Often times we come across situations that require peace of our mind. We do not know what we're doing is either right or wrong, but we have to take a plunge. Because sometimes life doesn't give us any option; it just gives us one path. The only path. We don't have any idea if heading towards it will bring us destruction or salvation. We just have to tread on and see where it leads us.

This was exactly that moment.

Safa Hayat didn't know if she made the right call, but it was the only way. She had no idea whatsoever if this day would bring her heartbreak or peace. But one thing was confirmed. It was going to bring her truth. And when it comes to truth, it's better being heartbroken than living a beautiful lie.

Just a few minutes back she had received a text from Azlan. Apparently there was some strike going on – thanks to the amazing government of this country, so he wouldn't be able to reach on time. Waiting for him, she decided to take a stroll outside to kill time because God knows there was nothing that could calm her down right now.

Walking aimlessly, she didn't know when she crossed the thin bridge and came to the lake located on the outskirts of the valley. She had never come to this place before. It was so peaceful and quiet. Not eerily quiet. A serenity that takes you in its embrace and promises to do everything in its wake to soothe you. In that dark blanket of the night, she was a star waiting for the light to come and illuminate her.

Sitting down on a rock equivalent to almost a chair, she inhaled deeply to feel the fresh scent of trees around her. She had no intention of leaving this place any soon so she decided to wait for him here. Even though the area was completely secluded, she trusted him enough to know he wouldn't do anything inappropriate. She could hate him and blame him as much as she wanted to, but one thing was clear, he never did anything inappropriate to her even when he hated her so much. Azlan Shehryar was a man of principles and morals. That she knew.

Half an hour dragged by just like that as she sat there and devoured the beauty of the sky reflecting on the lake. She had already sent him her location. Her eyelids were drooping and she was almost about to fall asleep when a commotion from behind alerted her with a jolt. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

Something inside of her undid when she sensed him in the same vicinity as hers. She didn't want to turn her head and look at him. She wanted to run away and never look back. It was scary and exuberant at the same time. Her toes curled as her breaths hitched. How was she going to face him? Inviting him was a bad idea. She shouldn't have done it because right now she didn't have any strength to look him in the eyes. The eyes that held so much truth that day and had been haunting her ever since.

But what she did not know that the person standing behind her didn't feel anything different. He was even more scared than her. For her it was only a matter of listening. For him, it was a matter of life and death. Of acceptance. Of understanding him. Of trusting him. She had nothing at stake. He had his whole world at stake. She still had an edge to not believe him and go back. But for him, believing him was the only way to stay alive because if she didn't, he was going to die, and this time it would be impossible to come back to life again.

Heaving a deep breath, he finally took a step forward until he was standing by her side, and sat down beside the rock she was sprawled on, crossing his arms over his bent up knees, his dark gray high kneck perfectly kissing his muscular torso, sleeves rolled up to elbows. She still didn't turn her head to look at him, waiting for him to start talking; while he stayed silent, looking ahead at the calmness of the water. Will his life ever be able to become this calm?

"Go on." She said.

A small whisper. A rigid command. A voice that left his insides on fire.

"You only have 15 minutes."

He closed his eyes to gather enough strength to speak. All night he had been preparing himself to face that woman but everything went down the drain when he finally saw her. Her impact was lethal. So lethal, even the exoticness of the area they were in wasn't able to soothe him.

"I'm adopted."

He finally broke the silence that was only followed by another silence – a silence that was so deafening it made Safa's heat jolt in his direction, her big doe eyes poking out of their sockets. But he still didn't look at him because he knew if he did, he would breakdown and for that not to happen he had to avoid her eyes and keep going.

"I was 10 when I was sold to a brothel."

Another shock. Another stone lunched at her. She felt her heart breaking and she knew by the end of the night, it would be completely torn apart.

"And you know who sold me?" He smiled. A smile so hollow, it made an excruciating chill run down her spine.

"Who?" She found herself asking, not ready to hear the answer.

"Saqib Hassan." He called his name out with as much filth and hatred she herself had almost felt towards him. His teeth were clenched so tightly she was afraid they might break into smithereens like her heart was at the moment.

"And you know who else was sold along with me?" His gaze was still intact on the water as if it was the only object of fascination left in this gruesome world. As if it was the only thing near to peace that held him together. As if tearing his gaze away from it would snatch his life away from him.

"Who?" She tried voicing out but the word got stuck somewhere in her throat.

But he didn't even need her to ask as he carried on anyway. "My Irtiza. My brother. A piece of my heart."

Another crack made its presence known on her heart at the statement as her eyes roamed over his hands holding each other so tightly the bones might break. He was trying so hard to hold himself together.

"Then why did you..." Her words were cut off midair as he completed the question for her.

"Then why did I come after you to avenge him, right?" He chuckled humorlessly and she nodded, scared of his hollow laugh. It was dreadful, carrying so much anguish within.

"I didn't know the truth myself back then. Isn't it strange how we both fell prey to the game of truths and lies? First I misunderstood you and hated you. Now you hate me and it hurts so much because I'm hopelessly in love with you." He said the last part of the sentence so casually as if attuned to it, completely unbeknownst of what it did to her. She fought to keep her heart from going haywire as goosebumps rose through her.

