Is this destiny?

The kids dispersed after dinner and Ade spotted Merve putting food on the tray.

"Is that for Hande?", Ade guessed. He noticed that Hande was missing.

"Yes. For some reason, she didn\'t come for dinner, so I\'m taking this to her." Merve responded while reaching for an apple.

Ade felt guilty. Did Hande stay in her room because he kissed her? Probably.

Well, he was a mess when she kissed him, but he thought about it and he concluded that Jamari is right: he likes Hande. All the signals are there. When Hande is nearby, he can\'t stop looking at her, and when Hande is not nearby, he can\'t stop thinking about her. And her kiss made him feel butterflies all over.

Once Ade came to terms with this, everything else was easy. He told himself that there is no need to be timid. As a man, he needs to take the lead.

Ade extended his hands toward the tray. "Can I take it to her?"

Merve paused for a second, but then she decided not to overthink it. Ade spent a lot of time with her little sister in the last three days, so it\'s natural that he would be concerned about her. However, Merve had to tease him a bit: "Yes, you can take it. But don\'t linger in her room. She is underage."

Ade frowned and took the tray from Merve. He will not respond to her obvious provocation.

He saw that other than the apple, on the tray is soup and a salad and a piece of salmon with rice and steamed vegetables on the side. He grabbed a few more fruits before walking away from the dining hall.

…

Hande didn\'t go for dinner for the obvious reason: Ade kissed her!

She had a snack before leaving Dallas, so she was not very hungry, to begin with. Any signs of hunger disappeared due to the emotional shock she experienced.

Other than not being hungry, she is not ready to face Ade. Hande is confident that she would blush or act awkwardly and then others will notice and question what is going on and she does not want to talk about it.

It took her some time to realize that there is a knock on her door. She stood up and opened the door.

"I brought you dinner.", Ade said to Hande who stared at him without blinking. "Can I come in?"

Hande moved to the side robotically and watched him as he put the tray on the coffee table in the sitting area.

Ade took a seat on the sofa and looked at Hande. "Can we talk?"

Hande closed the door and sat on the other edge of the sofa, half-facing Ade.

Ade exhaled. "You are back to acting strange and not talking to me."

Hande shook her head and admitted: "I am still in shock."

Ade snorted. "What shock? You kissed me first and when I did the same, you are shocked. What would you do if I went for the lips instead of the cheek?"

Hande swiftly covered her mouth with both of her hands and blushed fiercely. \'A kiss on the lips!\'

Ade tilted his head and smiled smugly. "Your action is saying no, but your blushing is telling me that you thought about it."

"Uhm… that… we are too young for that.", Hande mumbled through her fingers.

Ade agreed. He is eleven and she is nine years old. They are definitely young. "True, we are…" A second later, he extended three fingers in front of Hande\'s face.

Hande put her hands in her lap and observed Ade\'s three fingers. It reminded her when they peeked with the lens in the living room, and they saw how Sarah did a similar gesture to Miss Payne when she demanded payment, three hundred thousand dollars for each of the people she offended. Is Ade asking her for money?

"Three what?"

"Three years.", Ade responded.

"For?", Hande asked apprehensively.

"In three years, I will be fourteen and you will be twelve years old. Then, I will kiss you on the lips.", Ade said confidently.

Hande was not sure how to respond to this. Who makes kiss pledges three years in the future? But if she says that, will Ade think that she wants the kiss sooner? Ah, how should she respond?

"I don\'t think that people agree on a kiss like that."

"We are not just any people.", Ade said and extended his hand toward Hande, offering her his pinky finger.

Hande looked at him suspiciously while wondering, what is he up to? "You want to make a promise?"

Ade confirmed. "Yes. In three years, I will kiss you. On. The. Lips."

Hande grimaced. What kind of nonsense is that? And why is he expecting her to hook her pinky finger onto his? "That is your promise. Why do I need to give my pinky finger for? If you think that in three years you can kiss me on the lips, you are welcome to wait and try then."

Hande balled her hands into fists, as if to protect her pinkies from making that promise.

Ade looked Hande straight into eyes and spoke seriously: "I want you to promise me that you will not kiss anyone else until then and you will not allow anyone to kiss you either. This is our promise that in three years you will give me your first kiss, the real one, with two sets of lips. And I will give you mine."

Hande stared at him. "You are kidding."

"Nope. I am serious.", Ade said and then narrowed his eyes. "Or do you have someone else you would kiss rather than me?"

"Of course, not.", Hande blurted out.

Ade grinned and wiggled his pinky finger in the air, about halfway between the two of them. "Then? What is stopping you from making the promise?"

Hande took a deep breath and hooked her pinky onto his.

Ade\'s eyebrows shoot up. He was not sure if she will accept, but now that she did, he is ecstatic. He bent his pinky, preventing Hande from pulling hers out. "Don\'t forget this three-year promise. Your lips are mine and if you kiss anyone else, you will lose your pinky finger."

Hande looked at him defiantly. "The same goes for you."

Ade nodded confidently. He has no intention of kissing anyone, and in this way, the bond between them will grow stronger and he hopes that in three years he is confident enough to kiss her without his legs turning into jelly.

"Eat. You are skinny.", Ade told Hande when they unhooked their pinkies.

Hande ignored his words. She was curious. "Why did you make this three-year pledge?"

"Because you are too young now."

Hande sneered. "You are not much older than I am. And what happened with brain turning into mush?"

"True. But soon, I will be twelve. I can\'t fool myself with childish ideas and I need to face reality. Where I come from, boys at the age of twelve get married.", he said matter-of-factly. "I don\'t want to get married so young, but I want to make sure you don\'t fall for anyone else."

Hande\'s eyebrow twitched. Did he just connect her first kiss with him getting married? What kind of logic is that? "Why?"

"Because you are cute and smart, and I like you. But we are too young for dating now." Ade said coolly like he is giving her exercising tips on the training ground.

Hande was stupefied. Did she hear him right? He said that she is cute and smart and that he likes her. And if she puts that into the mix with his words about marriage, is he thinking of marrying her? There was too much information and Hande\'s brain refused to process it.

Hande watched Ade walk to her desk and take the booklet with the courses listed. Is he not planning to leave?

"What are you doing?", Hande asked when he sat back on the sofa.

"You missed dinner, so you don\'t know. You need to go through this and pick courses which you want to take…", Ade waved the booklet.

"I have a choice?"

Ade nodded and spoke while flipping through the booklet. "Some courses like math, literature, and science are mandatory. But there is a number of optional ones. Sarah said that tomorrow morning she and Aiden will not be here, and that seniors should help juniors... so I will help you pick." He glanced at her. "Start eating. I will check what are your options and then we can talk about it. I already took most of these, so I can tell you about them..."

Hande ate soup and she did her best not to make slurpy sounds while her eyes didn\'t leave Ade. She likes how he gets serious while reading. He is already helping her during training, and now he is helping her with studies as well.

Hande remembered one thing. "Uhm... you play the violin." 

Ade looked at her questionably and she continued: "I started recently, and I was wondering if you might show me some pointers."

Ade smiled. "How about this? There will be a show for Christmas. We can pick a piece and do a duet."

Hande smiled. "I would love that."

"Then, it\'s a deal. I already have a few pieces that might work. But we will talk about it later. This first.", Ade lifted the booklet, indicating that they need to discuss her courses. 

Hande remembered how three days ago she wanted to go back to the Beach House. That was silly. If Sarah accepted to let her return right away, Hande would miss all this... with Ade.

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