The next morning when Nayza returned to her apartment, she saw Doruk standing near her door. The moment Doruk saw her, his expression changed completely.
Her hair was messy, her face looked lifeless, and her eyes were swollen as if she had been crying for hours.
He immediately walked toward her and started asking questions one after another.
"Where did you go, Nayza? Why didn't you tell us anything? Everyone was worried about you. And what happened to you? Why do you look like this?"
Nayza stayed silent for a few moments, simply listening to him.
Then she quietly said,
"I'm tired. I want to sleep."
She unlocked her apartment and started going inside, but Doruk followed behind her.
"Nayza, what happened? Why are you behaving like this?"
As she was about to close the door, Doruk stepped closer near it again.
"Please tell me what happened."
Nayza finally looked at him and said softly,
"If you care about me even a little... then leave me alone."
And then she closed the door.
Doruk remained standing outside quietly.
A sad expression slowly appeared on his face while he kept wondering-
What had happened to Nayza to make her like this?
Doruk softly said from outside the door, "Okay... get some rest then. But I'll definitely come again."
After saying that, he slowly left.
At university, Leera and Yesir were already talking about Nayza when Doruk arrived. The moment they saw him, Leera immediately asked, "Did you meet her?"
Doruk nodded lightly and sat down.
"She came back this morning... but she looked really bad. I tried talking to her, but she told me to leave her alone."
Leera's expression instantly filled with worry.
"Why would she say that? I'm really worried about her. She already lives alone, away from her parents, and now suddenly she's like this..."
Yesir tried calming her down.
"Let's go meet her in the evening. Maybe then she'll talk to us."
Doruk nodded.
"Hm. We can't leave her alone like this."
Leera quietly agreed too.
"She's our friend."
As evening arrived, Nayza was still asleep inside her apartment. The entire place was silent.
Even while sleeping, light tears kept slipping from her eyes.
She was sleeping so deeply, almost as if she didn't want to wake up at all.
Because the moment she woke up, she would have to face everything again.
The pain.
The emptiness.
The reality of being left behind.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
But Nayza was sleeping too deeply to hear it.
The bell rang again.
Still no response.
Again.
And again.
After hearing the bell continuously ringing, Nayza finally slowly opened her eyes.
"What is this..." she murmured tiredly. "Who's ringing the bell so much...?"
Still half asleep, she slowly got up and walked toward the door.
The moment she opened it, she saw three people standing there.
At first, their faces looked blurry because of her sleepy eyes.
She closed her eyes once and opened them again slowly.
This time, she saw clearly.
Doruk, Leera And Yesir.
Leera's face instantly changed after seeing Nayza properly.
"What kind of condition have you made yourself into?"
Nayza quietly looked at all three of them without saying anything.
Leera softly spoke again, "Come on... let's talk inside first."
All of them went inside and sat down while Nayza quietly went to wash her face.
After a while, she came back and sat in front of them again.
Yesir carefully looked at her and softly asked, "Nayza... are you okay?"
But Nayza didn't reply at all.
The three of them exchanged confused looks.
Doruk frowned slightly.
"Nayza... why aren't you saying anything?"
She was only staring at them quietly with an empty expression on her face.
No emotions.
No reaction.
Leera softly called her again.
"Nayza...?"
A few seconds later, Nayza finally replied quietly, "Hm? Say it... what happened?"
Leera looked at her worriedly.
"You tell us... what happened? What's going on with you?"
She quietly said, "It's going to be night soon... is there any place where we can sit and drink?"
The three of them instantly looked shocked.
"Nayza... what are you saying?" Leera asked in disbelief.
Nayza looked at them tiredly and said, "Just understand me for once... I need it."
After some time, Nayza freshened up, and all of them went to a bar together.
They sat around a table while drinks were placed in front of them.
"Nayza... are you sure about this?" Yesir asked carefully.
Nayza simply nodded.
"Hm."
But the entire time, all three of them looked worried seeing her like that.
