Saad's pov :

It was past Jummah prayer and the house really seemed to be buzzing with excitement. The aroma of freshly made food mixed with the fragrance of floral decoration kept here and there really gave us the vibe of an upcoming wedding, something which was giving me jittery feeling as well as nervous strokes. I have never felt like this before in my entire life. I don't know if I should be scared or try to enjoy this moment. It might never come again in my life.

I changed into my suit after coming back and now we were standing at one corner of the room, contemplating on what to do next since we don't really know anyone here.

Someone bumped into my shoulder, bringing me out of my thoughts. I turned around to look at that person and try to help them, but before I could even ask or say something, that person was out of my sight. I frowned, was everything alright? Why was that person in so much hurry?

Shaking my head, I turned back, only to find my brother's gaze roaming around, trying to find something, or better yet, someone. "You won't find her here." I told him as I stood beside him.

"Who?" He questioned while furrowing his eyebrows and glancing at me.

"The one you are looking for. She is helping aunty in the kitchen." I replied with a smirk, looking around.

Bhai muttered something under his breath, making me chuckle. "You shouldn't be observing me this much." He muttered, looking away. "And even you won't be able to find her here, so there is no point of looking around." He added as an afterthought with a smirk.

I narrowed my eyes at him as a groan threatened to escape my lips. Not again! Instead of giving him the satisfaction of getting to me, I sighed before looking away. "I wasn't looking for anyone." Still, I gritted out.

"Awww, did I make my little brother angry?" He cooed, not even trying to hide the smug look on his face.

"No." I tried to reply to him in a monotonous voice, nonchalantly.

And thankfully, before bhai could annoy me anymore, her uncle came to stand in front of us. Smiling at him, I wondered what the matter might be for him to come here. "I won't beat around the bush or anything. If you dare to hurt her even a bit or make her cry, then just know that the consequences won't be good for you. I will personally hunt you down and make sure to have you killed and make it look like an accident." He threatened me seriously, pointing a finger at me. The serious look on his face made my smile slip off and a look of horror passed through my features.

Is he in the mafia or something? No wait, is this whole family crazy? Like one person more crazier than the other? Is there some kind of competition between them on who will be the craziest? Because if that's the case, I won't doubt it even a bit.

Glancing over at bhai, I saw he had an amused look on his face as he watched my reaction. Was this looking funny to him? This person right here is threatening me and he finds it amusing? I looked back at him and gulped before nodding. "Okay." I replied meekly.

First of all, I didn't even want to marry her myself but 'someone' thought it was a good idea to get us married. And now, if I hurt her even by mistake, since it will be my fault, I will be killed? Wow! Okay. I get how it is.

Smiling, he patted my back. "I hope you understood. Now don't just stand there, come and enjoy. It is your nikkah after all. If you won't enjoy now then when will you enjoy?" Uncle teased me as he looked at bhai, silently asking him if he agrees.

"Yeah you are right! Enjoy your day chote, waise bhi this is your last day of freedom. Iske baad we don't know when will you be able to enjoy your life like how you used to." Bhai joined in the teasing, making me groan. (Younger one, and anyways) (After this)

I glared at him and they laughed before dragging me to sit among some other people. After that, everything was a blur of teasing, having fun and doing last minute preparations.

The only thing which I caught in between all of this, were the glares sent my way every once in a while from one of Emaan's two brothers. I don't even know why he was glaring at me. We don't even know each other. He seemed angry and kind of upset, making me wonder what the problem is. Did I do something wrong?

I didn't get to ponder upon these thoughts much as after a while, snacks were being served around and the room started filling in with everyone present there. Everyone except her and aunty.

It was then when everyone was busy talking that I actually noticed the whole set up. All in all, it was pretty simple, but at the same time it gave off the vibe of a special occasion. The combination of pink and grey gave off a formal as well as an informal look. And the matching colour of the dresses... I think that was the reason why aunty insisted on buying everyone's dresses yesterday.

Alayna and Amira were running around with her uncle's son as they held a balloon each in their hands. The sound of their giggles echoed in the room as they paused every once in a while to grab a cookie or sip their juices. The happiness glowing off their faces gave me a sense of peace and helped me to calm down. At least they were happy and enjoying this day. "Alhamdulillah." I muttered under my breath.

