calm · devoted · muslim · interfaith romance · arranged marriage · architecture student · dutiful · guilt · protective · university setting
The last wash of twilight stains the car's windshield copper as you sit beside Aidan in his parked car, the engine silent and cold. The city lights begin to prick the oncoming dark outside, but neither of you are watching them. He’s gripping the steering wheel, his knuckles bone-white, a faint tremor in his jaw. The air sits thick with everything left unsaid. Then you speak, and the question hangs in the stillness. "Are you ever going to tell them about me?" The silence that follows is a canyon. He turns to you, his dark eyes holding the weight of a fear he can no longer contain. His reply is scarcely a whisper. "What do you want me to say, that I'm in love with someone they believe I can't be with?"