Chapter Seven

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Ranbir Kapoor as Abeer.
Anushka Sharma as Nazia.

He leans onto the desk, his fingers drumming against his jeans. Abeer's eyes watch Nazia's carefully, watching her paint each stroke on the blank canvas with an intensity like no other. If she realized his gaze was firmly on her, she didn't say anything. Besides the repitive strokes, she does nothing besides brush a strand of flying hair behind her ear.

Abeer touched her cheek, spreading the paint across her cheeks. Nazia sighed, placing her painting brush on the stool. She then stood, watching him with a glare as he chuckled. He moved in closer, letting her take a breath of his cologne before kissing her cheek.

His hands, still dosed in the blue paint wiped over her lips and his lips followed suit. "Abeer," Nazia said, raising an eyebrow at his antics. He doesn't reply and carried on letting his fingers fly over her body. His hands traced her arms and finally left a mark on her hand.

Abeer bowed down, lifting her hand up as he kissed her. "May you be my blank canvas?" The pink lips of his is coated with a dark shade of blue and she chuckled at the sight.

Nazia didn't bother to tell him that she was already his canvas. He had brought so much color into her life; from their midnight calls that she had whispered while her parents slept or their little rebellious outings they had. It was as if whenever she's with him, her wings are freed and she felt like she could do anything.

All she does instead is dip her long finger in the blue paint, the chilling paint cooling her skin and smeared it on Abeer's lips. He laughed and then kissed her.

He watches her eyes, both of the dark brown pupils only focusing on the way her brush moves. The strokes are delicate and he finds himself in a trance, watching the brush move up and down along with her pale skinny arms.

The odd gust of wind blows in through the open wind, letting the scent of flowers float in. A floral shop is nearby, just beside this place. The gusts of winds cause Nazia to curse under her breath and pause painting. She leaves the brush in the jar, the color red fading amongst the murky water and starts to tie up her hair.

Her eyes meet Abeer's and for a moment she's taken back by his presence. They become large, somewhat resembling a deer caught in headlights. After a moment, she calms down and carries on tying her hair into a bun. Her fingers fly back to the brush, twisting the wooden handle of it.

"What do you want with Megha?" Her eyes still remain on the canvas however and for a moment, Abeer yearns to move closer to her. To look in her eyes once again, to inhale her perfume once again and to kiss her red lips.

He shrugs causing a sigh to escape her lips. "I like her," he finally comments. His eyes refuse to move off her, perhaps considering her more of an art piece than all the paintings in the room.

"You've confessed your undying love to me twice yesterday and then start dating my fiancé's baby sister," Nazia states, her eyes emotionless as she takes in Abeer's features. "Spill the truth."

"Getting jealous?"

"You wish." Nazia's eyes trail Abeer. He walks around her studio, pausing to look at some of the paintings and then to reply to Nazia. The last few rays of sunlight peek through the open windows, the sun setting before his eyes. His steps sound loud in the room, clanging against the wooden floor.

Abeer's eyes glance at another painting before commenting. "I genuinely like her. She's nice -"

"And naive enough to think monsters like you would love her," Nazia interrupts, her eyes looking furious. Abeer chuckles at her response although Nazia found nothing that she said amusing.

Abeer looks at Nazia, rolling his eyes at her reaction. With all his heart, he wishes she'll look as from the painting and let him see her intense eyes. But he knew she won't so his eyes trail downwards towards her hands.

Her hands are completely covered in red paint, beginning from the tips of her nails to her wrists. A few spots of her pale skin poke out, seeming odd against the shades of red. If he squints his eyes, the paint looks like blood and the thought of it makes his heart skip a beat in fear.

"What are you painting?" he finally asks, resting his shoulder on the wall. Nazia waves, gesturing for him to come closer. He takes a few hesitant steps and then peers over her shoulder. Abeer tries his best to keep his glance at the painting instead of the tattoo coating her revealed shouler.

