"Naimat!" Zoya flung her arms around her best friend, uplifted with joy. This was the first time she'd seen her dearest friend in months since the wedding and so much had happened since then. Naimat and Ehsan were on a long honeymoon, touring around various countries globally as they'd decided to spend most of their wedding budget on travelling instead.

Naimat had adorned a peaceful glow in that time; her eyes shone more than ever, and her cheeks were a healthy, rosy red. Maybe it was true after all, marriage and love brought out all your colours. Ehsan also looked like the luckiest man alive, having grown out his hair a bit just as Naimat preferred and seemingly inseparable from his wife as if he couldn't bear to part from her.

"Zoya! I missed you!" Naimat bear-hugged her soulmate, tearing up with joy. It felt like Zoya had thinned, so Naimat precariously put her arms around her.

"Have you lost weight, Zoe? Is Zaib not feeding you well?" She raised an eyebrow at Zaib who was grinning while chatting with Ehsan.

"Naim, I just overworked myself a bit before, I'm bouncing back soon though. Don't worry about it," she reassured Naimat, pulling out of the hug. Naimat nodded and patted her shoulder, "Stop being so hard on yourself Zoe, okay?"

Zoya nodded gladly while grasping Naimat's hand and they turned to their husbands who were engaged in a conversation.

"Zaib? Are we leaving soon, or will we spend the whole day in the driveway?" She teased.

He chuckled at his sarcastic wife and motioned to Ehsan, "Alright man, let's get going before my wife throws more sass at me." Ehsan laughed heartily while Zoya nudged Zaib annoyedly.

The couples got inside the car, men in the front and women in the back with Zaib driving.

Today they planned to take a day off, unwinding at the beach. The group had been planning this road trip for ages and now with this spring break and delightful weather, it had become a reality.

On the way there, the car was filled with laughter and good-natured banter between the two couples. They played various games including truth or dare which ended up with Naimat doing Zoya's henna in the backseat of the car.

She'd brought her henna cone along to do a beautiful design she'd been planning to try out on Zoya but Zaib's evil dare had enticed her to waste one of Zoya's hands on a wobbly flower design. Upon showing it to Zoya's overly enthusiastic husband, Zaib had been reduced to painful laughter at the childish design.

"Naim, I look like an eight-year-old who attempted to do henna on herself!" Zoya whined, sulking at her palm.

"Oh, it'll go away, stop being such a drama queen," Naimat rolled her eyes.

"Zaib, I'll never forgive you!" She yelled for the fifth time today while Zaib constantly apologized with a ridiculous smirk on his face.

After a few hours of driving, they'd finally reached the seaside. The ladies jumped out the moment Zaib parked the car, taking off their sandals and running barefoot on the sand.

Naimat and Zoya's squeals of excitement rang across the nearly empty beach. The husbands just chuckled at their wives' antics. No matter how different the two best friends were, they both had wild spirits that their husbands had to live with.

Zoya and Naimat raced each other and then ran ankle-deep into the water, splashing each other lightly and giggling like schoolgirls. The refreshing ocean breeze and cool splashes of water hitting their feet made them reminisce the time they were young and always together, flooded with innocence and trivial matters. Suddenly all days of hardship were washed away with the tranquil waves as if they had never existed.

'Subhan Allah,' Zoya thought to herself. Allah's creations were indeed the most splendid.

Ehsan and Zaib surveyed the wholesome image: the image of a calming sea with their significant others unrestrained and happy.

"If that day... if I hadn't come with you for Naimat's proposal, would I have lost the chance to meet her?" Zaib asked sincerely, immersed in staring at her. It seemed like the sunlight only focused on shining at her like she were the star of the show.

Ehsan looked away from his wife at his best friend and smiled warmly. "No. You would have met her even if this city had collapsed. Destined paths never perish; however, sometimes it takes a while to find them; marrying Naimat has taught me that."

<><><><><><>

The couples unpacked their picnics. There was a lot to do at a beach so the four carefully considered what activity they should start with.

"Zoe, do you remember that anime I once watched? The one I was obsessed with for about six months?" Naimat asked her best friend, assuming she'd know.

Zoya furrowed her eyebrows, "You have to be a little more specific Naim, you've watched and obsessed over too many."

"Oh you know, the one with the volleyball guys. Don't you remember? I had a poster in my room until my mom made me take it down." Naimat gazed at her intently as her life depended on this discovery.

Zoya realised and nodded quickly. "Yeah, how could I forget? It's all you would talk to me about back then." She shook her head. Naimat had been so devastatingly obsessed with that show, her mother had to take her laptop away so she would study more.

Naimat would get over everything she liked. She could never moderately enjoy something: she'd either hate it or love it to the point where it would become a key element in her life for a while.

"Yeah so, I've wanted to try out volleyball ever since then but never got the opportunity to. It is a pretty beachy sport so why not?"

