34. Aaryan

"Take him with you and do whatever you want with him" Amara hurled her brother towards Taha and Raheel.

Aaryan Yusuf was thrown out of his house on the day of his wedding. 

The two kidnappers took him to Raheel's house, and after entering the room, they asked, "What in the world happened?" Aaryan replied with an Innocent face "I am not allowed in my house today"

And then he explained

His father said, today this house belonged to Mary only, and for Aaryan, he could go wherever he wanted to, and just be at the Masjid on the time of Nikkah. "Damn, Bro. Uncle Yusuf is on fire" Raheel said jokingly.

Yes, of course, he was because Yusuf made his only son homeless for the day but he didn't care because, after today, that home would be theirs. 

Aaryan wasn't really thinking about it as there was something else on his mind. "Mary wants a diamond ring as her Mehr, and she is shy to say it directly to you," 

Amara said this to Aaryan in the morning, and he highly doubted that these were not his wif– Mary's words.

Last week, when Mary said Yes to him– which literally makes him feel butterflies till now, and he can't stop smiling like an absolute idiot– Amara took charge of explaining the Islamic marriage to her. There was the slightest problem with this. Mary would not say something like wanting a diamond ring and he was sure of it but the only person he didn't trust with this was Amara and it was the same person who said this to him

His father offered Aaryan to give him the money for it, but he rejected because, in Islamic weddings, Mehr is a gift that is obligatory for the groom to give to his bride. Mehr was his responsibility. Aaryan was grateful for the money he had been saving for the acoustic-electric guitar for three years and since he didn't need the guitar now, he decided to use them.

So, Aaryan took the money and bought a magnificent diamond ring for his Diamond.

They decided to have a small wedding ceremony at their local mosque with family and friends. He obviously didn't want to make any headlines

Two hours left in the wedding and his friends were just joking around "Bro, I can not believe you are getting committed" Said Raheel trying to choose an outfit from the last hour "Exactly, I can't imagine Ryan s–" Taha was shut off by a pillow "Listen, You two idiots! I am already so nervous. Don't play  or I might puke right now" he said frowning and his frowning wasn't visible as his two generous friends had put a mask at his face and cucumber on his eyes "Ryan, maybe you will just pass out before saying I do" Raheel injected in his anxiousness, respectively, genuinely, peacefully "Ryan, what if you say I don't, instead of I do?" Taha asked, jumping on the bed 

"Why did I call you to take me?" Aaryan asked. At this point he thought of no sane answer for it and he was now done with them. Aaryan started to peel off the mask on his own as it was annoying. "Because you just love us, Bro—" Raheel suddenly stopped in between his words and looked at Taha with wide eyes. Taha passed the same stretched eyes to Aaryan. 

"What? What happened?" Aaryan asked, panicking "Who told you to remove the mask?" Asked Taha. No one, actually, no one, told him, but the way his kidnappers were messing, it just slipped off right away. "What happened?" He yelled in terror "Ryan, your face is all burnt, it's filled with allergic–" Aaryan didn't wait for him to complete. He jumped off the bed and landed in front of the mirror.

There was nothing. Not even a dot on his handsome face and he just remembered never feeling anything in the name of allergy. Taha and Raheel burst into laughter. "Got you," and he ran behind them. 

"Why are you messing with me when I am already going crazy from this anxiety!" Aaryan cried, running after them "Stop, Ryan or you will bump into something" said Raheel jumping off the couch

"I am sure you don't want to bleed at your wedding." Taha was on the bed again, and his words made sense, so Aaryan stopped. 

"Don't mess with me!" Aaryan whined, catching his breath "We were just trying to make you relax" Taha said enfolding his arm at his neck "Yup" Raheel patted a firm hand at his back and he was still unable to breathe normally

After his friends stopped messing, they started to get ready. 

They all selected traditional dresses from their countries. Aaryan was wearing a black Shirvani. Raheel and Taha were both wearing blue "Am I looking okay?" Aaryan asked the other two, standing at each side in the mirror. "Mary gonna fall for you over again, Ya Akhi," Raheel winked. "Dashing as always," said Taha, and Aaryan took a long breath. Nope, there was no way that an inhale was going to release the nervousness.

•••

Reaching the mosque, they entered the room where the ceremony was being held. It was filled with flowers and lights. The smell of rose and jasmine was rich in the air.

