With each tick of the clock, Haya's breath hitched more and more.

She had dressed herself up today so she could be subtle and blend between the many stories in the skanky police station.
She especially put effort into hiding her face, to be extra subtle.

Her parents were at their respective jobs and had smothered her with all their love and support before they reluctantly left.
The absence of her parents actually made it easier for her to leave the house since she didn't have to deliver any goodbyes in her trembling voice.

As she got in the car with Zayan, the first thing she did was put the air conditioner on full blast. Even though he had a weird hatred for air conditioners, Zayan didn't utter a word and silently drove to the police station, one of the most haunting places in the world.

The whole ride lasted about twenty minutes but to her it felt like the blink of an eye.

She believed that when you're really terrified of something, the universe has a way of smacking you in the face with it.
The faster you run, the closer you are to facing what you're truly scared of.

They got out of the car and she silently stared at the board on top of the precinct, which was blue, red and rusty at the sides.
Without even acknowledging it she clutched on to Zayan's hand with all her strength and even though her tight hold had started hurting him a little bit, he remained quiet yet again.

They walked together hand in hand, getting weird looks from every one that walked by.

The police officer sitting at the main desk looked up at the two of them.
"Can I help you?" His voice reeked of judgement and rudeness.

"We're in a police station, obviously we're here to ask for help." Zayan replied, annoyed at the officer's tone.
"The lady would like to talk" he continued.

"Alone?" The officer arched an eyebrow and Zayan looked at her for confirmation.

"Alone." She replied as she squeezed his hands harder, her way of trying to tell him she had to be alone for this.
He squeezed her hand too, which was his way of telling her this would be okay.

"Okayy. Head into the room on your right, an officer will be right with you." The policeman pointed at a door.

Before walking away, she glanced at Zayan, panic flashing in her brown eyes.

"You're going to be fine. I believe in you, go." He looked at her adoringly.
That was the thing about him, one look from him made her want to move mountains because his faith in her had always been unwavering.
His faith in her was one of the most constant things in her life.

She unclasped their hands and walked towards the old brown door. She pushed open the door and it made a creaking sound that she was sure she would remember for the rest of her life.

She went and sat on the chair placed in the small, dimly lit room.

Soon an officer walked in. He was not very old, probably in his 30's. He didn't even glance at her as he sat in his chair and sifted through a file she was sure wasn't hers.

"How can I help you?" He spoke nicely to her, like he was actually concerned about her.

Without answering, she dropped the thin scarf she had wrapped around half of her face. The officer just glanced at her, his face filled first with confusion, then with horror and finally with sympathy.

"My father already filed a report. This is the case number or whatever it is..." she slid a paper that her father had given her, towards him.

"No need. I remember your father." He still stared at her with horror and sympathy written across his face and she felt embarrassed.

"Actually we're very close to making the arrest since we already know who the culprit is. We just want details of the incident to make the case stronger." The officer continued.

"Yes, which is why I'm here. I just need a glass of water." She spoke

The glass of water arrived and she began speaking.

One hour, sixteen glasses of water and half a box of tissue later she had finally finished the tale. The policeman was clearly shocked by the explicit details albeit he tried his best to hide that fact.

"Okay ma'am, I have everything we'll need. You may go." The officer spoke, his mind still elsewhere.
"Oh and ma'am. You're a true hero." He said. She smiled to herself, she wasn't sure she believed him, but his words made her feel good. She nodded and exited the room.

Zayan was surprised to see her shivering in the scorching weather and as she came closer he noticed she was drenched with sweat.

He simply put his hand on her shoulder and led her out of the station and into the car.

He put the air conditioner on full speed without her even asking.

"Haya honey, we need to get you home. You're not okay." He said but she shook her head, her eyes wide.

"No no. I don't wanna go home. Please I really don't wanna be alone right now." She pleaded and he stared at her for a moment before nodding.

"Okay, let's go eat something." He said.

He took her to their favorite restaurant.
Fortunately for her, it was a week day so the restaurant was mostly empty. They sat on the rooftop, where the wind was strong but felt nice.

"It felt like reliving it all." She shakily whispered.
He got up from across her and sat beside her instead, taking her hand in his again.

"You deserve to know it all too, I know you do. And I was gonna tell you because I thought I could say it easily but I said it today and it felt like going through it all again." She continued

"No, you don't owe me any kind of explanation. It's okay. You're going to be fine. It takes times and you have to stop pressuring yourself." He said

She looked at him with gratitude, as the sunlight made his black eyes look hazel. Then she said the words she knew weren't enough to express what she felt.
"Thank you for being so supportive. You're really important to me, I hope you know that."

These were words he had longed to hear. Not that she hadn't ever told him how important he was to her, but the words made him happy.

There were 26 alphabets in the English language and none of them, no matter what way he molded them, would be enough to express how much Haya meant to him.

"You're very important to me too and I'm extremely proud of you for getting through today" He replied and kissed the top of her head.

"Hey do you think we can go out again tomorrow? To some nice place?" She inquired

"Whatever you want, cupcake." He smiled at her and kissed her head again.

Then they ate lasagna and stayed silent for as long as she wanted.

Later that night, she still cried herself to sleep because the first time had broke her and even though the pain inside her was permanent, she knew that reliving this experience wouldn't do her any good unless she let it out.
And that she did.