FF :Love that both 'Kills and Heals'(C 21-23/pg47) - Page 14

PART 11 :

Nobody in the Khan Mansion slept well that night. Some cried themselves to sleep (Asad, Zoya, Dilshaad), some were too happy to sleep (Farhaan, Tanveer) and some were busy connecting the dots all night (Najma). The morning followed and so did another tough day at the Khan Mansion. As per routine, everyone started to gather around the dining table for breakfast but nobody missed the tension that still prevailed in the atmosphere.

Dilshaad : "Najma, go see if asad is coming for breakfast." Asad still hadn't come out of his room and dilshaad knew why.

Najma : "Jee Ammi", she got up to leave but then saw asad coming'"Ammi.. he's here."

Asad entered the dining area and the first thing he noticed was zoya. His zoya. He had cried himself to sleep last night, but he had not failed to figure out the reason behind zoya's outburst. He had understood that it was all because he still hadn't called off the engagement with Tanveer. He knew what had to be done to put an end to all the misunderstandings and drama. He finally took his seat, confident about his decision to end matters with tanveer immediately after breakfast. He had to earn the right to stop zoya from pursuing farhaan first, so ending it with tanveer had to be the first step. After a long silence, Najma who had been trying to connect the dots since last night started with the interrogation.

Najma : "So Farhaan, the other day, you were talking about proposing to Zoya? And you were carrying that ring in your pocket for zoya all this while?", everyone was uncomfortable with Najma's questioning but no one had a reason to stop her.

Farhaan : "Ummm' yeah it was all about zoya", he answered shyly since all eyes were on him.

Asad was controlling his anger behind the newspaper while stealing glances at zoya. Zoya was blatantly ignoring asad and was concentrating on her breakfast, listening to najma and farhaan's conversation. She was still not sure about the decision she made in a fit of anger but she decided to stick with it for the time being. She knew her decision was the result of her anger and frustration towards asad, but she didn't want to give asad the satisfaction of owning her even for a day anymore.

Najma : " Zoya, when did you decide all this? I had no idea you had a thing for Farhaan." As much as najma has understood her best friend, she knew that zoya believed in falling in love and then getting married. So all this just didn't make sense..

Zoya finally glanced at asad who was already looking at her with immeasurable pain in his eyes. She felt weak looking into asad's eyes and immediately shifted her attention on Najma. "Yesterday Najma", zoya could only manage that much. She was not in a position to elaborate on the details of it all.

Najma had remembered her Bhaijaan's behavior from last night very well. She made sure to observe her Bhaijaan closely during this interrogation. He definitely looked pained, just like last night. But why?' Why? Does he.. Does Bhaijaan like zoya? What?! But then why is he getting married to Tanveer? For Ammi?' none of this made sense to her so she decided to dig further.

Najma : " I'm so happy for you zoya. Farhaan loves you so much. He has been carrying that ring in his pocket just for you. Isn't she really lucky Bhaijaan?", Najma was playing it smart now. She was pushing asad to confess his feelings, if he had any'

Asad : To everyone's surprise, he didn't avoid the question. He didn't even get pissed. He looked straight into zoya's eyes ' " I don't know about her, but Farhaan will definitely be the luckiest guy on earth to be married to a person like Ms. Faaroqui. *Just then Farhaan's phone rings, he leaves the table smiling* She is smart, intelligent, beautiful but most importantly she has a heart of gold. She brightens your day with her smile and she gives you a reason to smile along. She is so full of life that she makes you wanna live again. She is so full of dreams and aspirations that she makes you wanna dream again. She crosses the line, often. She crosses the line when she cares for you. She crosses the line when she supports you. She crosses the line when she protects you. She even crosses the line when she loves you. She makes your house a home, converts your "normal family" into an "Abnormally-happy family". She fights with you- for you, she challenges you - for you, she disobeys you - for you. She makes you wanna change. She just..just makes you wanna be a better man." both asad and zoya were in a trance, Lost somewhere deep in each other's eyes.

Dilshaad and Najma were spellbound. "He is in love, he is in love, he is in love", they both confirmed to themselves. Both mother daughter were ecstatic. It was like a dream come true for them. They had both secretly wanted zoya to stay with them forever and it was possible, very much possible now. And Madam Tanveer had conveniently ripped apart the sandwich in front of her in a fit of rage. She was scared, damn scared. She was so close to winning, yet so far.

Just then Farhaan joined them at the table, " Zoe, I just spoke with appi and jeeju", that brought zoya out of her trance and she looked away from asad, with tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. " They were literally jumping after hearing about our good news, Zoe. They want us back in NY asap. Appi told me not to slip that ring on your finger just yet, they wanted the engagement to happen in front of all our family and friends in NY. Jeeju said he'll arrange our return tickets for next week." Zoya couldn't breathe anymore. It all seemed unreal to her. She wanted to go to bed and not wake up till all this disappeared and things were back to normal. Normal? Yeah that was the case when she had not fallen in love with that 'complicated man'. She forced a smile at Farhaan and then excused herself from the table. Triggered by Farhaan's words to zoya, Asad left for his room urgently, dragging tanveer along.

Once Farhaan left, Dilshaad and Najma finally opened up their hearts to each other. "Ammi, ammi, Please stop all this. This is all wrong. Bhaijaan loves zoya, Ammi. I could see it in his eyes. He loves her a lot ammi. He can't marry Tanveer. He needs to marry zoya, Ammi. And zoya can't go with Farhaan. She needs to stay with us ammi, be a part of our family." Dilshaad nodded with her eyes watering again "I know Najma, I could see the love in his eyes too. He is really hurting a lot right now. But I know asad, najma. He won't just let the love of his life walk away like that. I know he will stop her and I know he will marry her too. It would be the only right thing to do, Najma. A marriage with no love does not sustain. Both asad and tanveer will never be happy if asad went ahead with it. Calling off the engagement is the only right thing for both asad and tanveer."

