Artemis (CanEm Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Forty-One

After Can's aggressive persistence, he and Sanem agreed to take the rest of the working day off. Can told Leyla to cover for her in case her parents called and fittingly, he whisked her away to the only place he knew could provide either of them any comfort - his hut. Tucked away among green foliage and under the extensive Turkish sky, Can's hut was a safe haven that Sanem was lucky to know existed. It was safe and tucked away from the sometimes overbearing hustle and bustle of Istanbul. 

"Here." As Sanem perched on a little log outside, Can wrapped a cozy shawl around her upper half. Even though the weather was increasing in temperature, Can was always going to be a worrier when it came to Sanem and he didn't want to risk her falling ill from the slightest icy chill lingering in the air. "What do you say about some hot chocolate?" 

"Later." Sanem shook her head and confidently pat the empty space beside her, signalling for Can to take a seat. "Just ... sit with me for a bit." 

With her emotions all over the place and fear still bubbling in the pits of her stomach, like always, Can was the only person who could provide Sanem with some form of comfort. However, he didn't take the spot beside her as she had informally suggested but rather, he had sat behind her, his legs caging her in and forcing her back to his solid chest. He wrapped his arms around her tiny little frame and held her to him, his nose breathing in her scent gently. They were both enveloped by the entirety of one another with Sanem practically sat in his lap. 

"You smell so good." He whispered as he brushed his nose through her hair and unintentionally, Sanem's eyes closed. She felt so at ease with Can, just being with him felt so thoughtlessly natural. 

"Can." She whispered as his hands settled against her stomach, holding her to him as if she would suddenly evaporate. 

"Hmm?" As much as Can wanted to provide Sanem with eternal comfort, he was also acutely aware that providing her with comfort also made him feel like he was floating on air. The Can Divit - the notorious womanizer in high school and college - had never experienced such serenity with a woman before. He had had girlfriends and flings but nothing ever remotely compared to the connection he shared with Sanem. Even with Sanem sat utterly still, her gaze fixed on the endless forest in front of them, Can was so captivated by her. Her smell, her feel, her warmth - Can was certain he would never get used to her. 

"Do you think I'm going crazy?" Sanem spoke so quietly, Can was sure a squirrel in the background had been louder than her. "Do you think I saw Fabri in my head?" 

"I believe you, Sanem. If you say you saw him, you saw him." Sanem shifted in her position to crane her neck backwards so that the two were making eye contact. "What Fabri did to you, tried to do to you, it wasn't easy-" 

"But that's the thing, until earlier, I hadn't thought about it all in so long-"

"Maybe that's it, maybe you do need to think about it." On the drive from the office to his hut, Can had been thinking about Sanem's mental health. It was a tricky situation because he didn't want to say the wrong thing, didn't want to upset her even more than she was. But he also didn't want to ignore the fact that the Sanem in front of him was tainted with a darkness that he was not used to. His Sanem always smiled through her eyes and brightened up a room whenever she walked in it and granted, she was still doing that, but, Can knew that if he ignored her deepest and darkest emotions, maybe that would disappear. His mind conjured up the worst of scenarios where Sanem slowly broke down and all he could do was sit back and watch helplessly. Can didn't want that ... he didn't want to ghost past her problems until it was too late. "Maybe acknowledging that it happened might help you get over it?" 

"I ... I don't know." Sanem had never really considered it like that. Fabri was a nightmare that she preferred to keep locked away. She hated thinking about the stench of alcohol on his breathe or the tight clasp of his hold against her body. It made her blood pressure sky rocket and she didn't like the way that felt, that violent pounding in the depths of her chest. "Every time I think about it, it's like I'm there again ... pressed up against that wall-"