Climb Every Mountain, With You (Shubman Gill x Ishan Kishan)

A no that means no

"Welcome home."

It was a voice like acid that greeted Ishan.

"Raj tells us you flew to Punjab when you told us you're going out for tea," his father said, dangerously calm.

Ishan's courage quailed. 

He steeled himself.

And figured that distorting the truth a bit would not hurt.

"Yes, Papa, Shubman's parents invited me over," he said, trying to be bold on the bluff. "They...they, um..."

"You took an impulse flight because Shubman's parents invited you? Are you so desperate to make them like you?"

"No, it's not like-"

"Tell me one thing, Ishan," his mother joined in. "Don't your own actions seem to be crossing into insanity to you? Tell us honestly."

Ishan find that difficult to deny. But he would have been sane if his parents weren't so harsh about it....should he tell them that?

BIG. NO.

"Mumma, I just-"

"When did you get the news of being dropped from the Test team again?" his father asked. "An hour before you went flying to meet the parents of someone who did the dropping? An hour into your visit?"

Stop holding Shubman responsible for everything!

Defending Shubman was not going to help.

Be quiet.

Be quiet.

"This will destroy everything in your life, I am warning you. Your career, your family, your future."

"Your brother sacrificed his career so that we could sustain yours. It's shameful that you can even think of jeopardizing that for a sick fantasy."

Ishan forgot to keep track of who was speaking, his mother or his father. He simply focused on keeping himself quiet, not reacting, not doing anything he wanted to do, like hurl the glass vase on the floor simply to vent....

He had already broken one glass article today....

"Shubman knows he has the power over a stupid person like you and he can do anything. He dropped you from the team for one bad series, which was bad also because he had your head turned and messed up.... Are you so blind?" 

"How deluded are you, Ishan?"

Ishan couldn't bear to hear such things about Shubman. 

He couldn't imagine a life where he had to hear slurs about Shubman every day from his own parents.

Keeping quiet wasn't helping.

"Mumma, please don't talk about him like....like that," he said.

His parents started to speak up together. Ishan raised his hands.

"Will you please let me say what I want to, just, just for two minutes?"

His father looked repulsed. His mother looked despairing.

But they did at least shut up.

Then Ishan knew he had exactly two minutes to make it count.

"Mumma, Papa, you both know Shubman. You have known him for years, you used to like him, remember? Whatever's happened lately, it doesn't change the person he is and it shouldn't change your.....perception of him, either. He's, he's really nice and sweet and supportive, and he never lets me give up on anything, whether it's cricket or not. He....he makes me happy." Ishan's voice chose the wrong moment to choke up. "I love him... I love him, and I don't like the way you two are talking about him. I hate the way you are talking about him."

Ishan felt like he'd come off a hundred meter sprint when he stopped.

"That's right," his father said. "It takes two to play at a game. I guess we were blaming him because we didn't want to blame you as much. But yeah, that's not fair on him, is it? Why should he be the only one who gets blamed for the atrocity?"

"Papa, it's not an atrocity, we love each other!"

"Ishan," his mother said, almost like she was pleading. "It's just....wrong. Have you not seen how everyone looks at you now? Do you like it?"

"Not everyone," said Ishan with a last bit of defiance. "Shubman's family is okay with it."

Then his father played his card.

"I don't give a damn about Shubman's family," he said. "If you are my son, you will stop whatever... disgusting thing you and he are doing."

"Papa-"

"Don't call me that unless you have decided, Ishan."

Even then, Ishan hoped for the best.

"You can't-you can't stop me from calling you that over who I love and choose to spend my life with!" Ishan shouted.

"Watch me."

Behind his father's angry gaze, Ishan saw ice.

Ice never forgave. Ice never bent to anyone's will.

And finally, it came to Ishan in a flash. He could pinpoint the exact moment when he knew it was not going to work out.

No matter how much he and Shubman reassured each other, no matter how nice Shubman's parents might be, as far as his parents were concerned, it was never going to work out.

Never, he repeated to himself.

Never. Never.

It was stunning he had been so optimistic when he took that flight from Punjab.