If it weren't for Hazal's arms around her, Feraye would've fallen to the ground a long time ago. Her friend steers towards a bench in the garden, and she's grateful for it, because her whole body is shaking so badly. "Hazal, he knows. Ateş knows."
Hazal seems mostly concerned, but also confused. "What are you talking about? Knows what?"
"Oh, god," she mutters, "is that why he wouldn't even look me in the eye when I got back?"
"Feraye, you're not making any sense," Hazal tells her, "tell me what's going right now."
"Ateş knows what I did- to Yaman."
Hazal frowns. "Okay, and what's that?"
"I killed him."
"No," Ateş says suddenly from behind her. She whirls around, and there he is; standing tall and not shying away from her gaze. "You didn't kill him, Feraye."
"I signed the papers that took him off life support," she counters.
"So?" He asks, coming closer, "you waited seven months, the doctors said he was brain dead. What were you supposed to do, wait forever?"
They're both breathing heavily, eyes locked in a battle no one is going to win. "You really believe that?"
"I do."
"Then why did it take you a whole month to so much as look at me?"
Hazal clears her throat. "I'll leave you two to talk."
Ateş crosses the distance between them in three strides and offers her best friend his arm, helping her up. She smiles up at him. "Thank you, Ateş Abi," she says as she stands on her tiptoes and pulls him down to press a kiss to his cheek.
"You're welcome."
"Feroş, if you need anything, call me." Then she turns to Ateş, and they seem to have an entire conversation with their eyes. "Go easy on her," she says quietly, probably thinks Feraye wouldn't hear her, but she does.
Ateş nods, presses a kiss to Hazal's head.
They both watch her walk away. Once she's disappeared, Ateş turns to her. "Do you think we can talk now?"
She nods, heart beating erratically against her chest. There's no running away now; they're having this conversation whether she likes it or not.
Gulfem intercepts them at the door, refuses to move away even when Ateş tries to side step her. "You two are going to tell me what's going on right now."
"No," Ateş says calmly, "we're not. We'll talk when we're ready."
Gulfem advances on her, gets in her face. "You murdered my son. I saw the reports. You were beside him-"
"If anything," Feraye interrupts her, "he was the one who almost killed me, and his daughter. Gulfem hanim, your son killed himself."
"Liar," she cries and raises her hand. Feraye closes her eyes, frozen in shock. When the hit doesn't come, she opens her eyes to see Ateş standing between Feraye and his mother.
"Don't ever raise your hand to her again."
"How can you be defending her? She killed your brother."
"Did you know she was running away from Yaman the day of the accident?" Gulfem rears back in shock, and so does Feraye.
How did he know?
