KL Rahul was new to the team. He was punctual, sincere and spoke just as much as required. He seemed to be trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible, but it was definitely not working. Virat Kohli was fascinated by him and was always calling out to him, saying friendly things and, well, being himself.
He liked this new guy. He was so different from Kohli himself, but he could see that KL was a nice person, and a very skilled player.
For the first few days, KL made sure that he reached the ground for practice before anyone else did. That impressed Kohli and he made sure that he would pat his back, or shoot him a quick thumbs up to let him know that he appreciated it.
One day, unexpectedly, KL wasn't there when Kohli reached the field.
Is he okay?, was his first thought. He convinced himself that Rahul was probably running late and would arrive in a few minutes. All the team members had started trickling in by then.
Rahul reached the ground. He did not look at Kohli and tried to quickly slip by and start warming up. Obviously, it didn't work.
"Hey, KL, how are you?", Kohli smiled.
"I'm sorry. How late am I? I overslept, it won't happen again. I'm so sorry", Rahul quietly mumbled.
"You're not late. You made it just on time. It's totally fine, stop looking like a kicked puppy", Virat reassured him.
KL merely nodded in response.
"Want to go over there and start warming up?", Virat offered. KL nodded again, this time with a hint of a smile on his face.
As they were running laps, Virat heard something like thunder. Or the grumbling of an empty stomach. He looked up at the sky, which was blue and clear. Confused, he looked at his companion.
KL Rahul looked positively mortified, like he wanted to dig a hole, crawl into it, and die.
"Was that... your stomach?", Virat asked, partially amused and partially concerned.
KL nodded at the ground miserably.
"Did you have breakfast?", Virat raised an eyebrow.
KL shook his head nervously.
"Answer me, Kannur Lokesh Rahul. With words", Virat had understood what he implying, and he was not happy, to put it lightly.
"No, I... I woke up too late. There wasn't enough time, so I-", KL began.
"SO YOU DECIDED TO COME TO PRACTICE WITH AN EMPTY STOMACH? TO SKIP THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY?", Virat yelled furiously.
KL felt fifteen pairs of eye balls turn their way. But Virat was in no mood to stop.
"DO WE HAVE TO TEACH YOU EVERYTHING? EVEN AFTER PLAYING CRICKET ALL YOUR LIFE, YOU DON'T KNOW THAT YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO SKIP ANY MEAL? WHAT WOULD I DO IF YOU WERE LATE, EAT YOU? WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST TELL ME THAT YOU OVERSLEPT? WHY THE HECK DID YOU DO THIS, KL?", he continued.
KL knew that he had been stupid. That he wasn't thinking enough. But he had skipped breakfast to avoid exactly what had happened to him. Virat would think he's stupid, he won't trust him. Would he send him back? Would the whole team think he was just a silly kid?
The gravity of what had just happened and these thoughts struck him at once, and he let a single tear fall from his eye. He prayed Virat won't notice that. But of course, he did.
Virat's eyes widened as he realized that KL was crying. What had he just done? He'd made a scared kid even more nervous, damn it, he'd even made him cry. Oh, my god. What should I do now?, he thought.
He gently led KL away from the well-meaning stares of their teammates, and took him down to the hall to get him something to eat. He returned back in a jiffy with comically high piles of food on the plate.
"Er- have something, kiddo?", the endearment just slipped out of his mouth. KL did not respond, but took the plate and started nibbling on the food. Virat could tell that he was probably ravenous. For a few minutes, KL ate in an awkward silence.
"I'm so, so sorry, kiddo. I shouldn't have shouted at you like that", Virat apologized, meaning every word.
"It's my fault. I was being an idiot", KL said quietly.
"I won't deny that. But you should know you're very smart, and an amazing player, and we all respect you for that. You know you can come up to me at any time for anything, right?"
"Yeah", KL nodded.
"And I won't yell at you ever again-", Virat started, when KL interrupted him.
"That's okay. You can shout at me. You're older, and I deserved it- it's fine", KL said, looking at Virat earnestly.
"No. I guess it's okay for me to shout at you when you're wrong, but never in front of other people. That was totally unfair of me. I'll apologize to you in front of all of them tomorrow morning-",
Kl cut him off again, "No. You will do nothing of that sort. Please? Virat, promise me you'll not do that?"
"Fine. But am I forgiven?", Virat sighed.
KL's cheeks heated up, "Yeah, of course, you're-. Whatever. I'm not mad at you. I never was."
Virat hugged him hard.
"And you'll tell me whenever something's wrong?", Virat asked hopefully.
"Yeah. I promise", KL smiled at him. A big, bright smile.
And both of them kept their promises.
A/N: Was it too long 🙈?
Anyway, enjoy, everyone!
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The Beautiful Bond- ICT Friendship OS Series
फैनफिक्शनMy take on our beloved team. I love them with all my heart, and hope that you guys will shower love on this series, too!