Back in Asad's room, heavy melodrama was on in full swing with Tanveer giving an oscar-winning performance once again. "Jammy, Jammy.. I don't understand. What do you mean by all this? Why aren't you the right guy for me?" Tanveer faked-cried her eyes out. "Tanu.. Please trust me. You deserve a much better guy than me. Someone who can value you, appreciate you, more than I ever will." Asad tried his best to end things in the most polite way possible. He couldn't tell her that he was in love with zoya and wanted to be with her instead. He didn't want her to think that her history was repeating itself. He didn't want to marry her for her own good too. He will never be able to give her that place in his life. The place that already belonged to zoya. " Tanu, you are my best friend and I want the best for you. But that 'best' is not me. You're my responsibility Tanu and I promise I won't rest till I get you, the best you deserve." Tanveer wanted to stab asad for ruining all her plans but she was too thick-skinned to give up that easily. She faked-cried some more in front of asad and ran out of his room to think about a new plan. She still had 2 days in hand and knew Asad won't let her ammi lose the challenge at any cost. She knew her only hope now were zoya and farhaan. She somehow had to push their relation and create more misunderstandings between zoya and asad. She still had the ring on her finger and till asad asks her to take it out, she was very much engaged to him. She just had to make sure the ring stayed.

Next : A brother-sister heart to heart? For all you Asad-tamatar fans :)

PS: KEEP CALM AND READ THIS FF. IT'LL BE WORTH IT, I PROMISE

PART 12 :

Asad had cancelled the sangeet and mehendi ceremony that were supposed to take place 2 days before the nikaah using Ammi's illness as an excuse. He knew he wasn't marrying tanveer and he needed to buy some time to get his zoya back. Dilshaad and Najma supported his decision, fully understanding his intentions of not marrying Tanveer. The best thing in all of this was that Mr. Asad Ahmed Khan had personally called the wedding planners in front of Najma and Dilshaad to confirm that the best arrangements were made for his wedding day. He knew it in his heart that he'll officially make zoya his no matter how much she tried to push him away and he'll also keep his promise to his ammi.

Zoya knew she couldn't see Mr. Khan's wedding functions so had decided to spend the day away from the Khan Mansion. She knew she'll be leaving for NY soon but there was only so much she could have handled. Seeing Mr. Khan with Tanveer, again, after what they shared, there was no way in hell she would have survived any wedding celebration. She had asked Farhaan to take her out immediately after breakfast and had no idea about the cancellations.

Tanveer, annoyed as hell, was in her room contemplating her next move. " Jammy, there is no way I'm gonna let you break this engagement. After facing so much difficulty, I finally achieved what I wanted. Now I won't let you ruin my efforts like that. And you clearly won't get zoya back now, Farhaan Miya took care of that really well. Aaahhh.. bless that guy! And since you didn't take my threat seriously, you're gonna regret hurting your Tanu so much now."

Asad had searched zoya everywhere in the house and had called her multiple times only to be ignored by her. He knew convincing zoya was the hardest part, now that she was thinking about heading back to NY with Farhaan. He was running out of time and zoya was no where to be seen. He was pacing in his room, thinking about what to tell zoya as soon as he sees her, and that's when Najma entered his room.

Najma : " Bhaijaan, do you have a minute?", she enquired politely. Asad nodded and Najma flew across across the room and hugged him tightly. " Bhaijaan, I'm so happy Bhaijaan. I'm so glad you will get married to Zoya. She will finally be a part of our family and she will stay with us forever", Asad was pleasantly surprised. How did his tamatar analyze what he was planning to do?''. Oh right! At the breakfast table this morning. But did I make it that obvious? *bewakoof ahmed khan*

Asad : "So you know?", he smiled his rare shy smile at Najma.

Najma : "Of course I know, Bhaijaan. Ammi knows too. You have no idea how happy we both are", Najma was literally dancing with joy. Asad was elated to see his tamatar so excited and thrilled and he knew that his ammi too was well aware about his feelings for zoya. He just had to knock some sense into the person's head who was responsible for all this happiness. Where are you, zoya? His patience was giving up and he was not able to tolerate the distance between them anymore.

Asad : " But we're running out of time, Najma. I need to talk to her, clear all her misunderstandings, tell her that I called it off with Tanveer, tell her that I want to marry her, and stop her from leaving with that douchebag Farhaan."

Najma : "Bhaijaan, you called it off with Tanveer? When? What did you tell her? and bhaijaan did you just say douchebag?", Najma laughed. Her Bhaijaan really didn't like Farhaan. But then he had a solid reason to not like him. Otherwise, Farhaan seemed like a nice guy.

Asad huffed in response and told her how he ended things with Tanveer. " But Bhaijaan, did you end it officially? I mean is she still wearing your ring? Zoya wouldn't listen to anything you'll say if she sees the ring on Tanveer. I am a girl too, Bhaijaan. I know how it works." Najma finally gave some much-needed advice to asad.

Najma was absolutely right. Why didn't I think of that before. " You're right tamatar. I never thought about that. Even though its over between me and tanveer, zoya would never believe me and it might lead to another misunderstanding." Asad realized that after all the mistakes he has made, zoya will never trust him if Tanveer keeps wearing the ring. He had lost the right to ask her to trust him and had to earn it back.

Asad rushed to Tanveer's room to solve the ring situation but the over-smart tanveer was ready with her suicide attempt drama. She saw asad approaching her room and pretended to lie unconscious on the floor with an empty bottle of sleeping pills in her hand. Asad walked in to get yet another shock. He quickly rushed to Tanveer and found the sleeping pills bottle in her hand. He cursed himself and immediately took her to the hospital. In the hospital, the great Miss tanveer was successful in bribing the so-called doctor and instructed him to tell asad the most painful story ever.

