"Come on, it will be fun!" I dangle my legs as Zayd carries me out of the room, passing a few scary dudes who glare at us. Zayd looks scary himself so he doesn't look as out of place as me.

Of course, I'm just messing with him, not like I'd do it.

Zayd's eyes darken dangerously and his jaws clench.

"Don't promise what you can't give, Alya," he rasps out. A cold shiver passes down my spine and I swallow before smiling at him brightly to hide my nervousness.

"You don't think I can give you a lap dance?" I tease, loving his reaction to my words.

He doesn't answer.

"I can prove you wrong y'know. Just imagine how fun it'll be."

"Fuck," he growls before lifting his arms and slamming his lips on mine, taking me completely by surprise. I pretend to have forgotten our 'no kisses for a month' deal as I savour the feeling of his lips. They caress mine in a way I never thought he could, so gentle as if I'd break if he applied more pressure.

The kiss turns needy and rough in a matter of seconds. A kiss that started gentle turns into a battle of lips and tongues.

"Get a room," a sultry voice calls out from behind. Zayd breaks the kiss and turns around. I feel my chest burn when he smiles at the newcomer. He never smiles.

"Maddie," he breathes out, his smile only widening. This 'Maddie' girl has a tanned complexion and the height models would be jealous of. Her hair is dyed to a shade of maroon that gives her the badass look and her eyes are green like mine, except they're lighter. She completely ignores me and steps forward to hug Zayd.

Crushing me in the process.

I groan loudly, she almost crushed my already crushed ribs. She jumps away and looks at me with a sorry but not sorry kind of look. So she's one of those girls.

Zayd opens his mouth to say something but my phone cuts him off. He helps me get the phone from my bag and my blood runs cold when I see the caller id.

"We need to get out of here," I tell Zayd. Maddie looks at me with anger evident in her face.

"We should go out sometime," she chirps, looking at Zayd. Zayd rubs his neck, his eyes darting to me before he mumbles a sure. After short goodbyes, we get out of there.

Zayd walks outside and sits me in his bike. I finally receive the call.

"Mom?" I gulp.

"Where are you, honey?" Shoot.

"Uncle's house. Dinner, remember?" Smooth Alya, smooth.

"It's getting late honey, do you want me to send dad?"

"No mom, I'll be fine."

Thankfully, my uncle and my parents had this cold war going on. I'm going to have to call and lie to uncle to; maybe I should reschedule the dinner, I missed my cousins.

I sigh and hang up a moment later. Zayd is looking at me with an amused grin on his lips, I momentarily forget everything. Look at that, he's grinning. Wow.

"What?" I question, eyeing his goofy smile.

"Mine," he says, the grin still on his lips.

"Excuse me?" I raise my eyebrow, folding my arms. A second later, he wraps his arm around me. I tilt my head up to look at him.

"Mine," he whispers in my ear and kisses my cheek sweetly. A smile breaks out on my face.

"Who was that girl?"

"Just an old friend," he says, his eyes glint as he comes a little nearer. I lick my lips. "Just an old friend?" He comes even nearer and hums as he hovers over me.

"Why did you smile at her?" He chuckles lowly. I wait for him to answer. "To make you jealous," he says cheekily.

"I don't have to kill anyone, do I?"

"No babygir- mmhm" I close the distance, pull him by his shirt to me and kiss him hard. And just like many other nights, we kiss under the stars, as if the world around us did not exist. He was all that mattered.

. . .

"My dad was a Muslim too, y'know," Zayd ran his hand up and down my back soothingly. It's past midnight and we are in my room. My parents freaked out when they saw the cast on my hand and the limp in my steps. But I think I handled it pretty well.

After dinner, when I came back to my room, Zayd was already there, sprawled in my bed making it look so tiny.

"Was?" I question as I shift in his lap to look at him.

"Yeah. He was a great guy, I remember how we would distribute food to the people on the street in our weekends," he smiles fondly at the memory. But it's the sad kind of smile. I snuggle closer, hoping to give him the comfort I could.

"What happened?" I ask cautiously.

"They killed him."

My heart squeezes in my chest, I wrap my arm around his neck.

"We were going to visit my mother that day. She had died giving birth to me. We were going to visit her graveyard. I was excited, I really missed her and we would go there every month and I would show her my colourings and stuff like that."

He blinks.

"We were on our way. A black car pulled over, asked dad to get out. The moment he did, they shot him. Multiple times. His face was completely bloody, I couldn't recognize him. They killed him in front of me. They accused him, said he was a terrorist," his voice drops to a whisper.

He remains silent for a while, his eyes were bloodshot.

"We did go to the graveyard that day. Dad joined mom, leaving me behind. I-I tried to take my own life, I wanted to be with them. I missed dad. I wanted to join them too."

"Take your life.. at the age of five?" my voice breaks.

He doesn't answer, confirming my question. I tighten my arms around his neck while tears run down my cheeks.

"Who are 'they'? Why would they do so?"

"The CIA. Kyle's dad, he's a member of CIA. They shot him in other parts that wouldn't kill him, just to make him feel the pain. I was right there. I saw it with my own eyes. They later found that he was innocent and claimed it to be a fucking mistake."

He takes a shaky breath.

"I was adopted by another family. They treated me different because of dad's religion. I don't know why they adopted me in the first place. They would make harsh comments and jokes. I couldn't take it anymore when the verbal abuse turned physical. So, I.. I left. I ran away when I was fourteen. Stephan found me with split back and numerous cuts."

"I stopped practising Islam, I thought it was the religion that caused my father's death. Grief blinds you, babygirl."

"I'm so sorry," Zayd hugs me to his chest as tears roll down my cheeks, dampening his shirt.

And that's exactly when the door opens. My parents stand in the doorway and look at me in Zayd's lap with shocked expressions, eyes wide and jaws hanging.

Until that changes into anger.