More Than Meets the Eye - Page 137

Well, that, and Sami’s infectious excitement to see Naija again after a week of withdrawal.

Since fair was fair, after that, Baz accepted Jack’s invitation and took Sami to his childhood home too.Even the Christmas decorations couldn’t hide how little had changed since they had moved out.

The various school pictures of him and Eevee were unmoved, and their old bedrooms intact, much to Sami’s delight.He spent an hour going through Baz’s old stuff to dig up the most embarrassing relics of his past.

Baz could still see a young Eevee chasing him through the backyard, hear the screaming matches they used to have on the stairwell, how they had proclaimed to hate each other—just as vividly as he could still see the moments of reconciliation afterward.He could still see the ghost of his mother everywhere, the way she used to lie on the couch or sing in the bathroom.

He held Sami’s hand and smiled in the face of it all, the good and the bad memories.

With every laugh echoing through the haunted halls—especially Sami’s—the shadows of the past lightened a little more.That was the magic of Sami Adam.Baz loved him so much.

How, then, could he be expected to sit still at Sami’s graduation and not scream his lungs out to celebrate his success?Easy, he couldn’t.

Of course, UChicago Law had welcomed Sami back, full financial aid reinstated.They would have been stupid to pass on such talent.Sami had fallen right back into the rhythm of cramming for exams as if he had never left.They had spent days in bed with Baz making up hypothetical cases for Sami to dissect.They even got Naija involved to host a quiz between them because nothing motivated Sami like the prospect of beating Baz.

Much as she had only indulged their idea with an eye roll and the odd remark that they were ‘such weirdos’ back then, her expression now rivaled Halima’s for pride.

It was only natural that she, Baz, and Sami’s parents cheered the roof down when Sami left the stage too.Only then, Baz sank back onto the dark-brown pew.Halima squeezed his arm, letting her hand linger on his elbow crease.

When the ceremony ended, no one beat Halima in getting to Sami.She darted past the other guests crowding the hallway and pulled him into her arms.In the avalanche of words, all Baz could make out was the odd ‘Ma shaa Allah’.

Try as he might to learn Arabic—and Aya did not go easy on him—he had a long way to go until he could keep up with Halima’s rapid-fire pace.But every time he attempted to say anything, even something as simple as agood nightor anI love you, it had Sami radiating happiness.So nothing would get him to stop trying.Not even Sami making fun of him whenever Baz butchered the pronunciation of a word so bad, it altered the meaning, or when Aya taught him a phrase that translated to something different than she had claimed.

“Shukran, Mama,” Sami mumbled when Halima kissed his cheek for the fifth time and he pulled himself free to hug Ryan, too.And because Baz knew his place, he stood back and let Naija jump into Sami’s arms next.

“I’m so proud of you!I love you so much.”Naija’s voice was an octave higher than usual.

“Love you too.”Sami’s eyes were shut.His knuckles were white against Naija’s red dress.The more of their friendship Baz witnessed —the unprompted buying snacks for each other, the support at all hours of the night, the shameless goofing around with no fear of judgment—the more he understood the meaning of platonic soulmates.As it was, Naija had become one of his favorite people too.

Finally, Sami peeled himself out of her embrace and stepped up to Baz, cheeky smirk that promised no good in place.

“Congratulations, hayati.”

“Thank you.Remind me, by how much did I beat your GPA again, because—”

Baz cut him off with a kiss.He had endured a hundred jokes about Sami having done slightly better than him (purely because Baz had selflessly sacrificed sleep to support Eevee through a panic attack the night before a huge exam he had subsequently tanked, not that Mr.The-World-Isn’t-Black-And-Whitecared to acknowledge that nuance), and he’d deal with a hundred more, but this moment was too sweet to hold space for their usual bickering.

“I’m proud of you.”

Sami nuzzled into his neck.His trimmed beard scratched along Baz’s skin, just above his dress shirt’s collar.

“Thank you.I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“No, this was all you.You earned it.I’m just lucky to be along for the ride.”

He barely had more than a second to admire Sami’s soft smile before he was blessed with another kiss.

Halima insisted on a thorough photo shoot to celebrate that they had gotten to attend Sami’s graduation after all.

After what felt like an eternity out in the heat of the early Chicago summer, Baz managed to load the four of them into his car and chauffeured them to the Catfé; Sami’s favorite spot to study, allegedly, though Baz had a hunch the only thing he learned there were embarrassing stories about Baz’s teenage years.

Either way, Sami had wanted to have his party here, and Joel and Eevee had been happy to close the shop for the day to make his wish come true, because of course they did.Baz swore they loved Sami more than him.He couldn’t visit them alone anymore without being met with a ‘where’s Sami’ before he even got a hello.

AWell Done!banner was rigged on the wall opposite the entrance, tied to two cat beds.Kaina, Zahra, and Tony were already there too, jumping up from the table closest to the door to cheer for Sami and pull him into one hug after another.

Eevee had to drag Joel away from nudging the plates on the buffet into a perfect arrangement to say hello and introduce themselves to Sami’s parents.

Behind them was Jack.Sami had invited him without hesitation, though with Baz’s consent.Jack had teared up and hugged both of them for the first time since their reconciliation, thanking them a million times.