Asad : "How is she doctor? is she awake?", asad had been cursing himself for tanveer's condition. He had tried to handle the engagement situation with tanveer in the best way possible but he had still ended up pushing her to do the extreme.

Doctor : "She is still unconscious Mr. Khan. Her situation is still critical. I don't understand what compelled her to take such a big step. It seems like she is not in the correct state of mind. I'm hoping she'll regain consciousness in a few hours and then you can take her home. Please make sure she doesn't take any stress or worry about anything. Try and keep her happy." the doctor conveniently lied and excused himself.

Asad was feeling extremely guilty and angry at himself for tanveer's condition. He was hating himself more and more with each passing second. "How could I be so selfish? I first broke zoya's heart by getting engaged to Tanu, then I broke zoya's heart again by not calling off the engagement in due time and now its because of me that tanu is in the hospital. Its because of one wrong decision, everybody's life is at stake. Mine, zoya's, tanu's ' what have I done?" He couldn't think of a single escape route out of the mess he had created. He anxiously waited for the next few hours at the hospital, apologized to tanveer, and finally headed back home with her. Tanveer succeeded in her mission since asad didn't dare to ask her to remove the ring.

Next : Asad-Farhaan-Zoya awkwardness? Kabab me Haddii 😆

PS: KEEP CALM AND READ THIS FF. IT'LL BE WORTH IT, I PROMISE :)

PART 13:

After leaving tanveer in her room to rest, Asad came and sat in the living room. Najma joined him and enquired about tanveer's condition.

Najma : " Why is all this happening Bhaijaan? What will we do now? The nikaah is day after tomorrow and you still haven't convinced zoya. And what about Tanveer, Bhaijaan?", she was panicking with things going southwards again.

Asad : " I don't know what I'll do Najma but I know why all this is happening. I was too stubborn to value 'love' in the past and now when I have realized that zoya is everything to me, my destiny has decided to play games with me."

Najma : "Please don't say that, Bhaijaan. We both know why you didn't want to fall in love in the first place. You were scared Bhaijaan, scared of giving someone the power over you, the power over your heart. Thats why when love knocked on your door, you didn't open the door for really long." she wanted to console her brother further but just then zoya and farhaan walked in the front door. Najma quickly stood up and went to zoya.

Najma : " Zoya, where were you all day? We were so worried", she was holding zoya possessively by her arms.

But before zoya could answer, Farhaan interrupted. " Actually Najma, zoya and I wanted to spend some time together, so I took her out for shopping, movies, some sight seeing. But I hope we didn't miss much and everything here went on smoothly. You know the rasams and stuff? " Asad had just been looking at zoya, waiting for her to look at him at least once. " Farhaan, actually Bhaijaan cancelled all the ceremonies before the nikaah, you know so that Ammi doesn't take too much stress and rests", Najma cleared it to zoya indirectly. Hearing that, Zoya instantly glanced at asad and met his pleading eyes. She tried searching for answers in his eyes but nothing made sense. The reality was still very different from what his eyes were telling her.

Farhaan : "Oh okay. Does that mean you guys are postponing the Nikaah too? Till aunty gets better?", he was confused.

Najma : " Woh.. Ummm.. No. The nikaah is still day after tomorrow", she couldn't have told Farhaan about her ammi's vow to get her brother married in 10 days. Too much info to give to a guest, she thought.

Zoya didn't want to hear anything about the nikaah and started to leave, " Ummm.. Najma, I'll go rest in my room now. I'm really tired", she wasn't strong enough to stand there unaffected any longer and left from there saying the minimum words possible. Asad noticed the pain in her eyes and wanted to gather her in his arms, snatch away all her pain. Farhaan too left, carrying the shopping backs and other stuff.

Najma : " Bhaijaan, I think you should go talk to zoya, explain her what happened today. Tell her that you called it off with Tanveer and how she tried to hurt herself. May be, you both can together come up with a solution", her mind was working over time now. She just wanted zoya as her bhabhi and she was thinking of every possible way to make that happen. Asad agreed and without wasting another minute, he went to see zoya.

Zoya's room :

Asad : " Where is zoya?", he hadn't expected Farhaan to be there in zoya's room. It was late. Controlling his urge to punch the douchebag again, he just got straight to the point.

Farhaan : " She is in the bathroom", he calmly replied. Whats his problem with me? Why can't he ever act normal?

Asad wanted to drag farhaan out of zoya's room right that second. Only he knew how he was keeping his nerves under control. " Well, I need to speak with Zoya about something", asad continued.

Farhaan : " Its really late, Asad. I'm sure you can speak with her tomorrow morning. She's really tired anyway."

Asad took a step further in the room, indirectly telling him to back off. Just when he was about to tell Farhaan to stay out of it and that it's between him and zoya, Zoya walked out of the bathroom to find asad glaring at Farhaan.

Zoya : "What are you doing here, Mr. Khan?", she asked irritated.

Asad looked at zoya to find her in a long, ever-flowing, pure white night gown that had delicate embroideries around the neckline. She looked ethereal. He tried to speak but his throat felt constricted.

Zoya : " Mr. Khan? I asked what are you doing here?" she asked again, uncomfortable under his intense gaze.

Asad : "Umm.. actually.. I need to speak with you Ms. Faaroqui. Its very important." he finally composed himself and answered her.

Zoya didn't want to go through " He loves me? / He loves me not?" crap again so she rudely turned him down, " Mr. Khan, its really late and I'm very tired. I'm sure whatever it is can wait till tomorrow. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go to bed." Asad wanted to grab her by her arms and shake some sense into her. Here he was trying as hell to find a solution, to clear all the misunderstandings, and there she was busy showing him attitude. He saw Farhaan smirk and his anger worsened. He realized that he won't be able to say anything in front of Farhaan anyway and would have to come back later in the night to drill some sense into that annoying girl. So without uttering another word, he left the room angrily. After greeting goodnight to zoya, Farhaan left too.

