Darkness had engulfed the sky when Zoya sat on the edge of the bathtub, brushing her teeth while simultaneously, ruminating over Zain's words. The distaste on his face as he yelled acrimoniously flashed back into her memory and she heaved a sigh.

To tell Zaib or not, was the actual concern.

Her husband deserved to know, especially knowing the fact that he loved and cared deeply for his family, but she felt conflicted, pondering upon the consequences. Zain was an adult, perfectly capable of his own decisions and tattling to Zaib might cause irreversible problems for the family and even distance Zain from everyone. It might shatter, not only his parents but also Zain, himself, who requires support and understanding.

"Zoya?"

She jolted her out of her muddleheaded thoughts and pushed herself off, towards the sink to wash off her mouth. She practised a smile against the mirror and tugged the door open, her eyes landing upon Zaib who hovered over the door, lethargically rubbing his eyes.

The superficial smile faltered and the tension drifted away on its own like a dandelion blooming into the gust of wind. Her eyes resonated the warmth she felt for him without the struggle.

"Are you okay? You were in there for a while," he muttered, and then pulled her close before, carrying her up into his arms. She gasped at his celerity and then eased into his embrace.

"You seemed off by the end of the day. Did someone say something?" He asked, laying her down on the bed and hopping on beside her. His gaze traced hers, searching for answers. She sighed and finally decided to formally set aside Zain's grotesque words and focus on her relationship with the man she loved.

"I'm okay," she attempted to pacify his curiosity but his gaze only narrowed further. He sighed in dismay, his eyes glowering as he looked back at her unsatisfied.

"Can you be honest?" He interrogated, his body now completely alert, the adrenaline chasing away his exhaustion. She stared blankly at him.

She wanted to tell him eventually. She wanted to speak to Zain one last time before pulling Zaib into this. Informing him would only be the last resort. Zoya poked at his chest. "You never said a word about my cooking!"

Initially, she was upset about his inability to complement her food, so technically she wasn't lying to him. Sure, she was twisting the reality. Zaib stared back dumbfounded, at a loss of words. "What?"

"Everyone showed admiration for the food. You just sat there eating like a cow!" She shrieked, throwing a jab at his chest as she huffed, displeased.

The tension diminished from his frame as he collapsed back on to the bed, laughter echoing within the empty house. She sulked, growling at his historical reaction. He reached out to grab her after slowly calming down but she edged away towards the other side, genuinely frustrated. She rolled to the end of the bed, almost escaping.

He pounced forward as he gained a hold of her waist and pulled her back. He finally dragged her towards him and wrapped her into his arms.

"I didn't know you were so observant," he remarked, further aggravating her. She glared daggers at him. "Everyone was already giving you such amazing feedback so I assumed I didn't have to say something," he added, resting his head on her shoulder as he held her tighter, wanting her sulky frown to disappear.

"You're different," she mumbled, frowning at him. Zaib cursed himself in the head and then held her hand and gently kissed her palm.

"My wife is better than all those master chef cooks," he boasted, his gaze flooding with sweet affection for her. She didn't intend on forgiving him but his comment made a smile appear, and instantly she despised herself for melting easily.

"Thank you for caring about my family's preferences." He told her, full of gratitude for her dedication as he enlaced his fingers with hers. "And I'm sorry I didn't say anything on the table. Everything was delicious."

She smiled at him, unable to remain mad. She smoothed her fingers against his cheeks, deftly tracing a little faded scar at the corner of his mouth.

"How did you get this?" She mumbled, staring at the little crevice sitting at his face.

"When I was around six, Zain hit me with his toy car," Zaib gormlessly chuckled, reminiscing the memories of the past. "The idiot wanted my Beyblades but always chewed on them and destroyed them so I refused. He was furious." Zoya noticed the affectionate smile on his lips and she felt bewildered: getting hit by your brother should be the least of your happiness.

Zoya's response left him flustered. She shifted forward and put her lips on the age-old scar, kissing the corner of his mouth. She then bashfully pulled away, wondering what made her take such a courageous move.

His hold on her waist tightened as he pecked her forehead. "My heartbeat is abnormally fast right now because of you," he muttered, his eyes shut as he held her against his chest.

