He waited until he had closed the door of the apartment behind him before slinking against the wall in a full on panic, not really believing what he had done.

He had set Hudayfah's house on fire.

No, he had set a bomb off in Hudayfah's house, causing a fire.

When Jamaal had told him to do it, he had just stared at the man in utter shock and terror. He had managed to ask why he had to be the one to do it, and Jamaal's answer had been that he had been of no use so far and at least he would be good for something. He then had been dismissed from the room before he could protest any further.

He had debated greatly whether or not he should do it, but eventually his fear of Jamaal had outweighed his devotion to Hudayfah, and he had caused the explosion. It was a tricky thing, seeing as the house was filled with people, but they had all been busy with their own things, so nobody had noticed him when he slipped it into the upstairs hall closet. He had tried to make sure that no one would be around when he did it, but unfortunately Emma getting injured was a casualty he hadn't been able to avoid nor anticipate, and he just hoped she was going to be okay.

They had all spent the night at the Plaza the night before, and he had been the one to volunteer to assess the damage done on the house as he still hadn't had a proper freak out about what he had done, and needed a moment alone.

The downstairs was pretty much intact, just a few things had fallen from the cupboards in the kitchen, and were broken on the floor. The television had fallen as well in the living room, and one of the tables was overturned, but other than that, it wasn't too bad. The upstairs however was a different story, and he winced as he came to the top of the staircase. The first room he came across was Hudayfah and Jenna's, and it was practically in shambles. Three of their posts had fallen off of their bedframe, their mattress and bedspread was burned to a crisp, the rug under the bed was unrecognizable, and all of the pictures they had hanging on the walls, were now on the floor. Even the wallpaper was all burned up.

He glanced in the bathroom and the sitting room, wincing as he saw the television melted, before approaching the closets. Jenna had begged him to see if her wedding dresses were still okay, and he had felt a pang of guilt at that. He had passed her wedding bouquet on the way in, and it was all burned, nothing left but a strand of darkened white ribbon.

Once he finally figured out which closet was hers, he went to the back wall as she had instructed, and let out a sigh of relief to find the two dresses still standing. There were a few burns on one of them, but other than that, they were okay. The rest of her clothes seemed to be fine as well aside from smelling like sulfur. He slung her dresses over his arm, before stepping back into the hallway, making his way towards Hudayfah's office, letting out a gasp as he stepped into the doorway.

"Well, look who we have here! I've got to say, you really did a number on this place!"

It took him a full minute before he found his voice.

"What are you doing here!?"

Jamaal shrugged from where he was sitting at Hudayfah's desk, closing one of the drawers with his foot.

"Just wanted to take a look around." His gaze fell on Jenna's dresses, and he rose an eyebrow. "Very pretty, but I don't think it's your size bro."

"Did you want something?"

"Now," Jamaal said getting up from his seat, "is that any way to talk to me? I'm going to feel unwelcome."

"It's not that," he said a bit nervously, "it's just Hud or Rami or someone could come by."

Jamaal shrugged.

"So? And what will they do if they see me?"

Rami would probably try to kill you.

"I don't know." He said eventually, and Jamaal nodded.

"Exactly." He took a few steps away from the desk, his feet squishing on the ash soaked carpet. "You know, I found this, and it really is quite interesting how many times Hudayfah has bailed you out. He's written as many checks to you as he has to Muhsin." He tossed a blue checkbook and he barely caught it, trying to keep Jenna's dresses from touching the floor. "Seems like he's been very kind to you. Too bad you had to betray him." He gave a slight smile, before putting a cigarette between his lips, and stalking out of the room, leaving him in the charred remains of his guilt.

***

Jamaal waited until he had exited Hudayfah's building and had gotten into his car, before pulling the papers from his back pocket.

He hadn't expected anyone to be there, so when he had heard footsteps he had hurriedly shoved them out of sight, expecting to see Hudayfah, or worse Rami. Hudayfah at least was not a violent guy. Rami on the other hand was as big and as strong as an ox, and would probably rip his head off.

He had never liked him.

He took a deep breath before looking down at the pink piece of paper, not exactly seeing the words, but her handwriting. It had been so long since he had allowed himself to think of her, that seeing the drawer of her things had been so shocking that his heart had actually stilled for a moment. He traced one of the words where she had dotted her 'I' with a heart, and gave a smile, his vision blurring slightly.

His baby sister.

And here was the marriage license. Dated so long ago. Back when he had actually had a reason to think well of the world. To have hope. Marwa had been his light, and without her, everything was dark.

What would she think of him now? What would she say?

He knew her well, she would be disappointed.

Especially since Hudayfah hadn't done anything, and technically he had tricked Muhsin to get what he wanted.