Next : Finally, a confession? A heart-to-heart?

PS: KEEP CALM AND READ THIS FF. IT'LL BE WORTH IT, I PROMISE

PART 14 :

It was almost midnight when asad knocked on zoya's door again. He knocked a few more times till he finally walked in to find an empty room. He was anxious, he had to explain her the situation but she was again no where to be seen. He looked for her everywhere in the house, nervously checked Farhaan's room too but didn't find her anywhere. Then suddenly he realized he hadn't checked the terrace and went upstairs to see if she was there. He found her standing near the terrace wall, looking at the stars, lost deep in thoughts. He silently walked towards her and stood behind her, just a few inches apart.

Asad : "Zoya'", he whispered close to her ear in his deep, husky voice.

She didn't turn around. She couldn't handle looking into his eyes. She had to be strong to be able to hate him, to be able to be rude to him, to be able to stand her ground. Looking into his eyes always weakened her resolve and this time she was determined to not let that happen. Asad stepped closer, his chest almost touching her back now, " Please listen to me zoya, please give me a chance to explain." When she didn't say anything, he continued, " Zoya, its' its' not how you think it is. You are completely misunderstanding me. I want to'", Zoya suddenly turned around to cut him off mid sentence...

Zoya : "I'm misunderstanding you? No Mr. Khan, in fact, I'm beginning to understand you for the first time now." she pushed back a sob.

Asad : "Zoya, please.. let me explain. I'm sorry for hurting you, very sorry but I' I' never wanted to. In fact, I even talked to Tanveer and'. ", zoya cut him off mid sentence again, she didn't want him to remind her of that disgusting moment when he was holding tanveer in his arms.

Zoya : " Mr. Khan, let me make this very clear. I'm not interested in hearing about what you told Tanveer or what you did with Tanveer" , saying this, something died inside her. Why was she still in love, dammit.

Asad : " What? What the hell are you saying? Are you out of your mind?", where is she going with this, he thought to himself.

Zoya : " Look Mr. Khan, you shouldn't be here with me at this hour. If you're unable to sleep, I'm sure you're tanu can help you out with that. So please excuse me", she spit it out and started to walk away'

Asad grabbed her arm strongly and pulled her back, against his chest. He was furious now. Had she completely lost it? What bullshit is she talking about?, " Ms. Faaroqui, Stop with all this nonsense and open you're ears and listen to me. I told Tanveer that I can't go ahead with the engagement but she' she' ", he paused to think how he should tell her about how she ended up in the hospital because of him and how she already had a similar past.

Zoya : " But she told you that she loves you and can't live without you. Right Mr. Khan?", Alla miya, please help me.. i can't handle this'

Asad : He was confused. It took him a minute to realize that zoya had seen him with tanveer that day and had heard tanveer saying all that. Thats why she was so mad at him? Thats why she had been crying that day? Did she think I was still marrying tanveer after what happened between us? God! help me!'he took a deep breath, " Zoya.. yes she said that but there's more to it. She has had a very tragic past and after hearing about it, it didn't seem like the right time to tell her about us. So I had to wait for her to get back to a more stable state of mind. And then when I.. ", before he could tell zoya how he called it off and tanu tried to hurt herself, zoya interrupted him again'.

Zoya : "There's no 'us' Mr. Khan. You are engaged to Tanveer and I'm with Farhaan now. Everything else was just a big mistake", she wanted to hurt him, transfer some of her pain to him as she was not able to handle it anymore.

Asad : " A mistake?", he grabbed her once more, this time hurting her with his aggressive hold on her. " No, Ms. Faaroqui, What happened between us was not a mistake. You want to know what the mistake is? You accepting Farhaan's proposal. That's your mistake", he was beyond pissed now. She had further created problems for them and instead of solving them, she was just making matters worse by her stupid arguments.

Zoya : "Oh really, Mr. Khan? If I and Farhaan are a mistake, then what are you and Tanveer? You don't mind being close to her, you don't mind if she hugs you and confesses her love to you - in fact you're more than comfortable in her arms - reveling in her heartfelt love confession to you, you still haven't called off your engagement with her, you're still thinking about her and her state of mind, and then you have the guts to say that I made a mistake?"

Asad : "Just Shut Up, Ms. Farooqui!!!!!!" he shouted at her. " Not a word more, do you get me?", how can she even say all this, does she think i have no character whatsoever.

Zoya : " Why should I shut up, Mr. Khan? You're the one who started this. And you have no right to order me around, do you get that. Please go to your fiance and order her around. I'm sure she won't mind. In fact, she might as well grant you with some more tender, love and care'"

Before Zoya could even realize what was happening next, Asad grabbed her by her arm, walked her to the big wall behind them, pushed her against the wall, and kissed the life out of her. Asad let out all his emotional angst, all his anger, all his frustration, all his pain, all his love for zoya in that kiss. He wanted to empty all his feelings, all his hurt, all his suffering into her mouth. His hands trailed up her arms to her shoulders, holding her aggressively and digging his fingers into zoya's skin. He continued to kiss her, even more roughly, obstructing all her efforts to push him away. He pressed his body further against her, effectively trapping her between the wall and him and forced himself on her. His hands moved to her back, feeling her up, and in the fit of uncontrolled passion, he ripped off the zip of her night gown, tearing it from the back. He finally broke the kiss, leaving zoya breathless and dizzy, and leaned in to trail kisses along her neck. He bit the sensitive portion of her neck aggressively and zoya pushed him away with all her strength. She then stepped forward and slapped him hard across the face. Tears rolling down her cheeks now. Shocked by zoya's reaction, asad looked up at her to see streams of tears rolling down her face. She looked at him with hatred in her eyes. Something asad had never seen in zoya's eyes before. He was baffled. Amidst all the crying, zoya managed to find her voice and confronted asad.

