"a world with hatred will never prevail - inaya."

Hafsa had been seated on her bed for the last few minutes , staring at some sort of parcel she had picked up from her doorstep . It was a beautiful packaging that consisted of puffed up hearts and shiny glittered diamonds stuck through . A small bright magenta note was haphazardly glued onto an end , which she gingerly pulled off from the wrapping . She had made up her mind on not destroying that unique wrapping paper .

Honestly speaking she didn't know who could have sent this to her . Definitely not someone who is an outsider because after all it was at placed at her room's door . Nonetheless it could not exactly cut out the possibility that her house members could have transferred that gift to her door on someone's request . But then again , she didn't have friends who were close enough to gift her . Which only left her house mates . As she counted , a particular name caught her breath .

Gabriel !

"To the heart that shines brighter than the star , Yours Islamically ."

She read out to herself , the words clearing away the clouds held up against the person she had expectedly guessed . Sure they were good friends and he had been very kind . But she never felt for even a moment that she was gift worthy .

What made her feel special was the signed name , yours Islamically . Hafsa had promised to help him out through his lessons on Islam and that was all she had done even through WhatsApp . Right from the beginning , she had strictly warned him against talking about anything other than Islam . Thinking about it now though , she felt awful . Awful that she had put up some amount of restrictions for him to follow , yet he was kind enough to send her a gift .

Biting down on her lip , she carefully pulled out the wrapper making sure to not damage it even the slightest bit . As the paper fell off , a sleek black coloured box with the name Mine came into view .

That name sounded very familiar to her but she could not point out what it was . As she lifted up the lid , she gasped . Her hands flying to her mouth .

Laying before her on her bed , was a diamond bracelet shining brighter than the sun that was pouring into her room . She pushed back her hair and squinted her eyes at the bracelet , making sure to not touch it .

It definitely was real !

Her hands started to shake and her lungs felt stuffy . Somehow she couldn't breathe and all that she could see in front of her eyes was Gabriel and his smile . The way his eyelashes touched his lids when he smiled too hard , the manner in which his hands were clasped behind his back when he spoke to her as if respecting her presence . The way in which his eyes twinkled with delight when he saw her .

She could not accept it .

A diamond bracelet was too luxurious of a gift to offer . Besides , even if it wasn't a real diamond bracelet , she would never accept any jewellery . A part of her felt too delighted to proceed with anything . The gesture in itself melted her heart .

But no !

She could not accept it . Never . Apart from that , diamonds were very expensive and how did he manage to buy a bracelet as heavy as the one he had purchased ? She couldn't say . But all she knew was , he presumed wrongly that she would accept it .

Inhaling sharply , she settled down on her bed with a leg dangling down . After brushing her hands over probably the only exquisite gift she would ever receive , her lips lifted up in an emotional smile .

Shutting the box back down , she smiled at the note beside it .

"Who needs diamonds when you are there ?"

Derek had been walking up and down in his room , chewing on his thumb nail nervously . After about fifteen letters uptil now , as he could say by counting the fifteen frames stacked up on his desk , he had managed to take a huge step . He had finally had the courage to write down his wish of meeting her in person .

Well , maybe he wasn't exactly courageous because he had begged Gabriel to return his letter back when he was trying to get it parcelled to Sarah . In the process , he had to even fallen on his knees to beg him . However in return all he received was a smack on his head and a nice punch in his stomach .

Gabriel was such a hulk . Very underestimated . Derek had never imagined he could punch that hard . And while being punched and all was fine , he still could not shake off the embarrassment he had faced because they had practically invited the whole house to watch the small melodrama taking place at the staircase .

With that set aside , he had anyhow received the letter back saying she was alright with it . Therefore , he had put on his best clothes , applied some perfume and put on some good  shoes . Sarah and he had decided to meet up at the backyard and to be frank , he had always loved the backyard this family housed .

It was well maintained except for a few outgrowths here and there . And well a perfect place for a date . He blew out some air through his mouth and checked himself in the misttor , trying to make sure he didn't look too dressed up .

With a pursed smile , he left for the backyard . As he descended the stairs , one by one , he saw Sarah come out of her room downstairs . She swung the door shut and had turned around to start walking when her gaze scrutinized Derek standing and almost like a force had pushed her , she stumbled backwards a few steps .

"Sarah ! Are you okay ?" He instantly jogged closer , dying to get a look at her face that was ducked with her blonde curls hiding it .

"Um , yes . Thank you ." He almost had missed her faint whisper had it not been for a nervous smile that was playing across her lips that indicated her anxiousness . She had been biting her lip , eating away some lip gloss she had applied .

Her brown eyes were lined with some eyeliner . Her blonde hair was left to fall across her shoulders in loose curls and the light blue of her knee length sparkly dress complimented her pale skin angelically .

He averted his gaze and quickly pushed his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans and motioned towards the backyard door .

"Let's get going !" He smiled wide , earning a small nod from her .

He wasn't very tall or anything , standing at five feet eight . But he was impressed with Sarah's height . She was long and slender . He felt foolish to not have made that out earlier . As he held the door open , Sarah hastily walked in , her head cast down .

He smiled to himself and walked outside , greeted by some clouds and a refreshing atmosphere . Sarah had already settled down , while Derek helped himself to a seat .

After a couple of nerve wrecking seconds and Sarah not really trying to initiate a conversation , Derek cleared his throat loudly and edged closer in his seat .

"I hope I didn't make you feel uncomfortable ." He rested his elbows on the table , a worried expression lining his features . She had been amazing as a writer , dealing with her expressions and views professionally . Up front though , she seemed very nervous and jumpy .

Her eyes skimmed through the flower beds and the large tree , finally resting upon the tree bark and the cool shadow the ground was encompassed in . She returned her gaze back to him , and accidentally met his eyes . The intensified emotions in them made her pull her gaze back to her lap .

"No no !" Her voice was a note higher which was clear enough to discern her point . "I just am normally very nervous around People ." She shot him a tight smile , as he smiled wider .

"I promise , things will be different with me . You'll learn to be yourself . You'll learn to have fun and be a girl that you were in the letters . I'll help you bring out that awesome person hidden within the shadows ."