The room was divided into two portions by a curtain. On the other side, his bride-to-be was present along with his mother and sister, while on his side, Aaryan was sitting in the center and his friends by his side, bumping his shoulders and asking, "Can you see her?" From time to time. His father was sitting by them and so was Haroon. They were all there to witness this beautiful moment of his life.

Soon, the Imama arrived, and all of them were raised in respect. "Assalamu Alaikum," he greeted warmly, and the other replied with "Walaikum Assalam."

As he gestured with his hand, everyone sat down, and the ceremony started "Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim. We begin this occasion in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Today, we all gather to witness the sacred union of Aaryan and Mary in the beautiful bond of Nikah. Let us start with the recitation of Surah Al-Fatiha" Everyone joined the Imam in recitation of the Surah. After the recitation the Imam gave a small sermon on the importance of love, trust, and understanding in marriage, referencing verses and duas from the Holy Quran and Hadiths.

"Now, we will proceed with the Ijab (proposal) and Qubul (acceptance)" said the Imam and he shifted the voice towards Mary. 

"Mary Yahya, the daughter of Yahya, do you accept Aaryan Yusuf, the son of Yusuf as your lawful husband according to the Book of Allah and Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (SAW)?" Aaryan's heart was already beating so fast, and at that moment, he was thankful for not being able to see her because his heart could have exploded when she said, "I do," he was feeling dizzy. The Imam repeated it three times and she repeated herself three times as well.

If it wasn't for his friends, shaking him hard then Aaryan could have just lost in her voice and not have heard the Imam when he asked "Aaryan Yusuf, the son of Yusuf do you accept Mary Yahya, the daughter of Yahya as your lawful wife according to the book of Allah and Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (SAW)?" "I do," he said with a breath, and then the other time and for the last time "I do"

He said it.

She said it.

It happened

His prayers, and his dreams all came true and Mary was his forever and forever. 

This was the time for the agreement of Mehr and once again, Aaryan needed to be conscious "The agreed Mehr for this marriage is a diamond ring. Aaryan, do you agree to provide this Mehr to Mary as her right?" The Imam asked, "Yes, I agree," to provide her with happiness and give her every possible good thing in existence.

"Let us raise our hands in supplication and ask Allah Subhanu Wa Ta'ala, to bless this union with love, understanding, and mercy." Everyone raised their hands for dua with the Imam

"By the will of Allah Subhanu Wa Ta'ala, Aaryan, and Mary are now husband and wife. Congratulations to the newlyweds" the Imam announced and the veil was lifted. Amara was the one to slide the curtain between the two of them and

Aaryan looked at her

Aaryan looked at Mary

And she was extremely beautiful. It's been a long since he had glanced into those aqua-blue eyes. Not only her eyes but the white hijab she was wearing was making her look like an extremely beautiful Angel, and there was nothing he could see but her.

After staring at her for about half an hour and not getting full of it, Aaryan felt that he wasn't the only one looking at Mary "Your girl is beautiful, Phi Aaryan" This voice belonged to Haroon and it just fetched him back "Habibti, you do know you look like the prettiest person to exist in this planet, right?" Asked Raheel, and if the two weren't enough, "Gorgeous," Taha whispered, but for an instant, he thought that Taha was not looking at Mary but at the one standing.

By the time he was done hearing their comments, Aaryan was floating in the pool of possessiveness 

"Stop staring" he said in a tough voice "I swear I am sorry but I can't help it, Bro" said Raheel

"True"

"Absolutely," the other two joined, but all they were doing was staring at the floor, yet he was jealous of the awful words. 

"Stop staring at my wife," he said again, and no one heard him talking. "We can't," the three of them said. 

"Amy, drop the curtain" and his sister was not listening to him as well. Everyone was a team teasing Aaryan while Mary was only smiling. "Amara, slide it back!" he yelled, but she didn't hear. 

"Stop!" Aaryan cried and everyone laughed

After they all collectively agreed to stop teasing Aaryan, the couple collected blessings from the elders. 

Aaryan was a little afraid to look at her now because she was looking deadly beautiful, and he wouldn't be able to move her eyes from her if they got a glimpse. Holding her hand was just equivalent to attempting suicide because his heart was weak