Ranbir and Anushka as Abeer and Nazia.

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"Kabir?" Nazia calls out. Kabir raises an eyebrow, his eyes unmoving from the laptop screen. He furiously types something. Despite his focused eyes, his body lazily sits on the couch. His feet is placed on one side as he leans against the comforter.

Nazia sighs, placing her hands on her hips. What does she exactly have to do to get his attention? She waves her hand infront of Kabir's eyes. He barely look at her ring claded hand.

Finally, she moves closer to him, allowing him to inhale her perfume. Her hands quickly grab the laptop, taking him by surpirse. The action doesn't go as smoothly as planned and Nazia ends up falling on a shocked Kabir's lap.

His arms automatically circle around Nazia's waist to stablize her from falling onto the floor or worse, the coffee table. However, his eyes remain on his precious MacBook that flies high in Nazia's hands.

Nazia's mind trails onto the way his breath teases her shoulder and the way his peppermint scent find its way to her. Her mind lingers on how strong his arms are despite how it's mainly bone and no muscle and how his steady breathes are. She finds herself leaning against his chest, finding cormfort in the feeling.

"Nazia," he pleads, watching her wave the MacBook out his reach. In reply, she simply smirks and tries to move off his lap. Her feet touch the ground but Kabir's arms wrap tightly around her waist, ensuring she can't leave further than that. He leans his head on her shoulder, peering over it to watch his laptop.

"Kabir," she mocks him in the same tone. "Let me go nah?"

"Nah," he mimics the same tone she has, causing her to giggle before slapping his arm. All he does is raise an eyebrow at her weak attempts for freedom. The scene almost seems amusing to him since he knows Nazia had failed PE (due to Harnaam constantly remembering it and laughing at Nazia's lack of skill). If Nazia can barely catch a ball, how is she meant to push Kabir off her? "Give me my laptop."

"Nah." Her words cause him to sigh before rolling his eyes. "First, listen to me!"

"What else am I doing?"

"Besides hugging me to death?" she sarcastically asks. "Abeer wants to go on a double date with us and Megha."

Kabir's eyes widen with her words and he raises an eyebrow. Is Nazia really saying this? Out of shock, he loosens his hold on her stomach. "And you want to go?" he asks, his voice filled with disbelief. Already, thousands of thoughts buzz through his mind on why Abeer would want to meet them; none of them being positive.

Kabir completely lets go of Nazia causing her to spin out of his reach quickly and stand up. She holds the laptop to her stomach, watching Kabir carefully. "He could have changed. And if he hasn't, we'll just go to convince Megha we're on her side. She'll calm down and then we'll convince her to dump him," Nazia explains quickly, her grip tightening on the laptop.

Kabir notices and he moves closer to her. His hands fly to the MacBook and he pries off her fingers. Her hands move off the laptop as if her focus wasn't really on it. Honestly, she was more focused on Kabir and his reaction.

Kabir holds the laptop and frowns at it. "Why are you even nervous?" he asks, questioning the way her fingers had tightened on the laptop and the way she watched him with a glimmer of hope.

"I really want to go to this."

With a sigh, he nods. It's as if he's a puppet for her. Whatever she says, he'll follow her orders even if it meant death. Perhaps it's because of her smile or maybe her alluring lips. Perhaps it's the cormfort he finds within her arms or the peace he receives with her voice. All he knows for certain is that he loves Nazia and that he's willing to do anything for her.

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Kabir brushes down his white shirt, his eyes wandering over the resturant. He holds onto Nazia's hand, the urge to run away growing by the moment. But however, Nazia's perfume brings him back to reality.

He has to face Abeer. No matter what. He has to protect his baby sister from that monster.

He smiles at Nazia, taking in her white kurtah. She looks beautiful as always despite of how simple she looks. All she wears is a white kurtah (which conveniently matches his white shirt), high waisted jeans (these however don't match his black jeans) and simple white flats. Her hair is placed on one side, the brown strands shining in the harsh lights of the sun.

Both of their jackets lie on Kabir's arm, swung over. The heater in the restaurant is enough to warm them. It's a fairly sunny day and most of the snow from the previous days have faded into puddles. The wind still remains causing chills to still exist.

