet again, Akram rose up, bowed to my level and kissed my forehead. His lips lingered as he cradled my face.

A wave of well-being washed over me, untangling the knots in every inch of my body. I wished he didn't have to leave. Ever.

He straightened back up, a lovely smile shining on his face. "I believe in fate, Melody," he stated. "And I'm not giving up."

He walked out of the room and closed the door quietly behind him.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in.

Eyes fixed on the door, I contemplated Akram's last words.

Fate.

I'd always thought fate was a terrifying concept.

Since I could remember, I'd never been one of the fortunate, who had their way paved with roses. I used to believe my fate was to struggle. I thought I was destined to be alone and I'd learned to act accordingly. Anticipating the worst was simply my coping mechanism. The less the hope, the less the disappointment.

I'd been afraid of hope as much as fate, because the latter often defeated the former. At least that had been my life's experience.

The odd thing was that, now, being unemployed, broke, and practically homeless - knowing that bad people were chasing me - my own father included - I wasn't as scared as before.

I didn't want to admit it at first, but hope didn't seem like the monstrosity it used to be.

All thanks to Akram.

As long as he was there. Keeping me safe. Keeping me in his life. This little seed of hope had a chance to sprout and bloom one day.

When Akram had held me, a form of certainty was trying to sneak its way into my mind. I wasn't alone anymore. I was safe in his arms. I found my place. My home.

Maybe my fate was changing now. Maybe it wasn't against me in the first place.

Maybe I had no clue what my fate was or what was in store for me. I needed to wait to figure it out.

Akram was here beside me. Even after rejecting his proposal, he wasn't giving up on me.

And that was all that mattered.

******

Hello lovely ones!!

WOOHOO!! THEY FINALLY DID IT! THEY CONFESSED THEIR LOVE!! ON VALENTINE'S DAY!! 😄💕💕

I Hope you like this surprise. Which was surprising to me too at some point... 😂

I would like to thank my sweet friend VioletEden for encouraging me to write an extended Epilogue. I wouldn't have done it without her support.

And I wouldn't have done ANYTHING AT ALL if it were not for each and every amazing reader and friend who supported Melody and showered me with their love, votes and comments. I can't express how grateful I am to all of you! 💖💖

I would also like to send a special "thank you" to Backwings . My friend who is technically not on Wattpad, but just created an account to support me.  I will never forget how much you've helped me.  🌹

I hope you all are going to stay around until book 2 is published. I have to tell you, I have no exact plan or timetable. But I'll do my best not to disappoint you.

💖HAPPY VALENTINES DAY💖

Much love

Most_bay