AsYa FF Something Changed Thread#1 (Updated Chp 23 Pg 107)

Chapter 2

After hours and hours of turning and twisting Asad gave up. There was no way he was getting sleep tonight. Every time he closed his eyes he kept having flashbacks of the previous day. Finding Zoya, thinking she was dead and then being grateful she was alive. Feelings of concern and fear and maybe another unknown feeling surged through him and he effortlessly tried to convince himself he was just guilty. Guilty that Zoya had to go through so much because of him. Because she tried to help his cousin. Because he didn't trust her instinct. He felt the sudden urge to check on her.

Without thinking he began making his way out of his room. Through the darkness he made his way until he bumped into a tiny figure who stumbled, about to fall. He stretched out his arms to steady her. 'Allah miya what's wrong with you!' And there it was. Her famous line that he had not heard since they returned. He almost ached to hear it, to see her being her cheery self rather than this Zoya bombarded by emotions and hurt. Zoya stood up straight, his hands still on her shoulders. On any other occasion she would have been more than ready to give Mr Akdu Ahmed Khan a long lecture but now she was just too tired. Physically and emotionally.

Asad stood with his hands on her soft petit figure lost in her eyes. The faded moonlight peeping through the windows was enough for him to drown in her luminous large eyes which were now swollen. From the first day he met her, he had been mesmerized by her eyes. Her icy eyes, not hard cold icy but it made her look elegant with a glow of mischief. A glow of life. Tonight that glow was fading away. She looked as though she had been crying.

Hearing her clear her throat made him step back at almost a jump, his hands springing off of her as though she was hot to the touch.

'You haven't gone to sleep yet, Mr Khan?' Zoya asked.

'I' woh '. Haan I was thirsty so I came out to get some water' he fibbed . 'And you?'

'I was going to the garden for a stroll.' She said lowering her eyes.

' At 12 :30 am? Really Ms Faruqui, this isn't New York. Go get some rest.'

'Ahhh I was waiting for it.'

'Waiting for what?'

'When you would switch back to calling me names other than Zoya! Though I did prefer Zoya'. Anyways Im going outside, I can't sleep iss liye . And I wanted to get some fresh air.'

'Then I too will come with you' Asad replied.

'Okay.' Zoya was surprised but quietly agreed.

He moved his hand motioning her to start walking. They walked side by side towards the garden. The silence was so intense they could hear a pin drop.

Zoya sat on the swing chair in the garden and finally broke the silence.

'So I guess you don't want it anymore.'

' What? Want what?' Asad asked with a bewildered face.

'Your water, Mr Khan duhh'

'Oh , uh .. I ' no'

'It's okay, I get it.'

'What?'

'That you can't sleep either'

With that, Asad sighed loudly and sat next to Zoya.

'I keep getting nightmares about that night, Mr Khan. I feel as if when I wake up I'll be in the ground again.' She revealed in a shaky voice trying her best not to break down.

Asad looked at her. ' Me too. I keep thinking about that night' he said distantly.

' Thank you.'

Asad looked at her incredibly. Did she just thank me?

'For what?' He asked.

'If you had not been there, I wouldn't be alive now. Iss liye. Thank you'

'Zoya the reason we even ended up in that situation was because you tried to help my cousin and more so, because I trusted that man when you said not to. I wish I had listened to you. I'm sorry, Zoya. For everything. For misjudging you, blaming you' for everything.'

Zoya looked at Mr Khan. No, She looked at Asad. For the first time she felt as if she was talking to Asad, the real Asad, stripped of his mask in front of everyone. Someone who felt guilty for her pain when he was probably not even the cause of it. But not just guilty, someone was concerned, some cared about her. She remembered the way his tears never seemed to end even after she regained consciousness, the way he took care of her, his kiss on her forehead. She felt like opening up to him.

' You know destiny plays a strange game with me. This isn't the first time I have escaped near death.' She said idly ad he watched her, baffled.

She didn't wait for him to say anything. 'I came here with a mission. To find my Abbu. My mom died when I was just over 3 and I saw it happen. The building was on fire. She saved me. She pushed me out from where we were, making it easier for people to get to me but she herself was burnt to ashes. After that, I never saw or heard of my Abu. And now everything seems to be going wrong. I feel as if fate has it that I won't find out about him. Everytime I get a step closer something happens. Mr Khan that day you tore that paper with an address. That was the closest thing I had to finding him since the day I came to India, aur ab'.' Now she couldn't keep the tears back anymore.

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Next : Chapter 3