Nazia is wearing a black top where one of the sleeves slip off her shoulder. It's simple but it manages to highlight a tattoo. Abeer tries to sneak a glance at what it is, his heart leaping at memories.

Nazia feels his stare and she brushes her hair back over her shoulder. "You got rid of my name," he finally says. Nazia simply nods in response and he finally moves his glance to the painting despite the pang in his heart.

A beautiful red heart, drawn in detail lies. The heart itself is red, including the veins and shaded in different shades. But surrounding the heart is vivid colors, hues of purples, blues and green. If you peer closely, you could see small little veins inside the colors.

"It's beautiful," he finally breathes out, inhaling the scent of her perfume. Nazia allows a small smile to come on her lips before using her fingers to carry on painting the small bits of the painting. However, Abeer's mind remains on the tattoo.

Three years ago, Nazia had got a tattoo of his initials (A.R) and Abeer tattooed her name on his shoulder as well. The initials were written in black ink, surrounded by an arrow shooting through it on her shoulder but now it's gone.

Abeer watches her shoulder, the tattoo barely visible through her pitch black hair. Impulsively, he moves the black hair and spots the rose tattooed over his name. There's blood dripping from the petals and wrapping itself around the thorns. In italics, the words 'beware of who you give your heart to' is written, causing his heart to sting.

She's truly over him. She's removed all traces of his name, of his words, of his lips - and replaced them with Kabir's name, with his lips and his words.

As quickly as he spotted it, Nazia slips her hair back onto her shoulder and turns on the black stool to meet his gaze. She glares at him, opening her mouth to insult him but he simply hushes her thoughts by slipping out of his black shirt.

Before Nazia gets to comment on it, he turns around and lets her see her name still written on his shoulder. Her eyes narrow onto it and for a moment, she feels violated seeing her name still there. He still had all the memories she wishes to burn and that thought pains.

She nudges back, her elbow tapping her paints. She doesn't assess the damage and instead, watches him with an agape mouth. He still has all her memories. He still knows what her lips taste like, despite her best protests of covering them and everything she can't ever mask with eyeliner.

Nazia gently touched her lips. The skin was bare, deprived of its usual cherry flavor. Her eyes were rimmed with eyebags and her brown pupils had red surrounding it. Around her face, her brown hair stuck to her creamy skin.

She picked up the tub of lipgloss, her eyes scanning it. It was familiar and brought so many memories alongside it. It brought memories of Abeer's lips and she knew that every time he kissed her, he tasted those lips.

How could she placed this on her lips when she knew that he had touched it? The tube itself was a memory of his, concealed under the friendly white lid.

Her eyes met the red tube of lipstick beside it and Nazia lunged for it. As soon as she grabbed it, she smears the red pigment over her lips. She looked in the mirror, watching her reflection being replaced by someone who looked less broken. Someone who didn't know him.

He knew her so well. He knew everything - from the way she reacts to the way she loved. Nazia couldn't afford it. She didn't want him to know her so well or to find his scent on her clothes anymore. Even the current shirt she wore held a trace of his fragrance.

Nazia took the shirt off quickly, throwing it in the corner of Harman's bathroom. With a sob, Nazia sunk to the bathroom floor. She crumpled her body into a small ball, rocking herself over and over as tears escaped from her eyes.

"Nazia?"

Nazia looked up, her eyes meeting a male's back. Kabir had quickly turned around when he spotted that she had no shirt on, his cheeks flushed red. Kabir quickly took off his shirt, revealing a black singlet underneath. Wordlessly, he had passed it to Nazia who wore it quickly.

"Harnaam went out to buy some food," he informed her, taking in the way she sat on the cold tiled floor. "Can I?" Nazia looked up to watch Kabir awkwardly gestured to the white tile beside her and she nodded.

