The Beautiful Bond- ICT Friendship OS Series

We're in This Together (RohiRat)

Virat wasn't there at the optional practice session.
Rohit was proud of him. He's finally getting some rest, good for him, he thought.

Virat wasn't there with the rest of them as they played board games and Fifa.
That confused Rohit, because he never missed out on team bonding opportunities. Rohit let it go, though.

Virat wasn't there for dinner either. That was the last straw for Rohit.
"Shubman, have you seen Virat?", he asked.
"Yeah, bhai, I went to Virat bhai's room to call him, but he said he was tired. He ordered in."

Rohit sighed. Something was not right. And he would find out what it was.

After having dinner, Rohit went up to Virat's room and tried opening the door. It was locked. A warning siren went off in his mind. He knocked (read: pounded) on his door.

"Who is it?" Virat called out from inside.
"Open the door and see for yourself", Rohit grunted.

Rohit heard Virat breathe deeply and lightly walk towards the door. He opened it.

"Hey, Ro, what's up?"
"Why weren't you there at the practice session? Or when we played Fifa? Or at dinner?", Rohit got straight to the point.
"I'm sorry, skip, I thought those were optional", Virat said, raising a challenging eyebrow.

Rohit groaned and stared at Virat for what seemed like an eternity. Then, he said, "Don't play these games with me. You know what I mean."
"No, I don't know, Rohit. Tell me."

"Alright then. Why are you avoiding us?", Rohit asked.
"I'm not."
"Virat, please?", Rohit said. He said it like a question. He said 'please'.  They never said that to each other. 

Wow, that hurt, Virat thought.

"I'm  tired, Ro. Not just physically, but mentally, too. Emotionally. I'm just letting people down. You, our team, our supporters, my family. Myself. I'm trying, Ro, I really am. It's just not happening", Virat confessed.

"You're not letting us down, Vi. Everyone has bad phases. We'll support you till you get out of this one. No one is doing you a favour, Virat. You've earned this love, this respect, this support."

"I know. But it still hurts. I'm thinking too much or not enough. I'm repeating mistakes. Nothing is going my way."

Rohit couldn't deny that. Every word of what Virat said was true. And he was at a loss for words. What do you tell the most confident person in the world, when they seem to be lacking that self- belief that characterizes them?

"Just remember that I'm with you. The whole team is with you. Anushka and Vamika are with you. Our fans, our supporters, we're all rooting for you", Rohit said softly.

"Yeah. And we'll figure this out. Together. Giving up is not an option for me, Ro, it never was. I'm not going to stop, I'll give it my all", Virat said, with the familiar flame burning in his eyes.

"We'll give it our all", Rohit promised.

Rohit was relieved and worried. Virat seemed to be himself again. But it seemed obvious that he was going to overwork himself till he was on the cusp of collapsing.
But he had him. Rohit would keep his best friend together. He would always, always have Virat's back.

A/N: @muktiikyyy thanks for the request and the idea! Hope you liked it :)!

I just hope we see Virat in his unstoppable, run-machine virat roop soon ❤️.