"Christian, what happened?"
I stand in our kitchen, unable to see, I blink several times waiting for my eyes to adjust while the darkness surrounds me.
"Blackout! I think there's a storm coming"
I hear him approaching and jump as he whispers in my ear.
"Are you scared of the dark, Sy?" he asks as he stands close behind me, sliding his arms around my waist.
"No"
"Are you sure?" he laughs "You're shaking"
"I'm just cold" I reassure
"Here put this on" he suggests as he takes his jumper off himself and hands it to me.
"Thankyou" I say as I smile and place an appreciative kiss to his left cheek. I pull the jumper over my head and it sits loosely over my shoulders, it's about seven sizes too big.
He laughs a teasing laugh and steps closer to me.
"Won't you be cold now?" I ask, concerned.
"I've got you" He searches with his warm hands and places them on my waist, underneath the jumper and I smile at his cheesiness.
"Do you have a torch?" I ask as the rain starts to pour down outside the window.
"Yeah somewhere in the apartment, wanna help me search?" He slides his hand into mine and leads me towards the lounge.
"OUCH!" A blinding pain shoots through my shin as it collides with the wood.
"Sy are you okay? What happened?"
"I hit my leg on the corner of the sofa, I'm okay"
"Here, sit down" He lowers me onto the couch "I'll find the torch, wait here" He places a soft kiss to my forehead and hurries off to his room.
I feel for my leg, trying to see if it is bleeding. I roll up the leg of my pants and slide my hand over my shin. I can feel the warm flow of blood as it trickles over my skin. My whole leg throbs, the pain still agonising.
"Found it" I hear him say as he clicks the torch on and a beam of light cuts through the darkness. "Now lets have a look" He kneels down in front of me, taking my right leg in his hands as he passes me the torch to hold. "Oh, Sy, what have you done, there's blood everywhere"
"I'm really sorry, I'll clean it up" I say as I move to stand up.
He grabs my shoulders and pushes me back down onto the couch.
"Don't be silly, we've gotta fix you up first" He takes the torch and hurries into the kitchen, finding wipes and band-aids and then rushes back to me.
"I'm fine thanks, honestly, I can do it myself" I suggest. I try to stifle my cry of pain but it doesn't go unnoticed by my lover.
"Oh Sy" He reaches up a hand and wipes away a tear that he assumes is trailing down my cheek. He's right. The tears start pouring now, half due to the pain shooting through my leg and the other half because of how happy he makes me. The unconditional love and care he gives me. He is all I need.
He wipes the blood from my leg and I feel the sting. He unwraps a plaster and places it over the gash. He then leans forward and places a light kiss to my knee and he looks up at me. His eyes connect with mine and I smile in adoration. He is holding my leg gently in his strong hands, treating it as an extremely delicate object that could break with the lightest touch. He then begins a trail of soft kisses around my injury and over my leg, passionate and concerned. His trail goes higher and higher and I begin to giggle at his cheesy attempt to seduce me.
"Christian, what are you doing?" I laugh.
He looks up at me, the hurt clear in his eyes. I instantly regret my reaction as he stands up, embarrassed. He turns to walk away, attempting to hide his discomfort. I stand and turn his face to mine. I lean my forehead against his and he closes his eyes. I inhale deeply, taking in his scent. So many emotions pass between us without speaking a word.
"I liked it" I say, attempting to reassure him. He places a faint smile on his lips and moves to kiss mine. I instantly return the kiss.
"What should we do now?" He says as he breaks the kiss, attempting to change the subject. "We can't watch that movie because we have no power"
I pull him down next to me on the couch. He reaches out to me, pulling me close. He wraps his strong arms around me and I rest my head on his chest.
"We could just sit here and talk" I suggest with a contented sigh.
"Sure, what would you like to talk about handsome?" I instantly relax and the pain in my right leg starts to subdue. I close my eyes and just lay there for a few seconds, listening to the strong sound of his heartbeat. I smile to myself before remembering what I wanted to talk to him about.
"You could ask me how lunch with mum went?"
"Oh Sy, I've been rushed off my feet, I completely forgot, how did it go?" he asks apologetically.
"Well, she had some great ideas and suggested a few venues"
"And which date did she prefer?"
We had been planning our wedding for several months now, ever since Syed had proposed to me, while lying under the stars on my birthday. Even though Zainab still had obvious issues with our relationship, she had agreed to at least be civil to keep her eldest son in her life.
"She said she would discuss it with dad first but she liked the sound of October 26th"
"That's great, Sy, what else did you talk about?"
"Guest lists, food, clothing, colour themes, everything. I hope you don't mind"
"Of course I don't, I'm so excited and I just want everything to be just right for you. As long my perfect man is happy, then I'm happy"
I can't help but blush at his generous words.
"Mr. Masood"
"Mr. Clarke"
We both grin at the continued argument over who will take whose name. The last few weeks have been the happiest I have ever seen Christian, being in love definitely suits him. I can't resist and turn to kiss him but I'm interrupted by a knock on the door.
Christian grabs the torch from the coffee table and carefully walks over to the door. He opens it.
"Amira"
I can hear the shock in his voice and my head snaps around to look at our unexpected guest.
She stands there in the darkness, dripping wet, with tears running down her face. Her suitcase is at her side and her hands are both resting on her largely swollen stomach…
