Make your own kind of Music | A Shubman Gill x Ishan Kishan Fanfiction

The roots of trust in the world

Once Virat bhaiya had got Shubman to calm down, he called the doctor to do a quick check-up after which he declared Shubman fit to go.

As they signed the documents for clearance, Shubman swung between ribbing about Ishan to Virat bhaiya or pretending Ishan didn't exist.

Virat bhaiya bore with it all patiently.

"This time if he tries any mean trick, I'll slap the daylights out of him," he assured.

Then Shubman got into the second mode.

"There's no need," he said haughtily. "You can't beat sense into people. If they're heartless idiots, they will stay heartless idiots."

Virat bhaiya smiled and led the way to the cab waiting for them.

"You said it's a five minutes' walk, Virat bhaiya," said Shubman.

"Not for newly concussed people," retorted Virat bhaiya. "Now what did we discuss about helmets?"

"Always wear a helmet even if you're going to face one ball even in a practice session," said Shubman, "of pace."

"Of pace and spin both."

"Not spin too, Virat bhaiya!"

Virat bhaiya looked at him. Shubman backtracked.

"Of pace and spin both," he said meekly.

They reached the hotel in about three minutes. Someone from the staff called Virat bhaiya at the gates.

"Go to your room and sleep, ok?" he told Shubman before leaving. "Don't overthink. We'll talk tomorrow."

Shubman had almost entered the hotel when something, a sixth sense, told him to look right, in the direction of the cafeteria.

Ishan and Aditi were sitting at one of the open-air tables, sipping mocktails. They weren't audible from here, but they were talking. And they were sitting completely at ease, with nothing to suggest that there ever had been a break up.

Perhaps there hadn't been.

Clearly, there hadn't been.

***

The first thought to cross Shubman's mind was, Wow.

After all that drama about being crushed under a burden of expectations... After all that drama about it being easier to choose neither than choosing one of them... Leaving Shubman to wallow in loneliness, safely out of the way, Ishan had stayed with Aditi.

Without even telling him once.

With him out of the way, Ishan must have found it easy to choose Aditi.

If he had perceived it in a shallow fashion, Shubman would have thought it was jealousy.

He would have been lucky if it had been jealousy.

Unfortunately, it went far, far deeper.

The realization that Ishan could actually try to cut him off, not because Ishan was angry or because Shubman had done something wrong, but simply because Ishan, calmly and with sensible thought, chose Aditi. The realization that people were right when they said...and Aditi was right when she said...between best friend and girlfriend, anyone would choose their girlfriend.

The realization that the person, or the idea of the person he had put all his faith in, the one person he had never questioned, had all along been capable of abandoning him in cold blood.

He had just never considered Ishan could give him up for anything...

And he was doing that. Ishan was actually doing that.