Zaroon/Falak OS: kuch baatein aisi bhi.

finally written something after ages! quite a bit of a long read, but hope it's enjoyable nonetheless!

kuch baatein aisi bhi.

summary; It's no secret, now that Rushna thinks about it, that Zaroon will always come looking for Falak, will always wrap his arm around her waist so easily it might as well be like breathing, but she wonders if he realises what it looks like, if he understands just how clearly everyone's figured out what the two of them haven't even begun to comprehend.

or, alternatively, four times Zaroon and Falak don't get it, and the one time they do.

--

V.

Zaroon is a possessive idiot, Rushna thinks, the first time she ever meets him.

It's only because of Osama, if she's being honest, that she even thinks of going to a party without Falak. Even now that she's here, Falak's absence sticks out like a sore thumb, an imbalance in the little world she's built around herself, and while she does love Osama dearly, she decides they'll probably set some ground rules for the times they invite each other out to see their friends.

The very first rule, which Rushna almost knows will never get through, is to make sure Zaroon Junaid stays uninvited.

It'll never happen, she knows, because Zaroon's to Osama what Falak is to her, but more laddish, more obnoxious and far more aware of his charisma. Falak is self-aware, Rushna might even go far as to say occasionally conceited, but Zaroon oozes overconfidence, and Rushna's biting her lip from commenting on the fact that he's been attached to Osama at the hip since they got here half an hour ago. She's a nice person most days, but she thinks she's allowed to want Osama's attention on her instead of his two best friends.

Osama doesn't notice, though, when he turns around to give her a cheery smile. "Yeh Zaroon bhi nah," he says, shaking his head fondly at the boy's antics, but she knows that smile, knows that Osama's just going to humour him.

She should've brought Falak, she thinks miserably, and that will be her first (backup) rule: if Zaroon Junaid can't be uninvited, then Falak Sher Afghan is exclusively attending every party by Rushna's side.

Asmara's buried in the crook of Zaroon's arm, and Rushna miserably wills them to break away from Osama, go be couplish and together while she gets her alone time with Osama after weeks, but her telepathic skills must really be lacking, like Falak always claims, when Zaroon doesn't even do so much as move an inch away.

Dejectedly, she smiles and excuses herself to the loos, grimacing when she pulls out her phone to text Falak.

Osama's best friend won't leave him alone, she types miserably.

Falak's reply is instant, like she expected, and Rushna seriously worries about the amount of time her best friend spends with her phone and her Macbook.

Hah, Falak's sent. Serves you right, you should've taken your best friend along, too.

Then, two seconds later, because Falak's not actually a terrible person: Speak to Osama about it. Suggest heading out for a bit.

Falak must also know that Rushna won't ever have the guts to do that - she must know, because Rushna's barely ever assertive, prefers to silently will things into going her way. God must be looking out for her, she thinks with a smile, because the second she sees them again, Zaroon's smiling at her, almost relieved.

"Sorry," he says, breaking away from Osama's side to step out to speak to her directly for the first time that night. "I thought I might've scared you away."

"You didn't," Rushna fakes a sweet smile, but it does turn genuine when Zaroon has the grace to look apologetic.

"I've never had to share him before, you know?" He says more than asks, and Rushna's hit with a strange sense of understanding, in those moments, because he looks so much like she did when she met Salman, unwilling to let go of Falak even when it was clear that it was what the latter wanted. "But I'm glad he's got you."

"It's okay," she says with a wider smile. And adds, because she can, "You too."

And that's that, another thing that Rushna notices about Zaroon - there's no extra baggage, no lingering obligation to continue a dying conversation, because Zaroon only grins at her and easily includes her into a silly conversation with Asmara and Osama, and Rushna finally lets herself relax.

It's only half an hour later that he fully turns his attention to her again. "How come you didn't bring any friends?" He asks conversationally, and Osama breaks off his conversation to look at her too, like he was wondering the same thing.

"I just," Rushna stutters a little, wishes not for the first time that she had Falak's ability to smooth talk, "I didn't know if that was okay. I didn't want to, like, make things awkward."

Osama's face falls guiltily. "Of course you should've brought them!" He says, like the thought of mentioning it exclusively hadn't even crossed his mind, like he figured it went without saying. "I was convinced you were going to bring Falak, at least!"

Rushna feels bad all over again, but then Zaroon's hand is on her shoulder - a steady, comforting weight.

