𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍 / 𝐀𝐁𝐑𝐀 𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐁𝐑𝐀

الترجيع - 𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣

𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙙 — 𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣
𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰
𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵/𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦

jamilah and abdul spent all most all of their free time together. mainly because jamilah was rather timid around people she didn't know, and abdul preferred when it was just them, so more often than not, it was just the two of them. when he was too busy too make it to school abdul had his friend josh keep an eye on jamilah to make sure no one messed with her.

kids at their school took notice of their freindship, so of course there were a few rumours about them spreading but abdul didn't bother to address them.

jamilah was none the wiser to it. to her it just seemed like her classmates had grown bored of pestering her all the time. and she grew more relaxed more knowing she was no longer a target.

it was a friday evening and abdul sat next to jamilah as they waited for the train to birmingham to arrive.

there was a party that they both wanted to go to, so listening to adbul, jamilah told nikole that she'd be staying over at his place to go to breakfast with his family the next morning. nikole allowed it because she was too busy with uni assignments and couldn't be bothered. beside she trusted jamilah and abdul.

they routinely abused that trust. abdul often persuaded jamilah to lie about where they were going and who would be supervising them. he knew if nikole was aware of what he did in his free time, she'd forbid jamilah from seeing him. and he couldn't allow that. there wasn't a world where anyone could stop him from seeing jamilah, she meant everything to him.

he picked out pieces of crushed leaves from jamilah's braids, fingers lingering, eyes admiring. "what're you thinkin' about?"

she shook her head, nerves causing her to bounce her leg. "just anxious. i've never been to a party, like a proper party like this."

"don't worry. i'll be right beside you the entire time, i promise." he slipped his hand through her braids, holding the back of her head tightly. "i'll always make sure you're safe, you know that."

jamilah exhaled, a small cloud of air forming in front of her mouth. "i don't want a lecture."

"fuck off."

the girl rolled her eyes, crossing her legs. she never swore in her life so him swearing was fascinating. "why do you use such bad language?"

"all smart people do." he informed her before making a request. "swear for me, even just for tonight."

jamilah squirmed, nervous and hesitant. but abdul was her best friend and she knew he'd never lead her down the wrong path. "what do you want me to say?"

"if someone approaches you on nonsense i want to tell them to fuck off, yea? or even to suck their mum." he held her face closer, staring into her eyes. "and if anyone touches you wrong, tell them i'll murder their entire fuckin' bloodline, you understand?"

in a daze, taken aback by his intensity, she could only agree. "their entire fuckin' bloodline," she breathed out.

abdul pet her head, feeling proud of her. "needs more vem, but that's good."

"will bad people be there?"

he clicked his tongue. "i mean, there are bad man everywhere. but all man ain't bad like me. i'll protect you with my life, you know that."

jamilah's smiles were ghostly, sending shivers sliding down his spine. they haunted him. when she smiled it was just barely there and more times than not abdul could convince himself that he imagined it.

"how've you not got a girlfriend?" she asked with a slight tilt of the head, curiosity oozing off of her.

"too busy." he looked down at his feet.

"but you see me everyday for hours." she pointed out. "you can't be that busy."

"i don't know... i guess i've only got time for you and work."

he wanted to tell her that he didn't look at other girls, that none of them interested him the way she did. he wanted to tell jamilah that he loved her and that she'd always be important to him. if he could, he would spend every hour of every day with her for the rest of his life.

"i suppose thats true." she agreed solemnly. "i'd be lonely without you. so don't forget about me once you get a girlfriend."

"i won't."

"do you think about us datin' when we're older?" jamilah blinked, her eyelids shimmering from the glittery makeup she put on.

abdul shrugged, sure to be nonchalant about it. "i want you around in the future."

"if we dated i really don't want you to be like those guys, the ones that are like my dads age, stuck on the corner."

he pursed his lips thinking, 'i'm already one of those guys.'

he doubted he'd be like that for the rest of his life though. one day he'd be one of the guys sending youngers out.

jamilah continued. "you're too smart to fall into that life. you can be anything you want, abdul. promise me you won't turn out like them."

he put an arm around her neck, giving her a playful smile. "i can't promise you anything."

she grimaced, telling him to shut up.

he didn't mean to lie but he didn't want to worry her. he knew he would be okay.

at least he hoped he would.