It's all because of you

It's real love, it's real

All my little plans and schemes 
Lost like some forgotten dreams 
Seems that all I really was doing 
Was waiting for you”

“Real Love” by Tom Odell (Original by John Lennon) is the song for this chapter.

-Him-

The best sleep he’d had in at least a month was currently being disrupted. Someone was tapping his shoulder.  

Ugh. What?  

He peeled his eyes open and they met with a pair of bright blue ones.   

Shit!  

Leyla quickly put a slender finger to her mouth in a gesture of silence. She pointed to the window and mouthed the words  you need to leave . 

Did she learn that look from  Mevkibe ?  

He was definitely unnerved. He lay perfectly still as she crept backward out of the room. She watched him with one perfect eyebrow raised until she quietly shut the bedroom door behind her.   

He hated leaving her, but her sister had just given him a chance to escape with his life so he should probably take it.   

“ Sanem .” he whispered and shook her a little to wake her.  

“Hmmm?” her sleepy hum was affecting him in ways that were untoward.  

“Okay, I need to get up.” he nearly knocked her to the ground in his haste to sit up.  

She gasped awake. “Can?”  

He hopped for a second and freed his right leg from behind her. “Sorry. Leyla saw us.”  

“WHAT?!”  

“ Shhhh . She told me to leave. I think she’ll cover for us but I have to hurry.”  

“ Tamam .” she got right down to business tying the sheets back together to make the rope.  

He tied a secure knot around her bedpost and threw the rope down the open window.  

“Be careful.” she looked worried. And small, and adorably sleep rumpled.  

“Don’t worry. It’ll be easier than it was coming up.” he smiled at her then kissed her forehead in farewell.  

It actually wasn’t easier. It was daylight so he could see better, but he had to keep looking over his shoulder the whole time to make sure none of her neighbors saw. He looked up when his feet hit the ground to see her blow him a kiss and pull her sheets back up. He smiled wide and caught the kiss and planted it over his heart like an absolute dork.   

That air kiss fueled his run to his truck. His cheeks hurt from smiling. He thought about how she hugged him and asked him to stay the night before. How she was confident when she told him how she wanted to snuggle on her bed. How, even though he had a rude awakening, he woke up with her in his arms. He told her he loved her, that he never stopped. She didn’t say it back, but she didn’t need words to tell him. He knew by her actions and the smile on her face that she still loved him. He could wait for the right moment to hear her say it out loud.