❝So, it was a misunderstanding all this time?❞

Aayan was in pain. So much that he actually wanted to shed a tear or two. The lower part of his spine was particularly burning due to the way he had fell backwards, and he couldn't get up from the lying position. There were rocks and branches sticking into his skin at the arms which were left bare due to his vest. Ifrah's constant calls to him were the only thing keeping him from yelling out because he didn't want to let her know how bad his condition was down here.

“For the love of Allah! Please answer me, Aayan! Did you break a bone or something?” she asked with clenched teeth, her face covered in tears.

They were doing fine just a few moments ago!

The raven haired guy took a few deep breaths before replying in a strained voice. “Y-yeah, I'm fine,” he gulped. “Nothing is broken.”

He really hoped so.

“Then why can't you get up, huh? Tumhy mein pagal nazar ati hun?” (Do you think I'm crazy?) she glared at him. She knew he wasn't telling her; his face was all red and crunched up like he was really hurt.

He let out a groan before staring up at her. She looked so far away.

“Will you please get a hold of yourself? Your panicking is not gonna help us.”

Ifrah snapped her mouth shut and leaned back. He was right. She was being stupid. She rubbed her eyes to get rid of the tears before leaning over once again. Aayan was trying to get up and she watched with her hands clenched tightly as his expressions morphed into a pained one before he was successful in standing on his staggering feet. His chest was moving up and down in a fast pace as he tried to gather his breath and her heart cracked.

It really hurt her to see him in pain.

“You okay?” she asked in a thick voice, trying so hard to keep her emotions in check.

Aayan gave her a nod before looking up. “Yeah. Are you okay?” he asked.

How could he make her heart flutter even in a situation like this?!

She quickly bobbed her head in reply and he looked back down. When his breathing had returned to normal, he placed his hand on the mud wall to support himself before coming to the spot from where his wife was leaning over to watch him. Aayan slumped down on the ground ever so slowly after reaching there and closed his eyes.

His back felt like someone had bashed it with a fücking hammer.

“Ifrah?” he called with his eyes still closed.

She immediately tilted a bit forward to hear him, his voice was rather low. “Yes? I'm right here.”

She was adorable.

“I know,” he chuckled but it turned into a hiss when his stomach moved. “C-can you tell me how deep is it? Height wise.”

Ifrah worked her brain while staring at the giant hole before saying; “Ten feet, maybe? I'm not good at this stuff.”

“No, your hunch is quite correct. I guessed the same.” he said before opening his eyes to look around the place.

“Now what?” she asked restlessly. “How will we be able to get you out?”

Aayan heaved out a sigh while clutching the side of his abdomen and replied; “Nothing.”

“What?” her eyebrows creased together.

“There's no we here, okay? Your wrist is broken— ”

“Are you kidding me right now?!” she threw her hands up in astonishment.

Her husband clenched his jaw. “I'm serious, Ifrah. You're not moving your hand.”

“I don't care about it! I'm gonna— ”

“Well, I fücking care!” his voiced boomed, making her flinch and she stared at him wide-eyed.

There was a moment of silence before Aayan clutched the bridge of his nose and said; “Sorry, I'm just— fück it.”

Ifrah rubbed her shaking hands on her jeans before speaking.

“No, I'm sorry. I'm being an idiot.”

“Just calm down, please. I'm fine. Really. I'm more worried about you losing your mind rather than me being stuck here.”

The chestnut haired girl covered her face as silent tears rolled down her cheeks once again. He was so well collected while she was acting like an escaped asylum case. She should really get a hold of her effing emotions.

“I can climb back up, it's a luck that the height is not too much but there would be a problem with the grip considering the wet mud. But I'll make it out of here, you hear me?”

She immediately nodded her head and said a quiet 'yes'.

“Good.” Aayan replied before rubbing his left shoulder. “I just wanna rest for a bit, my body is hurting like hell.”

“Okay.”

