HELLO! I am back with a Three-Shot this time! It's AU and doesn't follow the show but this is something I could see happening with ZaYa so I wrote it down. Do let me know what you think, I'll be posting the second part soon! Anything in blue is a flashback.
8 Years
May 20 2008
"KYA KAROOON HAYE KUCH KUCH HOTA HAII!" She sang out loud laughing dancing in front of the TV.
"Seriously Aaliya, my ears are bleeding." He laughed from the couch.
"Puh-leaaase, I have an amazing voice." She said flipping her hair over her shoulder.
"Singing is definitely not a profession you should consider."
"You're so mean to me. I am not talking to you!" She crossed her arms over her chest and went to sit on the loveseat pretending that she couldn't see him as he stared at her with his infamous puppy dog eyes.
"I was only speaking the truth." He said looking at her but got no response. "Aaliya." He said, no response again. He scooted over to the right of the sofa, trying to get closer to the loveseat. "I am sorry." He said again. "Look at me."
She didn't look at him, she knew she would melt as soon as he looked at her with those huge eyes and that crooked smile. She looked out the window instead and thus didn't notice that he had gotten up from his seat.
She screamed when she felt his arms wrap around her as he started tickling her. "NOOO! STOP!" She got out in between laughs but he didn't relent and continued tickling her, laughing just as much as her. "AHHH ZAIN STOP!"
"Do you forgive me?" He asked smiling at her.
"Yes!" She gasped.
His eyes lit up and his mood immediately changed as soon as the words left her mouth. He sat back down on the sofa and Aaliya took a few deep breaths trying to calm herself, her stomach was still hurting from laughing so much.
"You are lucky you are my best friend or I would so beat you up for this." She informed him.
"You are two years younger than me and half my size, I don't think that would work."
"Age is but a number, I am scarier than I look." She threatened laughing curling up beside him as they turned their attention back to the TV.
July 10 2017
A knock on the door broke her out of her thoughts, she looked up to see herself standing in front of the mirror, eight years later. She was decked out in what every girl would envy, a pink lehengha right off Manish Malhotra's runaway. Her hair was curled flowing down her back and her make up was done to perfection. She looked absolutely beautiful but dead. Her eyes had lost their spark a long time ago and the concept of really smiling and laughing was foreign to her now. The careless laughs, the smiles and the zest for life had diminished over the years. She was a robot now, living her life for others, pretending to be happy when she was anything but happy, and she hadn't been for a long time.
"Are you sure about this aapi?" Aayat asked her, the only one privy to her internal state. "It's not too late to back out."
"What else can I do? I am going to have to marry someone someday right?" Aaliya whispered forcing a fake smile onto her face. "Are they here?" She asked causing Aayat to nod. "Is he with them?" She whispered, hoping and praying that he wasn't. But she knew he had to be here if his family was here.
"Yes." Aayat answered. "It's been eight years Aapi, he..."
"Don't." Aaliya said getting up. "I won't be able to go through with this if I still hold onto that dream."
Aaliya took a deep breath stepping out of her room with her little sister behind her, they headed down the decorated hallway towards the spiraled staircase that opened into the main hall, where the party was going on. It was her Ammi and Abbu's 25th wedding anniversary, and all the elite of Mumbai were present. They would not miss the chance to party with the Ghulam Haider, co-owner of the Barkat Royale Hotel Chain.
The whispering and gossiping started as soon as Aaliya came into sight. All the people in the room hadn't seen her for eight years, all they knew was that she went to school in the USA somewhere. Everyone had to admit that she was beyond beautiful, just like her mother. Theamount of people in the room who envied her was beyond count, she was rich, smart and beautiful, what more could she want? But if only they could see how imperfect her seemingly perfect life was.
The smile on her face never wavered, which was not a surprise for her, she was good at pretending. She went to stand beside her father who just nodded at her, Aayat stood by her side as her silent support system. Aaliya's eyes moved across the room, she just loved to torture herself. He was there, standing far away with a glass in his hand. Her treacherous heart still came alive when she saw his face, he looked as handsome as he always did in a black suit with a white shirt, her favourite on him. Not that he knew. He looked different now, grown up, he wasn't scrawny anymore but built. His face had lost all traces of baby fat leaving behind an angular jaw line and a prominent chin sprinkled with stubble.
