Your Grace - Burak Çelik

CHAPTER 34

A/N: Another filler chapter yeayyeay (I think there are abt two or three more to go before I start doing normal updates)

Ayedah and Ozge arrived at Ozge's apartment before noon, after picking up a takeout of Ozge's choice- Ayedah was still too tired to think about or even choose what she wanted to eat. They went into Ozge's flat after saying a quick goodbye to her brother, and went to the kitchen together.

"Hey, you know, you should eat something," said her younger friend, as she laid out the plates for them on top of her table as Ayedah sat on one of the chairs. "It'll make you feel better. I'm surprised Burak didn't force you to eat when you were there." "I guess you were already on the way," said Ayedah. "He probably assumed I would have breakfast with you, or maybe he had plans for breakfast." Ozge gave her a small smile; "Plans that I'm sure if he could, he would push over for you," she said. Ayedah shrugged; "Maybe he was too shy to ask," she said. "It was pretty awkward, you know." "Awkward or not, he liked having you there," said Ozge observantly. "I saw the way he looked at you when he saw you leaving- it was clear he wanted you to stay." "Well, I couldn't, could I?" muttered Ayedah. "It was nice of him to let me stay, but still- we cannot be in the same house like that. Not for more than a night at least...besides being traditionally questioning, it was too much trouble for him- I have been too much trouble for him."

Ozge sighed; "Don't think like that," she said. "If you were too much trouble for him, he wouldn't do it. Burak's friendly, but I can tell he wouldn't be that friendly with just anyone else, you know. I know him just enough to confirm that."

Ayedah nodded, but she then looked away- she did not want to continue on the subject. They were in silence for another few minutes before Ozge placed a dish of shakshuka, or Turkish baked eggs in front of her tired friend for her to eat. "Please eat," she pleaded. "You need your strength." Ayedah sighed and nodded again- she did not seem to have enough energy to speak much. "Thank you," she said shortly, taking the platter before slowly digging her spoon into the steaming food. Ozge kept herself from sighing as she sat down next to her.

"Your aunt is on the way back from Ankara," she said, as she began to eat her own food. "I called her earlier this morning. She'll be back soon to deal with Aarif and Reema." "How is she going to?" asked Ayedah, her brow laced with confusion. "They may as well be out of the country by now." "She has her ways," said Ozge. "She even found out that they did not even have tickets booked for the day they said they would leave." Ayedah's eyebrows raised; "Did they not, now?" she asked slowly, understanding why they would not have. "No," said Ozge. "And I'm sure Aunt Gab will be able to find them, I believe in her- besides, if Aarif managed to find her and then you, she'll be able to dig them out of the ditch the both of them are hiding in better." Ayedah's lip twitched with the slightest ghost of a smile at the shade her best friend was throwing. "Be nice, Ozge," she tried to joke wearily, and Ozge's eyebrows nearly disappeared into her hair the way they shot up so high.

"After what they did to you, you actually have the sauce to tell me to be nice?" she demanded. Ayedah sighed, putting down her spoon and rubbing her forehead with her hand, an elbow propped up on the table. Ozge sighed; "Ayedah, please tell me what really happened," she pleaded. "Burak didn't have all the details- he just told me that he pulled up to the house seeing Aarif attacking you of all the damn things that could've happened, then that he brought you home and you broke down and blacked out." Ayedah swallowed; she was not exactly the most excited to tell the story, but she knew that Ozge deserved to know more than anyone, next to her aunt. She took a deep breath in, and told her everything that happened.

"I trusted him," she said with an air of finality after narrating the poignant tale of betrayal. "I trusted him, and he just...he didn't care as much as I thought- or hoped." Ozge nodded slowly, looking rather aghast, though she did her best to hide it. "He is your brother after all," she said. "And the two of you were close- perhaps you were closer to him than anyone else in your family, next to Aunt Gab." She smiled melancholically; "I remember," she continued. "You both were inseparable- you told him everything." "Almost everything," said Ayedah. "He doesn't know I'm Bipolar." Ozge looked up from where she was focusing on the lines in the wooden floor to Ayedah. "He doesn't know?" she asked, and Ayedah shook her head.