HalZey - His Only Weakness

I just want you to know who I am

Halil Ibrahim nodded slowly, accusing another blow, then resigned himself to leave the room. He turned around as Zeynep closed the door, wanting to catch her gaze in a last hope of reading something to hold on to, but she didn't even look at him. While the door was definitely about to close, at the last moment and before even realizing what he was doing, he slipped his foot to block it.

"No !" He exclaimed in a determined voice.

Surprised, Zeynep opened the door again, her gaze moving from his foot to his face in incomprehension as he repeated more calmly, "No."

"No ?" She repeated in turn, lost.

"Something true, okay..." He said as he entered the room again without invitation.

Zeynep watched him, circumspectly.

When he turned to face her again, Zeynep had closed the door but had only taken two steps into the room. The fact that she stood so close to the door was like a silent threat, 'be careful what you say or this time I'll kick you out'. At least, that was how he took it.

Suddenly, he had a vision of her as a child, in her blue overall dress, with her long-sleeved sailor t-shirt underneath and two braids on her head. He remembered that she often wore her hair like that because it was the Indian hairstyle and she found it so cool. For his part, he just found her beautiful, no matter her haircut. And above all he remembered how beautiful he had found her that day, in that outfit, when she arrived at school. The same day she surprised him by confessing being in love with him.

And then the answer to her question seemed obvious to him. Even what he had to do became just as clear.

"I'm still the same boy you told you loved him when we were kids. The boy who also had feelings for you but didn't know how to say or show it."

Zeynep's face fell in surprise, she really didn't expect that. It was the first time he admitted to have been in love with her when they were children, that her love wasn't one sided.

"Except I missed my chance back then. You went to boarding school abroad, I've been sent away from Istanbul and we didn't see each other again until... well, until recently." He took a second to try to formulate correctly what he wanted to say but everything was racing through his head: "I won't make the same mistake this time. I won't waste this second chance."

Zeynep felt tears in her eyes again, but this time from emotion. He seemed so sincere...

"I'll tell you everything you want to know. I don't really have the right to, so it'll have to be somewhere other than here, somewhere safe, where it's just you and me, where no one can hear us, but I will, I promise you."

He took a second, looking into her gaze, and affirmed without the slightest doubt: "Because I love you, Zeynep, I trust you and I want you to know who I am."

Zeynep remained for a moment without any reaction, simply frozen in place, trying to assimilate everything he had just told her. He had finally said everything she had dreamed of hearing and she just couldn't realize that it was real.

But the more the seconds passed, the more worried Halil Ibrahim became. Damn, he didn't want to lose her, but was it too late? Had he waited too long? Or had he told too many stories for her to believe him now?

"Say something, please..." Halil Ibrahim begged after what seemed like an eternity.

"I..." Zeynep cleared her throat, having difficulty formulating her thoughts, so she settled for: "I love you too."

Halil Ibrahim couldn't hold back the sigh of relief that escaped him. He approached her slowly and placed a hand on her cheek to wipe away a single tear that fell from the corner of her eye. "I'm so sorry. For everything..."