The smile on his lips fades away when his brown eyes meet Abeer's smirk. Beside him, Megha smiles broadly at them both. They're both seated beside the window. Kabir sits down first, sitting directly in front of Megha.

Nazia hesitantly sits onto her chair. Kabir awkwardly places their coats on his chair and on hers, pressing his lips together. As always, Abeer's eyes watch Nazia's. "You both look gorgeous," he comments, his eyes only flickering towards Kabir's for a moment.

Kabir nods, his eyes glancing towards the door that opens once again. A fresh breeze of air waltz in alongside Harnaam who broadly smiles at everyone sitting on the table. Her eyes linger on Abeer's for too long and her smile falters for a second. Instead of exaggerating the eye contact, she grabs a chair and drags it closer to them.

Her turban is black today, tied upwards and it matches perfectly with her black jeans and blue demium jacket. For a moment, Kabir raises an eyebrow before shrugging her presence off. Honestly, he'll rather enjoy the fact his cousin is here rather than be curious of why.

"I invited Harnaam over because it'll feel incomplete to have a family introduction thingy without her," Megha shrugs, digging a fork in her pasta. "I didn't invite muma and abbu because they can't care less about my dating choices, unlike you guys."

"You're dating a kamina (asshole), of course we'll be concerned," Harnaam says, flopping onto her chair and crossing over her legs. The white table cloth brush past her tighs and her eyes wander over the restaurant.

However, Abeer's gaze is firmly on his food. Both of the couple had already ordered their food; Megha has pasta and Abeer has a simple burger. He prods at the fries which are devoid of visible oil.

Nazia's gaze searches the busy restaurant, unknowing of what to look. The food that's ridiculously healthy, the heavenly scent of chocolates, the chatter of the room or the baby crying. Her eyes skim over the busy waiters, the shut window beside her until Kabir takes her hand in his.

Nazia looks at him, her eyes startled. Kabir simply smiles and squeezes her hand, knowing of her old habits. Whenever she's remotely uncomfortable, she scans the room or tries to look away from the person who's making her feel all these emotions.

"So how did you guys meet?" Megha asks, stabbing another piece of her pasta be for popping it on her mouth. Her brown pupils look at Abeer then Nazia causing the duo to look at each other.

"He was my neighbor. We went to the same high school and I didn't like him because he was a complete player. He dated one of my friends, broke up with her and broke her heart," Nazia comments, her eyes barely looking above the table. "That's why I didn't like him."

"It was Camila right?" Harnaam mentions, rembering her friend. Nazia nods, her eyes still not looking up towards Abeer.

"Wait, you said didn't. So now you like him?" Megha questions, raising an eyebrow. No wonder why she's majoring in English. Kabir places his face on his hand, sighing as he stares out of the window. It's not exactly his ideal place to be; on a double date with his soon to be wife's ex boyfriend, his younger sister and his cousin.

Honestly, he'll pay to be anywhere else. He purely came for Nazia's sake.

"We dated."

Megha moves the glass away from her lips, placing a hand over her chest as her eyes widen. "What?!" she says, after finally swallowing the water in her mouth with great difficulty.

"For three years," Nazia says, causing Kabir to grip the table tightly. That's one year longer than them and it causes him to bite his lip. It slightly burns him with jealousy, envy and a hint of anger. How didn't Abeer realize he let a goddess slip out of his fingers?

"What happened?"

Nazia glups, moving back. Her eyes remain firm on her glass of water, watching the translucent water inside the glass. "We just fell out of love," she explains, her eyes avoiding Megha's steady gaze. Megha ends up rolling her eyes at her reaction, assuming that it's something messy and irrelevant.

And it was.

Kabir finds himself placing his hand on Nazia's. She stops tapping the table frantically and her hand completely relaxes underneath his. "So how did you two meet?" Harnaam asks, her eyes watching Megha and Abeer.

"We were both in the library and he was reading my favorite book," Megha says, her lips expanding into a smile. Despite his protests, Kabir finds himself relaxing at Megha's smile. Plus, Abeer's and Megha's meeting was normal and couldn't have been planned.