Aaliya looked away when Aayat squeezed her hand. It was time for the show to start. "Thank you for coming today." Her father's voice rang out through the hall. "On the occasion of our 25th wedding anniversary, we would like to announce that our daughter, Aaliya, will be getting engaged to Zeeshan Ahmed next month."
And all hell broke loose. Everyone clapped and took their turn to congratulate Ghulam Haider and his wife along with his daughter and future son-in-law and his family. The daughter's eyes never strayed from him, he stood still his hand closed tightly around a glass. She thought that his face filled with anguish but wrote it off to her imagination. She internally laughed at herself for even thinking that she was over him, she was still in love with him even after eight years. She died a little more on the inside as he walked out of the room. She didn't even know that she was still waiting for him. His brother and sister looked just as sad being aware of the dynamics between the two.
"Congratulations Beta." Usman Abdullah said kissing her forehead before hugging his childhood best friend and business partner, Ghulam Haider. Their families had been friends since before Aaliya was even born, her childhood was filled with memories of going to each other's houses, on picnics, on vacation...they were like family.
"Mashaallah, Aaliya you look beautiful." Surraya Abdullah said hugging her. She pulled away and took Aaliya's face in her hands and looked at her, really looked at her. Aaliya felt really uncomfortable, almost as if she was looking into her soul. "Are you happy?" She asked with a undertone to her voice that Aaliya couldn't quite comprehend. Aaliya said nothing, she wanted to but couldn't get herself to say yes. Surraya gave her a sad smile before she let go of her face and turned to Shabana.
Barkat just looked at Aaliya before engulfing her in a tight hug. "I can't believe you didn't even talk to me after what happened with Bhaiyoo." She whispered. "You were my best friend too."
"I am sorry Bak-Bak." Aaliya said hugging her back, she had missed her friend.
"He does love you-"
"Please don't." Aaliya said pulling away from Barkat.
X-X-X-X
December 14 2009 - 8 Years Ago
"She said you like me...that it's obvious." He said to his best friend.
"Oh..." She whispered, it was barely heard over the sound of the running water as she stood in the middle of the kitchen of her little apartment washing the dishes. She didn't know what to say, he already knew. She knew she should have denied it but she was tired of lying to him, tired of trying to hide her feelings.
"Aaliya, do you?" He asked noticing how she wouldn't even look at him.
"Do I what?"
"Like me?" He asked.
"Does it even matter?" She asked still not turning around
"I-uh is that a yes?" He asked.
"Yes." She whispered feeling her eyes watering.
He let out a short breath, surprised. "Why didn't - why..."
"It wouldn't have done me any good." She whispered quietly, afraid that her voice would crack if she spoke any louder. She decided that it was time to be honest, she had lied too much for the past few years and she couldn't any longer. "I know you don't like me and I didn't want to lose you as a friend." She took a deep breath and pursed her lips, forcing herself not to wipe away the tears that traveled down her cheeks.
"You should have said something-" He said shocked at the turn of events.
"What should I say? You aren't interested and I am not going to force you to be."
"Aaliya? Can you-" He groaned turning her around to face him.
"What?" She asked finally looking up at him, her eyes red and overflowing with tears. "What should I have done? You don't see me that way and I'm not the type of girl that's going to try to change your mind! If you felt that way for me, you would've realized that I liked you, a long time ago. But you didn't and you wouldn't have if she didn't point it out and I know that you aren't ever going to fall in love with me and that's something that I will learn to live with. I'm sorry if it's caused problems between you and her. But don't worry, I am leaving anyways so."
"What do you mean you are leaving?" He asked shocked, his voice breaking.
"I am going to the States, for school. I got into the pre-law program I wanted to get into so I am going."
"What? How come you didn't tell me? How can you just leave?" He asked angrily.
"Oh that's just rich. Why does it even matter to you Zain? I exist when you want me to and disappear when you don't need me? Aaliya doesn't exist when Zain Abdullah has a girlfriend, right? You forget that you promised to see her Thursday night? You don't even show up to movie nights with YOUR family. You don't even speak to me. You leave me stranded in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere in the dark and completely forget about it."
"I thought you said you forgave me for that- why are you so mad?" He asked shocked. "Aaliya talk to me." He said grabbing her when she didn't say anything.
