Arabian Nights | #ANBONUS

The Letter

"Once more? For me?" Laleh pleaded with Zayn. She knew there wouldn't ever be a scenario where he would say no, he knew how much the letter meant to her.

"I will never understand why this letter, in particular, is so special. There are thousands more to choose from. Why this one?" Zayn gazed at his beloved Laleh and couldn't help but feel content, she truly was a gift he was lucky to have. Sometimes he would wonder what he ever did to deserve someone so magnificent in every single way.

"Zayn, Hayati, this letter is of most import as it was the first time I was able to comprehend just how much support you gave me." Laleh took a moment to take a deep breath, organising her thoughts or else they'd all come out in one jumbled mess.

"I always knew you were a kind hearted man who would always put faith in me and my choices. But the fact that you were able to support me through self-discovery without you was significant. It made me realise just how courageous and determined you are, to be able to be there for someone who was doubting whether they could have you in their life." Laleh could never – would never – fathom how a person could have so much faith and hope that their true love would return to them. He had managed to have hope whilst giving her space, a near impossible feat.

"It is when we are given space that we are able to truly understand our desires," Zayn begun, taking in a steady breath, calming the feelings that were verging on bursting from his heart. "I knew I loved you, but I never understood just how much until you left."

Laleh thought that her heart would burst at any given second, unable to control its emotions. She controlled her breathing and took a minute to just look at Zayn, taking in his dishevelled hair which must have been the result from Zayn pulling his fingers through his curls. She couldn't help the sense of safety wash over her as he pulled her into his strong, warm arms which she'd grown accustomed to finding herself in.

"Are you comfortable?" Zayn asked, rearranging her in his arms, preparing to read the letter.

"Very."

Zayn began to read the letter he wrote to her a year ago, and Laleh was completely entranced once again, just as she was each time he read it to her. By now, she was sure he could recite it by memory.

Zayn paused for a moment, looking down to Laleh who had placed her head comfortably on his chest. A smile etched its way onto his face before he begun to read once more. This time, translating the small section which he promised he would in that very letter.

"Laleh, my love for you has never failed to surprise me. I never knew I could love someone so deeply, and with all my heart. You consume my thoughts daily. Missing you is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I find myself worrying that you won't come back to me, and that my heart may never recover." Zayn felt a smile overtake his features for a moment, thankful that his Laleh came back to him in the end.

"But I keep my faith strong and know that people are put in our life for a reason. If all the time I get with you has passed then at least I had the opportunity to love you, no matter how brief. When I first saw you my heart stopped and breathing ceased for an instant. I knew from that first glance that I would fall madly in love with you and there was no one else for me. You are it, you're the one. And if that means I have to wait an eternity for you, I will. I'm a man of my word Laleh, and I do not intend on breaking it."

Zayn could see Laleh fighting to keep her eyes open, warding off the sleep which was forcing its way upon her. The way Laleh tried to keep her heavy eyes open in order to hear the rest of the letter, warmed Zayn's heart to its core, and he had found it insanely adorable.

"Go to sleep, Hayati," Zayn whispered to his wife, as she wrapped her arms around his abdomen as well as pulled one of her legs over his.

"But you haven't finished the letter yet," Laleh said, feeling bad that she had begged Zayn to read her the letter but didn't have the decency to stay awake to hear it all. She already felt as though she could never in a million years deserve Zayn or the happiness he brought her. It was things like this that did little to make her feel any better.

"My love, there is always tomorrow. I do not mind reading this letter to you, I'd read it a thousand times over if that is what you desire."

"I know you would, and I love you even more for it. You'd do anything for those you love, and I consider myself lucky that I am one of those people," Laleh couldn't help but be thankful each and every day that she found her way back to Zayn, that she ended up with the man she knew was the love of her life. For she almost made the biggest mistake of her life but the universe brought her back to him, and she couldn't have been happier.

Life takes its uncontrollable twists and turns and sometimes you just have to twist with them in order to find the best outcome.

Laleh and Zayn both knew that there was no better outcome, they couldn't be any more in love than they were. And that truly was something worth preserving.