"Koi nai," he says with the careless ease of an uncomplicated boy, "How about we just ditch the party, go and get some dinner instead?" Turning to Rushna, he adds, "Of course Falak's invited; just ring her now and ask her to get dressed? And any other friends you'd like to call."

Falak's going to take more than an hour to get ready, Rushna thinks desperately, but she'll beg her to hurry if that's what it takes. "Just Falak's good," she says. "Hamza's away for a few days, he's gone to see his family in Lahore."

"Sounds great!" Zaroon smiles. "Just give her a ring - you and Osama can head out and enjoy some privacy, if you'd like. Give me the address and Sam and I'll go pick her up."

Rushna nods and moves to the side to give Falak a quick ring, a heads up sandwiched between apologies that Falak only laughs at.

"It's cool," she says instead. "I'll just throw on anything. Should take about forty minutes, right?"

"Should do," Rushna says with a relieved smile, and hangs up only to go tell Zaroon Falak's address.

"We live pretty close," he says with a little smile. And that's that.

.

Falak steps out of Zaroon's backseat with a little smile and a thank you aimed at both the driver and the passenger as she walks up to Rushna before they can follow.

"He's obnoxious," she mouths when Osama's not there and Rushna's eyes are on hers. "Kill me now."

Rushna laughs despite herself. She'd called it from the first second.

"I take it you had fun, then," she laughs softly anyway, eyeing Falak with a smile. Barring the eyeliner and lip gloss, she has no makeup on, and her hair falls loose and wavy naturally, but she knows it'd take far too long to ever replicate. She's wearing a teal silk kurta that makes her look taller than 5'7 and Rushna wonders if Falak even properly realizes how beautiful she is, how she's the only person Rushna knows who can even pull off ugly striped pajamas, even when she's sick and sporting a bedhead. Like this, natural and barely made up, she's gorgeous even without meaning to be.

But still, it's only when Zaroon steps up behind Falak to joke about something that Rushna feels the breath get knocked out of her, realizes just what a stunning couple they'd make.

It's not unusual, she thinks, for her to put two attractive people together. She'd almost spent weeks trying to get Hamza and Falak to try and consider dating each other, but this feels different. Almost magnetic, she'd argue, because Zaroon's got a casual ease about him, despite his knowledge of his own looks, and Falak's the poster child for perfectly imperfect, with her deep side part that somehow makes just the right amount of hair fall into her eyes. It's not intentional, Rushna knows, but it looks like it when Falak brings up a porcelain wrist to card long fingers through it, try and tuck it back into place.

Zaroon, for all he's involved in talking to Asmara - who, Rushna admits, she's still unsure if he's dating or not - tends to shift his attention to Falak almost involuntarily, initiates a little two minute conversation that both starts and ends with casual banter.

Falak's amused, even if she won't admit it to Rushna ever - especially not so soon after she'd successfully erased Salman from her heart and sworn off boys - and humours him with witty one liners that have Rushna in splits most days, but Zaroon holds his ground, too. And Rushna doesn't even realise when she goes from not wanting to start the night a few hours ago to almost basking in the midnight light, letting Zaroon and Falak's light banter lull the butterflies that follow every movement of Osama's hand in hers.

--

IV.

In the weeks after, they just end up hanging out in a large group, instead of individually in their own little cliques.

It's not a massive progression and it makes sense, Falak realises, because Osama and Rushna are almost always together, now, with only a few weeks to their engagement, and her and Zaroon usually tend to go days without seeing their respective best friends, so it's almost like killing two birds with one stone.

Asmara's not here, today, which is both a relief and a pain because that means that she's stuck with Zaroon for a good two hours, at least, at Maryam's birthday party which was where she met Salman, her ex-fianc, exactly a year ago. She stays quiet for the first few minutes, thinking and rethinking everything that went wrong in that relationship, before Zaroon turns to her with a smug smile.

"The birthday girl's cute, haina?" He nudges her softly. Falak can't help but let out a loud laugh.

"Just because your girlfriend's not here doesn't mean I'm going to introduce you, theek hai?" she tells him with a little grin, so he knows it's both a joke and a threat.

Zaroon just cocks his head to the side, looks genuinely confused when her eyes meet his. "Excuse me," he clears his throat, "since when do I have a girlfriend?"

Falak rolls her eyes so hard they must reach the back of her head. "Asmara, you idiot! Aur kaun?"

Its Zaroon's turn to laugh, it seems, because he does so loud and uninhibited, before looking at her with clear tears in his dark eyes.

