Love will find a way

Past

He stood there quietly scolding himself for not telling her earlier.

"Still here?" She broke his trance. Not realising how long he stood there, he looked at her in shock.

"Next time you decide to tell me about one of your exes please choose a better place and time." She said and he finally noticed that they were standing near the toilets.

"I didn't realise" He was quite embarrassed.

"It's very flattering to know that you've eyes only on me but it would be helpful if you do take notice of the surroundings as well." She decided to tease him.

"Very funny ok... I was scared that you left" The way she walked away, it scared him.

"I drank a lot of water all evening. I had to go." She was in a rush to go and he caught her off guard.

"I'm sorry I should have told you much earlier about it." He apologised.

"I don't think there is anything to be sorry about. We ran into her and you told me, so I'm ok with it. I don't really want a list of all your exes. Besides, I already guessed there was some history judging Fatos and Emre's reaction. She is happily married and so are you... I think it would be best to end the Cold War going on with your friends and her. I do understand she rejected the Ferit Aslan but to be fair they were childhood sweethearts so I can't really blame her." Nazli learned from Omer that they met in school and continued to keep in touch even though they went on to pursue different careers.

"What? How do you know?" He tried to recollect but Defne never mentioned any Omer.

"Omer told me they met in high school but got separated after school and then went through a lot of ups and downs. Maybe she wasn't sure so didn't tell you guys." Nazli told him what she knew.

"I thought I was the outcast, she would've kept in touch with Engin and Emre. I guess they might have been..." He realised that they might have given her a cold shoulder.

"Let's go and sort it out then" They went back to their table where everyone was silently concentrating on food being eaten.

"Hi Omer, I'm Ferit. This is Engin, Fatos and Emre." He decided to mend the relationship he damaged.

"Hi... it's so nice to finally meet you. I heard so much about you guys." Omer knew how much Defne missed her old friends.

"Good things I hope" Emre joined in.

"Hmm depends on your memories of all the extra lectures you had." Omer winked at Emre.

Everyone laughed as they recollected that incident. Nazli & Fatos had no idea so Engin narrated the incident.

It was one of those boring lectures on budgeting and Defne was trying to convince Emre to bunk the afternoon session to see a movie. Emre kept denying but she was adamant.

"Please Emre, let's go" Defne pleaded.

"No" Emre screamed aloud, tired of her constant badgering.

The professor looked at him in shock. It was the end of the session and the professor asked him to meet outside. Engin and Ferit tried hard to hold back the laughter.

"If you do need extra help understanding the model, I'll give you extra tuition starting next week. Also, find out if anyone else is interested they can join as well. Make a list and give it to me tomorrow." Emre was confused as hell as the professor left.

Later Engin updated him on how the professor was asking if everyone understood the model he covered in the session that day and he screamed no right then.

"I wasn't even paying attention to what he said. Defne..." He screamed but she ran away. As revenge, he signed her up for the classes as well along with Ferit and Engin.

The four of them looked at each other and smiled.

"Let's get some dessert" Nazli nudged Fatos and they walked away. Taking cue, Omer excused himself as well joining the ladies.

"I messed it all up, didn't I?" Ferit asked Defne.

"No Ferit it was me. I didn't handle the situation well. I should've told you guys about Omer. Honestly, we were in a long-distance relationship and fought so often that I thought we would never make it. Few days before you asked me out, I had a big fight with Omer and ended our relationship. I felt I had to move on but when we started going out, I realised he was the only one for me. So, I just left everything and went to tell him." Defne felt over the years that she should have given Ferit some closure but by the time she tried to mend, he ignored all her calls.

"We're sorry that we took Ferit's side and didn't realise what you must be going through." Emre and Engin apologised. They patched up and Defne started to cry.

"You still look pretty ugly when you cry" Ferit teased her earning a slap on his arm.

"So, Emre's the last one standing, just like we thought" Defne wiped her tears, reminiscing their old discussion around who would marry and settle down.

"Ah please not that topic... I'm so happy that you all found the love of your life but I'm happy as I am and let me keep my peace." He was tired of the discussion around his love life everywhere he went.

"Nazli told me you live here now, that's a big change considering how you always wanted to be home." Defne asked Ferit

"Well she's my home, so here I am." His eyes were fixed on Nazli as she walked back towards the table.

Defne was glad to see Ferit so happy as she always felt bad for breaking his heart.

xxx

They drove back to the house while Engin and Fatos decided to stay back longer.

"Can we go for a walk Nazli?" Ferit stopped her once they parked the car.

She just wrapped her hand around his and walked towards the riverside. They walked till they were close to a bench.

He looked at her eyes shining in the moonlight and then at her lips and kissed her till they ran out of breath.

"I wanted to kiss you as much as you did that night, but I was scared..." He told her once they caught their breath.

"I wanted to talk to you after that, but you avoided me. I thought it was a mistake." He added as she remained silent. His past scared him to make an impulsive decision. After Defne left, he just immersed himself in work rather than women.

"When Defne left me without any answers, I thought I'll never be able to trust someone again. When I met you, everything changed. I tried very hard to erase you from my thoughts but..." He smiled looking into her eyes.

She held his hand between her palms.

"I know it was a tough battle. I fought it too but couldn't win, so had to come and see you at the airport. I was unsure of how you felt and even if you did, how would we make it work? We made it so far but I'm sure we'll have to conquer many more battles. Let's just live in the present and build a future together."

They kissed again and then headed back home as it was very late.

xxx

can't deal with drama in this one too... keeping it simple :)