bella moodboard made by the lovely KarmilaJane! thank you so much, it's amazing & unique!

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THE CAR SUDDENLY STOPS, in the midst of Megha frantically applying her chapstick on her dry lips. Megha's eyebrow raises, and she unbuckles her seatbelt to see what stopped Nazia from driving.

Nazia raises her finger towards a silver car, her hand shaking. Harnaam and Megha follow her ring clad finger towards the familiar car. With a horrified gasp, Harnaam's eyes widen at the sight of broken glass.

It's Kabir's car. Nazia had brought the car with Kabir. They had gone store to store searching for the perfect car. Every once in a while, Nazia used to say that Kabir was more in love with the car than he was with her. She would kill to say it again, to watch the sparkle in his eyes as he wraps an arm around her waist and tells her that he loves her more. A sudden pang or pain hits her chest and tears almost overwhelm her. To remain calm, she looks straight ahead and closes her eyes for a second.

Nazia opens her eyes. She takes a long breath before she pulls out the keys from the ignition and throws it to a stunned Harnaam. "Go home. I'll find him," she promises boldly. She's already unlocked the door by the time Harnaam processed what's going on.

"Nazia, it'll be easier if we help you," Megha states, leaning in to join the conversation. Harnaam aggressively nods to agree with her statement. "I'll talk to Abeer tommorow."

Nazia looks at Megha with a sigh, her eyes gazing over Megha's sunken cheekbones and eyebags. Her eyes have turned red with tears and her eyebags are puffing up. "Megha, go home. He'll be fine," Nazia reassures her. "Plus Harnaam needs to get home in time to pray."

Nazia shoots a reassuring smile towards Harnaam, trying to prove she can do this. From experience, she knows that Harnaam is freaking out and on the verge of telling Nazia to sit back down. Harnaam is rational. She wouldn't allow Nazia to go out and hunt for Kabir when there's already been signs of danger.

But, Harnaam is tired and she's close to her family. She'll do anything for her family. They wouldn't be able to hunt for a drunk man while tugging an exhausted adult. It's impossible. Harnaam is conflicted. Who is she supposed to care for - Megha, Nazia or Kabir?

"I'll call him. He's probably safe," Nazia says. The statement sounds more like a question and a prayer than a reassuring comment. With a forced smile, Nazia brings out her phone and dials Kabir's number. She places the phone beside her ear, her eyes lingering on Megha. Nazia's heart feels weighed down by stone. She desperately wants to hug Megha. Throughout the car journey, she wanted to tell Megha that she deserved better than Abeer.

The phone rings.

Although, Nazia is slightly confused. According to Abeer, Megha was cheating on him. It doesn't add up. However, Nazia does know that first heartbreaks are horrible. Despite wanting to speak, Nazia's tongue felt swollen and she didn't know how to phrase the words or how to reassure a woman who barely cares for her. Instead of speaking, Nazia simply silently passed over tissues to the sobbing mess behind her.

The phone rings. It's getting closer to a missed call now.

If only Nazia knew that it was fear nervewrecking the girl, not heart break. Megha's mind is overwhelmed with questions and her head pounds just like her heart does.

"The number you are calling is not available. Please try again later."

Nazia's last piece of hope shatters, and the smile on her lips wipes off. Her eyes meet Harnaam's and she shakes her head. "He probably turned off his phone," Nazia lied. "We can't call the police because it hasn't been long enough to file a report. I'll look for him."

"I'll come. I need to see him," Megha says, attempting to convince her. Nazia feels slightly guilty - she had passed some rude comments about Kabir earlier. For some odd reason, she feels like this is her fault. Involving Megha would make Nazia more guilty and right now, Megha is more of a liability than a help.

"You need to go home and rest. Eat some food. I don't think they served good food in mountains anyways," Nazia smirks. She ruffles Megha's hair, getting a glare from Megha. In response, she simply laughs at Megha's reaction. "Harnaam made amazing parothe for you. It's yours and Kabir's favorite for a reason."

"I agree. You guys probably had to eat some roadkill or something up there," Harnaam shudders, wrapping her cardigan closer around herself. Despite how calm and composed she looks, Nazia could see the panick within her eyes. While speaking, Harnaam's eyes scan Nazia for any signs of weakness. When she seems statisified, she carries on speaking. "Cold parothe are disgusting. Let's eat them while they're hot."

Finally, Megha starts to nod. Her eyes are watering again. "What's wrong?" Nazia asks, her eyes widening in worry again. She quickly unbuckles her seatbelt to look Megha in the eye. The action only makes Megha's lip tremble and her eyes to unleash more tears.

God, she was so blind. Nazia has always been a good person. She's always somehow managed to look after their family so much - making sure Harnaam makes it home in time to pray and that Megha is fed well. Not to mention how her first thought was to chase after Kabir even if it is dangerous.

