Chapter 02: Moving On.

Author's POV

Rauf tried to convince Abeer that if she wasn't happy, she needed to stand up for herself. He made her realize that choosing herself wasn't selfish and that this was a forever decision—she couldn't neglect her feelings. Their conversations sometimes made Abeer wonder if Rauf was interested in her more than just friends, but she dismissed these thoughts as overthinking.

Rauf finally persuaded Abeer to talk to her fiancé and parents about how she felt and that she didn't want this engagement. However, instead of directly breaking the engagement as Rauf suggested, she decided to talk things out with Farzan one last time. Maybe her overthinking and Rauf's badmouthing had made her too critical of Farzan.

Abeer's POV

I had always been too positive, and what did it get me? Disappointment. Disappointment. And more disappointment.

I thought he'd finally say what he'd been meaning to say, show me he's ready to put in the effort, that he cared, that he—ughhh.

How come he always has this spark in his eyes when he tells me there's so much he wants me to know, so much he's been meaning to say for so long, and this or that? But in the end, he ends up saying nothing. Absolutely. Nothing.

He gets me excited, and I start having hopes, then he crushes them by giving up on me. And this time was his last chance.

I met Farzan at a café, where we had our personal space to talk. I gave him all of my day, and he did nothing. He said nothing. His exact words: "Since you're giving up on us, I have nothing more to say." Am I not worthy of effort? Is that why people always give up on me so easily? It must be it.

In the end, he suggested we should separately talk to our parents and see how it goes, not making it solely our decision. If we were to end things, let's do it properly.

He was at least direct and mature about it. You thought so too, right? But no, he wasn't. HE'S THE BIGGEST COWARD OF ALL COWARDS.

He created so much drama in front of his mom that she panicked and called my mom. Unlike what we had decided—to talk to our parents separately—I never got the chance.

My parents misunderstood everything because of how it was portrayed to them. They thought I met Farzan and just ended things directly, breaking his poor heart.

All the respect I had for Farzan—poof! GONE. I never liked him, but I did respect him for many reasons that now seem like a joke.

My parents called me to talk about it, but it was already ruined. Whatever I said didn't mean anything anymore. My mother was enraged, but to my surprise, I found my dad disappointed. Not because I called off the engagement, but because I hadn't trusted him enough to talk to him beforehand.

Seeing my dad this disappointed, I hated Farzan. Never thought I'd feel this emotion for anyone, but in that moment, I hated him. Because of him, I made my father doubt himself. He thought I didn't trust him enough. I should've been the one to tell him about all of this. And now I didn't know how to make them believe me.

You know the best part? They did. Eventually, with time, they came around. Dad was easy to convince as he and I had a long talk about everything that had happened, but it took Mom a few months to realize I wasn't as wrong as she thought.

By April 2023, everything was officially over between me and Farzan. Meanwhile, I also understood that I needed to start keeping everyone in their boundaries and not let them walk all over me. Less expectations, less disappointment.

These realizations made me bold, and I knew that if I didn't speak my mind early on, life wouldn't be merciful enough to keep granting me more chances. I needed to follow my instincts so I wouldn't regret anything later. Therefore, I talked directly with Rauf and found out that my intuition about his feelings toward me was right—he'd been lying to my face.

In the last few months, I had broken my engagement, lost a great friend due to his wrong intentions, and stopped talking to Shazia and Palwasha. They thought I was more at fault and indirectly sided with Farzan. Once again, when I needed them the most, they were nowhere near.

I decided to make things clear with Shazia and Palwasha, and they seemed more understanding now. But I wasn't going to involve them in my life as close friends anymore. I also didn't have the heart to cut them off entirely.

I decided never to make new close friends again. Never give anyone the authority to crush me into pieces. I still had some good school friends, and they were enough. Or were they? Or was I lying to myself? Not again. Not now. Not ever. I, Abeer Hussain, will not think about him. The one who still has the power over all my happiness.

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beetaa jo vaakya 

sochu mein kyun bhala 

beeti baaton se dil ko dukhana 

zaroori hai kya?