"every dark heart had once lighted up a million dark ones before loosing it's own luminosity along the way- faaris."

Gabriel had had quite a breakdown from all the major stress lately . Not that what he was wasting time over was a big deal , but to him , it was harder than ever to commit the smallest mistake .

"Inaya ?"

He called out into the backyard , feeling a gush of wind hit his face . It wasn't cold , but the weather was sad . The sun hadn't risen and the sky was filled with clouds . There was a distinct dusty smell in the air and Gabriel felt perplexed about the climate change .

"I'm here ."

He heard her from a far corner . As he shifted his gaze , he found her around the small shed at the corner . Without loosing another moment , he walked with short breaths to calm himself down .

Her eyes crinkled softly and Gabriel bowed his head a little .

"Wassup brother ."

She cheered motioning towards the steps . After taking their seats , Gabriel stayed silent . He was extremely nervous and frightened . It was already difficult for him to talk about the matter with Inaya , but the thought of being rejected kept haunting him severely . Which in turn , also , made him have double thoughts .

"Are you alright ? You look distressed ."

Gabriel tried smiling reassuredly , but all he ended up doing was sigh loudly .

"I....have something to ask you ."

Inaya nodded reassuringly , urging him to continue .

"I — I....like , I mean....I — reallylikeHafsa ."

Inaya frowned slowly . When she realized how he'd said whatever he wanted to , she huffed out air and rolled her eyes .

"Gabriel , come again ."

He slumped heavily and fell against the door , his gaze down on his legs .

"I like....Hafsa a lot ."

He did not have the courage to face Inaya so he kept fiddling with his jacket's buttons . The climate had started to grow thicker with dust and the surroundings looked fazed . Though he was not fond of the sudden change in the atmosphere , he still thanked the lord for having given them not much time to dwell too much upon the matter by not sitting out for too long in the harsh wind .

"I knew you've liked her always ."

Gabriel snapped his head to face her . She had been staring in the air ahead .

"How did you know that then ?"

She sighed and rested her arms on her knees .

"Gabriel , you asking me that ? If anyone took even the slightest hint about your actions and doings , they'd be able to figure out what was going on ."

Gabriel turned fully to face her , though she gave no signs of facing him .

"Did I look weird or anything like that ? I didn't think it was that obvious ."

"Not that much . But I looked a little closely so it caught my attention ."

Silence fell over them . Inaya's detection was right after all . He did like Hafsa . She did not think it'd end up being serious because she thought it would turn out to be a crush situation .

"Is it bad that I like her ?"

She was skeptical . It could be bad from certain angles — which she didn't want to worry over for now . For the time being , his liking her didn't pose any threat .

"I don't think so . Atleast not for now ."

Gabriel was a little tensed with Inaya's thoughtful and serious answers . He knew that there would be certain things that would not be openly encouraged and perhaps he was one of them . Considering he would be a revert soon .

"Do you think I'd be a bad choice for Hafsa ? I know I'm not going to be the most amazing person , but since I'm planning to revert — "

"Wait what ?!"

Inaya spun around to face him . Gabriel had to duck back a little at the way she almost pounced at him .

"You're joking ? Don't tell me it's actually true ."

Gabriel cleared his throat awkwardly . She was making him more nervous than ever .

"Well , soon yes . I have always liked the religion but things just stopped me from proceeding ."

Inaya kept gazing at him . Her eyes pierced into his , scrutinizing his phrases severely .

"Um , are....you okay ?"

He asked slowly , after which she turned her gaze away from him .

"For starters , my friend's cousin likes my sister . And then , like a bomb , he notified me that he is going to revert soon . Yes , I am very much alright ."

Gabriel rolled his eyes at her sarcastic remark . He had thought that Hafsa would have told her , if not their entire family . Infact he was uncomfortable with spreading news before it actually was done . Personally , he wasn't fond of the outcome .

"I thought Hafsa would have told you . But in anyway , I'm glad she didn't . I don't particularly like any news being spread before it takes place ."

Inaya calmed down and sighed heavily . She looked up at the sky this time , her voice soft .

"I get your point there . But to think that you , in actuality , were going to revert is a shock . Infact , I had formed my own little theory about you — which I am highly ashamed of now ."

Gabriel tapped his feet against the ground lightly .

"That's alright . You have the right to . Especially since you're the overprotective elder sister ."

He heard Inaya chuckle softly .

"I had formed an illusion that you liked Hafsa as a.....um , part time material.....and were just faking interest in Islam to gain her soft spot ."

Gabriel's mouth dropped open . He wasn't prepared to hear that . It was almost like an insult but he found it rather funny . She did observe well . And as a sister , he felt he understood her worry for all her siblings .

He didn't say or do anything and maybe because of that , she turned to look at him with so much regret in her eyes that he felt horrible about it .

"I'm so very sorry ."

Gabriel found it adorable that she was apologizing . It did hurt him to hear that from her , but on second thought , she wasn't wrong . Had he been in her shoes , that would be the exact same understanding he would come up with .

He started laughing . The idea — though serious — felt extremely funny to him .

"What's so funny ?!"

She threw a glare at him and huffed , crossing her arms over her chest and turning to face the other side .

"Oh God , no no ! Inaya , it's just so cute to see you behave in this  manner ."

He stifled his laughter as Inaya turned around to face him . He was enjoying that very much and she could make out the unmistakeable glint in his eyes. 

"I'm going to wait till you officially become my brother in law to seek my revenge ."

"NOOOOOO ! I DON'T WANT TO ! THIS IS PLAIN ABUSE !"

Inaya shouted at the top of her lungs , causing Sam and Sarah to roll their eyes and take back a step to stare right at her .

"People are going to think I'm killing you ."