Zoya : " This is what you want, Mr. Khan. This? My body? That's all? Do my feelings, my emotions, my love, my pain, makes no difference to you? Did you ever bother to see that the girl who has been staying in your house as a guest has fallen hopelessly in love with you? Did you ever bother to see what that girl went through when you announced your engagement to someone else? Did you ever bother to see the pain she tried to hide behind her smile, seeing the person she loves in someone else's arms. Did you ever bother to think why she gave herself to you that day, why she let you claim her that day. Did you ever once think that may be she wants to marry you? Did you ever once think that may be she can't live without you?'. NO! You didn't! All you cared about were your selfish reasons to get engaged to someone who you thought would make a perfect wife for you. All you cared about was your 'relationship' and 'trust' issues, all you cared about was your 'jealousy' issues, all you cared about was your so called friendship with tanveer, all you cared about were your needs and how you wanted to satisfy them. So what was all that, huh? You were just using me to satisfy your one time need for me? Your one time desire to claim me? Your one time desire to impose yourself on me just to give yourself an ego boost? So when you're done with that, you can go back to being happily engaged? Did you' did you' not even once cared about me?" she had cried so much saying all of this that her eyes were completely red and swollen, and her cheeks strained with dark tear marks. But she was not the only one crying on the terrace, her pain was reflected equally on asad's face who had thick streams of tears flowing down his cheeks too. He took a deep breath, his emotions choking his throat, and took a step forward to gently hold zoya by her arms. Much to his surprise, she didn't push him again. He tried to look into her eyes, behind all the tears and hurt, and finally found his zoya waiting.. waiting for him behind the curtain of tears and pain. He let his own tears console her for a few minutes before he gathered the courage to cup her face.

Asad : " And Ms. Faaroqui, Did you ever bother to see that the man with whom you've been staying as a guest for the past few months has hopelessly and irrevocably fallen in love with you too? Did you bother to notice that he has been in love with you since the day he first saw you at the dargah. Did you ever bother to notice his love amidst all the fights, arguments, and confrontations. Did you ever try to remember how he died a million deaths when you wouldn't wake up in Mangalpur. Did you ever bother to notice the pain he went through after he misjudged you and slapped you. Did you ever observe that he had started to depend on you, on your shoulder - to cry on, to share his worries, his fears, his sadness. Did you ever realize that he had started to live through you, dream through you, smile through you. Did you ever bother to realize why he couldn't lie to you about his feelings that night in the rain, Did you ever realize that although he couldn't return you your father, he wanted to be there to shield you, protect you, from the darkness that dared to surround you. Did you ever think why he ran to the airport like a maniac to stop you and why he slipped that ring onto your finger'.. And You're right. That man is very selfish. He doesn't think about anyone else but himself. And that's why he decided to not get engaged to the one person he could even give his life for. He was selfish to think that he wouldn't be able to bear the pain if he hurt her after marriage, if he betrayed her after marriage just like his father. He was selfish to think that he doesn't want to burden her life with the 'package of sadness, hurt, pain and loneliness' that is Asad Ahmed Khan. He knew he would die, if even for a second she went through the same pain his ammi went through. And yes - in spite of all his wrong decisions, he still dares to love her, still dares to want her. He wants her love, he wants her pain and he wants her body and is not ashamed of it. That moment he claimed her, he gave himself to her just as she gave herself to him. How can it be any different for him than it was for her? For him, he married her heart, her soul and her body that day. The rest was just a formality. He called her a misfit due to his judgmental nature and narrow-mindedness and guess what? That one statement has come back to haunt him because no matter how hard he tries, he can't get her to believe him, he can't get that bloody ring off Tanveer's finger and he clearly can't punch the living daylights out of Farhaan. And just for the record, He called off the engagement with Tanveer but thanks to his rash decisions in the past, tanveer ended up in the hospital due to an overdose of sleeping pills. Also, he was consoling tanveer and listening to her confess, since he was not in a position to push her away rudely, after tanveer told him that she was already engaged 2 years back and was left at the altar by her fiance for another woman. Now, clearly, he wants the ground to swallow him because even after breaking the engagement, he doesn't have the guts to ask tanveer to take off the ring in that condition and the love of his life is busy ignoring him with another foreign return douchebag", he was almost yelling towards the end.

Next : Lovebirds finally in their love nest?

PS: KEEP CALM AND READ THIS FF. IT'LL BE WORTH IT, I PROMISE

PART 15 :

Zoya was speechless. Her crying had stopped but she couldn't move. She had not expected her emotionally challenged Mr. Khan to express so much in one go. She just stared at him as if he was an alien and she was a scientist who was trying to analyze the unique specimen in front of her. Asad huffed heavily, annoyed as hell, and started to walk away. Zoya quickly grabbed his hand and made him face her again. She then leaned in and placed a soft gentle kiss on his lips. He sighed heavily against her lips and then finally kissed her back, taking her in his arms. They both kissed each other slowly, softly, romantically, declaring their true love for each other. They stood like that, in each others arms with zoya's head on asad's chest, for a really long time.

Zoya : "Mr. Khan"

Asad : "Hmmm", he responded, still lost in the scent of her hair.

Zoya : " Our wish came true Mr. Khan. You know, the wish we made for each other in the hill-top garden after seeing the shooting star, that we fall in love with someone who is a complete misfit for us." she grinned.

Asad : " It indeed came true", he smiled broadly, and hugged her closer.

A few minutes passed but no one spoke. Then finally, Mr. Khan went ahead and proposed Ms. Faaroqui.

