𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍 / 𝐀𝐁𝐑𝐀 𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐁𝐑𝐀

الترجيع - 𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙤𝙮

𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙙 — 𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙤𝙮
𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰
𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵/𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦

"abdul!" jamilah whined his name as she jumped for her overnight bag. "give it back!"

he chuckled at how adorable she looked, eyebrows furrowed and nose creased in annoyance. her frame was pressed against his, attempting to pull him down by his shoulder so she could reach. eventually he lowered his arm and handed her the pink bag.

"why can't i stay the night?" she pouted, clutching it to her chest.

he hated to tell her that she couldn't sleep at his or visa versa, but he had no other choice.

"i'm busy tonight."

the statement made her expression go blank. "okay."

abdul rubbed his temples lightly. these days there seemed to be a constant headache brewing in his skull. "jamilah, i'll see you tomorrow morning. we'll study then." the two of them had plans to study the quran but he canceled last minute.

"you said that last time." her face was almost unreadable.

they'd spent so much time together that she had mastered the art of masking her true emotions. though, he could almost always see right through her mask, just like she saw through his.

"i know." he had no excuse to bail on her other than being extremely preoccupied with running errands for brad. "but tomorrow i wont have anything to do, i promise you."

he knew that she'd react like this, so he asked brad to give him the day to himself. that meant no calls or text of errands to run. the entire day was his and he needed to catch up on sleep and spend time with jamilah.

"can i please stay?" she pleaded with him.

"i won't be here." he frowned.

"i don't mind being alone for a while."

her big brown eyes were glistening with sadness as she stared up at him expectantly. there was something bothering her but he wasn't sure what it was. it wasn't too far-fetched to assume that kids at school had been picking on her, but she had promised to let him know if that were the case.

"please, abdul. i'll stay quiet."

"okay..." he caved.

while he got dressed jamilah read a book. he wondered what went through her brain in moments like these.

she didn't have many friends besides him. at times abdul was certain he was her only friend. living that way was probably extremely lonesome for her, especially when nikole was busy with college and working, and her cousins didn't bother to speak to her.

abdul shoved a balaclava in the front pocket of his nike tracksuit. "jamilah," he called her name. "i'll be back later."

she looked over the top of her book, eyes pleading with him to stay. "be safe."

"love." he said before slipping out the door.