“Don't cry.”

“Okay.”

An involuntary chuckle escaped his lips and he lightly shook his head. He could hear her sniffling quietly and his chest constricted. He hated it when she cried.

“Tell me something.” he said as he turned his head to look up at her. Ifrah leaned over to stare back at him and her chestnut curls hung like curtains on both sides, making his mouth go dry.

His mind was running with wild images so he quickly averted his gaze and cleared his throat. “Talk, I mean. Get my mind off of the current situation.”

She knew he was actually trying to get her mind off and her heart beat like crazy. This man will make her a heart patient if he continues being like this.

She sat down cross-legged on the ground and tucked her hair behind her ear before saying; “Um... did you know that this island is called the Kingdom of Sharks?”

Aayan's brows furrowed. “No. Why?”

“Because it is one of the rare places in the world where we can see different species of sharks.”

“Wow. I'm kinda happy that we're not near the ocean right now.” he chuckled making her smile too. “Aur kuch?” (Anything else?)

“Yeah, you remember the movie Jurassic Park?” she asked.

Aayan's eyes lit up and he stared up at her again. “Yep! We used to watch it as kids. One of my favourites.”

“Mine too. Well, the island Isla Nublar where the dinosaurs were made was based on this one; Cocos island.”

The raven haired guy gave her a surprised expression. “That's actually pretty awesome! We're on the dinosaur island in other words.”

Ifrah frowned. “When you put it that way... I really don't like it.”

He laughed at her sudden paranoia before asking; “Where did you learn all this anyway?”

“The tour guide was telling all these fun facts.”

Aayan's face clouded over with a dark feeling when he remembered that pervert and she gave him a confused look for scowling all of a sudden.

“What's wrong?”

“Tum ne kutta yad dila dia.” (You reminded me of that dog.) he told her. Ifrah's mouth dropped open in shock at his language and she screamed.

“Tumhay tameez nahi hai?!” (Don't you have manners?!)

“Usay hai? Dusron ki biwi pe linain marta hai.” (Does he have them? He pass comments on other people's wives.) he replied sourly and she sighed heavily while shaking her head. But a blush was coating her cheeks none the less.

They remained silent for a while; their minds running with different thoughts. Ifrah was particularly thinking about the night of his sixteenth birthday. He was acting pretty nice now, and she could pretend that they were getting used to each other once again.

But if she lose this chance of confronting him right now; when the situation was in favor that he won't ignore her, and her confidence level was high, she'd regret it all her life.

So, with her heart thundering inside her rib cage and palms sweating intensely, she called his name.

“Aayan?”

“Hm?”

“Why did you... ” Ya Allah! It was so hard. “Why did you propose Sarah on your sixteenth birthday?”

There. She said it.

Aayan's eyes widened but he didn't look up. He didn't know she'd ask him this question all of a sudden. His hands clenched into fists at his sides as the memory started playing in his mind and he cursed under his breath.

When he didn't reply for some seconds, she tried again. “I really wanna know. Am I a forced wife or— ”

“No!”

His exclamation took her by surprise and she waited for him to elaborate. The caramel eyed man's shoulders hunched over as he placed his face in his hands and sighed. Straightening up again, he started;

“I was jealous. And I did that in the heat of the moment.”

She couldn't believe it.

“What? Who were you jealous of?” she asked in disbelief.

Aayan ground his teeth before replying. “That stupid cousin of yours; fücking Shazain.”

A surprised gasp left her lips and she lightly shook her head. “You can't be serious! You know there was nothing of that sort between us!”

“Well, he told me himself that he liked you and you always had these shïtty heart eyes whenever he came to visit.”

Cue another gasp.

“He must be joking! Because he never confessed something like that to me! And I didn't have heart eyes or whatever, okay?” she scowled in the end. Her husband chuckled humorlessly.

“I have eyes, babe. I wasn't blind. You always looked at him like he was the prince of fücking Britain!”

