Fawad Khan as Kabir.

♡

(Dream)

His eyes trace around her face; the round face circled by her flying strands of brown hair. The wind blows harshly against her hollow cheeks and trails of tears line them. On instinct, Kabir takes a step closer to Megha.

Megha takes a step back, colliding with Abeer's chest. Abeer's hands steady her, holding onto her shoulders. Her eyes are widen, watching her older brother with fear as if he's the spiders. Kabir knows the look on her face too well, it was the same face she made whenever she saw spiders and that had called out 'bajji' in a voice filled with trembles on multiple occasions.

"Megha?" Kabir says, his eyes widen and his eyebrows raised. Why is his baby sister hiding away from him? What did he exactly do?

He watches Megha who stares at his hands rather than his eyes. Finally, he looks down at his hands. Trails of blood fall to the ground in driplets, causing his heart to thud loudly. When he looks up again, his eyes are met by a different room.

Abeer.

The room he was in has changed into an unfamiliar room. Abeer lies in the bed, laughing his head off. Nazia sits besides him, her eyes warm and friendly as she smiles at Abeer. Kabir takes a step back, alerting them both of his arrival with his shoes clicking against the wooden floor.

His heart stops beating the moment Nazia turns around and her mouth is left agape at the sight of Kabir. Her smile is washed off her face and there's no traces of laughter left on her lips. Abeer doesn't stop smirking. Nazia's eyes are widen as she tries open her mouth to explain.

Kabir takes a step back, his hands finding a firm table. Instead of gripping the edge of the table, his hands grip onto something else. He brings his hands infront of him to see a gun and without another thought, he swings it up to meet Abeer.

Abeer sobers up, his laugh washing away. He stands up, his lower half covered in jeans and a smirk is still edivent on his lips. Kabir tries to break his gaze from Abeer's but he couldn't. Every time he met Nazia's, his heart broke more instead of getting the relief he usually gets.

The trigger goes off. His fingers had pressed it with his lips in between his teeth and his heart drumming.

Finally, he opens his shut eyes to Megha again. Abeer is no longer with her and Megha watches Kabir with hatred. As if Kabir is a monster. "Megha," he repeats, his eyes begging for his younger sister.

She takes another step back without bumping into anyone. Her eyes are terrified at the sight of him and his heart shatters.

Kabir's eyes open to darkness. His heart thumps loudly and he sits up in his bed with his lungs gasping for air. Memories wash over him and he remembers holding his breath in fear as the dream passed on.

His hands grip the silk sheets, straining to get a solid hold. However the fabric merely slips through his fingers and he moves his hands towards his lap. His eyes look over to Nazia who soundly sleeps, her sleep unaffected by Kabir's sudden outburst. She faces him, her cheek on her white pillow as she sleeps.

Kabir grips onto his own pillow, closing his eyes tightly. When he opens them again, his breathing is slow and his heartbeat's thumps have slowed down drastically. A thin layer of sweat coats his forehead. He looks at Nazia again, his heart relaxing at how safe and real she is.

It's night and there's barely enough city light to illuminate her face. But the fact she's here, with her hooped nose piercing and her steady breathing, makes him feel better. He closes his eyes with her rythmical breathes.

Nazia choose him, not Abeer. She choose to be with Kabir. But for some reason, his insecurity worsens. What if the person he loves the most leaves?

Nazia's hand lies open besides his and he takes her hand in his. At first, her hand is limp and then it squeezes his. His eyes trace her face and she open them lazily. Her long, thick eyelashes reveal brown eyes that squint at Kabir with concern.

When her eyes finally gazed up and down, taking in the shiny layer of sweat that Kabir sprouts and the widen eyes of his, she leans up. "What happened?" she asks, her eyes just as widen as his. "Bad dream?"

After a few seconds, Kabir nods. Her arms wrap around his torso, filling him with warmth as he rests his chin on her shoulder. The scent of her shampoo, the familiarity of her touch and the way she hugs him is enough for him to snap back in reality.

Even after a few seconds, neither of them break from the hug. It's not until Kabir's heartbeat drops to its usual pattern, he lets go. Even then, he didn't want to let go of her. His hands remain her lap, laced with her hands as she rubs circles into his back.

"What happened?"

Kabir's mouth is dry as he struggles to find the right words. In the end, he simply shrugs. "I lost you and Megha," he simply says, his eyes watching her hands instead of her eyes. Just by the way he averts his gaze from her, she knows that he's lying.

However, she's willing to let go of it. It must be something worse, something he doesn't want to share. His lips meet her forehead and she looks at him. "Go to sleep," he whispers, rubbing his eyes.
The action could be saying he's exhausted but she could tell he isn't from the way his eyes are widen and alert. Nazia lets goes of his hands and places her feet on the wooden floor. "Nazia, it's well past midnight," Kabir comments.

"Oh well, it's the best time for chai."

