A tale of love, loss, and new beginnings.
Hareem wants to start over, Momin is stuck in the past. Can a newly wedded couple learn to love and accept one another while also dealing with an uncertain future and a haunting past?
Trigger warning: ptsd...
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Chapter Twenty Six
"I don't feel good about this," Hareem confessed to Aima as they say outside the campus cafe. "The reason I haven't shared it with him yet is because things won't be the same between us anymore. It was a mistake on my part for allowing myself to crush on someone I wasn't allowed to. It was my mistake to get attached and then get myself hurt like that."
"Stopping blaming yourself, Hareem," Aima comforted, patting her hand from across the table. "It's natural to develop feelings for the opposite gender, it's what makes you a healthy human."
"My mistake was acting on it. I can't believe I was stupid enough to start dreaming about getting his affections in return. It was stupid of me to put myself out there to get his attention!" She exclaimed, her face twisted with rage and regret.
"Hareem, please stop," her best friend pleaded, abandoning her chair to walk around the table and embrace Hareem. "What happened cannot be changed, but you can change your future. Stop defining yourself by your mistakes, please."
"I don't know how I'm going to confess all of this to him." Hareem melted in Aima's arms.
"Listen to me, if he's as good as you say he is, he won't have a problem. But if he does, he doesn't deserve you." Hareem broke the embrace to stare at Aima in surprise. "I'm your best friend, Hareem, believe me when I say that you deserve someone who treats you special, doesn't cause you any pain, and doesn't care about your past."
Hareem nodded, letting out a shaky breath as she sat down on an outdoor chair.
The early afternoon sun was hot over them, but the chilly air cooled them off instantly. Several groups of people surrounded them in the cafe's patio, eating, studying, or simply talking like they were. It was a spot far more popular than the library throughout the semester, but especially near exams week.
Their midterms were fast approaching, warranting frenzied study sessions around the campus. Girls sat in study groups under trees, on picnic tables, on the stairs leading up to the classrooms, and anywhere other than the library where pin drop silence was required.
Hareem sat biting her nails, troubled with her inability to focus on a single subject without breaking into sweat about her relationship with Momin.
"Uh Aima," she murmured, hugging herself. "He's already trying to get me to go for therapy, if I tell him the entire thing, he's not going to take no for an answer."
"Wait, what? He's making you go for therapy?" Aima questioned, her brows knitted in genuine surprise. It was an expression Hareem hadn't seen on her before. "Do your parents know about this?"
"No, I haven't talked to them about it yet."
"I think you should, you can't allow him to start bossing you around this early on." The way Aima worded the warning made Hareem chuckle.