Asad : " I love you Zoya. Will you make me the luckiest guy on earth by marrying me?"

Zoya : She smiled our bright, glorious, mischievous Zoya Faaroqui smile and answered him, " I love you too, Mr. Khan and Yes, I don't mind", she grinned looking at asad.

Asad smiled back at her and kissed her forehead. " Hmmm.. well, I'm honored"

They started to head back to their rooms since it was getting chilly on the terrace. Just when zoya turned to go ahead of him, asad noticed her ripped off night gown and pulled her back.

Zoya : "What?", she asked confused.

Asad : " Umm.. vo.. actually… Your dress! I accidentally ripped it off", he said guiltily.

Zoya : She laughed out aloud much to asad's surprise. " Accidentally? Mr. Khan, nothing you do is accidental. I am well aware of your intentions. "

Asad : " Do you now?", he stepped forward, looking at her seductively.

Zoya : "Mr. Khan, not now. Please. Lets go down. If someone gets up and sees us roaming around the house at this hour, we'll be in big trouble. "

Asad : " As if we're not in enough trouble already", he teased. Then he gently picked zoya up, effectively covering her back with his arm and carried her down.

Zoya : " Mr. Khan, where are you going? Take me to my room", she saw him walk past her room.

Asad : He entered his room and placed zoya on his bed. " Stay with me, tonight ", he urged her.

Zoya : " Are you crazy, Mr. Khan? No, no way. What if someone sees us? We're not even married yet", she almost yelled at him.

Asad : "Sshhh… Please zoya. Please. "

Zoya saw something in his eyes, may be fear, that didn't let her protest further. She let out her hand and pulled asad on the bed next to her. She gently caressed his face and kissed his forehead. Asad turned and switched off the lights with just the moonlight entering the room. He pulled zoya in his arms and snuggled into her before dozing off in a beautiful and peaceful sleep.

oOo

It was a beautiful morning for the lovebirds. The first morning after they confessed, the first morning after he proposed, the first morning after she accepted. They were in their love nest, in each others arms, close to each others hearts. Asad had been admiring a sleeping zoya for the past 10 minutes now. He had slept like a baby in zoya's arms, away from all his worries and away from all his mistakes. That wonderful morning had brought a deep realization for asad, something he had already guessed but had experienced for the first time - Zoya was home to him. 'Home' away from all the darkness, all the pain and all the hurt. He had never felt this peaceful, this happy, this at ease with life ever before. He caressed her face lovingly, and kissed her forehead. She smiled in her sleep and he kissed her again. This time on her lips. Without opening her eyes, she gently kissed him back.

Asad : "Good Morning, Ms. Faaroqui", he smiled his rare, genuine smile at her.

Zoya : " Good Morning, Mr. Khan. You seem to be in a really good mood this morning", she teased him.

Asad : He nuzzled her hair softly " Well, that's because I slept in the arms of a certain Ms. Zoya Faaroqui."

Zoya : " Is that the only reason?", she asked shyly.

Asad : " For now, yes. Nothing else matters right now Zoya. I haven't slept this peacefully for many many years. And in your arms last night, I was home zoya. I was home. "

Zoya : " I'm home too, Mr. Khan", she said with tears in her eyes.

Asad : "Hey.. hey.. no tears early in the morning. I want to see your smiling face every morning zoya"

Zoya : "Every morning?", she asked.

Asad : "Every morning", he assured.

Zoya : "Promise?"

Asad : "Promise!"

Asad leaned in to kiss her again and she returned his kiss lovingly. The gentle kiss soon transformed into an intense, passionate one and the love birds were soon lost in their dream world again. They were all hands and legs and hair and face. Zoya's ripped off night gown slipped down a little from her shoulders exposing her bosom. Asad looked at her hungrily and closed in on her. He massaged one of her breasts with his hand, slowly grazing the area around her nipples with his fingers. Zoya closed her eyes in anticipation of the pleasure cum pain. She had experienced Asad before and she knew it was going to be a hell of a roller coaster ride. But she feared if she'll be able to survive the thunderstorm again. Asad, enjoying her anticipation, teased her even more by rubbing her nipples with his thumbs in slow circular motions. Once he saw zoya relaxing, enjoying his touch on her, he pinched hard on her nipple causing her to scream aloud. He had to kiss her lips in order to suppress her moan and her screaming. He knew how sensitive zoya was and his roughness on her was just making it all the more wild and intense.

Zoya : "Mr. Khan… please", zoya begged.

Asad : " Please what?", he asked in his intense husky tone, still licking her throat and neck.

Zoya : " I can't… its too much…", she wanted him to understand. It was too early in the day for her to experience all his heavy love making. She had been emotionally drained after everything that happened in the past 2 days and she felt too weak to handle the intensity.

Asad : " You don't like it?", he moved down to her breasts again, cupping one of them and then sucked it hard.

Zoya : " Aaah… I do… but…", she managed in between her moans.

Asad : " But what?", he managed in between his kisses and nibbling.

Zoya : " Mr. Khan… please.. listen", she pulled him up to look at him. His lips were wet with saliva all around it, he looked intoxicated. " Mr. Khan, isn't it too early in the day for all this? I mean everyone will be out for breakfast soon, i really should go now. We don't wanna get caught, right?"

Asad : " Okay, I'll let you go but just not yet. Besides, there is still some time for breakfast. And no one will mind you stepping out of my room, except that NRI douchebag. And now that I think about it, I want you to be caught by him, so that the message is loud and clear", he was in no mood to back off. She was in bed with him, there was no way he was gonna let her go without having his way with her first. He started grinding slowly against her, pressing his erection against her core.

Zoya : "Mr. Khan, stop calling my friend a douchebag. And I don't want him to catch me with you. Its not right, Mr. Khan. I'll have to explain things to him in private", zoya knew what asad was trying to do, arousing her so she herself asks for more. But she was also zoya faaroqui. She knew how to deal with Mr. Khan's tactics.