"We're not dating," he manages to wheeze out with a rough voice. "Or, well, we did, years ago. But Sam and I are just friends."

"Oh," Falak says, instantly backtracking because it could've been a painful breakup and she just might have unintentionally kicked a bruise. "I didn't know - Rushna said she wasn't sure but you guys are always together."

Zaroon smiles in a light-hearted way and Falak instantly knows it's not him who was heartbroken when it happened, and spares a second to feel sorry for Asmara, who probably tried her hardest to reach the state where she could hang out with Zaroon without not wanting to be with him. "Are you jealous, Sher Afghan?"

She scoffs before she even knows it, reaches out a hand to hit him on the shoulder casually. "You w-"

Someone clears their throat behind them and Falak's hand instantly drops when she hears her own name from a voice she's taken months to try and forget.

"Salman," she says, turns around so quick she feels dizzy as she faces him. She can see Zaroon turn too, from the corner of her eye, and she's sure he steps closer to her side. She makes a mental note to ask if he knew about the breakup, too, if word slipped around while she was trapped in her room for days.

"Yours truly," he says, and Zaroon scoffs from where he's standing next to her. "How've you been?"

She's sure she's forgotten any words she might've known because just standing before Salman, the guy she'd sworn loved her senseless and couldn't wait to marry her, almost knocks her off her feet. She should be thankful, she realises, for Zaroon's arm that's instantly around her waist, then, steadying her and pulling her to his side.

"I've been good," she says, when Zaroon presses a finger to her hip to get her to focus. She can't though, because she's right in front of Salman and pressed into Zaroon's side - Zaroon, who smells like her favourite Tom Ford cologne and turns to give her a breezy smile as she looks up at him.

"That she has," he says dotingly, pressing a casual kiss to the top of her head from where he looms over it, their height difference clearly visible. Falak feels Salman's eyes following the motion and smiles when he realises what Zaroon's playing at.

"Are you, uh," Salman tries to ask without sounding like it's any of his business, which it isn't if she's being honest, but Zaroon just gives him a small smile that's equally nice and threatening.

"Yeah," Zaroon says carelessly, and Falak feels him drawing little circles on her arm. Salman, it seems, doesn't know where to look between them, considering they're attached from head to toe and probably make a brilliant picture, too. "How do you know Sher Afghan, then?" He asks, cocking his head to the side when it's clear Salman's out of words.

"Falak and I - we were, uh, friends," Salman says, finally taking his cue and stepping away. "Anyway, I was just heading out. Nice to see you both. I'll see you around, Falak," he says to her.

Zaroon just grins, the cheeky idiot. "Yaar, if you see Falak, then you'll most likely see me too! Take care."

And that's that. Falak breaks away with him to the second Salman's out the door, both laughing and glaring at him, heart still racing.

"What an asshole," she murmurs at his retreating form before turning to Zaroon, shaking her head at his antics, even though she knows her face clearly spells out how grateful she was for his intervention at their awkward run-in. "What made you think of that, waise?"

Zaroon shrugs, "He'd been looking here for a while before I came over. I figured kuch history hogi, so I stepped in for some drama."

It's said so casually, though, that Falak almost doesn't notice that Zaroon might sound like the most careless brat around, but he'd been looking out for her all night. She doesn't know what to say, though, so just lets the quiet, whispered "Thank you" speak volumes.

"Shut up, Sher Afghan," is all he says, but there's a clear "You're welcome" in it that stands out despite the noise in the background. "Tha kaun woh, waisey? Just another name in your long pool of exes?"

She glares at him before shaking her head. "My only ex. Fiance." She adds, after a couple of seconds.

If Zaroon's shocked - which she's sure he is, considering she's always very vocal about how she's not looking for a relationship or marriage anytime soon - he doesn't show it, just smiles it away like it's the past and that's where it should stay.

There's a couple of seconds of silence where they're just looking at each other, but Zaroon breaks the moment when he can't hold back a laugh, "Tumhara taste waqai itna bura hai?"

"Tha," she giggles too, even though she doesn't have the heart to tell him how long it took to convince her that he really was a wrong choice, even when he'd left her stranded on a path she'd sworn they'd walk together.

But if she's being honest, she's sure he's probably already figured that part too.

--

III.

Sara's only taken her first step inside the house when a loud laugh startles her.

Her first instinct is to grab the vase by the door because it's half-eleven and they're definitely getting robbed, but when the laugh only gets louder she spares a glance at the lit living room, heart in her mouth.