Everyone agreed to her suggestion, so they paired up: couple vs a couple. There was a huge net allocated at the beach for the sport and they warmed up, ready to play.

Zoya got a glimpse of the determination in Naimat's eyes and suddenly felt nervous.

She pulled Zaib close by his arm and whispered. "Naim's in her game on mode right now; she can get very competitive and scary," Zaib stared at her moving lips; at this proximity, they looked very inviting.

"If you pull me any closer, I'll be in my game off mode and take you away from here," he threatened as he pulled a safe distance away.

Taken aback, Zoya was speechless, and then she stomped at his embarrassing words. "Can you focus? We have a game to win!" She whisper-shouted at her flirtatious husband.

Zaib winked and then grinned strategically.

"Ehsan's the complete opposite from what you said about Naimat: he easily gives in when it comes to winning. He can be the team's weak point so let's aim for him instead."

Reassured, Zoya nodded and gulped down her anxiety. Sure Naimat was her best friend, but she could be crazy sometimes- even to a competitive person like Zoya. Once, Zoya had beaten Naimat at a very close game of Monopoly and after that, she faced her silent treatment and determination for revenge; that girl watched way too much TV!

"Are you guys ready to lose?" Naimat called out with a smirk while Ehsan laughed at his wife's sharp smile. Zoya narrowed her eyes and replied calmly, "Ready, ready to win."

And with that determined statement, the game commenced.

As Zaib had predicted, Ehsan was not making much effort and as Zoya had predicted, Naimat was putting a life's worth of effort into this one trivial game. Even when they aimed for Ehsan, she would block him and hit the ball back.

At one point, the ball was coming straight for Ehsan's petrified face, but Naimat hit it out of the way just in time. "Watch out for my husband!" She yelled at Zaib who had hit the ball, "If anything happens to his handsome face, you'll have to face my wrath!" She shook her fists at him.

By now, Zaib realised what Zoya meant to say. Although Naimat was on the smaller side, her fury was large enough to intimidate even him.

"Now I see where you get your scary threats from," he muttered to Zoya, who just glared at him in return.

Although both couples faced off in a well-matched battle, Naimat and Ehsan did end up winning- credits given to Naimat. Watching three seasons of that anime did pay off after all.

"How come she wasn't this competitive when we played Ludo," Zaib muttered to Zoya, surprised at Naimat's game spirit.

"She told me later that she wanted to talk to Ehsan more that time," Zoya giggled at her friend's antics.

"I'm so hungry," Naimat heaved.

Everyone looked beaten. Zaib rummaged through the bag and quickly passed a water bottle to Zoya who could barely push out a breath from her lungs. She chugged the water down and Zaib drank the little quantity remaining.

After settling down on the mat and unpacking the food they had brought, the four of them enjoyed a fulfilling lunch.

The men then set off to buy ice cream.

Zoya was cutting the watermelon when Naimat noticed that she was picking out the seeds and placing the seedless pieces on a separate plate.

"Zoe, why are you cutting the watermelon that way?" She questioned, knowing Zoya never did that.

Zoya smiled but didn't answer. When the men arrived with their ice creams, they handed them to their wives and sat on the sheet. Zoya forked out some watermelon into a bowl and passed it to Zaib.

"Uh, Zoya I don't really like watermelon. You can have it instead," he tried returning the bowl to his wife but she shook her head. "Just try some, trust me it'll be alright."

Zaib raised an eyebrow but complied with her wishes; although he was uneasy about watermelons due to his trauma of choking on the seeds, he would jump off a bridge if that's what his wife wanted.

Bracing himself to feel the seeds in his mouth, his taste buds were immersed in the sweet fruit. Surprisingly, there were none.

"You removed the seeds?" He stared, startled. "How did you know I don't like them?" His heart softened at the thought of her picking out all the minuscule seeds so he could enjoy the delicious fruit.

"I have my sources," she laughed, planting a kiss on his cheek as he blushed at the act of affection. She rarely showed physical affection in front of their friends.

His heartbeat raced once again.

"Awe, that's why! My heart hurts seeing you two," Naimat gushed over her best friend's relationship.

Ehsan narrowed his eyes at her, "What about us? Are we not cute as well?" He threw an arm around his wife, pulling her close.

"So cute I want to shove this ice cream in your face," Naimat cutely threatened him with a smile. He backed up hands in the air, "Just asking, but I do want some ice cream though." He leant forward and took a big bite of Naimat's ice cream. With wide eyes, she gasped. "I don't know whether to beat you up for eating my ice cream or take a huge bite instead of licking. I'll hurt you for both."

She lunged forward and Ehsan got up, starting to run. Naimat followed and suddenly there was a comedic chase where an angry woman clutching her ice cream ran like a madwoman behind a man who was groaning as he ran for his dear life.