Asad : "In private? Your only private business deals with me, Ms. Faaroqui and you better remember that", he grinded harder against her this time.

Zoya : "Allah miya, Whats wrong with you Mr. Khan? I'm in bed with you, you're grinding against me. Is this a time to get jealous?", she was aroused but she had to control and anger was definitely not helping.

Asad : "I'm not jealous of him, Ms. Faaroqui. At least not anymore. You are in love with me, you are marrying me, and you are right now in bed with me. But that doesn't mean you can goof around with him anymore. I won't allow it", he slowly pulled zoya's gown up, caressing her thighs, still rubbing against her.

Zoya : "Allah miya!!! He is my friend, Mr. Khan. Don't tell me you expect me to not even meet my friends after our marriage", zoya was so aroused that she didn't even realize when she moved her hands under asad's kurta, running her hands across his waist and back.

Asad : "A friend who claims to be in love with you, proposed you and is carrying a damn ring in his pocket for you", he spit it out. Asad reached for zoya's panties under her gown and ripped it off in anger.

Zoya : "Mr. Khan.. please.. no, not right now", she felt asad ripping her panty off and saw the anger in his eyes. She knew she was in danger and Mr. Khan wouldn't stop if he started.

Asad : "Too late, Ms. Faaroqui", Asad quickly got rid of his pajamas, and before zoya could protest further, he entered her like a lion.

Zoya : "Aaahhh…", she screamed out aloud, shutting her eyes close. Asad had to cover her mouth so that they didn't get caught. Tears started rolling down zoya's cheeks and this time asad was a little more in control to notice.

Asad : "Hey..hey.. zoya..you okay? Did i hurt you?", he quickly pulled out of her, scared that he might have hurt her.

Zoya : She didn't say anything for a few seconds. Just kept her eyes closed. Once her breathing relaxed, she opened her eyes to see asad's face. His eyes were brimming with tears too. "Mr. Khan, I'm okay.. please…why are you crying?"

Asad : He kissed away her tears and cupped her face, "I'm sorry ... I didn't realize I…." but before he could complete zoya interrupted him.

Zoya : "I'm fine, Mr. Khan. You didn't hurt me. Its just that I'm feeling too drained emotionally to handle your intensity right now. With everything that happened in the past 24 hours, I think.. I just need to take it slow", she hoped to god he understood and didn't take it the wrong way.

Asad : "Hmmm.. I should have understood before. You've been through a lot in the past 24 hours because of me. I'm sorry zoya… I really am. But did I hurt you the first time? I mean I never asked you. Was I too intense?"

Zoya : She smiled shyly, "Just a little, Mr. Khan. But I don't mind. I had never imagined you'd make love like that. I mean… you were unstoppable. The look i saw in your eyes while making love to me was just something else. For a few seconds it felt like, you needed it to survive and your ultimate liberation depended on it."

Asad : He smiled shyly not sure of what to say, "Well, let's just say, that's the affect you have on me." he leaned in and kissed her softly.

Zoya : She couldn't meet his eyes anymore and looked away. After a few seconds she finally spoke, " Umm.. Mr. Khan, I should go now."

Asad brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it. " I'll see you at breakfast, Ms. Faaroqui." Zoya quickly got off the bed, straightened her night gown, grabbed a shirt from Asad's closet, winked at him, and ran towards the door.

Next : Ummm… Honeymoon with Farhaan? WHAT?!?!?!?!?!

PS: KEEP CALM AND READ THIS FF. IT'LL BE WORTH IT, I PROMISE

too gud...

PART 16 :

At the breakfast table :

Dilshaad and Najma could notice that Asad and Zoya were in an unusually good mood today - they were smiling, enjoying their breakfast, passing glances at each other. They both understood that they had cleared all their misunderstandings. However, after hearing about Tanveer's attempt to hurt herself last night, Dilshaad really feared for the well being of her kids and Tanveer. She wanted asad and zoya to get married as soon as possible but Tanveer's mental state and how she'll react to asad and zoya's union scared the life out of her. She looked at tanveer with pity in her eyes and genuinely wished the best for the girl. She was also concerned about Farhaan. Nobody deserved to go through a heartbreak but here four lives were at stake - Asad's , Zoya's, Tanveer's and Farhaan's. She knew none of them would be happy in the long run if asad married tanveer, and zoya married Farhaan. For Dilshaad, It was not just about Asad now, it was about the happiness and well being of all the kids on the table. She instantly decided to take everyone to the Holy Dargah where they could all ask for guidance and strength to do the right thing.

Farhaan : " Hey zoe, did you tell everybody we're leaving on Sunday?"

Asad glared at zoya and zoya assured him she isn't, " Umm.. Farhaan, I thought you said next week?"

Farhaan : "Yeah, well, I called jeeju last night and told him that we want to return as soon as possible. And since they are planning our engagement ceremony at the end of this month only, I thought we'll get some time for preparations if we're in NY a little sooner."

Everyone was stumped, except Tanveer of course. Asad was almost about to blurt out that he was marrying zoya tomorrow and there's no way in hell she was going back to NY. Dilshaad held his hand and motioned him to stay quite.

Tanveer : " This is great news, Farhaan. When do you guys are planning to get married?", she asked just to make asad realize that zoya is now out of his territory.

Farhaan : " Everyone wants a Fall wedding for us. And Fall in NY is just beautiful. I can't believe our friends have already started to email us, asking about our favorite holiday destinations so that they can buy us honeymoon packages."

Zoya coughed hard listening to all of this and Najma had to pat her back to calm her down. Dilshaad was having trouble controlling her son's anger and Tanveer was just enjoying all the drama. Farhaan too got up and started to pat Zoya's back.