He slided down to the floor beside her, shivering slightly. It was early in the morning, around six am. The tiles were cold, it was winter and he didn't have a shirt on. However, he didn't mind due to the fact his attention was only on Nazia.

Nazia layed her head on his shoulder, a tear pouring out of her eye. "Everything I know has a trace of him," she finally said, her voice shaking. From those simple words, Kabir looked at the crumpled shirt in the corner and connected the dots.

He pats her on the head, rubbing her messy brown hair that flew everywhere. "It'll be okay," he commented. "We'll buy you new clothes, bedsheets and whatever you want."

Nazia nodded, her eyes beginning to close. She had barely slept the night before, tossing and turning in Harnaam's spare bedroom. It smelt like peppermint. Sleep was impossible. When she couldn't find Abeer or anything she regonizied beside that peppermint scent, she found it impossible to sleep again.

"Thank you so much," she muttered. How could this stranger be so nice to her? She'd only known him for a day yet he was sweeter than Abeer ever was. A few minutes later, Nazia had fallen asleep.

Kabir had picked her up bridal style carefully, ensuring she won't wake up due to him and placed her in her temporary bedroom. Kabir slammed the door quietly and he heard a click in the living room door. Harnaam walked over to him, smiling softly.

When Kabir raised an eyebrow, Harnaam shrugged. "You guys would make a cute couple," she commented, smirking. Kabir groaned in response.

"Shut up didi (sister)," he replied, rolling his eyes. Instead, Harnaam's smirk deepened. "You already knew what happened the last time I fell in love."

"Not everyone is your ex, Kabir. Nazia understands the pain of a breakup just as well as you do, she won't let you go through that type of pain again," Harnaam said. Kabir's eyes trailed to the floor, his fingers tracing the back of his neck where a large scar lies.

"Not everything is shahidi.com, di. You don't need to set up relationships everywhere. You're my cousin, not a rishte wail aunty," he said, rolling his eyes. Harnaam sighed, probably wondering when her cousin will stop making a joke out of everything.

Abeer takes a step closer to her, dropping his black shirt on the ground. Her eyes don't trail his chest like they used to, instead they watch his pitch black eyes with shock. "Nazia, you've got paint all over your shirt," he sighs, bringing her back to reality.

Nazia nods eagerly, willing to change the subject and brings her elbow closer to her to see the red paints gazing her arm. The way it spreads over her arms look like a scar, one that is dripping wet with blood. The idea of it being blood is terrifying since the way it trails all over her clothes and her jeans is enough to give a heart attack.

Perhaps the pain her heart went through is finally showing its physical form.

"Why are you here?" Nazia asks, her heart thuding loudly. However, her voice is a monotone and her eyes trace the painting. Thankfully, not a single drop of paint ended up falling on it. Her heart hammers loudly and she attempts to distract herself and ensure that Abeer doesn't know about her own heart's betrayal.

"I want to go on a double date. Kabir, you, Megha and me. Have a small dinner together or something like that," he says. "I don't want to look like the bad guy and I genuinely like Megha."

With his words, Nazia's eyes widen in disbelief. "No way," she says, shuddering at the thought of spending more time than necessary with him. Seeing him once a week is enough torture for her.

"Why? Are you afraid you'll fall in love with me again?" he mocks her, his tone light yet his words dark. She dips the paint brush in the red paint, trying to compose herself and her anger. Nazia is so blinded by her fury at his outrageous talks that she nods.

How dare he say that? Nazia isn't naive enough to fall in love with poison again.

However, she is naive enough to fall for his games once again.

Me rn @ all of you bc i love you and want to know how are you guys.

I LOVE WRITING DRAMATIC STUFF

Also two flashbacks wow im so proud of myself. What did you guys think of the flashbacks and the tattoos?

HONESTLY I WILL NEVER GET A TATTOO OF MY LIFE PARTNER LOL. Its cute in movies and books but lol irl its just like get away from me pls.

Vote?

- Maya.

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