Her face warmed up and she giggled, appreciating his warmth that made her feel loved. Every smile, every compliment, every glance of his, even his apology after her foolish tantrum made her feel loved.

::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::-::

The university notified their students a week before the reopening since the spring break had finally come to an end and it was supposed to act as an early reminder for the students who had travelled back to their hometowns. Zoya seemed to lose track of time amid her eventful life.

She was nervously anticipating her last semester. As Zoya was still very new to the concept of marriage, now she had to balance between both her education and marriage life. For the first time, she felt dispirited upon seeing the email pop up on her screen. She secretly wished to spend more time with Zaib, but also kept reminding herself that education was always a priority.

"Zaib... uni starts in two days," she broke the news out of nowhere on an early Saturday morning. Zaib remained quiet for a moment and then gazed back at her.

"I know," he reassured her. "I'll also have to get back to work, there's only much Ehsan can handle," he added and munched onto his toast.

Zoya stared at him, surveying his gaze and then she nodded eating her own. "Are you excited?" He popped the question. Zoya halted as she eyed his unpredictable facial expression. She wondered if she should tell him the truth or just spit out a straightforward, underwhelming answer. She decided to only tell the truth.

"I thought I was excited but honestly when I saw the email, my heart dropped," she muttered, playing with her fingers. "I realized I'd have to stay away from you," she admitted, her fidgeting unable to rest.

She looked up at him who had suddenly visually brightened. He chuckled. "You'll miss me," he stated, to which she automatically groaned, refuting his statement.

He finished up his breakfast. "Don't worry, as soon as I'm home, I'll glue myself to you and you can stare at my your handsome husband to make up for all those hours." The sly jerk winked as he took their plates to the sink.

"You're so full of yourself!" She chided. It blew her mind how he had let go of all restraints, starting to reveal his charismatically smug side which honestly just made her happier.

She still pretended to act offended and marched back to their bedroom.

Stepping into the room, she heard the low ringing of her phone and immediately dashed to the side table, hoping it was from her mother and to her delight, it was. Quickly accepting the call, she put the phone to her ear and threw herself onto the bed.

"Salam!" She exuberantly chirped, her mouth wide with a smile.

"Wa Alaykum Aslam, how's my girl doing?"

The soothing voice of her mother filled her with relish and she restrained the urge to cry. Even though she was on a cloud-nine with her husband, she did feel the absence of her family and missed them.

"Is Zaib doing well? Are you both getting along? How's the new home?" Her mother bombarded like an interviewer.

Zoya blinked back the tears and cleared her throat then spoke up. "He's good to me, mama. I'm having an amazing time here. The place isn't too big but the moment I stepped foot in here, it felt like my home," she wholesomely explained.

"That's great," she could hear her mother smile. "Visit us soon! I'll give you a tour," Zoya pled. Her mother replied distraught. "Not yet, sweetheart. Naimat's wedding is in about a week so I'll be busy helping her mother," she notified her.

"Yeah, Naim called yesterday," Zoya grinned from ear to ear.

The wedding was finally held at the grand mosque in a nearby town. Naimat had called, hysterically hyperventilating while she asked nonsense questions about marriage which Zoya could only nervously giggle upon.

"Is baba taking good care of his diet?" Her mother huffed through the phone. "He's fine but he eats in your room a lot these days," she giggled and Zoya's heart warmed.

"And Bilal is even more annoying than usual. He's started to get picky with everything! He doesn't even like mozzarella sticks anymore," she complained. Whenever he wanted a 'light' snack, he asked her to make mozzarella sticks. Funny how, deep-fried, cheesy fat was considered light to his digestive system. No wonder, his stomach started sticking out.

"Where is he?" She wondered.

"He's at work. I'll remind him to give you a call," she replied. "Your baba is taking a nap right now," she explained and Zoya hummed in response.

"Alright, I need to boil some eggs for the salad. Take care, give my greetings to Zaib," her mother excused herself and soon the other end was just a room of beeps.

Zoya mindlessly kept the phone to the side and wondered how often she'd get to visit her family. Their house was at least half an hour away which led her to believe she could not just go for a walk and say her greetings and return. Naimat's house was also a good forty minutes away by car.

The knock against the door drew her attention and she turned over, on her stomach, eyeing Zaib who held a genuine smile on his face. "Are you done talking to your mother?" He asked her. She noticed he held a thick khaki envelope as he walked in and placed it on the side table but she decided to answer his query first.