And somehow, she managed to ruin it all because of one overly convincing man. She fell for his sweet lies so badly. She should have never listened to him - ever. Now, Kabir is suffering. His car window and his heart are shattered. The Kabir she knows is nowhere to be seen. Megha unknowingly fell for the devil and ruined everything sweet. First Abeer took down Nazia from his life, and slowly everything else good followed.

Megha's lip quivers. "I just really missed Harnaam's aloo parothe," she lies, causing the car to erupt with laughter. She presses her lips together, her eyes wandering over her sisters who didn't share the same blood as her yet managed to care for her so well.

Although regret pins down her chest, she knows there isn't much she can do besides begging for forgiveness . . . unless she can exchange a word or two with Abeer. The devil must have some sort of a weak spot, right?

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NAZIA WAVED THE CAR OFF WITH PROMISES THAT SHE'LL BE BACK SOON, and that Kabir would be with her too. After that, she walked towards Kabir's car with her heart thumping loudly and her fingers digging crescents into her palm. Her shoes hit against the thin layer of snow in a repitive thud. Besides that, the only sound comes from a nearby nightclub.

Her red hands gloss over the wet car door. She presses her red lips together, fear building in her chest. Softly, her eyes close and she mutters a prayer before she snaps her feathery eyelashes open. With a thud, the door opens and her eyes are exposed to glass on the car seat and floor.

However, that's not what terrifies her. There's blood on the glass. Red droplets of blood drip off the larger shards of glass and Nazia gasps, her hand covering her mouth. She takes a step away from the car, her heart banging against her chest as tears start to form.

Kabir has to be safe, he needs to be safe. Nothing can happen to him. If he gets hurt, Nazia will loose her mind. She loves him, she needs him, she cares for him - she just wants him to be safe and happy yet the universe isn't listening to her pleas.

With a horrified heart, she looks for any clues that'll lead her to Kabir. Maybe the blood isn't his? Her breathes are coming out from her lips. When she sees a single strand of blonde hair lying amongst the bloody glass, Nazia runs a hand through her hair.

This is more terrifying than she thought - the hair is Bella's! Of course it is, Nazia knows that color off by heart. She's seen in thousands of times in photographs and by sitting at the front seat of a court. This is Bella's hair and there's no doubt about it.

Her eyes scan over the car for any more clues of Bella or something, just something that'll lead her back to Kabir. "Kabir!" she calls out, tears blurring her vision. She turns around from the car, slamming the door shut as her hair flips in the wind.

Where is he? Where can he be?

She starts to move through the street, her feet dragging her across the club where no one looks like her shaggy haired lover or reminded her of lazy eyed man she loved. When she escapes the overheated club, her eyes start moving towards the alley where drags of smoke arrise to the moon.

With confidence, and panick, she starts to call out his name again in puffs of heat against the frosty night. "Kabir?"

Kabir. Kabir. Kabir.

Where are you?

The question swirls in her head, making her anxious as she thinks of the blood staining the car. The nightclub void of him. The bartender's empty look of recognition and shrug when she showed him a picture of Kabir.

She takes her phone out again, dialing his number and letting it go to voice mail. His photo is saved with his number; an image of him throwing his head back and laughing. She can't remember the last time he laughed like that, and the thought makes her heart feel hollow.

"Kabir, where are you? Please tell me you're safe. I'm where your car is parked. The window is broken and - " her voice cracks and her eyes brim with tears "- please tell me you're safe. I love you. I wish I could've been there for you when you needed me."

She takes a pause, inhaling and exhaling. "I think I saw Bella's hair in the car. I'm worried. Please call back soon." Unable to say anything more without fully crying, Nazia hangs up the call and tucks it within her pocket.

The image of shattered glass, a blonde hair and blood haunt her, wrenching her stomach  with thousands of heartaches and fear. She proceeds to jog across the street. "Kabir! Where are you?" Nazia calls out, her eyes brimming with tears and her nails digging into her palms.

Her eyes scan the narrow alleyway carefully, her eyes brimming with tears. A few smokers watch her with raised eyebrows, probanly thinking she's completely crazy. Maybe she is. Who else looses their mind over a shattered window? She pauses, her eyes lingering on a familiar hollowed out face.

"Kabir," a blonde woman smirks. Her eyes meet Nazia's with a confident and slightly gleeful look. A ciggerete lies between her fingers that she exhales. "I know where he is."

With that, she gets off the staircase and strenches her arms. Without asking who she is or even thinking of who she can potentially be, Nazia blindly follows her in hopes that she can finally lead her to Kabir.

