|AsYa FF| :The Runaways: (Note-Page102) - Page 50

A/N: You guys probably wanna throw me off from the Grand Canyon or push me from the Niagara Falls, I deserve that! I'm really sorry for making you; my lovely readers wait so long! And I know I'm always ready with an excuse for my late and short updates but this time I'm blank.

I dunno why, but I just felt like quitting; my Term 1 results came out and well they were not up to the mark, I felt depressed and was angry at myself. So I quit what I loved the most, writing. I even stopped writing my stories on Wattpad and deleted my account but did not have the heart to delete my IF account.

So after a long talk with my mother I'm back to square one, I'm gonna start writing my stories again without taking a break or delaying my updates! But you guys will have to be patient with me because this year I'll be giving my 10^th boards, and you don't want me messing that up right? 😉

And to my readers thanks for being there for me, and still asking for updates even though I haven't updated since ages! 😳

After my emotional rant I wanna tell ya all that my best friend and I have finished writing a novel (she kinda forced me to) I had this idea in my head and she helped in executing it. It's going through the editing process and by God's grace it will soon hit your nearby bookstores! 😃

And man if you've read all this, and you need a standing ovation! 👏

"Zoya...you don't need to do this...I really don't want to know your past I just want to know that do you want me to be a part of your present and future?" He asked me, holding my hand and my gaze with sincerity in his voice.

This man's sweet words will be the death of me.

"Asad...I think I already told you that I want you to be with me...there is this unnamed feeling that I can't quite place a finger on. But if you want to be a part of my present and future you need to know what happened in my past." I said and sighed shakily.

"I was born in New York." And that's how it started.

"Gaffur! You are driving too fast you need to slow down!" Yusra said from the shotgun seat while Zoya giggled in the background.

"No! Abbu drives fast please na! I challenged Ethan that I could reach Jenna's party earlier than he could! If he wins he'll take away my stash of kitkats!" Zoya said from behind while Gaffur laughed at his daughter's cute retort.

"Ethan! Hah we are not going to let him win; Zorro his daddy cannot drive like me! We'll reach Jenna's party first!" Gaffur said while Zoya clapped eagerly.

"Oh yes! Then I'll win Ethan's Power Rangers Figurines! All of em!" She said and eased back in her seat with a smug smile on her face. She was gonna win, her Abbu always did what he promised.

And just before reaching the venue the car crashed into a truck. And little Zorro's world came to a standstill.

"Mrs. Darius what has happened to Abbu and Ammi?" Zoya asked from the waiting area, Jenna's mother, Mrs. Darius held her hand and tried to control the tears that were threatening to spill over.

"Nothing Zorro, the Lord loved them too much, so he asked them to come over to his place." She said and kissed the top of her head, Zoya shook off her hands.

"Does the Lord not know that I love them more! I want them back! Please call them na! Mrs. Darius please do that!" Zoya said and crashed into her arms. That night even her best friends, Ethan and Jenna's words did no good to her aching heart.

A single tear rolled down my cheek, I remembered Ethan's face his blue eyes filled up with tears he had offered me all his Power Ranger Figurines, and I remember I threw them in the nearest waste basket.

"Hey...shhh...its alright if you wanna stop you know..." Asad said softly and pulled me close to his chest. I sniffed.

"It's just the starting." I said.

Zoya was seven when her parents had passed away her parents had married against the wishes of their parents and hence she had never known any grandparents or uncles or aunts. Her only family other than her parents were Mr. and Mrs. Darius. Mrs. Darius had fought hard for her adoption but she lost the case and it was decided that she would be handed over to an orphanage and her case worked will take charge.

When she first entered Ray of Hope' orphanage she was little over eight and all those rowdy kids scared her. They knew that they had lost their parents, and she on the other hand had no idea.

At that time only one person understood her pain, her tears, and her heartbreak. Zeeshan.

He was two years elder than her but still was kind of like the boss of the other orphan kids. He was quite tall for his age and his hazel eyes were almost always angry but softened only for her, his eyes showed loved only for her.

They grew up as best friends, but Zoya's heart always longed for more until on her sixteenth birthday it happened. There was a small party at the orphanage and later they took the kids to the Central Park, where they all had a great time when Zeeshan took her hand and took her to a secluded corner away from everyone.

"Zoya...I don't know how you're going to react to this but I've been meaning to tell this to you since long. Eight years ago a small girl had come into my life, her doe-like brown eyes had captured my heart at that moment and I had realized that no one ever would make me feel the way you do. I like you Zorro; I like you very, very much." Zeeshan said while holding her hand tight.

Zoya could not believe her ears, she had waited for this moment for eight long years and finally it was coming true, he felt the same way about her! She looked into his hazel eyes they were expecting some answer, any answer from her.

"I...like you too...Zeeshan." She said after a heartbeat, a smile broke on his face and he immediately hugged her tight, she felt like she belonged there in his arms.

Soon they were the talk of the orphanage a couple that completed each other. Zeeshan with his charm had even managed to make their case workers agree to the fact that they could stay together in the same orphanage.

Until that night, Zeeshan had just celebrated his eighteenth birthday, the orphanage workers had let him go along with his friends for a party he came back later drunk.

"My little Zorro, I missed you...wish you could come with me." He said and grabbed her arm, everyone else was sleeping. She winced his grip was iron-like.

