Chapter Twenty Seven

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NAZIA IS LYING ON THE COUCH; her legs are drapped over the armrest, shining a bronze color in the evening rays of light. Her lips are apart, her perfect teeth flashing in a laugh and the evening light warms up her face.

The soft sound of wind floats through trees, occasionally setting off a bird squawking. None of the world really mattered though - not the cars honking beneath her, the paint stains smeared on her fingers and under her fingernails and the unflattering way her black locks clings to her forehead. None of that really matters, because Kabir is besides her and both of them are laughing their heads off at Kabir falling off the sofa.

It wasn't that funny yet somehow it is because it's him, you know? It's as if everything is funnier, softer, warmer and happier with him. The blues and purples of life turn into oranges and yellows. Nazia doesn't even know how to explain it herself but she doesn't know how to tell a stranger of this emotion. How do you summarise love and what it's like to be so filled with love? You simply can't - no metaphor in this world can ever describe what it is like to be so overjoyed.

Kabir looks up at Nazia from the ground, watching her with admiration and a small smile. He places an elbow on the couch and tlits his head so all he can see is Nazia. She peers down at him, her hanging over his as she laughs again. "I missed you," he says, changing the atmosphere to a more serious one. "I really did."

Nazia raises an eyebrow - unexpecting this response - and she pushes a hair strand away from Kabir's forehead. "Why would you?" she asks. She moves so that her eyes faced the ceiling instead of Kabir. "Sometimes I feel like I'm so boring that you could walk past me in a room and not even realize I was there."

Kabir's eyebrows shoot up. "What do you mean by that?" he asks, his eyes widen. He gets off the floor and dusts off his jeans. With a sigh, Nazia makes some space for Kabir. As soon as he sits down, Nazia plops her head back down onto his lap.

"I meant what I meant," she says. "I don't really think I'm that noticeable. I'm like that ugly vase your Nani gave us last year that we ignore."

Kabir scoffs. "First of all, that vase is my pride and joy. Second of all, you're stunning. Third of all, you're one of the most intelligent beings I know and emotionally mature and just such a great person -"

"- Kabir," groans Nazia. Kabir stops playing with her hair to raise an eyebrow. "You don't need to give me an entire lecture on how amazing I am - although I do enjoy it."

He laughs an earthly laugh that makes Nazia's heart skip a beat and made her lips part with a smile. "Do you actually like that vase?" she asks, frowning. The vase was this hideous green thing with some Roman warriors engraved on one side and Kung Fu Panda on the other. On the bottom, it says; "respect the warriors that have died for us." When Kabir's grandma gave it, Nazia thought it was a joke until Nani started to give Nazia a death glare for laughing. Now it hangs outside of their room where no one pays it attention.

Kabir rolls his eyes. "You're just jealous that you can't ever make anything as beautiful as that vase," he states. With his fingers, he twists strands of Nazia's hair and lets it go slowly. Like a ballerina, the hair strands dance and bounce. "My Nani gives the best gifts known to mankind."

"It made me cry!" complains Nazia, causing Kabir to laugh.

"What did it do? Did it tell you that everyone you love will never be as iconic as Kung Fu Panda therefore unsatisfying your dream of being the dude that raised four mutant ninjas?"

Nazia starts to laugh again. "What is wrong with you?" she asks, laughing so hard tears start to pool out.

"I said nothing wrong!"

"Mutant Ninja Turtles and Kung Fu Panda are two different shows!"

"Unlike you, I don't watch cartoons," Kabir grumbles, his eyes sparkling with laugher. He crosses his arms in mock annoyance until Nazia tugs open his arms.

"You know spongebob word for word, Kabir," Nazia points out, starting to laugh again. "And I only watch cartoon shows for inspiration."

Kabir frowns. "You're an oil artist, Nazia. And spongebob was the king of the nineties."

In the midst of her laughter, Nazia places a finger on Kabir's lips to hush him. Instead of quitening, he starts to laugh too. "How did a bloody vase make you cry, anyways?" Kabir asks, pressing his lips together before he laughs again.

"I saw it and I was like. That's me. I'm an ugly vase that no one loves," Nazia says, laughing. "It was kinda dumb but I just started crying my eyes out at it. Mean like - I'm an orphan with literally no one but Harnaam who's a bit too busy for me nowadays."

Saying the words aloud caused Nazia's chest to fill itself up with grief. She rarely says the word orphan aloud; she thought it was rather sad and lonely word. Her parents had died in a fire that burnt Nazia's home and all she had in the world. Thankfully, Abeer was there to lend her a hand, a lawyer or two to discuss whatever was left of propety and a home to live in.

Kabir strokes Nazia's hair, his eyes creasing along the edges as he watches her with concern. "Nazia, I love you to the moon and back," he softly says. He bites down on the side of his cheek, feeling immense guilt. "I just completely broke down in the moment - I didn't think twice about leaving you all alone."