“Okay, I might have a crush on him for a while, but it was nothing serious! And it still doesn't explain why you proposed her. He wasn't even there that night.”

He sucked a breath while rubbing his eyes and said; “You wore the dress he gave you. The blue frock, and that was when I lost it. A week before my birthday he was with us, and he had shown me that dress. He said and I quote, 'Ifrah's gonna wear this because she likes me. If she doesn't, then it's all false.”

Ifrah's mouth was agape as she took the information in. Shazain had given her that dress with a note which told an entirely different story.

“But he told me that you gave it to me.” she whispered, making Aayan's head to snap up. “I wore it for you.”

His brain shut down for a whole second before he spluttered. “What?”

“There was a note with that dress. And it was also written that... that... ”

Her cheeks flamed. She couldn't say the words. But Aayan had caught them and his eyes went round.

“That I was going to confess my feelings for you?” he offered and when Ifrah leaned back in embarrassment, he knew he was right.

Anger pulsed through him. He wanted to kill that Shazain! How dare he tried to play cupid all the while playing with their feelings!

Mujhy wapis anay de... tujhy tou mein goli se urraun ga, kuttay!

(Wait till I reach back home... I'll shoot you dead!)

His mind started making scenarios about burying his body but a sudden thought made him look back up again and he said; “Wait. But that means you were actually waiting for me to...?”

Aayan's throat was dry all of a sudden and his heart beat like it was running a marathon.

Oh my God!

Ifrah's soft voice reached his ears and he felt like the world had stopped spinning.

“I loved you. Still do, actually. And I was so happy that you felt the same but then.. ” she sniffled. His heart broke and he closed his eyes. “You went on your knee and proposed Sarah right there in front of me. While all the people were cheering you guys, I stood there like a statue. It hurt, Aayan. I knew you for sixteen freaking years and she was only— ”

She broke down.

All the hurt and misery she felt that night came back like a wave and she couldn't help but drown in it. The endless nights after that when she remained awake, thinking of the reasons why her best friend betrayed her like that after asking her to wear a dress for him.

He used to be a playboy back then, flirting here and there and going on dates. But he never actually kept a relationship. She thought she wasn't one of those girls, after all, they both grew up together despite the petty arguments.

But his stunt that night left her shattered and she started hating him with all her heart.

Aayan's feelings were quite similar when he had seen her in that dress but now he felt like really jumping off the K2.

What was he thinking when he proposed that girl?!

He tugged hard on his hair before looking up. “So, it was a misunderstanding all this time?”

She didn't reply and he laughed bitterly, his throat clogging up with emotion. “Nine fücking years without talking or seeing each other; all because of a shïtty misunderstanding!”

He felt like punching someone.

Preferably himself.

Ifrah wiped her eyes and jumped when thunder boomed across the sky and they looked up to see the clouds gathering. It was going to rain.

She looked down at him but avoided his eyes. “You should climb up now.”

Aayan's whole being was on fire when he heard the hurt in her voice and he made up his mind.

No more playing now.

She was his, and he was going to make sure that it goes through her pretty little head too.

After mustering up enough strength, he started climbing and ignored the unbearable pain in his back. Despite what happened some moments ago, his wife kept praying under her breath for him to get out safely. She quickly shot up to her feet when he waved a hand over the edge and she grabbed it with her right one to pull him up.

Ifrah moved her hand to get out from his grasp but her breath caught stuck in her throat when he didn't give her any time to process and pulled her flush against him before crashing his lips on hers.

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N O T E

Whoops!

I won't be going into the details of the last scene because meehhh... I'm not comfortable writing that stuff 😐

But *clears throat*
Shazain effing Sikandar made an appearance in this book, too! (Banda boht demand mein ha bhae XD)

It was so hard to hold this secret in since I started writing this story 😂 and it's out now

His story is next 😉

Hope you enjoyed it as always :)

Stay blessed ❤