Despite how the alley become more narrow and the buildings start to become closer, Nazia gulps down her eyes and watches the mysterious woman carefully until a hint of remembrance hits her. "Bella," Nazia states, slowing her steps down as the blood in her cheeks drain out.

Nazia stands firm in the middle of the street, her widen eyes magnified by her melting eyeshadow. You could sense the exhaustion surrounding her figure simply by the way she limply holds herself, the hollow bags beneath her eyes and how she exhales in short huffs.

Bella finally turns, her pink lips gleaning in a blade like smile. "Nazia," she states, strenching the syllables out as she tries the new word on her tongue. "How lovely is it that we're finally meeting outside of court!"

"What do you want?" Nazia asks, tliting her head up in make believe confidence. Her mouth feels horribly dry and her head pounds with tiredness. Bella simply laughs at Nazia's show.

"We both know what I want," Bella ominously states, checking her red nails. A bandaid covers her knuckles, and Nazia makes a link back to the broken window. "The real question is what do you want? Kabir or Abeer? Or do you just want to screw over everyone into your love?"

"I'm not playing a dumb game like you, Bella. I don't care with what they do in their lives," Nazia remarks, drawling her name out to emphasise. She scrunches up her face. "And how do you know Abeer?"

"You're not the only one who can Google," Bella points out, rolling her eyes. "And if you aren't playing some dumb game why are you looking for Kabir when you're being best friends with Abeer?"

"Don't you have friends?" Nazia asks, raising a concerned eyebrow. "Maybe jail doesn't give enough time to socialize."

Bella purses her lips, her eyes glaring at Nazia with all the hatred in the world. In her hands, an object reflects light into Nazia's eyes. "It only teaches you to fight for yourself, really. How to get revenge and - " she throws the object in the air and catches in the other "- how to kill."

With gleaming eyes, she holds up the mysterious object to the moonlight. The knife gleams and brightens up Bella's face with a slanted glow. Nazia gulps, her mouth agape and her eyes shocked. "You wouldn't . . .," she trails off, taking a step back. "I'm calling the cops."

"For what? Kabir is already dead and you're next," Bella states. Her eyes remain on the knife and a small smile appears on her lips. Nazia's heart thuds faster as she realizes that her sick smile appeared from her imagining Nazia's murder. "Calling the cops means they'll arrive to a dead body and a missing murderer."

For a second, Bella pauses. "Hm, murderer. Has a ring to it, doesn't it?" she asks, her eyes innocently watching Nazia. "Sounds better than abuser. Kabir's murderer."

Bella's remark causes Nazia to wake up from the horrible silence screeching in Nazia's ears.  "No," she states. She takes a step back from Bella's proud smirk. Then she takes another as if walking away from here will defeat Bella's version of the truth. "You're lying."

Kabir. His lazy smile. His dark brown eyes. His stubble, his messy hair, his soft kisses, his laughter, his deep voice, his songs, the strums of his guitar, the soft hum he sings in the shower, the little dance he does when he's happy, his warm arms embracing her, his tone when he says I love you - oh God. Nazia didn't tell him she loved him. He died thinking that Nazia hated him.

Nazia bites down onto her lips to prevent herself from ripping out a sob. Her chest aches and worryance seeps in everywhere. She can't show weakness - not now. "He isn't dead. I know it," Nazia repeats, nodding to herself. While attempting to maintain eye contact she presses her trembling lips tightly together.

"Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?" Bella quizzes, tliting her head back with a raised eyebrow. There's a statisified gleam within her eyes and Nazia's stomach crawls with fear. By then, her back pocket starts to vibrate - it must be Kabir! With a silent prayer echoing in her head, she slips a hand into her back pocket and slides right with her thumb.

Unaware of the phone in Nazia's back pocket, Bella yawns. "Any last words?" she asks, walking closer.

"You won't be able to kill me," Nazia states brashfully. Hopefully it was loud enough for Kabir or whoever was on the other side of the phone to pick up on. "Give up Bella! We're right beside Kabir's favorite and everyone's favorite bar! This alleyway is right beside it. There's at least fifty gross smokers here. They'll hear me."

"They can't hear your screams. And if they do, they can't run fast enough. Give up, Naz," Bella condescendingly says, mocking Nazia with a grin. Nazia stares at Bella with defeat, her lips pressed together and her eyes watering with tears. "What are you supposed to do?"

What is she meant to do?

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How was the chapter?

I was debating on whether I should keep this chapter or not. I didn't know if I should but today, a kpop idol commited suicide. The main reason why I posted this after weeks of debate is because I wanted to remind you guys that no matter what you think, there is always someone who loves and cares about you. You are never alone.

On another note, the next chapter will be up probably about next week ??? if this chapter gets good reception, I might post the next chapter on sat - monday!!

Vote?

- Maya.