"Yeah?" She chided, pointedly eyeing him. He quickly retracted. "No! I didn't overhear anything. I stepped away to the living room," he explained. She giggled and nodded.

"I mean, even if you did overhear, at most you'd hear me discussing your cocky personality," she lied slickly and then enjoyed his alarmingly large eyes. His smile was now painfully tight as he let out a distressed chuckle.

"You didn't tell your mother that, did you?" He rasped and she grinned, her eyes sparkling playfully as she saw his nervous smile completely collapse. "Zoya!" He shrieked, his thoughts raging thinking of his mother-in-law disliking him.

Zoya bit her lip withholding her giggle as his face lost colour. He stared at her blankly for an entire minute. She felt her feet tickle from restraining her laughter and then gave in, bursting into snorts. Zaib sighed in relief, his body unfreezing and then he glared at his wife enjoying the time of her life while he broke into a cold sweat thinking his mother-in-law hated him.

He headed forward, grabbed her face and out of nowhere, bit her plump cheek. He was so fast with his intentions, she could not even react until he pecked the bite mark.

Zoya pushed at his chest, gasping. The smug man threw himself on the bed, placing his elbow under his head for support as he looked up at her with the little bite mark now reddish on her cheek. She reddened all across her face. "You animal!" She shrieked, throwing a jab at his shoulder.

Zaib delivered an unapologetic smile. "That's what you get for lying," he chimed. She held onto her warm cheek, glaring at him.

Zaib sat up, the playfulness evading his eyes. "Wait, does it hurt?" He scooted closer but she turned her face away, pretending to be extremely pained. His eyes were now flooding with concern. Zoya liked that.

"Zoya?" He muttered. She glared at him. "That was so painful!" She scowled. She was lying yet again. It didn't even hurt more than a tingle. He frowned. "I'm sorry but I bit very gently," he muttered, his brows furrowed and forehead creased with worry.

She remained frowning. He studied her for a while and then brought his arm forward. Zoya gave him a blank stare. He stretched his arm toward her mouth and shut his eyes. "Have a go," he said, implying that she bites him.

"Are you serious?" She laughed but since his hand was still outstretched before her, she realized he was dead serious.

"I'm fine though-"

"Zoya, just bite back so I can feel better," he told her. She shrugged and then took the opportunity and bit him on his wrist with the maximum strength. When she was done, he looked back at her questionably.

"You're done?" He asked innocuously, inspecting his arm. She studied his wrist for any damage evidences. She couldn't even spot a red mark let alone any teeth marks? Zaib threw his head back chuckling. "You bite like a little kitten!" She sighed. 'Was this man built of metal?' She thought to herself.

Zoya noticed the envelope sitting on the side table and realized she never asked him about its contents. "What's this?" She pointed towards it. He smiled.

"While you talked to your mother, I called our wedding photographer and he dropped off the album," Zaib explained. Zoya jolted towards the envelope, exhilaration causing her heartbeat to escalate.

The large envelope contained a thick black album. She grabbed it out full of beans, her fingers tracing the Zaib & Zoya ingrained within the ivory textured cover. Their names put together created a sense of epiphany within her chest. She opened the first page and her heart staggered, her eyes wide as she stared. It was a wide photograph of her and him, captured at the moment their Nikah was completed and they stood against the open curtains, gazing upon one another.

Zaib's gaze was soft, full of her and his smile was wider than the sky. Zoya looked at herself and stared wondrously. Against the mirror, she found herself to be average but the woman in the picture was someone unrecognizable. She found the woman in the photo, confident and gorgeous, stunningly in love with Zaib.

"This— I didn't know I could ever be this happy," she muttered, her fingers tracing Zaib and herself through the photograph. Zaib surveyed her for a moment and felt his heart tingle with joy.

"I didn't know I'd ever be this lucky either," he whispered, almost like it were his secret. She looked back at him, her heart thundering for this man before her.

She smiled and flicked through the next pages, the couple giggling at some pictures of Bilal crying like a toddler, Ehsan staring at Naimat through the curtains and smiling like a moron and Naimat hugging her tight with mascara streaming down her face.

-:-:-:-:-

💜