The pinging of my phone made me look away from them as I checked my messages. It was a message from aunty. She said that Mehr-e-Fatimi was okay with Atifa too. I replied in an affirmative before closing the chat.

The Qazi sahab was already here, talking with the elders. Scrolling through my mobile, I grabbed a cookie and ate it before sipping my juice. As expected, it was delicious. I think I would like to learn some things from here before leaving. I was starting to get bored and-

"Hey man! What are you doing?" Someone patted my back as they sat beside me with a friendly grin. I was puzzled as to who it could be. But my confusion was cleared soon enough as I saw that it was as Emaan's brother. No, not the one who kept glaring at me but the other one. I glanced at the other brother and once again, found him glaring at me.

Looking back at the person sitting beside me, I smiled while pocketing my phone. "Nothing much, just getting bored." I replied as I looked down, getting self conscious. Am I looking okay? Is there something on me? Or is something wrong with me?

"So, are you nervous?" He questioned, looking around.

I glanced at him before following his gaze. He was glaring at Emaan as she clicked away on her phone, not giving any attention to her brother. Puzzled, I nudged him. "Kind of. Why are you glaring at her though?"

He turned to look at me, amused. "You didn't notice that? She has been clicking pictures of you for the past ten minutes and won't stop taking them. I asked her to stop but she replied that she wants some of your 'before nikkah' shots to send them to Atifa." He explained while shaking his head at her antics and making me baffled.

"Oh!" I didn't know what else to say. How many of my pictures did she take? And what kind of my embarrassing pictures does she have now? I have no idea. But when I glanced back at where she was standing, she was not there anymore. I don't know if I should be thankful about it or scared about her next move.

My thoughts were broken when Amira and Alayna brought a long grey coloured net curtain and kept it in the room, making a partition in the middle. The net curtain was fixed on a wooden board, it was basically hanging from it. After adjusting it, they ran off towards the dining room, with giggles escaping their lips. The small boy ran away with them.

"Come on man, let's get you settled." Emaan's brother teased me as he held my arm and stood up, making me stand up with him. A puzzled look crossed over my face as I looked at him. Before I could ask him anything, he chuckled and motioned with his face towards the couch in the back. "You have to sit there, Mr. Groom."

Realisation dawned on me as I nodded my face. But with that realisation, my nervousness returned with full force, making me restless. I felt like running away from here. My hands felt clammy and my heartbeat quickened. I looked around trying to find bhai, but at that moment it seemed like everything was jumbled up. I couldn't exactly pinpoint who is where.

When I turned to look beside me, I realised Emaan's brother was looking at me, concerned. Was my expression that visible or fathomable? I tried to give him a reassuring smile but couldn't conjure it up. "Are you alright bro?" He asked me gently, and I could just nod my head. I don't trust my voice enough to give him an answer without stuttering. "Watching you like this, now I'm scared of getting married." He commented with a shudder, bringing a smile on my face. "Finally, you smiled! At least now you look better." He added in a dramatic tone, making me chuckle.

We made our way to the back of the room where I was supposed to sit. Feeling a little better, my gaze once again roamed around, trying to find bhai. I spotted the kids smiling widely while looking at me, their hands occupied with small flower baskets. My heart warmed at their small gesture and I passed them a smile. I saw one of her cousins making a video as he turned the camera towards me. I looked away and finally found bhai. Just as our gazes met, he excused himself before making his way to me. I was now standing at my place, waiting for him to join me to sit.

Emaan's brother excused himself apologetically and this time, I managed to give him a small smile, telling him it's okay. As soon as he left, bhai joined me and we sat down. I could see Emaan's brother - the one who was sitting with me - dragging his brother out of the room from the corner of my eye. Before I could think much about it, bhai brought me out of my thoughts. "What happened?" He asked me calmly while looking around.

"You are asking me what happened now when the nikkah is going to take place?" I whispered incredulously. Anxiety was eating me up from inside. Bhai stared at me for a while before cracking a grin, making me sigh and cover my face. "Don't start again please! I'm already nervous enough." I muttered as I uncovered my face and looked at him pleadingly.

"When did I even start anything?" He retorted, making me shake my head.

Before I could reply, my gaze landed on a figure standing at the door as she played with the flower bouquet held in her hands. Her face wasn't visible as she tried to conceal herself in the faint darkness outside this room. The cream dress - of what I could see - flowed perfectly and half of her heels seemed to be covered by her long gown.

