"Not to be overdramatic, but you remember when Rachel put beef in the trifle?" Zoya gazed over at Noor who was sat on the opposing kitchen side.

"Yes," she smiled, "What have you done now?" She jumped down to take a better look at what was clearly going to be one of the biggest mess ups of the century.

"I may have put salt in the cupcakes rather than sugar, I'm telling you only the Devil himself thought it was a good idea to make them look the same when they taste so different, one is sweet and-".

"Talking about me?" Aditya was stood with his arms crossed over his chest, a quizzical expression on his face with his right brow raised and his signature leather jacket that he never seemed to take off. Did he even wash it? Would we ever know?

"Yes, the Devil did pop up in conversation" she responded scathingly, eyes downwards, she couldn't bear to look at him after what she had heard.

Signalling to Noor to leave them, he walked toward her as her sister made her way to the door.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" She looked up from the second batch of cake mixture. "You can't leave me alone with that thing" she exclaimed, voice high and squeaky.

"I'm right here you know" he seemed offended, surprise, surprise.

"Yes, I know, I just really wish you weren't" Zoya shoved a stray hair from her forehead with the back of her hand and huffed. Dipping a finger into the mixture, she lifted it to her lips to see if it tasted right this time, only for Aditya to grip her wrist and run his tongue over it instead. Gasping, her eyes widened "What, what do you think you're doing?" Her mouth was like a goldfish at the moment, opening and closing constantly until she finally sorted herself out.

"Enjoying the sweetest dessert there is" he winked. "Your sisters gone, now we're all alone, think of all the things we could do" he took the spoon from her hand, then dripped it down her throat, his face angling toward her neck as he did.

Shutting her eyes tightly she tried to ignore the sensation of his warm tongue on her skin and his harsh hand on her waist as he tugged her impossibly closer. Taking a deep breath, she spoke slowly, so clearly affected by what he had done "Getting hot and heavy in the kitchen isn't one of them" she pushed down on the bowl making it tip all over his front. "I know your game, Aditya, I'm no fool".

Dropping his eyes downwards, he shook his head "Oh, you're going to pay for that" stepping toward her so she stepped back, he opened his arms "You haven't given me a welcome back hug yet" the corner of his lips curled.

"Aditya, no" she waggled a finger at him as her back hit the side. "Don't, oh my gosh" she squealed as the mixture covered her clothing when he pressed up against her.

"Don't act like you didn't enjoy it" he slipped his jumper over his head, smiling devilishly when she covered her eyes.

"Ew, now I'll have nightmares tonight" she shook her head fast, "Cover-up" she threw a towel in his direction, ensuring to whip him with it as she did.

"Oh, baby, didn't know you were the type to dream about me" Aditya grabbed her hands "Look at me, munchkin".

She shook her head again, she knew this game and she wasn't about to play on.

"Look at me" he pleaded, far too many years of never seeing the innocence in her eyes had plagued him throughout his journey as a soldier. A sigh of relief made his shoulders drop at the same time her hands did "Do you really hate me?"

Before she probably would have said no, she disliked him a lot, but hate was a strong word. But the memory of his words had only made her feelings towards him change "Do you blame me?"

Aditya stepped back as if burnt by her words "No, but, Zoya, I never meant to hurt you, I was a kid and I know that's no excuse, but there was no other way to get your attention, you were too into your books and even when I was nice to you, you still wouldn't look my way, at least when I acted how I did it made you notice me".

Zoya shook her head "It was never about that, it's about the fact that you ruined my childhood, you isolated me from anyone who wanted to be my friend just so I would get tired of sitting alone and sit with you instead, now you're an adult and nothing has changed, in fact, it's worse, I" she stopped herself, he wasn't worth it. "Just leave me alone".

"Zoya" he hated seeing her eyes water, all he really wanted was to take her pain away, but since he had been the reason for it, he knew she'd never accepted his comfort. "I don't expect you to give me a chance, but you're the reason I came back" home just wasn't home if she wasn't around.

"Yes, I know" she snapped, a bitter taste in her mouth.

"You do?"

Turning fast to face him, she clenched her fists "A bet is a bet, afterall, right? I'm not deaf, alright I admit I'm a bit odd, I don't know how to think before I speak and science is still the hardest thing in the world for me, but I'm not deaf, I mean anything with the word physic in is bad, physics, physical, it's all a waste of time" she began to trail off.

His expression faltered "That wasn't, no, I just said that because-".

"Zoya? That you?"

Turning her head, her smile returned- the smile Aditya wished he had been the reason for. "Karannnnn" she screamed and ran into his arms "You're back? When did you get back? Why didn't you call me?" She punched his arm.

Tousling his raven hair, he smirked: "Looks like I'm not the only one who's back, won't you come and say hello to your big bro?"

"No" he almost growled, there was no way he'd touch that man with a barge pole, he only wished she felt the same way. Unable to watch them together, he grabbed his shirt and headed out, remembering the words that changed his whole world many years ago.

"So, what do you say? Either you bed her or I do, let's see if you've got it in you to get the great Zoya Siddiqui into bed?" He laughed, smacking his back.

So young and so unaware of the weight of his own words, he had agreed, but only so he wouldn't get his hands on her, he'd done it to keep her safe, she was too pure for that. His brother had taken too much from him, he wouldn't allow him to take Zoya too.