Zaroon's normally up in his room journaling by that time, so she's hesitant when she takes careful steps to the room, vase held up in her hand as her only defence - which, in hindsight, she realises is a pathetic, unhelpful idea.

She opens the door abruptly when the noise doesn't cease, eyes catching onto the offenders instantly - who, she'll admit gruffly, aren't really offenders. Just her brother and a gorgeous girl next to him, who's laughing at him like he's told her the funniest joke. Sara can vouch for her being delusional already.

When Zaroon notices her looming presence in the room, he just rolls his eyes at the porcelain vase, motions at her to lower it like he'd instantly understood why she'd entered with it in the first place. The girl, though, looks just as startled as Sara'd initially felt when she meets her eyes, and Sara spares a second to feel bad about it, too.

"Sorry," she finally breaks the silence between the three of them, and winces when her voice comes out particularly loud. "I thought we were being robbed."

The girl, who looks unsure about whether laughing would be a good idea, just turns to Zaroon on the sofa, a light in her eyes.

"Sara, this is Falak," Zaroon introduces, smiling at his guest. Sara's seen her before, she remembers now, at Osama's engagement. She'd wanted to go ask Zaroon what was up when they hadn't stepped away from each other, and the happy couple, for more than a minute, but she hadn't had the chance to. She almost wishes she had, now. "She's Rush's best friend."

"I wish we'd met at a better time," Sara winces when she has to put the vase down before going to Falak for a hug. "Zaroon's normally up and away in his room at this time, and mum and dad aren't in the country, either, so I didn't know what to make of the noise. I thought chor hongey."

It's a sheepish explanation, but it's true, and Sara's almost relieved when Falak smiles at her, wide and genuine, but then Zaroon's rolling his eyes.

"Aur tum ek vase se choron ko maarti?" He asks with a smirk, and Sara wants to wrestle him right then but decides to save her guest the horror and smiles instead. Zaroon can read her face though, she realises, because his grin only widens.

"Anyway," she says, and it's a warning for Zaroon to let the topic rest, now. "What've you guys been up to?"

The question's aimed at Falak, who looks completely at ease in their house, leaning forward in her seat to speak to Sara properly.

"We just got back from Ikea a bit ago! Gift shopping karne ki koshish kar rahe the Rush ki shaadi ke liye."

"The only reason it was a koshish was because you kept rejecting everything I showed you!" Zaroon sulks, forever the child.

"That's because everything you showed me was bekaar, okay? Kuch acha hota tou I'd have -"

Sara interrupts them because there's a question running in her mind almost instantly. "You're getting them a gift together?"

Falak nods earnestly and Zaroon tries to figure out what his sister's trying to play at for a second before he nods too.

"Yeah," The younger girl beats him to it when she speaks. "We figured it'd be easier considering we both know them best, but clearly I was mistaken. Zaroon ka taste bauhut bura hai, uff."

She's rolling her eyes dramatically and Sara laughs because she can't not when Zaroon looks so offended at the mild insult that she thinks she ought to have his expression framed.

"Tum mere ideas ko appreciate nahin kar rahi thi, that's the - "

Falak cuts him off with a laugh, "Who encourages such horrible ideas, Zaroon. Honestly, do you even remember the kind of stuff you were showing me? Wedding gift ka tou kya kahein, woh birthday gift bhi nahin ho saktey the!"

The comment obviously doesn't settle well with Zaroon, and Sara watches them argue back and forth about the same thing for almost a couple of minutes, thoroughly amused by their banter, but she finds it funniest when they don't even look at her, almost like they've forgotten they've actually got someone else in the room, too.

She waits for the conversation to die down a little before making a move to leave. Falak's eyes fly to her almost immediately.

"Sorry we're unbearable," she apologises with a little frown. "Zaroon never admits to being wrong."

I know, Sara wants to say, I've known him my whole life. But she doesn't say anything, just stands up.

"It's not that, honestly, I'm just really tired. I've been out all day." Sara's smiling apologetically at Falak when Zaroon calls her "awaara" under his breath and she can't not reach out and smack his arm. Falak looks at the exchange and laughs.

"You guys carry on, though, I'll see you soon." It's aimed at Falak, which is why Sara's surprised when she stands up almost instantly, too.

"I should probably get going, too," she says, glancing at the watch on her right wrist. "Won't be too long before Dad calls."

Sara smiles at nods; she knows the feeling. She's just about to walk Falak out when Zaroon stands, too, picking up his keys from the table.

