“Adi, come and sit with us” Anjana beckoned him toward the breakfast table, but knew her efforts would go in vain, ever since his older brother had returned too he’d been more distant and she was sure she’d seen more alcohol bottles missing from the cellar, but asking him would lead to nothing but arguments she really didn’t want.

“I’m not hungry, Ma” he looked back at his phone, fist clenched tight around it at the sound of his enemy’s voice.

“Don’t starve yourself because of me” Karan threw his apple into the air and caught it again, then dropped his voice to a whisper “Or you’d be as skinny as Zoya, take it from me, a real man wants a woman with curves and a real woman wants a man with muscles” he gripped his bicep, “You’ll get there, bro”.

“You leave her name out of your mouth” he stepped closer, nostrils flaring and the whites of his eyes merging into a bloody red. “I let you off before, did everything you asked me to do because I believed you had my best interests at heart, that as my older brother you would help me get my best friend back, but you went out of your way to ruin how she saw me and ruin what we had, this isn’t then and if you even touch her or look at her the wrong way I’ll forget we’re family” winding his fingers beneath his collar, he pulled him closer, “Do you understand?”

“Bro” Karan eased his hold, “Chill, she’s just a girl”.

“She is not” his teeth gnashed together, chest heaving with each heavy breath, “She is not just a girl, she’s my best friend” he hated who he had become to gain her friendship before, but he was young and naïve and believed that when his brother advised him, he had his best interests at heart, but that had never been the case. In a moment of pure desperation he’d agreed to a bet that made the woman he loved seem like an object and not a human and he despised himself for it, but he was back now and he wouldn’t let anymore harm come her way, he just had to be quick about figuring out how to make her listen to him, even telling her the truth would get him nowhere, why would she believe him? He had no proof and unfortunately, she adored his older brother.

Zoya slid open the door “Morning” she held out a tray, “Noor and I made some cakes to welcome Karan home”.

“And Aditya” Noor coughed, hoping they hadn’t caught on to how her older sister purposely left him out.

Arjun stepped closer “What about me? I’m your fiancé, don’t I get cakes?” He pouted.

Shoving him playfully, she giggled “You have been here, those two haven’t, behave”.

Harsh cleared his throat “While I’m happy you both are together, please keep the flirting to a minimum, you’ll send me into an early grave” he hugged them both.

“Uncle, that’s what I tell them, you know once I caught her calling him daddy, I thought she was talking about Abbu” she shook her head in distaste, not noticing how pale he had become at her words. Zoya finally placed her hand over her mouth “Sorry, Uncle, you know me, never knew when to stop talking” she giggled uncomfortably, allowed him to take the plate and kept her eyes on the floor, if she couldn’t see them then they couldn’t see her and all was going to be okay.

Biting down on his knuckle, her former bully hid his smile, she always did speak first and think second, but that was what he liked most about her, she was real in a world where not many people were. Of course, he could help her out, but that would be no fun.

Her younger sister’s cheeks had heated to a dark red and she’d chosen now to go into hiding with the man she loved, all she needed was a passport and a name change certificate and all would be okay. Glaring at her as she walked backwards, she vowed to get back at her as soon as the time arose, this was war.

Aditya stepped up behind her “Daddy kink, not your thing? That’s good to hear, it’s not mine either” his rough chuckle made her entire body shudder, noticing how she froze, he smirked, “I have a way to keep you quiet if you’re interested?”

Surprising them both, she span around on her heel “How?” Her brown eyes were wide, so full of an innocence that he’d never seen before.

Swallowing, he held his hand out “You’ll have to come with me, I can’t say in front of everyone”.

She went to place her hand in his, then paused “If I go with you alone then no one will hear my screams”.

“With how loud you are, I promise you they will”.

She seemed to think for a second, head moving from one side to another as if weighing up her options before finally placing her hand in his “Fine, but if you annoy me I know about a rabid dog in the neighbourhood who has a fascination for men’s balls” whipping her hair over her shoulder, she followed him out, her smile wide when she heard his nervous gulp. Zoya one, Aditya none.

The greenery hung over their heads, covering their view of the baby blue sky as they both traipsed down the garden and toward the waterfall. The stone figure of an owl was covered in water that bounced up from the pebbles and coins they used to throw when they were younger to make a wish, of course, Zoya still kept to tradition and made all of her prayers and hopes with a toss of a coin and the blink of an eye.

“I had brought you here to tell you that I could keep you quiet by kissing you” he eyed her carefully, “But by hearing your threat to my manhood, I thought you could make a wish instead, maybe to think before you speak?” Clearly reminding her of their memories together wasn’t the wrong way to go, but up until now he had reminded her of his mistakes, now it was time for them to relive their good moments.

“Are you this flirty with every girl or am I just a special case?”

“You’re a special case, Siddiqui” Aditya held out a coin, eyes meeting hers as she took it greedily. “Anyone else and I would have given up by now”.

Zoya grimaced “That’s what I should wish for, that you’d give up with me”.

His face dropped “Is that really what you want?”

“More than you know” she was kind of joking and kind of not, but she definitely hadn’t expected him to react the way he did.

“Consider your wish fulfilled” Aditya flicked the coin from her hand into the waterfall and turned the other way.

By the time she turned around he was gone “Hey” she shouted, “Since when did you become Aladdin’s Genie?” Sighing loudly, she frowned, flicking the water as she sat beside it.  It seemed obvious that she should have been happy that he was gone, afterall it had been all she’d ever dreamt about, but something didn’t sit well with the thought of not having him around anymore to annoy her, sure he hadn’t been back for long, but a girl could get used to having someone’s attention.

A torn Zoya and a desolate Aditya:(
I just wanted to thank you all for the unbelievable response to this story, I wasn't expecting it at all!