UNENDING

35- 143

-AL-QASIM-

For a moment, I couldn't speak. I couldn't move. It felt like the air had been sucked out of my lungs, leaving me breathless. How long had she been holding onto this? How much had she heard? My thoughts raced, trying to piece together how to respond, how to fix this.

I tightened my hold on her, pulling her even closer, as if I could shield her from the pain I knew she must be feeling. "Asiya..." I began, my voice strained, but she pulled back slightly, looking up at me with those dark, haunting eyes.

"I heard you say you wouldn't do it," she continued, her voice trembling slightly. "But... but she's your mother. What if... what if she convinces you? What if you decide I'm not worth it?"

Her words cut through me like a knife. I could see the fear in her eyes, the doubt that had been festering since she overheard that conversation. It was a doubt I had hoped she'd never have to face, a fear I had wanted to protect her from. But now it was out in the open, and I had to face it with her.

I cupped her face in my hands, forcing her to meet my gaze. "Asiya, listen to me," I said, my voice firm but gentle. "I meant what I said. Nothing my mother says will ever change how I feel about you. Nothing."

She searched my eyes, as if looking for something, some sign of reassurance, and I willed her to see the truth in my words. "But she doesn't want us to be together," she whispered, her voice breaking.

"I know," I admitted, my heart aching at the pain in her voice. "And I'm sorry you had to hear that. But Asiya, you are worth it. You are worth everything to me. And I'm not going to let anyone, not even my mother, take that away."

A tear slipped down her cheek, and I wiped it away with my thumb, my heart breaking for her. "I love you," I said softly, the words coming out before I even realized I was saying them. "I love you, Asiya. And I'm not going anywhere. I promise you that."

She stared at me, her eyes wide with shock, and I realized this was the first time I had said those words to her. The first time I had admitted, out loud, how deeply I felt for her. And now that they were out there, I couldn't take them back. But I didn't want to. Because they were true.

"I love you too," she whispered, her voice barely audible, but the relief in her eyes was palpable.

I pulled her back into my arms, holding her as tightly as I could without hurting her. She buried her face in my chest, her tears soaking into my shirt, but I didn't care. All I cared about was that she knew. That she understood how much she meant to me. That she believed in my promise.

We stayed like that for what felt like hours, the sun climbing higher in the sky, the world outside our little balcony going on as if nothing had changed. But everything had changed. I could feel it in the way she held onto me, in the way her breathing slowly evened out, in the way my heart finally felt at peace.

Eventually, I picked up the book again, not to read, but to set it aside as a reminder that some things were more important than any story, any escape. What mattered was the person in my arms, the woman who had become my world.

"Let's stay here today," I said softly, my fingers tracing patterns on her back. "Just us. No distractions. No phone calls."

She nodded against my chest, her grip on me tightening. "I'd like that," she murmured.

And so we did. We spent the day on that balcony, wrapped in each other's arms, finding comfort in the quiet, in the simple act of just being together. We didn't need anything else. We didn't need to go anywhere, to see anything. Because in that moment, we had everything we needed.