The "Chalo, I'll drop you home," is said with so much authority, Sara's eyes widen on their own accord. "Aadhi raat ko kya driver ko pareshaan karogi."

Falak says no repeatedly, but Sara knows her brother well enough to know Falak's not getting her way this time. Falak must know too, but it doesn't make her stop protesting.

"Chalo, Falak," Zaroon sighs, his patience running thin. "Gaari mein baitho."

"I can still call him," Falak tells him, annoyed. "He's expecting me to call anyway, I told him before you came and got me this morning."

Zaroon's rolling his eyes so hard, Sara can barely stifle a laugh. "Call kar sakti ho," he says, resigned, "lekin karna zaroori tou nahin hai. You're ten minutes from my house, just get in the car."

Sara steps in, too, because for all the times Zaroon's done stuff for her, she owes him this much at least. She calmly tells Falak to go with him, considering it'll be quicker than ringing the driver and then waiting for him to come, too.

Falak nods at the reasoning and Zaroon smiles at Sara, hurries over quickly and kisses the top of her head.

"I'll be home in twenty," he says with a smile, and Sara nods and waves at them as they get in the car, constantly watching them.

She's not even sure about what's caught her eye, but she finds that she can't look away.

----

II.

They've been on the beautifully decorated stage for just over half an hour when he turns to her, subtly poking her in the ribs to get her attention.

"Rush!" He calls out when she doesn't turn to him immediately. "Can I ask you something?"

She tries to turn in her supremely heavy lehenga, but settles for just glancing at him quickly, and he learns towards her even more when he realises the struggle.

"Jee," she says with a bright smile, like it's not her wedding and they're just randomly conversing in the park. "Anything."

She's not sure what Osama's thinking about, but he looks confused enough for it to pique her interest. There's not one thing he doesn't know about her, though, so she thinks this is probably about the numerous people in the wedding hall. The thought calms her down a little.

"He's not said anything about it to me yet," is all it takes for Rushna to be on the same page as Osama, "but I figured Falak might've mentioned something to you."

She's a tease, really, so she blinks innocently and tries to look as confused as she can manage. "About?"

Osama rolls his eyes at her B-grade acting, and he really does know her, she realises, when he just watches her expectantly. "About them, obviously! Am I just reading too much into things or is there actually something going on there?"

Rushna follows his eyes to catch both Zaroon and Falak, inches from the stage, standing in a group of all their mutual friends, but she's not surprised in the slightest at how they only seem to be talking to each other. And laughing, she realises, when Falak smacks his shoulder for effect before leaning into his side anyway, doubling over and trying to cover her mouth with a hand to keep the noise at bay. Zaroon's laughing too, eyes crinkling at the corners, and shushes her, left hand coming up to lightly hit the back of her head.

Every now and then, they tune back in and talk to the others like they were there in the conversation all along, but from the distance, Rushna can see them occasionally drifting from the discussion, too, passing comments between just the two of them. Zaroon's got his hand on her waist at one point, and when he leans in to whisper something to her, Rushna internally declares a moment of silence for all the hearts that break in the mehfil, for the people who'd had their eyes on these two for so long without even realizing that two of the most attractive people in the entire gathering didn't have eyes for anybody else. Nobody should be surprised though, they haven't stepped away from each other for even a minute.

She must've zoned out for too long, she realises, when Osama pokes her again to get her attention. She turns to him with a smile, anyway, despite the fact that her mind's working overtime.

"What makes you think that?"

Her husband - God, it feels weird to call him that when he's been her fianc in her head for so long now - rolls his eyes and just looks at them, a Duh' painting his features.

"They just don't bother with anyone else," he says finally. "It's just them, and that's that. Zaroon's never been like that, Rush. I'd seen him with Sam all those years ago. He's never seemed so settled, so happy to just hang around with one person. Zaroon's never known how to stay still, but now he's anything but."

It's no secret, now that Rushna thinks about it, that Zaroon will always come looking for Falak, will always wrap his arm around her waist so easily it might as well be like breathing, but she wonders if he realises what it looks like, if he understands just how clearly everyone's figured out what the two of them haven't even begun to comprehend.

When she doesn't say anything, he instantly backtracks, "Did this not cross your mind?"

Rushna doesn't know what to say, so she decides to voice her own questions instead.