Time slowly passed, and before they realized it, it was already eleven at night.
Nayza had fallen asleep right there after drinking.
The three of them carefully brought her back to her apartment and made her sleep properly before quietly leaving for their homes, still worried about her.
And after that, this slowly became Nayza's daily routine.
She barely talked to anyone anymore, but her friends stayed beside her all the time.
Every night, Nayza went to the bar and drank. Even one shot was enough to make her lose control, and every single time, her friends were the ones bringing her back home safely.
Her studies had become weaker too.
She started going late to university, and sometimes she didn't go at all.
All of them noticed these changes.
Especially Doruk.
Watching her like this made him restless.
No matter what happened, he just wanted to see Nayza become the same girl she used to be before.
Now only four or five days were left before exams.
That night too, Nayza was sitting at the bar taking shots one after another while laughing strangely to herself. The people sitting around her had already started looking at her like she was crazy.
Just then, Doruk arrived there.
He walked toward her and quietly said,
"Nayza... if you're done, let's go home."
Nayza looked up at him with half-open eyes, her voice unstable from the alcohol.
"Not yet... I've only had two shots..."
Doruk sighed softly.
"You lose control after one shot every day, and today you already had two. Come on now."
But Nayza stubbornly shook her head.
"No... I want to drink more now. I can handle more."
At this point, she barely listened to anyone anymore.
No matter how much people tried stopping her, she kept drinking because somewhere deep inside, alcohol had become the only thing helping her forget her past.
Forget the pain.
Forget that she once had parents.
Doruk quietly sat beside her and waited patiently for the moment she would finally agree to go home.
But tonight felt strange.
Nayza was still conscious, which only made her drink more and more.
This time, she picked up the bottle herself.
And after that, she became completely drunk.
Her voice turned messy as she laughed loudly like a drunk person.
"Dorukkk... do you know? I'm going to get a job... earn money... and drink even more than this every day... hahaha..."
Doruk looked at her quietly, already knowing she said random things whenever she was drunk.
"Alright," he replied softly. "Then let me drink too."
Nayza suddenly looked at him dramatically.
"Why would you drink? Did someone leave you too?"
Then she pointed at him carelessly.
"But someone loves you, right? Then why don't you become theirs...?"
Doruk frowned slightly.
"What is she even saying..." he thought.
Then quietly he said,
"There is someone I like..."
But he stopped midway.
Nayza immediately leaned closer curiously.
"Who is it? Tell me too."
When he stayed silent, she suddenly started pretending to cry like a child.
"You won't tell me? Then should I cry first? Maybe then you'll tell me..."
Doruk let out a helpless smile.
"Okay, okay. Stop. I'll tell you."
Nayza immediately smiled.
"Hm, tell me."
Doruk slowly moved very close to her.
Their eyes locked together.
Their lips were only inches apart now.
And with every passing second, Doruk's heartbeat became faster.
He kept thinking only one thing-
I can't keep watching her like this anymore.
And the next moment, he suddenly kissed her.
The kiss was intense and desperate, almost like months of hidden emotions had finally lost control.
Nayza, completely drunk, slowly kissed him back.
Doruk held her by the waist and pulled her closer onto his lap while their lips stayed pressed together for what felt like forever.
His hands wandered restlessly over her, unable to control the emotions he had been suppressing all this time, while Nayza stayed completely lost in the moment.
Finally, Nayza pulled away slightly to catch her breath and laughed weakly.
"I think... I would've died if we didn't stop..."
Doruk quietly looked into her eyes and asked softly,
"Now do you understand who I like?"
But Nayza only blinked innocently.
"Who?"
Doruk's eyes softened completely hearing that.
Without saying anything else, he brought her back to her apartment.
He carried her in his arms from the car all the way to her room and gently placed her on the bed.
Then quietly, he looked at her for a long moment.
"Nayza has to become okay again now," he whispered to himself.
"From tomorrow onward... she'll stay with me. I'll keep her happy."