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I yawned and stared at the arm around my waist.  The arm led to a sleeping Imran.  With his face against my shoulder, his eyebrows were furrowed, mouth slightly open, hairs tangled and his grip tight around my waist.

I leaned slightly to his ear and whispered, "Imran, let go of me."

He mumbled something under his breath and pulled me closer to him.

"Imran."

He continued to sleep peacefully which made me do an eye roll.

I pushed the blanket aside with my feet and kicked Imran in the leg which made him swear under his breath.

He rolled me onto his other side and laid his nose against my neck.  "Sorry, Zara," I heard him mumble and felt my neck hairs rise as I felt the hot breath from his mouth.

I swallowed a chunk and pressed my nails into his skin.

Imran rolled off the bed in shock and fell to the floor with a thud.  "What the f*ck." He narrowed his eyes and rubbed his head in confusion.

I crossed my legs over the edge of the bed and took my steps towards the bathroom.

"Zara?"

I put my blue toothbrush in my mouth and soon started brushing my teeth.

"C'mon, Zara." Imran leaned against the washing machine and rubbed his eyes.  "Don't ignore me."

I spat the liquid contents from my mouth into the sink, rinsed my mouth with water and threw a few splashes of water on my face.  "I'm not ignoring you, Imran."

I held my breath as I felt his fingertips on my stomach.

Inhale and exhale.

I swallowed a chunk, ignoring the hard pounding of my heart.  "Imran, what are you doing?"

His breath on my neck caused tingling.  "Your buttons are open."

I glanced at my pajama blouse and saw that the buttons at the bottom of my blouse were open.  My breath caught in my throat.  "Imran.."

Slowly I felt his fingers run over my skin, towards the buttons.

Before I knew what was happening, I felt his arms circle my waist.  He picked me up and put me on the washing machine.

His eyes pierced into mine.  "I'm sorry, Zara."

I swallowed hard when my mouth suddenly felt dry and I blinked at him.  "For drinking or for staying away?"

Imran sighed.  "Zara, I have already stated the reason."

"There are reasons," I leaned toward him until there was only a few inches between us and looked him straight in the eye.  "-and then there are excuses."

"I've offered my apologies several times, Zara."  He took his arms off my waist and clamped me with his muscular arms between my figure.  "Forgive me."

I took his hands off the washing machine and pushed him back for distance.  "Why did you drink, Imran?" I leaned forward as I stared into his eyes. "I can see you're on to something.  What is it?"

I had once seen Imran drinking outside the gate of Faid's house after a conflict with his mother.

Imran argued with his mother about us.  His mother was dissatisfied with our relationship and wanted Imran to let go of me.  Imran then expressed his anger at me by ignoring me for a week and then sitting drunk in front of our gate with a bottle of alcohol in hand.  I then led him to the guest room and took care of him.  The next day he asked for his apologies and I had forgiven him, not knowing how else to respond.

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