Kabir's eyes linger on her brown ones, taking in the dark eyebags of hers. Still, he lets her walk away without a protest. For a moment, he wished to be selfish and place his needs over Nazia's.

He needed her. There's no one else in this city besides Nazia who'll sit down in comfortable silence with secrets looming over them and do nothing besides sip their chai. Perhaps words would be exchanged or terrible jokes that Nazia made on the spot to make him laugh. That only made him desire her company more until he can feel the aching settle in his bones and he can feel it thumping in his heart.

Despite how terrible her jokes are, he'll always crinkle up his eyes to laugh. It's just the way she smiles, her pink lips expanding to showcase her perfectly white teeth as she watches between her thick lashes. Her eyes are always sparkling, awaiting for his familiar laugh.

Kabir closes his eyes for a moment, feeling lost in happiness. Until he remembers the gun, the trigger and the ease he had while pulling it.

Kabir refuses to believe that person was him. It couldn't be. He still flinches at death scenes in movies and he the only things he's ever killed is spiders for his sister.

And, the way Nazia smiled at Abeer in all of their moments together. That one second where her lips parted and her eyes brightened with love. With his heart falling, he realizes he loves Nazia too much to ever kill her source of happiness.

No matter what Abeer had done to him in that dream, Kabir wouldn't kill him.

Simply because of how much he loves Nazia. He couldn't bare to see her smile fall even for a moment and if it meant silently suffering, he'll do it.

That's what made Kabir afraid. The fact he pulled the trigger, that killed someone, that his sister was afraid of him and saw him as a monster were all factors but the fact he knew amongst the mess he couldn't kill him, was what made him afraid. The alone fact that he'll do anything for Nazia's love made him afraid.

It's as if his happiness alone rides on Nazia's.

The door creaks open and Kabir spots Nazia. Her hair is cluttered carelessly around her face but she still smiles widely at Kabir, holding a tray of tea. Despite everything on his mind, Kabir grins at her as she hands him a cup.

The hot tea steams wrapped around his freezing fingers. Nazia sits beside him, causing the bed's weight to shift slightly towards her. Kabir takes a sip of the hot tea, entwining his hands with Nazia's discreetly. She smiles at him again, her eyes still curious over his dream. However, he knows she'll never ask.

□

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CITY, Abeer coughs. He walks in his old apartment in the middle of the night, awaken by an owl screeching. The apartment is dusty but it stills holds its previous familiarity. If Abeer strains his ears long enough, he swears he can hear Nazia's laugh.

The moon shines through the curtainless window and Abeer watches the moon with longing. His fingers touch the cold glass, pressing against it as his breath leaves trails of fog.

It must've been an odd sight. A man, wearing nothing besides black pants and a white shirt devoid of patterns doing nothing besides watching the moon.

It's a full moon tonight. The light of the moon reflects on Abeer's stubble, brightening his face slightly. The simple glow of the light reminds him of his dream.

It was a full moon. The light shone against Nazia's brown hair and illuminated her circle face. Abeer's fingers were tightly laced with hers, using each other's hands for warmth. A fire crackles and Nazia giggles as she watched Abeer's marshmallow burn.

He plucked off the marshmallow, throwing it in the bonfire. Laughter emerged from groups of young adults, each one chattering amongst each other as they stood around the flames. "Happy twenty fourth birthday," Abeer said, smiling widely at Nazia.

She squeezed his fingers in response. "Thanks. And you didn't really have to do this huge party thing."

"It's your big day! Of course I had to," Abeer commented, his eyes widening with shock.

"It's just another day -"

"But you're turning a year older!"

"Or a year closer to death," Nazia laughed, causing Abeer to spontaneously hug her.

"Then celebrate your last years."

"You sound so positive, what happened?" Nazia asked, laughing as she plucked off her marshmallows from the stick. Abeer tried to not show why and instead shrugs. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

"By being with you," Abeer smirked, causing Nazia to blush furiously. His lips met hers and a few hoots are heard amongst the crowd. They go unheard and neither of the pair blushes, however Abeer does smirk.

It was more of a memory than a dream. He remembers the aftermaths of the party, the chaos that emerged after that event. His feelings for Nazia slowly developed from lust to genuinely liking her - just a bit.

However, he still remembers her kisses and her body. They were unforgetable. Even years after he left her, he still searches for her oh so familiar eyes amongst strangers that he's kissed. None of them could ever substitute her, none of them could wear the same perfume or carry themselves the way she did.

It took him years to realize how much he loved her.

□

How was the chapter?

Any predictions on the plot?

Does anyone like Megha? And who's your favorite character?

The little edit in the begining was by me! I'll be doing a small series on all the characters with small quotes. Try your best to guess what Kabir's quote means!

QOTD: what methai do you like the best? (Since Diwali just came. Also Sikhs do celebrate Diwali - but not for the same reasons as Hindus - or in the same way. We have Badi chor deves. And we usually discuss important matters on Diwali. We eat methai, go to the gurdwara and light up Diyas.)

Vote?

- Maya.