"Karma is a real witch, I tell you." He shook his head with a sad smile. "He tricked my father into going to a city and have both of us vaccinated; then one of the member of his gang called him and acted as if he couldn't hear him so he had to go to the side. On not finding him anywhere near us, Saqib had Irtiza and I abducted and told us it was baba who did it because he couldn't afford our expenses. Since I believed him more than anyone, I believed that, too, and spent my entire life hating my parents."

And on he went narrating the horrifying tale of his brutal life, and how he came to know the truth. She had only given him 15 minutes but she had no idea when the last one hour passed by.

"This is a messed up world we live in, Hayat." This was the second time her name was rolling off his tongue without any title and she could swear on God, her stupid heart skipped a beat. Her stomach hunched as the back of her neck prickled. One more time he takes her name and she was sure she'd lose herself in him. And that she couldn't afford.

"Wolves roam around so freely here, ready to pounce on anyone they can get their hands on. And you know what the worst part is?" He questioned without turning towards her and she kept her welled up orbs glued to him, waiting for the answer. "They can take the form of anyone. Just like Saqib. The person we trust the most can stab us in the back so brutally and we wouldn't' even know." He sniffed, trying to keep his emotions at bay. "Life is treacherous and we keep letting it win."

Years and years of pain in his voice was so thick she thought it'd never wash away. Right now, sitting in front of her wasn't the same Azlan Shehryar she had always witnessed. This person, right here, was someone who had been done crudely wrong by the ploy of life just like her. She saw herself in him. They were both so same. So tainted and broken. The only medication for each other.

"What about your brother? Where's he now?" She asked, scared of what the answer might be. He had told her everything about his past except Irtiza's death. That he couldn't tell. It was painful just to think of that incident again, let alone narrating the entire ordeal and experiencing it yet again.

He didn't speak for a whole minute as if mustering the strength of the entire universe. She could see his chest rising and falling frantically while her own nerves wavered.

"He died." He finally spoke and all hell broke loose on her. "They killed my Irtiza."

The earth stopped spinning as the leaves came to a ghastly still. She stared at him as if she had seen a ghost. And that was the moment when she finally slid down from the rock and flopped down on the vacant space between him and the rock.

"Ya Allah." She gasped as she put her hand on his shoulder. She could feel him stiffening under her touch as he closed his eyes to drink away at it. Even in this misery, he could still feel her.

Raising her hand to his face, she cupped his face and turned it towards her, but in vain. Though his face was now turned towards her, his eyes still didn't look at her as he kept gaping downwards.

"Hey, look at me, please!" She said through amidst her tears; her one hand still intact on his cheek while the other one wrapped around the side of his neck as her fingers weaved through his unkempt hair.

And how could Azlan Shehryar decline Safa Hayat's command?

Gathering enough strength, he finally looked up and their eyes clashed. Black against brown. And in that moment, a lone tear finally rolled down his cheek which didn't reach its destination as she caught it on her thumb, wiping the liquid away from his face.

"I'm so sorry." Her voice quavered but she didn't move her eyes away from him. Not this time. She kept her gaze intact to his to feel all the agony. For years, he had kept all this inside of himself, but not this time. This time she wouldn't let him go through all this alone.

"I'm sorry for everything that has happened to you."

"I'm sorry for everything that has happened to you."

He said and another sob escaped her mouth as tears marred his face, too.

"I guess the only thing to blame is life. It played the cruelest of games with us. None of us is at fault here." She said and he nodded as he caged her wrists in his hands.

"Still, I should have come and talk to you before doing..."

"Shhh."

His words were left hanging in air as she shushed him and rested her forehead on his. His breaths stopped as his hold on hers tightened a bit. He gulped heavily, trying to retain his senses because God knows, he was losing it.

"This time it's not about me." She continued. "It's about you. We can talk about me sometime later."

"Please no, this guilt doesn't let me sleep at night. Please, let me apologize. Please." He stressed and she fell quiet, giving him time to go on.

"I'm extremely ashamed of everything I ever did to you and I don't even deserve your forgiveness..."

"But you do. And I forgive you." She said as her thumbs rain over his face to wipe the scalding liquid away.

His jaws dropped as his eyes shot up at her in disbelief.

"You do?"

"Absolutely and completely."

She smiled though her tears as she tilted her head. He was entranced by this beguiling angel in front her. He couldn't believe his fate as his face dropped on her shoulder but she didn't push him away. Rather coiling her arms around his neck, she ruffled her hands through his hair while he embraced her wholly. His arms enveloping around her sent electricity through her entire body and she clenched his hair in her fists.

And after years and years of hardships, the two souls finally felt liberating in each other's cocoons as they held on to each other like they'd never let go.

They were finally home.

******

A/N

A very quick update because I know how much you guys were waiting for it.

Please don't forget to leave your feedback. I was so nervous while publishing this chapter because I don't know if I've been able to do justice to it.

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Love ya'll! Until next time.