"Has Zaroon ever implied anything?" She asks instead of answering Osama's query, and thinks with a laugh that it's just like the two of them to discuss their best friends on their own wedding. Zaroon and Falak really have infiltrated every part of their life without them even realising it, and she's just about to mention it to him when the pair in question make their way to the stage, both holding one end of a massive gift Rushna can't even wait to open anymore.

"Falak, sahi se pakro!" She hears him complain when they're a couple of feet away, and he turns to her with a grimace, undoubtedly carrying most of the weight.

"I'm trying!" She whisper-yells. "Tum itne kamzor kali kyun ho? Zara do minute intezaar karlo."

Both Rushna and Osama giggle when they finally step into view properly, and Falak grins proudly like she'd done all the work. Zaroon's almost about to say something before Rushna catches him take one look at her smiling face and stop, instead.

"Congratulations!" Falak squeals, despite the fact that she's been chanting it like a tasbeeh all day at the salon and even before, but Rushna squeals as softly as she can, too; she'd never leave Falak halfway.

"Congrats yaar," Rushna looks over when Osama stands up to hug his best friend, and she wants to do the same but the lehenga doesn't co-operate, so Falak just smiles and sweeps low for a quick hug, leaving more excitement in her wake.

They switch, then, and when Zaroon comes to hug her she yelps when the phone in his front pocket vibrates against her ear.

Zaroon jumps too, startled, and it takes him a moment to locate it before he's handing it over to Falak almost immediately.

"Yeh lo, phone hai tumhaara!" He says to the grateful girl. Rushna's just watching them with a smile when Falak mouths her thanks to him while simultaneously talking to her mum, going over little details.

"Why do you have her phone?" Osama beats Rushna to the question, and Zaroon looks sheepish as he glances over at her.

"It's my phone, hers died a bit ago. We just called her mum and told her to ring me if she wanted to talk to her, instead."

There's a hundred things Rushna knows both her and Osama could say to that, so many ways they could use this and tease their respective best friends until the end of time, but they both stay silent. As it is, Zaroon's embarrassment and Falak's bright smile as she tells her mum that she can ring whenever, that as far as she knows she's most likely to be at Zaroon's side for the night, says enough.

--

I.

It's only when the newlyweds leave for Thailand that Falak feels like something's missing.

They've been gone for three days, but it feels like it's been a month too long, despite the fact that all of them had arranged a celebration dinner just a couple of nights before they were due to leave, so it's not like she hasn't seen them in ages, like Zaroon, for example.

God, just the thought of him has Falak groaning at his horrible timing. She'd called him up one night to plan the dinner when he'd told her he was packing.

"Going somewhere?" She'd asked, unable to keep the curiosity out of her voice.

"Haan yaar," he'd laughed on the line. "Shaukiya packing nahin karraha hoon. Kal London jaa raha hoon teen hafton ke liye."

"Destination wedding?" She teases, and his laugh echoes over the line.

"I'm going with the family," he clarifies. "Sara's fianc lives there, figured we'd take a trip to meet his family; it's been a while, anyway. Isi bahaaney break bhi mil jaayega."

Falak feels slightly unsettled but she tries to shake it off. "Oh, that's good, then. Have fun."

She's just about to say her goodbyes when Zaroon realises she probably called for something and asks her what she was getting up to.

"Kuch nahin," she replies quickly. "Sam and I were planning to organise a dinner for Rush and Osama, ussi silsilay mein baat karni thi."

"When's the dinner?"

Falak's rolling her eyes without even realising it. "Next week," she says. "Jab tum London mein hoge."

Zaroon laughs. "Taana kyun de rahi ho?" He asks, amused. "I'll send you my number when I'm there. Zyaada yaad aaye tou call karlena."

"Uff, you're impossible," she tells him off involuntarily.

Zaroon probably doesn't even blink twice when she hangs up.

.

He does send her his number like he'd promised, but Falak ignores the text like she never got it.

She doesn't know why she does it, why the fact that she hadn't even known he was leaving until the very last minute feels like reason enough for her to be angry. It's not like her and Zaroon constantly update each other on their daily plans, but she feels oddly betrayed.

She does, however, fail to act nonchalant when Rushna rings her a week later, sounding fresh and excited and happy, telling Falak how pathetic it is that she can't even go one week without talking to her, despite the fact that she's out of the country.

Amidst all the chit chat, Rush casually drops the "Zaroon pooch raha tha tumhara," that Falak ignores the first time before Rushna repeats herself. "Said he hasn't heard from you ever since he left."

"Busy thi," Falak tries to brush it off. "Plus, it's not like we talk every day. He'll be back soon enough, anyway."