Nazia closes her eyes, listening to Kabir's soft voice. She was getting tired of watching his face, the way his lips fell apart and together as he struggled to pierce together words. Instead of studying his face or whatever action he's doing, she wants to hear him. She wants to hear what's going on in that mind of his, what he was thinking rather than doing.

Kabir is failing to knit the words together. He doesn't know how express how much he loves her in this moment, before this moment and after this moment. How do you summarize these emotions? This love he has for Nazia overwhelms him at times. He doesn't have the right words for it - naming it would only be a shallow marker of its beauty.

"I thought Bella would hurt you. Nothing good ever lasts when she's around . . . She wouldn't have let me be happy or let me love someone," he admits. "In a way, Bella's fear was correctly place because she did fuck everything up again -"

"- so you'll just let Bella win? You won't even attempt to try to protect yourself and what you love?" Nazia interrupts, her eyes fluttering open. Her fingers trail to Kabir's face and she strokes his stubbled cheek softly. They skim over his lips before she drops the hand back to her chest. "Kabir, you need to fight. Giving up a fight before it begins isn't a win, it's self destruction."

Kabir unhidges his jaw, thinking through of what Nazia just said. She was completely right and he knew that, but the wimp within him wanted to drop out. Bella has tormented him so long. What's even the point of fighting when he knows he'll always loose?

He remembers this one encounter with Bella. They were in an open roof car zooming past beaches. She was getting pissed off at Kabir because some bikini clad girls had flirted with him and as of a result, they had to leave their beach trip half way. Bella was speeding over the limit, Kabir was shouting at her to slow down the car before they crashed and Bella wouldn't listen. The car kept on speeding until Bella calmed down with Kabir stating that he loved her and would never leave her.

Even in moments of stubborness, Kabir always lost. There was no way you could possibly win with Bella - she's always the winner of every challenge that anyone puts her up to. Jail time was a fluke for Bella. And now she's out, thirsty for blood.

"I think I'm justified in wanting to protect my family," Kabir says. Nazia's face lights up at the term of family. After she processes what he actually said, her face darkens and she sighs.

"Just don't leave me because you're scared for me. I'm a toughie," Nazia says, kissing her "bicep". Her arms are spaghetti and she knows that. Ever since she was a kid, people used to mock her for being stick thin. Kabir chuckles at her lame sense of humor. "I once even passed P.E when I was ten."

Kabir scoffs and mumbles "Uh huh" under his breath. He leans in closer to Nazia, kissing her. "I won't leave you again," he says truthfully - or at least that moment's truth. He doesn't think he would ever leave Nazia again. Why would you want the earth when the moon, the sun and stars all lie within your lap?

When Kabir leans away, Nazia pipes up again. "Hey, did you really mean that I'm your family?" she nervously asks, playing with the edge of his shirt. "It's just that we've never really like -"

"- Nazia, I sometimes refer to you as my wife within my head. Mentally, we've been married for like the last ten years," Kabir interrupts, causing Nazia to break out in a smile. "I can't imagine a future without you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Nazia's eyes glaze over for a moment and she wonders about the future. About small bumps of her stomach, of small babies and Kabir holding a pink little child that grows up to be a dark haired teen that looks like her lover and herself. She thinks of family and how the last time she's ever had one was ten years ago. Her eyes flicker towards Kabir, her one man family and she smiles at the possibilities of the future.

It'll be nice to come home after a long day of work and back into the arms of someone she loved. Sure, she didn't have the privilege of calling her mum whenever she didn't know much masala to add to her food but at least she has someone in this world to rely on. It was starting to get lonely; it was tiring being the only one left with your own last name and with no one else to share it with.

"Neither can I," she admits. With that, she softly touches Kabir's cheek. Her fingers softly trail to his chin and she wonders how on earth she managed to escape her heart for so long. She leans up and kisses him, cups his cheek within her hand and his hair with her other hand.

And in moments like this, Nazia feels so in love. She feels as if she can conquer the earth; her heart is just so filled with hope. She's so in love with Kabir that it now seems crazy to Nazia that she ever envisioned a future without him and his laughter. At moments like this, when she's kissing him and his hands are in her hair, Nazia can't imagine a single day without him. The thought terrifies her, but she still can't stop thinking of what a wonderful thing love is and how she never wants to abandon the safety and warmth of love ever again.

It's been so long! Wattpad has practically been dead for the last few years though. I'll be surprised if everyone would even read this lmaooo

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I've been so busy and lazy recently :/ I'm trying to finish Pkknh before the year ends. I have a couple of pre written chapters so after editing, i'll be posting them up!! I literally just need to edit and do a bit of writing (like five or so more chapters), and viola! PKKNH is done! Crazy, right?

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- Maya.

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