Zoya : " I'm fine Farhaan, I'm fine", she wanted him to stop otherwise no one would be able to save him from Mr. Khan's anger. And What? A Fall wedding in NY? How have things escalated so much? okay.. okay.. calm down zoya. You are getting married to Mr. Khan and your wedding is tomorrow. But what will i tell appi and jeeju? and farhaan? Allah miya, i need to tell him the truth.

Tanveer decided to add fuel to the fire and continued, " So did you decide where you'll be going for your honeymoon?" Asad, completely distracted by his anger, spilled his hot coffee on the table, accidentally burning Tanveer's hand in the process. "Ahhh……", Tanveer cried out.

Asad stood up immediately, " I'm sorry Tanu, I'm so sorry." Najma quickly passed Tanu some ice to put on her hand and zoya rushed to her room to get the first aid box. Everyone gathered around tanveer, who was for the first time not faking her cries and was genuinely hurt. Zoya started applying the burn cream on Tanveer's left hand that had started to develop blisters all around her fingers. Tanveer was flinching in pain and zoya was trying her best to apply the cream as gently as possible all over her burnt hand.

Farhaan : " Zoe, apply the medicine properly. First take out the rings and bracelet off her hand. The blisters are deepening around the fingers, so remover her rings and put the cream properly on her fingers."

Zoya carefully removed her bracelet and was proceeding to remove her rings including the engagement ring when Tanveer suddenly held her hand, "No zoya, let that ring be." Tanveer knew she can't let that ring slip away from her finger even though she was hurting. Zoya just looked at her with a puppy dog face. She wanted to take the ring out of her finger, now that she knew Mr. Khan had called it off with her.

Farhaan : "Come on, Tanveer. Your fingers are badly burnt. Let zoya apply the medicine properly. You don't want your hand to catch any infection, right?"

Najma : " Ummm… Yes Tanveer, you should let zoya remove the ring. There is considerable amount of redness around your ring and it can lead to an infection", she tried to convince her too. Najma, although, felt bad for tanveer but her sister instincts told her that this was the easiest way to handle the ring situation.

Dilshaad too asked tanveer to get proper treatment for her burns. She even asked asad to call a doctor but Farhaan stopped them, saying that the pain relievers and the cream will do it for now. Zoya, without wasting any more time, gently pulled off the engagement ring from Tanveer's finger, making her flinch with pain in the process. It was quite similar to the way Tanveer had once pulled the ring off zoya's finger after the walima fiasco. Just the way Tanveer mercilessly pulled off zoya's dreams from her finger, zoya, too, pulled off tanveer's dream of being Mrs. Asad Ahmed Khan from her finger, hurting her in the process due to the blisters around her finger. And who else could have pulled off that ring anyway? It had to be Ms. Zoya Faaroqui. The true owner of the ring.

Tanveer was infuriated. She greedily looked at the ring that was now in zoya's hand. Zoya, still attending to Tanveer's burns, gave the ring to Najma to keep it safely. Asad, witnessing everything that was happening around him, was speechless. The ring was off! Just like that? And he had been banging his head, thinking about how to ask tanveer to take it off. Once zoya was done with dressing her wounds, she handed tanveer a glass of water.

Asad : " I'm once again very sorry, Tanu. Are you alright? I was distracted.. that's why…" , he tried to explain but was interrupted by tanveer.

Tanveer : " It's okay, Jammy. I'm fine now", she managed, suppressing her urge to yell at asad for ruining her plan once again. She again opted for some emotional blackmail that she had excelled by now, " I understand what you are going through Jammy. With the nikaah tomorrow, your promise to Khala to get married in 10 days, and with your insecurities about our relationship - its only natural to get cold feet just a day before. But Jammy, we are best friends and I understand you better than you. You'll be the perfect husband Jammy and I know that I'll be very happy with you. Please don't question yourself. You're the one and the 'best' for me. Since the day I moved in, you have always supported me and protected me, sometimes even more than 'others'. So why do you fear you won't be able to do that in future. I had never imagined that you wanted more out of our friendship, but after you announced our engagement, I dared to see a happy future again, something I had stopped doing long back. And Jammy more that for ourselves, we are doing this for Khala. Would you want to break your promise to your ammi?", she left no stone unturned and attacked the Khans where it hurt the most. The only sad thing for Tanveer was that the poor little witch had no idea that the man she was trying to emotionally blackmail, already had the support of his amazing mother.

Dilshaad : " Tanveer, my son's happiness is way more important to me that getting him married without his wish or when he is having second thoughts. I vowed to get him married in 10 days to secure his happiness and to secure his future. But that does not mean I will push him if I'm sure he is not happy about something. My aim is to have him happily married, not just married", she very well knew her son will be married by tomorrow and no curse will stand in way of true love.

Asad and Zoya were at a loss for words. Zoya continued giving her 'Lioness' looks to Tanveer and Asad kept looking at Zoya like a frantic lion who desperately needed his lioness to win the battle against the curse. Asad knew he'd keep his promise to his ammi but his biggest fear was - what if Tanveer paid the price for his happiness?

Tanveer : She hadn't expected Dilshaad to go back on her word. Highly pissed, she tried to cover it up, " Of course, Khala, Jammy's happiness is of prime importance to me too. Thats why I want to be there for him, when he is clearly struggling with his inner fears and insecurities. This family's honor and respect in the society matters a lot to me Khala and I won't let anything damage it."

Dilshaad : " I know for a fact that my son will do the right thing Tanveer and I'll stand by him in his every decision", she further clarified her point to Tanveer.

Najma silently agreed with her mother whereas Farhaan was just confused about it all - 10 days?

Next : Mr. Khan having second thoughts because - Farhaan?

PS: KEEP CALM AND READ THIS FF. IT'LL BE WORTH IT, I PROMISE