Is it not love when the two made for one another find solace in each others' eyes? When they don't hurt but rather experience joy together? When they don't burn in the embers of their passion but rather enjoy its warmth? Is it still love if the two are so madly besotted with one another than they couldn't bear to hurt the other? Is it still love if it doesn't hurt? A different kind of love. A normal kind of love. For that which burdens the character of a woman, is not love at all. Following three couples as they not only navigate love, but honor, and pride as well.

Dobara. Phir se. Again. Once more. |Raqs| Hadeed could hear the cheers of everyone who had caught up. He could hear the bottle of sparkling water being popped. But he could only see her. Brown assessing eyes, narrowed as she smiled with them, full lips and red cheeks and silk like hair. His lips turned up in a smile, at the corners, like he was sharing some sort of joke and then he was stepping forward and she was in his arms and he was spinning her around and oh God. Oh God. This hadn't happened before. He hadn't felt this before. Ever before. |Ba Dastoor| "I don't know. It shouldn't be like this. I don't feel those butterflies when I'm with him. I don't feel giddy in my stomach or excited and jittery. My heart doesn't race." "What do you feel?" Diya couldn't speak for a few seconds. Her mouth would open but the right words wouldn't come out. She wanted to cry pitifully. Because as soon as the words came together, she knew. "Safe." Her voice broke. "At home. Like I've known him forever. Like I could make any mistake in the world and he wouldn't care. Like his arms are the only place I'd ever want to be. Like his words are the antidote to any poison I could think of. Like he and I were made from the same fabric." Her voice trailed off and tears pooled in her eyes. "When he looks at me, I know I'm going to be okay. And if I don't. Then he promises me that he'll make it okay." //// Heavily unedited 😭