She would hate who he had become.

He stared at the papers for another few seconds, before shoving them under the seat.

The fact of the matter was that she wasn't here anymore.

And that's why he was how he was.

***

"Okay people! We have only a few days to transfer the wedding from home to the Plaza ballroom! We need all hands on deck!" Emma exclaimed to the group and while everyone chuckled at her enthusiasm, Jenna couldn't help but worry about her sister. While the night before had been hard for everyone, Emma had been most traumatized, but now she was bouncing around like her old self, and Jenna couldn't help wonder if her sister was truly fine, or if she was trying to repress what had happened.

Thankfully Hudayfah had been able to do some negotiations to get the ballroom on short notice if they brought their own caterers, and decorated themselves, so while Rana was slightly freaking out about the time crunch, Emma was in full on work mode. As Emma began to hand out tasks, Jenna turned again towards the door, disappointment flooding through her when Hudayfah didn't appear. He had said he needed to do something and would be back in an hour, and it was now closing in on two hours, and he had yet to appear.

"Jenna! Are you listening?!"

Jenna whirled around as her sister snapped at her, blushing slightly as she realized everyone was staring at her.

"Um, sorry I didn't hear you."

Emma rolled her eyes, and put her hand on her hip.

"I said, can you do the party favors!? I already bought the Jordan almonds and the pretty little bags they go in!"

"Uh yeah sure."

"Good," Emma said checking off something on her clipboard, "Hud can help you when he gets here."

Rami snorted.

"Yeah I'd like to see Hud make pretty little party favors."

"Would you rather do them Rami?" Emma asked severely, and he turned his gaze to the ground.

"No." he mumbled.

"Well, be quiet then!" she ordered and as she turned around to give instructions to Maria and Rana, Ali nudged Rami.

"You got in trouble!" he said teasingly, and Rami shoved him back.

"Shut up."

A few minutes later, everyone had their orders, and Jenna was sitting at one of the tables putting the candy in their bags, when she felt someone come up behind her, and as Hudayfah brushed his lips over her cheek, she had to resist the urge to throw her arms around him.

"Where have you been!?" she demanded hitting him on his shoulder.

"Wow such a welcome!" he teased taking the seat next to her, and she frowned slightly.

"You said you were only going to be an hour! It's been three! I was worried!"

"Oh I'm sorry darling, I didn't mean to worry you. Things just took longer than I expected. But I should have called you, I apologize."

She nodded, and tied one of the green bags closed.

"Where were you?"

He fished into his front pocket, and handed her a key.

"I was getting these made."

"What are they for?" she asked taking it from him.

"I bought the apartment under ours."

"You what!?" she asked in surprise, and he nodded.

"It's actually Rana and Rami's wedding present, but we will have to stay there until our apartment gets fixed."

"Do they know you bought them an apartment?"

He shook his head.

"No, it's a surprise. What do you think?"

She placed the key back on the table, and smiled.

"I think it's very generous of you." She picked up a blue bag, and began to fill it with candy. "So Rana is moving here then? I mean she has her practice in Jersey."

He shrugged.

"I'm not sure where they are going to live, that's between them. But it would be nice for them to have a place near us."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What does Rami do?"

Hudayfah blinked.

"He's my bodyguard."

She shook her head.

"No I mean what is his job."

"He's my bodyguard!"

"No I mean officially!"

"I know! I just told you, he's my bodyguard."

"So he is listed on your payroll as your bodyguard?" she asked in disbelief, and Hudayfah laughed.

"You do know Rami owns half of HudCo right?"

Jenna blinked in surprise.

"What!?"

"Yeah but he's a silent owner and investor. He doesn't participate in the building of our products like I do."

"So his job really is your bodyguard?"

Hudayfah laughed again.

"Didn't I just say that like six times?"

"Okay what about everyone else? All the boys?"

"All of them are on my payroll when needed. So it's not a steady job unless we have a project, it's more like contracting."

"So they all have other jobs?"

He shrugged.

"More or less."

"So how can they just pick up and go across the country and stay here for weeks?"

"They're on a project right now."

"What?"

"Keeping you safe!" he exclaimed kissing her head.

"How interesting. Here." She said handing him a blue satin bag, and he just stared at it.

"What do I do with this?"

"You fill it with the candy." She said motioning to the bowl.

He looked at her in disbelief.

"Seriously? Why do I get a girly job?"

"Hey talk to the tyrant, she assigned us to it."

Hudayfah shook his head in amusement, before taking a handful of the candy, and pouring them into the bag.

"Wow, what a great use of my master's degree." He said sarcastically, and she laughed.

They worked in companionable silence for the next hour until they took a break for dinner, everyone talking excitedly about the wedding.