I got out of the car and entered the house through the door that had been left open for me. When I stopped at the entrance of the living room, Tolga turned from Can, who was sitting on the couch beside him, to look at me. The smile he'd had while talking to his brother slowly faded as his eyes swept over me. Without looking at Can, he spoke.
"Do you have anything to do with Kerem ending up like this, Can?"
"Brother—"
"Answer my question!"
"Yes."
After Can's quiet reply, Tolga turned to him and spoke harshly.
"Go to bed, Can. I want to talk to Kerem alone. We'll talk tomorrow."
"But, brother—"
"I said your room!"
Can stood up angrily and, on his way out of the living room, slammed his shoulder into mine.
"We're not done, Dinçer!"
Tolga opened his mouth to scold him, but when I shook my head, he fell silent and sighed heavily.
"I tried hard to get him to leave you alone, but it looks like it wasn't enough. I'm sorry, Kerem."
"Don't be. This isn't your fault."
"Sit down." As I moved to sit on one of the couches, he added, "I'll get something to clean those wounds. They look bad."
I stood up again.
"Just tell me where it is. I'll get it."
After him shooting me a disapproving look, I sat down without another word.
When he returned to the living room and opened what he'd brought on his lap to start cleaning my wounds, I searched for a way to tell him about what Can had done without hurting him more than necessary.
"I'm mad at Can, but you're not that different from him." At his unexpected comment, I lifted my surprised gaze from my hands to his face.
"What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean. You still blame yourself for what happened. Do you think I don't know that's why you let Can keep messing with you?"
I lowered my eyes to my hands again.
"It is my fault. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be like this now."
"Look at me."
When I stubbornly kept staring at my hand, he spoke more firmly.
"Look at my eyes, Kerem."
Reluctantly, I met his gaze. He spoke with calm certainty.
"I might have gone there that night for you, but that was my decision. When I chose to help you, I knew it wouldn't be easy and exactly what kind of danger I was putting myself in. You can't blame yourself for a decision I made." He pointed at himself. "This? You didn't do this, Kerem. They did."
"That's exactly the problem! If I'd made the right choices back then and stayed away from those men, you wouldn't have had to make such a dangerous decision to save me." I looked away at the wall behind him.
"Sometimes I wish you'd never saved me. Someone like me wasn't worth sacrificing yourself for."
He smacked the top of my head and snapped angrily.
"If I ever hear you say something like that again, I won't be this gentle—and you know I don't need to be standing to beat you up."
Then, as if nothing had happened, he went back to cleaning the wounds on my face.
"So, what's the girl's name?"
I stared at him blankly.
"Which girl?"
"The girl who brought you here."
I looked away again.
"Who said I came here because of a girl?"
He smacked my head again. I rubbed it and glared at him.
"Will you stop doing that? I'm not sixteen anymore."
"I don't care how old you are. I'm still your coach. That gives me the right to hit you whenever I want."
I muttered something angrily under my breath. When he raised his hand again, I quickly lifted mine to shield my head.
"Her name is Duru. Happy now? Will you stop hitting me?"
"Duru… Nice name."
As he nodded approvingly, I lowered my hands and fixed my hair. While cleaning the cut on my cheek, he added,
"Judging by that stupid grin on your face, it's not just her name that's beautiful."
My smile faded, but he laughed at my grumpy mutter and continued,
"If you've taken that much of a beating and still had the nerve to come see me, she must be important to you."
"What?! Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how many guys I fought in one night? At least six! And all of them had bats! Not even counting that two-meter brute!"
Ignoring my rant, he said calmly,
"Tell me more."
I frowned in surprise.
"About who—the two-meter brute?"
When he raised his hand again, I backed away, laughing.
"Alright, alright. What do you want to know?"
"Everything. Start from the beginning."
With a sigh and a shake of my head, I began telling him everything from the start, just as he wanted.
Two hours later, as we said goodbye at the front door, he said,
"You should introduce me to Duru as soon as possible."
After agreeing and turning to leave, he called out behind me.
"Kerem!"
When I turned, he looked me in the eyes with sincere seriousness.
"Don't worry about Can. From today on, he won't be able to bother you or the people you love. But you need to stop punishing yourself too. I never regretted the decision I made that night—not for a second. And if we were in the same situation again, I'd make the same choice without hesitation. You should forgive yourself too."
I nodded with a bittersweet smile and walked toward my car, murmuring to myself,
"Maybe one day, Coach. Maybe one day…"