Chapter two

Eren was carrying some heavy equipment, his face dripping with sweat due to the sizzling heat. He was heading back to his aunt’s home to fix the electricity problems that she kept complaining to him about, urging him to do something about it.

He noticed Irem sitting on the front porch, her eyes fixed on a distant point, lost in her own thoughts. The scorching wind swept through the air, swaying her long hair in its hot embrace.

She locked eyes with Eren for a fleeting moment as he quickly looked away, not wanting her to know he’s been staring at her.

“What’s that you're carrying?” She smiled at him, inquiring about his electricity tools.

“I rented some tools to fix the electricity, Auntie Viyan won’t stop pestering me unless I do something about it.”

“Do you need any help?”

“Huh, as if you would know anything about electricity, it’s not like you can carry these either, they’re too heavy for you.” He scoffed, dismissing her offer. Eren considered her to be useless, unintelligent even.

“What are you doing here anyway?” He inquired, intrigued by her as he stole a few glances at her from the corner of his eye.

Irem’s gaze shifted towards the ground as she traced patterns on the porch floor with her fingertips “I’m thinking.”

“You can think?” He asked while mocking her, “what are you thinking about?”

Irem was desperate to release what’s bothering her, she turned a deaf ear to his mockery that she could easily sense.

“I'm thinking about my dad. It's still hard for me to accept that he’s disabled now, he's ... different. He’s not the same as he was prior to his injury, it’s like I’ve only realised now that I’ll never see him walk again and he’s never going to accompany me outside like he usually does. He's always made me feel safe, protected, even during this waging war, like I couldn’t be hurt. But now the war has hurt him too, it’s like this war took away my dad, even though he’s still physically here but it’s - it’s different and it's hard to feel the safety and protection that he once gave me!” Irem spoke, her voice trembling and cutting through with words. Her tears started to pour down her cheeks, soft and quiet sobs were escaping her throat.

Eren panicked in the presence of crying Irem, his initial reaction was a strong desire to comfort her, to alleviate her pain in some way because he immediately did bad. He was held back, uncertainty gripped him, he wasn’t sure of what to do or say to her. Eren moved closer towards her, his hands awkwardly placing themselves on her as he tightened his embrace by pulling her closer. “You have me.” He said, his hand went through her hair to comfort her. He was surprised that she reciprocated his affections as her arms wrapped around him, her fingers grazed into his back.

“What about your mother?” he whispered his question in her ear.

Irem hand moves to rest against his chest, “I know Viyan always says that my mother is ‘missing’. I don’t blame her for wanting the woman who was her best friend to be alive, but I think I’ve accepted the fact that she’s dead. I don’t want to give myself false hope. It’s a war we’re going through, she is gone.” Irem sighed before continuing in her words “I miss her, Eren. But there’s nothing I can do other than accept things.”

Once Irem stopped crying, Eren registered their incredibly close proximity. He was taken back by nervousness again, he withdrew from her. His hands awkwardly reached his pockets, unsure of where to place them. He pulled out some tissues he found and handed them to Irem, “here, use these.”

Irem's sadness was momentarily replaced by amusement, a smile gracing her lip, “these are used tissues, Eren!” she laughed, finding humour in Eren's somewhat awkward and comical actions. She thought his attempt at maintaining a tough exterior, only to be overwhelmed by nervousness when faced with closeness or touching between them, to be hilarious and somewhat adorable in a sense.

Eren stuffed his tissues back in his pocket, realising his mistake. He felt embarrassed by Irem’s laughter, he wanted to get out of the situation. He did feel like she was offending him and paying him back poorly for his comfort, this isn't the treatment she ought to give him. His hand reached the large tool bag he was carrying earlier, as he was about to walk back into the house. Irem’s hand held onto his arm before he could get a chance to leave, the intimate feeling of her hand touching his bicep made him stop in his tracks. “Where are you going?” Irem asked, her tone pleading for him not to leave, she didn't realise he disliked her laughing at him.

“Inside, I’m fixing the electricity,” he quickly replied, motioning his hands towards the doorway.

“May I join you, Eren? I'll just watch.” Irem smile widened, maintaining eye contact with him, her eyes sparkling with playfulness. She moved her hand to rub his bicep, trying to convince him.

“No. Actually, yes. I mean do whatever you like, it's not like I care,” he blurted out his words in a rush. He abruptly moved his arm out of her touch and walked inside, he wanted her touch but he thought she doesn't deserve to touch him after making him feel like an idiot.

Irem quietly laughed, not wanting to embarrass him further before she followed after him to observe him do his work.