Homecoming

Chapter 17: Bliss?

A few months later....

Is it possible to be so happy that you are in danger of one day bursting with it? Ishan desperately wanted to know, floating on cloud 9 as he was these past few months.

After that earth shattering kiss all those months ago on Christmas, Shubman and Ishan had a hard time keeping their hands off each other. They usually shared a room together, so it was not that difficult. The difficult part was keeping it from others. The team was essentially a group of gabby aunties, and one whiff of a scandal would lead to endless teasing.

But Ishan did not care; he had Shubman. He loved waking up to him, peppering him with kisses, seeing that adorable dimple burst out just for him, spending hours just talking about nothing and everything with their arms around each other - Ishan loved every minute of it. He even loved the secrecy of it - loved making Shubman blush in a room full of people. He took every opportunity to wink at Shubman when their eyes met, and to whisper all the dirty, filthy things he would do to him once they were alone. He knew the entire world paired him with Sara, but Ishan rarely paid attention to it - Shubman came home to him at the end of the day.

They were best friends, brothers in arms - but looking into Shubman's eyes while they made love made Ishan understand why they said do jism, ek jaan. He felt bereft when Shubman left his eyesight, he felt empty when he did not talk to his Shubi. When they left for their respective homes, more than the occasional kisses, Ishan missed looking at Shubman's smile and knowing it was there for him, just for him.

During a vacation, he sat with his parents, watching a repeat telecast of one of their matches. Ishan loved these - loved watching Shubman play and be the only person to know that beneath the Indian jersey lay hickies and love bites belonging to Ishan. He blushed, thinking of the memory of the night before the match, when they were so eager for each other than they tripped thrice before getting to their bed. He came out of his daydreaming, when the commentator on screen shouted,

"What a player! What a match! Gill, tu le gaya dil!"

Dil toh kabka le gaya, thought Ishan, but turned beetroot red when he just replayed what had he thought.

Uh-oh, someone was in trouble.

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Virat bhai was right when he called them Amar-Prem, thought Shubman. Where one went, the other followed. Rarely was one seen without the other, and now they could add "fucking each other's breaths out" to their list of activities. Nothing changed for them in front of the public, used to their antics, but now Shubman could lose himself in Ishan's cheeky smile, mark him up as he had dreamt, and kiss him till they were both breathless. Ishan was fiery in bed, never letting Shubman have the upper hand, yet still tender, as if Shubman was something precious. It made Shubman all gooey inside.

It was these thoughts circling his brain while he was currently in a meeting with his manager.

His manager, as always, was haranguing him about his brand prospects and the pending approvals that he had missed (he was supposed to look at them yesterday, but then Ishan had made those 'come hither' eyes at him and Shubman was lost to them).

"Shubman, SHUBMAN - are you listening?"

"Huh? Oh, yea. Brands, sure. Whatever you see fit."

His manager, clearly about to lose his shit, took a deep breath, and said,

"Shubman, listen to me. The media has already dubbed you their Prince, the next in line to Sachin, MSD, and Virat. Do you understand what a big deal that is? You could be the next media star with a worth that could make others wet their pants. Now, I have collated some brands I think we should align with, please take a look and let me know."

"Don't worry, I will. Can I go now?"

"Not quite, there is still another matter I wanted to discuss with you. Please don't be offended, it was just an observation."

"What is it?"

"Sara."

"Yea, what about her?'

"Are you being deliberately dense today? You must have seen the media dubbing you the next 'IT' couple."

"Oh yea, that."

Shubman's manager rolled his eyes.

"Yes, that. I know you have been friends with her for quite a long time. I don't know how much truth there is to the 'crush' rumors, but India loves pairing you both up. I know you have a soft spot for her, and she would be phenomenal for you. I won't give you dating advice, but even I can see that you two would make a cute couple."

"You're just saying that because of my brand value."

"I won't lie, that's an added bonus. But just think about it, yea? Just see how amazing Virat and Anushka are together."

Shubman gave him a perfunctory 'hmm' and left the office.

Shubman could not get his manager's words out of his mind, no matter what. He knew it was true - he had a crush on Sara for a couple of years, but with Ishan, he had forgot about her entirely. His father's words from a few days ago chose that moment to re-surface.

"Beta, you are in the big leagues now - behave like it. Spend more time with Virat, Sachin sir. They know how to get ahead in life. I know you have your friends, but this time will not come back."

He knew Virat bhai, Rohit bhai were lucky to find love when they did. Shubman was not even thinking about settling down seriously, but were his manager and dad right? Was he throwing away good chances of getting ahead?

Shaking his head to rid himself of all these thoughts, he called up some of his friends to hang out. But try as he might, the thoughts stayed.