Once Upon A Lifetime

Chapter Thirty-three ~ Coming home

Aasim's POV~ (AN: *squeals and jumps up and down* I'm so happy so be writing this POV again!)

I didn't want anyone to come and pick me up from the airport because I wanted to surprise them. I had finished my assignment half a month early and I was finally coming home with a medical certificate, Alhamdulillah.

I called a taxi and asked the driver to take me to my house first. When I got there, after I paid the man, I noticed that both my parents' and Hamiz's cars were gone.

Maybe they went out?

Being as smart as I am, I had left my keys buried deep in my backpack so there was no way I was getting inside anytime soon. So I decided to go to Saqib and Misha's house. Saqib had bought a condo nearby and was secretly saving up for a house even before they would have any kids. Luckily, their building was close but walking there with two suitcases and a big backpack would take a while to get there. Once I finally arrived, I went up to their floor (they don't have a buzzer) and knocked on the door. I had to have waited like fifteen minutes, knocking and standing there with all my bags, when I came to the realization that they weren't home.

No duh, Aasim, they would have opened the door if they were.

I mentally scolded myself and figured they would all be at Taalia's house. Her parents liked to have a lot of family dinners so they should all be there. I walked the half hour to her house and was exhausted by the time I was on her front porch. I felt butterflies in my stomach as I rang the doorbell. I was excited to see everyone... expecially her. I was also really nervous - gosh I sounded like a girl. When Saqib opened the door, the grin on my face was evident to the whole world. It was so good to see my brother again. But what threw me off was that he was... crying?

"Oh hey Aasim, we were just talking about you." He said. This guy didn't even bother to pay attention to who was at the door. "AASIM!!!" Nevermind.

"Salaam, bro." I smiled and he stared at me in shock. I gave him a weird look and suddenly tears started streaming down his eyes. Now it was my turn to stare in shock. "Saqib, why are you crying?" I was taken aback when he suddenly threw his arms around me. "Whoa!"

"Please tell me I'm not dreaming and that you actually came back from the dead!" He muttered and my eyes widened.

"Whoa whoa whoa wait. Dead?!" I cried.

"Yes! We thought you died!"

"Wait-"

"Come inside and greet everyone!" He pulled me inside and to the living room. Everyone in the room froze when they saw me. I cleared my throat awkwardly.

"Um, Asalamu Alaikum?" I said, unsure of how to break the silence. All at once, everyone screamed and rushed to give me hugs.

"I can't believe it, you're actually here! Alhamdulillah!"

"This is a miracle!"

"Oh my Allah, you're alive!"

"My baby! Oh my sweetheart, we thought we lost you!" Mama cried, giving me a tight squeeze.

"Okay, why does everyone keep saying I'm dead?" I asked no one in particular.

"Didn't you hear? The day you left for London, your plane crashed into the ocean and there were no survivors!" Hamiz explained.

"Yeah, how are you here anyway? We called the airport and was told that you were on the plane that crashed." Maaz said.

"They closed up boarding earlier than planned and I didn't make it in time so they put me on the flight for the next day. They didn't have time to change all the information of the passengers so they just let me be." I explained.