"Why am I so mad? Because I am an idiot and I am in love with you. I always have been, for as long as I can remember, and I spent years hoping and sometimes even thinking that you felt the same way. I am so stupid, I can't believe I- I am tired, I am tired of waiting for you to realize something you don't even feel. I am tired of crying myself to sleep every time you go out on a date with another girl. Saying your name hurts, thinking about you hurts, seeing you kiss other girls hurts. I am just...I am done. I need to get away from here. It's not your fault that you don't love me and I don't blame you for it, but I can't do this anymore."
His heart broke for her and he grabbed her and forced her into his arms and held her tightly as she stood stiff in his arms with tears traveling down her cheeks and her heart in her throat. "Please let me go Zain." She whispered and he did.
She walked away from her best friend, from the one person she loved, that day. She wanted to forget him. She didn't want to wait for him anymore, she didn't want to spend nights giving him advice about other girls, she didn't want to feel her chest constrict every time she saw him kissing other girls and she didn't want to cry herself to sleep anymore.
Those were the last words she'd said to him before she went off to university in the USA leaving behind a shell-shocked Zain who couldn't even comprehend what had happened. It took him a few days to figure out what she had said. To say that he was shocked was an understatement, he never knew that she liked him as more than a friend. They were best friends, and he thought that they were nothing more than that but his heart hurt when she left. And she didn't just leave, it was almost as if she never existed. She didn't leave any information behind, he tried to call her cellphone hoping that she would pick up but she deactivated it. She didn't tell anyone where she was and she made Aayat swear to not tell him either so he had absolutely no clue where his best friend disappeared off to.
X-X-X-X
July 10, 2017
"You still love him." Barkat said watching Aaliya closely as she sat on Aaliya's bed with Aayat beside her after the party. Aaliya's hand froze over her bangles before she shook herself out of it and continued to take them off.
"It didn't matter before and it doesn't matter now. But I don't." She said.
"But I think Bhaiyoo loves you-"
"He doesn't. I know him, he's made himself feel guilty over the years but that's all, if he was going to fall in love with me he would have long ago." Aaliya said removing the last bit of her jewelry.
"It's been so long, at least talk to him. You know he's been looking for you for so long, and then all of a sudden we get an invite to this party and now you are getting engaged."
"It took a long time for me to put myself together, I am not going to let him break my heart again."
"But Aaliya he-"
"You know your brother just as well as I do, he changes his mind faster than the second hand moves on the clock. What if he decides he doesn't want me a few months from now? What am I going to do then?" She said before walking into the bathroom.
Barkat and Aayat looked at each other. "We have to fix this."
"She doesn't want to listen to anything." Aayat sighed.
X-X-X-X
July 11, 2017
"Ah Zain! Come sit and have breakfast with us!" Ghulam said as Zain bounded down the stairs the next morning. Zain nodded while avoiding eye contact with the woman sitting on the breakfast table. He wouldn't be able to hold himself back if he determined that she looked just as broken this close up.
Life was always cruel because the only seat that was empty was the one beside her. He didn't miss how her knuckles were white from griping the table as hard as she was when he sat down next to her. The two of them were absolutely quiet as the rest of the table carried on their conversation. Aaliya wanted to get up and leave, because being so close to him was wrecking havoc on her heart, her treacherous heart still sped up at his proximity. But her brain conjured up images that always haunted her, images of a perfect world where the two of them loved each other, where she hadn't spent the last eight years hiding from him.
It wasn't until Aaliya's dad decided to show Zain's father the new site for the hotel that everyone got up and slowly left one by one leaving the two of them behind to "catch up".
"So you are getting married." He said after a long moment of silence.
"It would seem so." She replied swallowing, his voice had gotten a lot deeper from the 19 year old boy she had left behind, and she loved it even more.
"You don't sound to happy about it." He said looking at her expressionless face.
She said nothing but got up and started to walk away.
"Aaliya, can we talk?" His voice came from behind her causing her to stop in her tracks.
"Okay. Talk." She said turning around and facing him.
"Do you love him?" He asked after a few seconds of just observing her.
"I am marrying him." She said. He didn't say anything but just looked at her, like he was trying to gauge something.
"Okay." He said turning back to his plate. Aaliya took a deep breath before heading upstairs. She shut her bedroom door behind her and leaned against it slowly sliding down it before falling to the floor and bursting into tears. Why was he here? Why was she still crying? It had been eight years for goodness sake, why did she still love him?
C'est Part 1! Do lemme know what you think. And if you want a PM for updates please leave a comment below and I'll add you to my PM account or add "astonm_pm" as a friend!
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