The Storm We Started

09| Escaping

Walking through the a crowd with smelling sweat each second was a task. Shoaib didn't left her hand for even a second, he held on tight to it when it was loosens up.

They brought a water bottle as shoaib gulped it so fast. He gave it to Gulnaz who also chugged the whole bottle and finished it, feeling thirsty.

Gulnaz led them to a corner where they can sit quietly and wiped the sweat from her face and her neck. Summer had always been so brutal.

"How did you like your first concert?" Naz asked him,fidgeting with her bracelet.

"It's quite fun." He replied, watching her from side eye.

"I know right, i feel like I'm in this another world when the whole crowd sings along. It's so magical."

Shoaib only hummed in response. She noticed he had been a little quite this night.

"Are you okay?" She asked

Shoaib only looked at her and smiled, "I have a joint."

Gulnaz looked at him with wide eyes, "What? Are you crazy?"

He only smiled wider seeing her reaction, "wanna smoke up?"

"No," Gulnaz replied instantly.

He shrugged and pulled out the joint. "It's mixed with cigarettes anyway. Won't hit you hard."

"Shoaib. Don't. It's not safe here. What if someone finds out?" She worried

"They won't."

"No, stop it." She came forward to him as she tried to take the joint but he pulled her hand which made her land kind of on his lap.

"Shoaib!" She gasped.

She tried to wriggle out of his hold but he held her tighter and whispered down her ears, "Relax,"

"Just stay like this, no one would see my joint and only think I'm smoking a cigarette." He justified.

Gulnaz leaned her head against his chest and tried to calm her breath. She tried not to think about it but she can't stop thinking about how his hands were on her waist. Or how he set his chin down her shoulder, their cheeks brushing.

She tried not to think about how his hot breath hit her cheek and her ear or how her heart was pounding so fast and her stomach felt like a zoo of butterflies.

But she failed.

Her cheeks were flushed red, even in darkness.

She looked around, no one was paying attention to them. Shoaib blew out a smoke. When she made herself comfortable, she asked for a drag.

"Can I have a puff?"

Shoaib only hummed making her cheeks feel it. He gave her the joint and tried it. At first she coughed a little but soon adjusted to it.

"We could get in trouble." Gulnaz stated.

"I know. It'd be fun getting in trouble with you." He was so nonchalant about it because he knew they won't get caught but gulnaz was a little worried.

"I'm not going to jail because of you," with that she nudged with her elbow on his chest but he only let out a laugh.

She took four drags and blew out the smoke and gave it back to shoaib. She could feel it in her head a little, her body was feeling a little heavy but she was still in her senses.

Shoaib finished the joint just when the 20 minutes break was over. They could hear the crowd screaming in excitement when sonu nigam came.

"Fuck, we should go now." She stood up and was going to get into the concert area but shoaib held her hands.