A loud shriek pulled Zoya’s concentration from the film and to Aditya beside her who currently was holding the blanket over his face, which was nothing new, he’d been sat that way through the majority of the film, so why he’d been so determined to watch a horror film in the first place, she’d never understand.

He was sure she was probably wondering why he’d picked this particular film when it left him literally quaking in his boots, but he did have a good reason. The aim, of course, was to get closer to her, he’d be the macho man and comfort her as she snuggled up to him, the house was cold, the fireplace was on and he’d picked a scary movie, everything was meant to go perfectly, but it was just his luck that she didn’t seem even slightly affected by it while he, on the other hand, did. Peeking through his hands, he jumped again “I told them not to go in there” he tutted at the fact they hadn’t listened.

Giggling behind her hand, she curled her body inwards “If you’re scared, we can watch something else?”

Dropping the blanket, he guffawed “Me? Scared? Whatever would make you think that? I’m, I’m” at the shadow over the T.V. he squeaked, “Fine”. Sliding close to her, he grinned cheekily “But, I wouldn’t mind snuggling up, you know, just in case you get scared or cold” he shivered “Brr, cold in here, isn’t it?” He hoped she wouldn’t pick up on the fact it was him who needed the comfort, the film was only becoming jumpier and he couldn’t cope anymore.

Eyeing the burning logs, she stared down at the very soft, very thick blanket over their legs then looked back up at him. Was he making excuses because he wanted to be closer to her? No, no, he wouldn’t do that, why would he?

Before she could respond, Oatie came bounding forward and bounced onto her lap, his chin resting on her stomach as he dug his head beneath her hand so she’d stroke him.

Brilliant, this was absolutely brilliant, he’d been so close to getting what he wanted when Oatie stole her away “Damn dog” he muttered between gritted teeth.

“Sorry?” Zoya looked up from her hand in Oatie’s fur “Did you say something?”

“Nope” Aditya crossed his arms, a pout on his lips. Glaring at his dog who lifted his head and whined in response, he huffed, he got it, his wife was nice to be around, but couldn’t he find his own woman rather than take his? He was up for sharing as he’d said before, but this wasn’t sharing, Oatie’s body was practically shoving him off the sofa, honestly, his timing couldn’t be better.

She’d seen this before, the moody behaviour, the dismissive comments, the boiling annoyance that would soon release- he was jealous and that never ended well. “Have I done something wrong?”

“No, no” he sighed, hating himself for worrying her. “I’m just messing around, you know, hoping you’ll take pity on me and hold my hand”.

Taking his hand gently, she cleared her throat “Were you jealous, of, of me?”

“Of Oatie, he’s a lady’s man you see” he ruffled his shaggy fur. “Likes to have all your attention and he takes after me on that one” he chuckled.

“You want my attention?”

Holding a finger and thumb together, he nodded “A little bit” watching her face drop, he shook his head “No, wait” he stopped her hand from moving Oatie, “You can give your attention to whoever you like, it doesn’t have to be me, I would just like it to be”.

“And if it wasn’t?” Would he hurt her? Would he make her pay?

“Then I’d accept it because it’s okay, we don’t always get what we want in life, just like I accept that you prefer Oatie to me”.

“I” she went to disagree, but his hand raising stopped her.

“He makes you feel safe, that’s okay, that’s more than okay, Zoya you don’t have to be scared that one day I’ll flip out, I am here to help you live again, I’d just be grateful if you allowed me to be a part of that, if not then I’ll accept it because that’s what friends do”.

Zoya looked down at their joined hands “Friends? I’ve never had one of those”.

“Well, now you do” it took everything in him to stop himself from singing you’ve got a friend in me, he’d always loved Toy Story.

+ + +

It was later on in the evening when the home phone rung, Zoya peered out the window to see if Aditya had returned from walking Oatie, seeing he hadn’t, she picked up the phone, hoping he wouldn’t be mad she’d invaded his privacy later on, but equally not wanting him to miss the call if it was important. “Hello”.

“Oh, hello” a gruff voice purred. “Who’s that pretty voice belong to?”

“Uh, Zoya, I’m, I’m Aditya’s wife” a sickly feeling washed over her at his words.

“Ah, my boy got married” he nodded. “Actually, I was just calling to ask for the address, it’s his birthday soon and I wanted to send over a surprise”.

Reading out the address, she held the phone tighter “When, when is it?”

“In three days, didn’t you know that?” He sounded sympathetic. “Adi always was a private man”.

Aditya rubbed his hands together as he pulled off the gloves, his brow raised, “Who is it?”

“May I ask who this is?”

The man smirked “Oh, he hasn’t told you about me? Well, I’m Uncle Naseem, he’ll know who I am” then he hung up.

“Uh, he said Naseem” she stepped back the second his fist clenched, his eyes turning a murky red and his jaw clenching, she hadn’t seen him this way before, but she’d always known it was coming, she just had stopped expecting it.

His blood turned cold at the mention of the name “You, you shouldn’t have picked up the phone” he pushed his hand into the wall, his breaths ragged. “Tell me, tell me you didn’t give him the address?” His body faltered, the shock nearly knocking him to his knees.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t know” she went to touch him only to fall back when he shrugged her away.

Pointing a finger at her, venom warped its way through his tone as he spat: “You didn’t have the right, you should have asked me first” his hands wrapped around her upper arms, nose an inch from hers, “Don’t you ever pick that phone up again without asking me” shoving her back so she stumbled, he stormed back outside.

The echo of the slamming door was the last thing she heard before she fell to her knees and began to sob. Squeezing the carpet in her fist, her chest rose with her panicked breaths that made her head spin and her tongue taste of blood, then she was forcing her fingers down her throat and retching into the kitchen sink, her hair falling into her face as sweat glided over her forehead, she sunk back against the side and rubbed her arms, her expression emotionless.

I know you were all absolutely loving their moments alone together, to be honest I’m surprised this story became so loved, so quickly, but they will still have those moments, just on the side of this! Thank you for making getting to 7 chapters so easy, as you can see, comments make me update faster! I love you all!