Sam gave a sly remark , earning a fake smile from Inaya .

"You are killing me just so you know . Applying makeup without someone's consent is impermissible . It is highly punishable by law ."

Sam ignored her and glanced at Hafsa who was grinning with joy at the small drama they were engulfed in .

"Told you she was a handful ."

Hafsa shrugged and Sam sighed while scratching her nose .

"Well too bad she's dealing with Samantha Parker here ."

Faaris had asked Inaya out for a date and while she was ireesolute and fairly uncomfortable with how quickly they were moving on , her dear cousins and friends hadn't left her any choice when they had shouted a yes into the phone .

"Comeon Inaya ! You need to look sexy on your first ever date !"

"I don't want to look sexy when I'm not her ! Who's this sexy anyway ? I want to look like Inaya ."

Sam threw her a furious glare .

"Too bad you aren't allowed to do that ."

Sam argued loudly , stipling some foundation onto her face . It had taken them quite a while to get her seated down and get ready for the makeover .

"No , no ! Not that thing . I know it is sticky and will be difficult to get off !"

Inaya yelled in disgust pointing at a black tube in Sarah's hand .

"It's called a mascara ."

Sarah meekly replied with a smile tugging at the corners of her lips .

"I've seen a few people remove them from their eyes and it's worser than glue !"

Sam sighed and without any response continued on .

Initially , Elsa and Valerie had barged into the room hearing Inaya scream . What they held in their hands as defense tools ranged from brooms to lamp shades to irons and pillows .

The males had gone out for a game of tennis and the women were enjoying some spa time .

They'd very carefully narrated Inaya's fight against injustice and the ladies had very sternly thrown a pillow at Inaya .

"I am actually glad that Inaya's getting that makeover you know ."

Hafsa spoke tucking a pillow in her lap .

"God ! I agree so much on that . Faaris deserves a sexy Inaya ."

Hafsa wiggled her brows at Inaya who had momentarily turned around to shoot her a glare .

It took them over an hour to stabilise Inaya's wild behaviour and get the makeup done properly .

"I'm so glad we sat her down a few hours before the date . The makeup itself has taken up most of the time !"

Sam exclaimed giving final touches to Inaya's face .

After another few minutes , Sam and Sarah stepped aside to let Inaya have a look at her transformation .

"Hey ! That girl's not me !"

Inaya accusingly pointed at the mirror where her reflection shone brightly . Everything was rather simple . Her bold red lip went magnificently well with the glittery eyeliner . A faint pink traced across the apples of her cheeks and something very shiny was dusted along the high ends of her cheekbones .

"Her name's sexy sweetheart ."

Sam pointed out with a meaningful glance .

After Inaya had taken her time in gawking at how marvellous her reflection looked , Sam and Sarah had already started to mess up the closet in attempts of choosing a dress .

"We're definitely going for a red dress ."

Sam professionally ordered Inaya , who sat down on the dresser with her back to Sam as Sarah styled her hair. 

Hafsa excitedly threw her pillow away and joined Sam In a serious discussion over the outfits .

Sarah had carefully curled Inaya's hair and then brushed thoroughly through them to give her soft curls that flowed against her chest .

Inaya wasn't particularly fond of makeup but she could see the massive difference it made on her face . It wasn't bad for once in awhile . Even then too , it was intolerable . She had the habit of rubbing her eyes subconsciously and the amount of things on her eyes were going to prevent that for a while .

She hated the restrictions .

After shifting a little in her seat , she looked through the mirror to find Sarah digging into something . A moment passed and she came back with a satisfied smile on her lips .

She extended her hands towards Inaya and dropped it into her spread out palms .

Inaya stared at a pair of white dangling earrings that were laden with small diamonds along the length . They were blinding . Inaya held them against her ears and found Sarah look down upon her from behind , holding her thumbs up .

"Okay , we'll give you a choice between two dresses ."

Sam announced loudly , making Inaya turn around on her chair .

Hafsa held two dresses up and Inaya gasped loudly .

"Are those even clothes ?!"

Sam shot her a scruffy face and started demonstrating the pieces .

"This one here ," she took the dress from Hafsa's hand and glanced down upon it ,"Is a masterpiece . A work of unbrazen talent and pure art ."

"It's got a v neck , running deep with diamonds along the neckline . These type of dresses — that cling to your body— are called bodycon dresses . Typically worn on date nights and romantic dinners . They accentuate your bust and lower waistline . I think it'd go very well with the look ."

Inaya's mouth dropped open as Sam effortlessly ignored her and proceeded to take over the other dress from Hafsa's hands .

"And this baby here is love . It's an off the shoulder frail dress — which I think will look flattering with those danglers — that falls a little above your mid thighs . I think it's cute and will fit your body elegantly ."

Inaya gulped . She suddenly didn't like the idea . The fact that she had never agreed to the date in the first place was because she still felt uneasy around him . And now she was being forced into wearing bikinis .

Then there was the point that she had recently kissed him . It wasn't even a real kiss and she had done that as a token of her gratitude . But she had never gone without her Hijaab in front of him and they were clothing her in the most delicate and body showing dresses .

"Guys , these dresses show off a lot of skin . I'm not wearing them ."

« Assalaamualaikum Princesses .

Why does it feel like I haven't updated in ages ?! *Laughs*

I missed you guys . Ilyasm . ❤ .

I wanted to take a minute and apologize sincerely about the fact that I haven't answered back to soooo many comments . I feel horrible about that . I'm extremely sorry . I'll do my best and reply back to them as soon as possible . Please do not be too bothered about it . ❤ .

Again , Jazak'ALLAH for your never ending love and support . It means the world to me and you guys all warm up my heart with love . ❤ .

Love ,
Me ;) ❤ »