"Still," Rushna insists. "Phone karlena usse! Khair khairiyat pooch ke khuda hafiz keh dena. He thinks you're angry about the dinner thing."

Zaroon's an idiot if he thinks she'd pick that to be angry about, but she doesn't put it past him as she promises Rush she'll ring him right after.

Which she does, begrudgingly, because Falak's always kept her word. The phone only rings once before he answers, playful and laddish as always.

"Yaad aa gayi meri?"

She involuntarily smiles at the sound of his voice before frowning when she catches her reflection in the mirror. "I'm not angry about the dinner thing," is all she says and Zaroon laughs.

"I'm good, Falak! Thank you for asking, how've you been?"

"Oh, sorry," she says, but she sounds far from apologetic. She can almost see Zaroon smirking on the other side. "How's London?"

"Good, good," Zaroon brushes it off like it's unimportant. "Farhan's well. His younger sister is extremely well."

"You're obnoxious," she says, because she knows exactly what he's getting at. Of course he found himself someone in just a week, she finds that despite how much it annoys her, she's not even surprised. "Kisi larki ko tou chor diya karo."

Zaroon doesn't take any offence, unfortunately. "She's the one who's been vying for my attention, acha."

"Tou? Ek kaam karo, you've got a week now, girlfriend banalo ya phir Qazi se nikaah parhwa kar hi aana next week."

Zaroon's probably thoroughly enjoying the conversation, now that she thinks about it, but she doesn't know why she can't keep the venom out of her voice despite the fact that he's probably chatting shit.

"Nahin yaar," he grins on the line. "Main Anna ke saath aisa nahin kar sakta, I think I'll take it slow. Waisey bhi, it's not like I'm committed to anyone else."

She doesn't know if it's intentional or not, but Zaroon's statement makes something in her still. Almost immediately, she's thinking of ways to get off the phone, suddenly all sorts of furious.

"Good luck," she says roughly. "I've got to go, Ammi's calling. Shaadi jab ho, card bhej dena."

When she thinks about it later, she finds that it probably wasn't the best way to end the call, especially when chances were he was just goofing about. He'd called her almost immediately after her abrupt hang up, but she'd turned the phone on silent, instead, and texted him with a Busy now, I'll call back later.

Of course, Zaroon must've know that she had no intentions of calling back, but she still sleeps with the phone in her hand in case he decides to call anyway.

She's not surprised when he doesn't.

.

Falak Sher Afghan isn't a jealous person by nature, but finds that she can't stop thinking about whatever Zaroon said.

It rings in her mind the more she tries to stop herself from thinking about it, and she's so angry she's almost about to call him just to tell him off, to tell him to never call her again and even forget about getting back the DVDs he lent her.

She doesn't know what brings it about, why it suddenly starts to feel like she's been cheated when she'd never even thought about herself and Zaroon like that. She's always only treated him like she would a friend, but now it's almost started to feel like he's been anything but. She spends the days being frustrated at herself, and nights playing and replaying everything she's ever known about their relationship.

She's known him for almost two years, she finds herself thinking, but she'd never known he'd creep up on her like that, that he'd become a part of her life so easily that she'd struggle to pick him apart. Salman had been the complete opposite - with him, she'd lost her heart the very first time, handed it over on a platter for him to do with it as he wished, but with Zaroon, she'd rolled her eyes and wondered about why he spoke so much, why he kept cracking the worst jokes, why she was doomed in his company while her best friend enjoyed some quality time with her fianc.

She doesn't know when it became normal to have him around, when it became normal to want him around, when calling him, first, before both Rush and Osama, to ask for help or plan something, became a standard occurrence in her life.

She doesn't know a lot of things, she finds, and it's enough to keep her up most nights.

.

When she wakes up to her phone blaring on a Saturday morning, she curses Zaroon Junaid before even opening her eyes.

"Why did I ever give you my number?" Is the first thing she says when she answers, putting aside all her unnecessary feelings and trying to be as normal as she can. Which, she finds, is a lot easier when she's got sleep clouding her eyes and she's feeling all sorts of exhausted.

"Airport par hoon, lene nahin aaogi?"

He's so extra, she can hardly believe it. "Girlfriend nahin hoon tumhari, jaao Anna ko phone lagaao," is the abrupt response before she shuts the phone off with a curt "I'm off to bed."

When she does hang up, she instantly winces at her tone and the clear jealousy in her choice of words, and finds that despite being supremely sleep deprived, she can't go off to sleep. Grumpily, she heads to the shower instead.

