The Silence Between Us

Zaid had always found comfort in silence.

The quiet corners of the madrasa, the hushed rustle of pages turning, the whispered prayers at dawn — they were his safe places, his home. While others sought expression in speech or debate, Zaid lived inside himself, guarded and observant.

Rehan was his opposite — loud in laughter, reckless in brushstrokes, and unafraid of the world’s gaze. He painted walls and wrote poems on crumpled papers, leaving pieces of himself everywhere. He believed art could reveal what lips could not.

They had known each other since they were children in the narrow streets of a conservative Pakistani town. While others drifted apart with age, Zaid and Rehan remained like parallel lines — never crossing, yet never too far.

And then came Safraz.

She arrived with a storm in her eyes and questions no one dared to ask. The daughter of a retired schoolteacher, Safraz was sharp, curious, and different. Her presence stirred things in both boys — admiration, maybe affection, and something else they didn’t have words for.

Rehan was drawn to her immediately — not romantically, but like an artist is to a muse. She listened to his poetry without laughing. She challenged him. She saw through his deflections and into his fears. Yet it was Zaid who she noticed in a way that no one had before.

One evening, as dusk painted the sky in burnt orange, Safraz sat beside Zaid beneath the old banyan tree outside the madrasa. “You don’t speak much,” she said gently.

Zaid looked down at his hands. “I don’t have much to say.”

She smiled. “Then maybe you need someone to listen.”

It was the first time in years Zaid felt seen — not as a student, not as a dutiful son, but as himself.

Weeks passed.

Rehan’s paintings became more intimate — shadows of two figures standing close, always facing away from the viewer. His poetry, once romantic and bold, grew quiet, filled with longing and distance.

One day, Safraz found one of his sketches — a boy in prayer, his head bowed, and behind him, another boy watching silently, lovingly. At the bottom, Rehan had written:

“Some silences speak louder than screams.”

She looked at him, confused. “Is this… Zaid?”

Rehan didn’t answer. He just nodded.

Her eyes softened. “Does he know?”

Rehan shrugged. “He can’t. He won’t. Not here.”

In that town, love had rules.

It was a girl for a boy, quiet and arranged. It lived in family alliances, not free hearts. Anything beyond was unspeakable, dangerous.

Zaid felt it too — the tightrope walk between faith and feeling. He’d lie awake at night, remembering how Rehan looked at him during prayers, how his smile lingered just a second too long. He hated that he noticed, and hated even more that he felt the same.

He began pulling away. Attending fewer gatherings. Avoiding Rehan. Safraz noticed the change, and one day, confronted him.

“Do you care about him?” she asked, straight to the point.

Zaid’s eyes welled up. He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.

Safraz reached into her bag and pulled out a canvas Rehan had given her weeks ago — two figures, again faceless, walking into a storm hand in hand.

“He gave this to me,” she said softly. “But I think it was always meant for you.”

Zaid took the painting, hands trembling. “I don’t know how to live with this… with me.”

“You don’t have to know,” she said. “But you don’t have to lie either.”

The next morning, Zaid disappeared.

No one knew where he went. Not the madrasa, not his family, not Rehan. A quiet emptiness settled over the town. Rehan wandered the streets like a ghost, checking train stations, tea shops, old playgrounds.

It was Safraz who received the letter.

Neatly folded, addressed only to “R.” Inside, Zaid had written just a few lines:

“Some prayers are never spoken out loud. Some love must stay hidden to stay alive. But I saw you, Rehan. I saw us. And that will have to be enough for now.”

Safraz gave it to him without a word.

Rehan read it once, then again. And again.

Then he picked up his brush and began to paint.

End

💔 Love & Emotion

• #ForbiddenLove

• #SilentLove

• #UnspokenFeelings

• #LGBTQLove

• #QueerRomance

• #LoveInSilence

• #HeartfeltStory

🎨 Art & Expression

• #PoetryAndPaint

• #ArtSpeaks

• #EmotionsOnCanvas

• #LoveInArt

🌏 Cultural & Regional

• #SouthAsianStories

• #PakistaniWriters

• #DesiLove

• #QueerDesiVoices

• #LGBTQSouthAsia

📖 Book & Writing Tags

• #BookIdeas

• #WritersOfInstagram

• #LGBTQStories

• #FictionWriters

• #StoryTelling

• #LoveStory