"Nerds," Kabir comments, causing Nazia to giggle as she slaps his arm jokingly. Kabir looks at her, his eyes taking in the way her hair openly flies in the wind and how her eyes hold so much happiness. His heart starts to rise a bit, calming down. Perhaps this trip isn't that bad at all.

"How did you two meet?" Abeer asks, leaning his elbows on the table. That's when Kabir's little bubble pops and it dawns on him how broken Nazia was after him. How after his arrival and departure how she became, how she lost half of the person she was.

"On the day you made the biggest mistake of your pathetic life," Kabir replies, his eyes darkening, rembering their first encounter. "They day you dumped Nazia." Megha immediately raises an eyebrow and Abeer leans foward with creases on his tan forehead.

Abeer's arm rest upwards, dangerously leaning towards Kabir who chuckles at the sight of it. "Leave it. You already lost the only thing going in your terrible life, why would you waste energy on me?" Kabir questions, his fake smile deepening.

"Anyways!" Harnaam interrupts, unwilling for the converstation to become more negative and result in a fight. Harnaam knows Kabir well and she knows that Kabir won't back away from a fight. "Has anyone tried the rice?"

Nazia yanks her hand away from Kabir, causing Abeer to watch her with a small smile and for Kabir to glance at her with worry. She looks at the table, her foot tapping and her mind working on a silent prayer for this date to go well.

"What exactly even happened between you and Abeer?"

The question causes Nazia to look up again, her heart hammering loudly as it can. It felt like the birds chirping out side of the window, the dull music of the restaurant and the hustle of the people around them ceases to existance. All she can feel is her heart thumping with the fear of the answer, her heart shattering again as she sinks into those memories and the way Kabir's tight touches her own.

"I -"

"He cheated on me."

Her eyes look up and she meets Kabir's worried ones that watch her carefully. His hand finds its way back to her own, wrapping it around hers as if to say it's okay.

But nothing is. All that drums in her mind is years worth of lying, years worth of pain for a drop of love. She still remembers the first time she saw lipstick marks on his shirts that weren't her own and the amount of times after that, she began to ignore them in hope that he'll still love her. She still remembers her heart breaking over and over and how she kept forgiving him over and over.

Perhaps the moment he walked out on her was the worst heartbreak. At least while he remained to kiss her on the forehead, she convinced herself he'll change. She was convinced that he loved her while the most she was a habit of his. A warm hug after work, a sweet nectar to replace the red lipsticks that he kisses, a home meant for someone else that he took. She made him felt needed and loved - and that convinced him to stay with her.

However, she knew for certain that the moment he walked out of her life was the moment her life changed. Throughout those years she had constantly told herself that the reason why he never loved her back was because she wasn't enough - not because that was of his cruel nature.

Her throat feels dry. Her eyes look up, watching Abeer once again and suddenly she can't tell the difference between the Abeer that broke her and this one. Her heart shatters once again, remembering how simular his eyes look and how the same breaking may happen to someone she considers her younger sister.

Suddenly, Kabir's hand feels too hot. Her heart feels like it may burst and her lungs beg and beg for a new gust of air. The urge to get out of here grows as Megha watches Abeer with shock and how her best friend and lover watch her with worry.

Nazia gets up. She grabs her jacket, yanking it from behind Kabir. Megha looks at them with a raised eyebrow and she gets to her feet quickly. "Nazia?" she calls out her name, causing Nazia to look at her.

Nazia has a confused expression on her face as she doesn't know herself what to feel. Her eyes are widen and distraught and her mind is filling themselves with questions. When her gaze meets Megha, she tries to erase it with a fake smile but it barely meets her eyes. "I'll just . . . be going to the bathroom," she lies, her eyes darting everywhere but to Abeer.

No one believes her.

Kabir watches her with guilt and he finds himself standing up again, only to have Harnaam aggressively shake her head. Again, Kabir sits down with his eyebrows creasing together in worry. Within moments, Nazia starts walking towards the door with everyone watching her with shock.

Except for Abeer, who had no one else to blame for her heartbreak and panic other than himself.

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How was the chapter? Any feedback? I feel like the pace is slowing down and it's becoming boring but the pace will most likely pick up once again within the next two chapters :)

Vote?

- Maya.