"I wished that too...its alright...how was your party Shan?" She asked her while trying to pry his fingers off her arm, he was hurting her.

"You scared of me, Zorro? Am I hurting you?" He asked her a look of hurt flashed across his face and Zoya immediately felt guilty about it.

"No...why would I be scared of you? I'm your girl...its just that your grip is hurting me..." She said and he immediately let go. And then suddenly he was kissing her neck, and bit her collarbone gently.

"Shan...I've told you already I'm not ready for this...and you're drunk please let got of me..." She said and pushed him, and he held her hands in his iron-like grip.

"You're not scared of me...so you won't mind if I do this..." He said and pulled her close and kissed her, he did kiss her always but tonight it felt weird it felt awkward when he planted his warm, wet lips on hers.

"Let go!" She furiously whispered, but Zeeshan never got the idea. The next moment she knew her top was off on the floor and so was his.

"Zeeshan, I said LET GO!" She said furiously, afraid she might wake someone. She slapped him hard across his cheek.

"You bitch!" He said and the next moment he was on top of her, touching her in places no one ever had. He had taken everything from her love, her innocence and most importantly her trust.

He left her there, naked and broken covered in blood, sweat and tears. She waited for the pain to go away, she wanted to die. She could've if the orphanage keepers hadn't found her behind the broom closet.

He case worker immediately found a family that was in India, they were glad to take her home. But until then it had been too late, she was too bruised and the scars of the past refused to let go.

She had started self harm, concealed herself in those punk clothes and make-up kept herself away from people...it was easier that way she did not had to trust people then.

"I had stopped trusting everyone until I met my new family Noor and Jawed love me as they would love their own daughter...but I'm too afraid to open up...the scars are still way too fresh..." I said and looked up at him, he was sitting there quiet as ever drinking up every word of mine.

How can someone hold so much pain inside themselves at this vulnerable age? I always thought that God had been unfair to give me so much pain, and now when I look at her I realize my pain is nothing compared to hers.

The thing about pain is that it demands to be felt. The Fault in Our Stars.

This line had never made sense to me until now, until I met her, until I got to know her, until I opened up my heart for her, until I started falling for her.

Now that I look at her, look at her silent tears I'm in awe. I'm awestruck by her strength by her will to fight and by her will to survive. She says she's weak and she harms herself but for me she is probably the strongest person I've ever met.

She sighed, and looked at me again her brown eyes searching my face, searching for a trace of fright or worse regret.

"I'm not leaving you Zoya, I think I made that pretty clear." I said and took her hand in mine; she wet her lips and then sighed shakily.

"I was waiting for you to scream and run away." She said softly while playing with the hem of her hospital gown with her free hand.

"Why who are you? Luke Castellan when his body was possessed by Kronos?" I joked, trying to lighten up the atmosphere.

"You're almost eighteen and you still read books that are for kids?" She said and smiled, my heart skipped a beat.

"Rick Riordan never said that Percy Jackson is for kids, and by the way why the hell are you asking me that question I could ask the same to you." I said with a smug smile, and she blushed a sight which I was growing fond of.

"Zoya, you think that I'm scared don't you? But I'm not. I'm not scared because I met the strongest person, I'm not scared because you are still here fighting and surviving, I'm not scared of liking you for who you are. Never was, never will." I spoke softly and she gave me one of those heart-stopping smiles again.

"Know what? You should become the next John Green or something." She said and we were back to square one. We both laughed and she gazed at the moon while I drank the sight of her.

Sometimes we meet people who become our salvation who help in calming our inner demons. But for me, I don't mind being her salvation or calming her demons. She could unleash them on me and I would happily stand there and sacrifice everything just to see her face everyday.

I was falling for her, hard and fast.

Maybe that's why they say that we fall in love, because once we fall its hard to get up.

"Do you wanna go back?" I asked her and she nodded her head in reply. Gently with my good hand I helped her to get up, she heavily leaned into me. I was getting used to her small body pressed into mine, radiating warmth.

We walked back to our dorm in total silence, it wasn't uncomfortable and neither was I willing to fill it with conversation. Zoya had just opened up to me about everything and she needed some time with her thoughts.

We reached the infirmary and lingered infront of the door, she hesitantly put her hand on the doorknob and then turned to look at me; I was shifting my body weight from one leg to another.

"So Zorro, eh?" I said and she burst into a fit of giggles, for the first time ever I had her giggling.

"In my first fancy dress competition Abbu had dressed me up as Zorro, I was three at that time and since then I've been named Zorro." She said and giggled again.

"I like that sound." I said softly.

"Which sound?" She asked me, looked around and then scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion.

"The sound of your giggles." I said, surprised at my bold outburst, her eyes went wide for a moment and then red tinted her cheeks.

"Ohh...that sound..." She whispered softly, with one swift step I had closed the gap between us; we were so close that I could feel her body heat.

"Asad..." She said softly and looked at me, gently I traced her cheekbones and she closed her eyes.

"I know you're bruised but I'm willing to heal you."

I hope this update was long enough!

And to all the people out there who are reading my other stories, I'll try and update them as soon as possible but right now, my target is to complete this story. There are only a couple of chapters left like 10-11 chapters left and this story will end. 😊

And this chapter was the hardest to write!

I'll be sending the PMs soon!

R&R

Yamini ❤️