When she heads out a bit later, her Mum's standing in her room almost like she's waiting for her.

"Huliya sudhaaro," she tells her the second Falak steps into view. "Zaroon neeche aa kar baitha hai."

Mehrunnisa leaves the room before Falak even has the chance to convince her to send him away, suddenly guilty about her outburst on the phone. It's not his fault she's caught feelings, she tries to reason, and swears to be as normal as she can without giving herself away.

She heads down twenty minutes later with dry hair and a forced smile, and Zaroon instantly stands up when he catches her eye.

"Still angry?" He teases, and she finds that she can't stay angry at the mirth in his eyes.

"Still exhausted," she says apologetically. "You know I don't mean what I say most of the time."

There's something unreadable on Zaroon's face when he leans in for a hug, but then he's whispering "Can we go upstairs, please?" and Falak nods instantly, worried.

When they head to her room, he seems as normal as ever. "Kya hua?" She asks, slightly blunt because despite everything, she's never known how to completely pretend to be okay.

Zaroon shrugs with a smile, "Kuch bhi nahin."

When Falak continues to eye him distrustfully, he grins. "I've been thinking," he starts with a smile, before toeing off his shoes and heading over to carelessly lounge on her bed. "I was away for a bit over three weeks, and I've managed to buy ten gifts for the same person."

He's watching her carefully and she doesn't know where to look for a second before she stares back at him, undeterred, waiting for him to get to whatever point he's trying to make.

"Not only that," he says a moment later. "I found that it was unusually boring when she wasn't around passing comments about everything. I even sent her my number but she barely called, and when she did, she hung up without even talking to me properly."

Falak thinks she knows what he's getting to, now, with every word that comes out of his mouth. Her face is about to break into a smile when she realises he's still watching her, trying to gauge her reactions.

"It's a shame," she says instead. "But I'm not your Agony Aunt, Zaroon."

He doesn't roll his eyes like she'd thought he would, just stands up and nods with a smile. "No, you're not," he agrees. "You're not my Agony Aunt, you're not my best friend, and you're definitely not my girlfriend."

Falak's only watching him, alarmed, but he keeps taking steps towards her, both hands in the pockets of his jeans and eyes locked onto hers.

"But," he smirks, "I've been thinking, and I've realised I don't mind either of those things. Or well, I won't mind them, to be fair, if you agree to be my fiance instead."

When he pulls out the ring from his pocket, Falak's sure she's going to faint. She's only staring at him, dumbfounded, when he laughs.

"Don't worry, Anna wali hai. She said no tou I thought tum pe try karloon."

Falak reaches out to smack his torso but he catches her hand, instead, slides the solitaire onto her finger so easily it almost feels like it was meant to be there all along.

When she still looks flabbergasted, inches from him with her hand still in his hold, Zaroon has the grace to look slightly worried.

"Please don't tell me I read the whole situation wrong," he's nervous now, she registers, when his hand starts shaking a bit and he's close to stuttering. Before he can do or say anything, though, Falak hugs him quickly.

"You're such an idiot, Zaroon." She tells him off, but her voice sounds heavy and she's surprised by her blurry vision, the tears that seem to have come out of nowhere.

She wipes them off, quickly, and Zaroon's just watching her with a smile. She's seen it directed at her so many times, this crinkly-eyed thing where Zaroon just can't contain his happiness, but she'd never realised that it'd become her smile, over all this time.

"I've told my parents," he says when she hugs him again to hide her tears, because she knows there's only so much Zaroon will quietly watch before he makes fun of her again. "They're coming here tonight. To be honest, they weren't even surprised. I doubt anybody will be."

Falak nods because she knows - she can bet their parents saw it a long time coming.

She takes a second to admire the ring on her finger before hitting him again, and he knows without her even saying it that it's payback for the Anna thing. Zaroon just laughs, though, and when she stops, just watches her for a second before grabbing her hand and eying the ring himself.

"Salman wali se tou behtar hi hai, na?" He asks with a laugh, and Falak finds herself laughing so hard she'd almost fall if Zaroon wasn't holding on her tight enough to keep her on her feet.

"Haan, bas theek hi hai," she finds herself saying when she finally catches her breath, but there's an I love you on her tongue that won't come out just yet, not when this thing with Zaroon feels both new yet familiar.

She finds a Love you too, in the way Zaroon's watching her, too, but decides not to point that out, either.

--

fin.