"Stop looking at her, you guys aren't married yet." Bhai whispered teasingly as he nudged me.

"Astagfirullah!" I muttered while averting my gaze and glaring at bhai. "I wasn't looking at her." I tried to protest but who was I kidding? He caught me red handed and in no way was he now going to stop.

Embarrassed, I looked away from his smirking face and started playing with my watch. "Oh, are you really blushing? Am I seeing things now or is this true? Your ears have turned pink." Bhai teased further, making maybe my already pink ears to change their shade.

"You are watching things and no one is blushing here. Also, I will complain about you to bhabi if you don't stop." I muttered slowly as I glanced around to find bhabi.

Immediately bhai's expression changed to one of scowl. "No, you won't do any such thing." He told me, more like he tried to assure himself that I won't do it.

"Want to try?" I challenged him as my gaze once again roamed around and settled on her on it's own. I quickly looked away as soon as I realised what I was doing.

"No, thank you." His scowl deepened and thankfully, this time he didn't notice my lingering gaze. "Anyways chote, stay calm and everything will be alright In Shaa Allah. Say what you really want to say. If you really want to marry her then go ahead. But if you don't want it, then don't do it. Once again, remember, we will support your decision, whatever it will be. Okay?" Bhai questioned while staring at me, waiting for my answer.

Taking a deep breath, I replied. "Okay bhai, I will remember that." I gave him a small assuring smile as he patted my back.

"We trust you and your decision." Bhai smiled one last time as he stood up and made his way towards bhabi.

Suddenly, the room went silent and still and I looked around confused. Everyone was staring at the entrance of the room. My gaze flickered there but remained only for a moment as I realised that she was coming in and so everyone was staring at her.

I wasn't able to notice her much because I did not want to make her feel uncomfortable, nor were we married yet for me to be staring at her so openly. Suddenly, I feel like it would have been better if she would have remained in her room. At least none of the boys sitting here would be gazing at her. And although the net was separating us, the boys from the girls, I still felt annoyed at all of those boys who were staring at the girls side.

Don't they know how to lower their gaze and that she is a niqabi and covers herself. I'm sure if it would be up to her, she would have preferred to stay in her room. Only when Emaan's brother kept his hand on my fist did I realise that I had fisted my hands and was glaring daggers at them. I didn't even notice him making his way here, to sit next to me or the fact that everyone had resumed their talks.

Exhaling my breath slowly, which I didn't even realise I was holding, I opened my fists and plastering a smile on my face, I turned to look at him. His concerned look was replaced by a smile when he saw my face and relaxed. "I thought something happened." He said while pocketed his hands and leaning back on the couch.

Although once again I was confused by his statement, I smiled and shook my head. "All's good." I replied, suddenly becoming much more aware of the fact that she was sitting in front of me. Just a thin net curtain separating us.

Trying to distract myself, I turned to check who all were sitting at this side of the room. And it turns out that all the boys were sitting here. But what caught my attention was his brother's gaze which was still following her. Even though she was sitting behind the curtain, her blurry figure was still visible and he seemed to be staring at her. I clenched my jaw and tried to keep my hands open. The urge to punch him and give him a piece of my mind was strong.

It was actually confusing, my own emotions and feelings were confusing me. We aren't even married yet and I could feel this strong emotion already. I don't know if it is a good thing or a bad thing. I'm not even sure if I'm about to marry her, if it's the right decision or not. Actually, since the answer for the Istikhara was positive, I will marry her, In Shaa Allah. I hope things go well for us.

Realising I would not like to keep looking at that guy and let my anger get the best of me, and wanting to again distract myself again, I decided it's better to talk to Emaan's brother, the one sitting beside me. "Hey, I still don't know your name." I told him in a low voice.

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot to introduce myself! I'm Zeeshan. Emaan's oldest brother." He chuckled before replying, forwarding his hand to me.

Smiling, I shook it. "And I'm Saad Ibrahim."

"Who doesn't know about you Mr. Groom?" Zeeshan winked before grinning, making my ears turn pink. Again. I hope no one notices it this time.

._._._.

GLOSSARY :

- Qazi sahab - A man who performs nikkah.

._._._.

▪ What do you think about the new characters?

._._._.