ishq lost & found

51; Sleeping Together

"Oh no..." Ranya whispered to herself, loud enough for Saad to hear. Not like it would have been hard since he was only centimetres behind her.

The second Saad had proposed the idea of having their walima in Pakistan, Ranya thought she had went over any possible block that they could come across. She made sure to think of any possible question anybody may ask, anything they hadn't yet discussed themseleve's. She had worried about the timeline, unsure of just how she would be able to organize a walima within days, especially since she knew her family liked to display extravagance back home.

She had thought about where they could stay, a hotel didn't seem feasible at all- it could be dangerous for them and staying with her family would only save them both some money. She entirely forgot to think amount the smaller day to day issues, like sharing a bed, and a bathroom with each other.

Not exactly surprised by her reaction, Saad too found himself at a loss for words for a moment. Sure, he had imagined himself living like this with his wife. Sharing one bed, and more than just that. He had imagined himself falling asleep beside her every night. But when he married Ranya, he had let go of the idea entirely. Scanning the room, he let out a sigh of relief when he spotted a long couch against the wall behind them.

"It'll be fine, I'll just take the couch and-" Saad suggested, moving past her so they could start organizing their room when Ranya cut him off.

"No!" Ranya nearly spat, eyes wide as she spun around to look past their door, promptly locking the door.

Stunned, Saad furrowed his brows in confusion as he tried to process her reaction. Hoping he could understand her reaction, he asked, "Are you feeling alright?"

Letting go of the bag she had been holding onto, she walked closer to him, as if she had to be in close proximity to declare why she shut down his idea. Biting her lip, almost anxiously, she hesitated to explain, "Well, I might have forgotten to mention that my family is a little.... nosey."

"So?" Saad asked, imploring for more as her reaction still made little to no sense.

Sighing, yet again, Ranya continued, "Why do you think I was being so annoying about our story earlier? My family, especially my cousins and certain aunts want to know everything. Privacy doesn't exist considering how many people live here, so it's more than possible that someone- accidentally or on purpose- may just barge in here when we least expect it." Ranya fired off, hoping Saad missed some of that, praying he wouldn't be angry that she conveniently forgot to mention those details.

"They can't know, especially not my nani." She added, her tone soft in contrast to the way it had been just moments ago. Her seemingly simple request something that required more vulnerability than Saad was used to seeing.

"Okay, if that's what you want." Saad agreed, unzipping the suitcase he dragged in. He was still apprehensive about the whole thing as well as how to go about it.

Does he ask what side of the bed she likes? Does she have any habits he should know about, like moving around, or hogging the blanket. More importantly, did he have any habits he was unaware of. Did he snore? Was he sweaty? Did he move a lot? Pushing those questions aside, especially the ones that had him suddenly feeling self conscious, he focused on getting situated and organized first.

"So, where's your nani? Is she finally out of the hospital?" Saad asked, getting out his laptop and its necessary accessories as Ranya began hanging up their clothes.

"She's resting upstairs. Daniel- the tall skinny guy- said she got discharged but that they still have to keep an eye on her here." She explained, glad there was something to talk about since they had been silently working the past 20 minutes, the constant sound of zippers being done and undone nearly driving her insane.