Zaib and Zoya got a laugh out of their friends' silly argument. Zoya forked some more watermelon into Zaib's mouth as they reminisced their childhood experiences with the beach.

"And when Bilal was busy helping Baba pack up, I took both his shoes and filled them up with sand. He didn't even notice before putting them on. And god when he did," Zoya paused, trying to catch her breath between laughter, "Oh, you should've seen his face! He looked like an angry bird! I got thrown into the water soon after," she giggled; from most of her pranks on Bilal, this one was the most memorable.

"No wonder Bilal bullies you so much; you were just as mischievous. And I thought my wife was an innocent woman," he shook his head dismissing that thought. "Why didn't I realise this before our marriage," Zaib feigned hurt, placing a hand over his chest with a sober expression.

"Why?" She challenged narrowly. "Would you not have married me if you knew I was not so innocent?" Zoya glared bitterly.

The following seconds were weirdly silent. Zoya's patience was wearing out as she nudged him annoyedly. "Why are you not answering!" She frowned and punched him on his shoulder.

"Nothing in the world could've stopped me from marrying you," he muttered it like it were his little secret hidden from the universe. She stared at him and melted upon the serene honesty in his gaze.

"I would've married you. Even if I had known that you snore occasionally." Zaib teased, pinching his wife's cheek.

Zoya gently shoved his chest, "I don't snore!" She argued.

"Ma'am, I'm the one wide awake because of the snoring," he told her, loving her embarrassed ablaze face and the twinkling annoyance in her eyes.

"Well, you snore too okay!" She finally coveted but he also couldn't dispute her argument; Zaib already knew he snores. His little devil of a sister had made it very clear when she recorded the snoring at night and put them on speaker on Eid for all their guests to hear. God, he was so embarrassed.

"Is that Naimat and Ehsan?" Zaib pointed in the distance questioningly. Zoya craned her neck, trying to see what he was pointing at. They could make out the distant silhouette of Ehsan carrying Naimat on his back as she waved at them.

The couple soon returned to the mat and Naimat began to explain what had happened, "Basically, I was chasing Ehsan and he was too scared of me to slow down and I ended up tripping over some rock and now I have a bruise. I made him carry me back of course," She glared at her husband who sheepishly smiled.

"It wasn't even that bad, come on Naim," Ehsan tried to appeal his case but Naimat waved her hand at him, looking away. "I'll only forgive you if you build a sandcastle with me."

Ehsan furrowed his eyebrows, "Right now?"

"When else would we do it? Come on, now carry me to those shells over there, they could make a good base." Naimat pointed.

Ehsan sighed and scooped his wife up from the mat and shook his head at Zaib while mouthing 'women'. Zaib just chuckled at his friend's demise. Both the men were wrapped around their wives' fingers.

"I'm gonna lie down. I feel kinda tired." He wanted to lay on her lap but knowing she felt uncomfortable with physical affection in public, he placed an arm under his head and laid down, looking up at the sky.

Zoya leaned back and gently placed his head in her lap instead as if hearing his thoughts loud and clear.

"This is more comfortable," she gently uttered, gazing at the sea in silence. She twirled strands of his hair around her fingers, playing with it.

Zaib's heart warmed at her gesture: his wife finally dismantled her barrier against him. He gazed up at her gorgeous face and while she was observing the waves.

It was moments like these that he deeply cherished his marriage with her.

One year with her and his whole life gained more meaning; he couldn't even remember the person he was before he'd met her. She had changed him so much for the better and it seemed crazy how someone he didn't even know all that time ago had impacted his life so much.

There was immense gratefulness in his heart to Allah for crossing paths with her, bringing them this far on their life journey, and blessing them with peace.

"What are you thinking of?" Zoya's voice broke his train of thought; he hadn't even realised he'd been zoning off for a while.

"I was thinking about how much I love you." He answered honestly, taking Zoya by surprise.

"Just say you don't want to tell me instead of joking around," she hummed, still playing with his hair.

"No actually, Zoya I love you so much."

Zoya's pupils dilated, feeling his sincerity.

"You've told me already, million times," she blushed, her chest igniting with joy like every time. He nodded and then caressed her cheek with his palm.

"But you need to keep on hearing it. Until my last breath," he vowed to himself. Zoya's body shrilled at his intimidating words, but she quickly overcame her annoyance and replied with the same boldness and sincerity.

"I hope your last breath is mine too."

Something flicked in his pool of green eyes and the emotional connection between their gazes intensified. She felt her breathing cease and her body warm up. She cupped his face with her hand. "I'd kiss you right now but Naimat and Ehsan are not too far off," she muttered.

Zaib immediately responded by picking up Zoya's wide sun hat and placing it on the side of their faces, at an angle that blocked everyone from seeing them.

He then caught her lips between his with the rays of the sun beaming down on them as the sound of distant waves crashing against the shore filled in the silence of their love.