My Lover's The Sunlight...

{ Waqt Ki Baatein }

"Ishu, Ishu, yaar, uth jaa! Practice ke liye late ho jayega!" "Tilak, bas do minute aur sone de, main abhi uthta hun!" Suddenly the not-so-new addition to the Indian Cricket Team found his blanket snatched and himself on the floor. He opened his eyes, only to see Shubman snickering at him, "Abbe, Kumbhkaran ke vanshaj ab uth ja, 7 baj rahe hai. 8 baje se practice bhi toh hai!" "Kya? 7 baj rahe hai? Tune mujhe pehle kyu nahi jagaya?" Ishan screamed as he raced to the bathroom to freshen up. It merely took him 15 minutes to complete his morning routine - a ritual that previously took him over 45 minutes, but maybe being a single parent gave you superpowers, thought Shubman, as his gaze never wondered from the little tornado going about the room, trying to find the perfect outfit for practice. 

"Yeh pehen, aur chal niche. Mereko bhuk lagi hai." Ishan caught a soft mauve compression shirt with his face, followed by a pair of shorts. They smelt soothingly of Shubi's usual detergent, the scent nostalgic to him. "Teri future wife bhi aise tere kapde share nahi karegi, jaisa main karta hun", he joked. But he made the mistake of not looking at Shubman while cracking it, because if it had, he would see his heart breaking in them. The younger's reply was not very steady, "Main shaadi karunga hi nahi, tujhe fikr karne ki zaroorat nahi hai. Ab chal." Breakfast went well with the sprinkle of chaos - aka ICT! Shubman did not even complain for a moment when Ishan forced him to eat another of his weird food experiments. The secret dopey smile he gave him was noticed by several members who just shook their heads, Shubman had returned to his high school crush phase with Ishan's return, but at least he was eating and smiling. 

During the practice, the other senior members of the teams, namely - KL Rahul, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya did not miss the heart eyes Ishan gave Shubman as he saw the boy improving and playing as if he was enjoying the game once more. During the drinks break, Ishan took a bottle of juice, a bottle of water and a couple of bananas to Shubman who hadn't stopped practicing in his own net. "Shubi!" A familiar voice brought Shubman out of the meditative state he had slipped into. Fuck! His left gastrocnemius muscle was starting to cramp! He limped to where Ishan was standing, smiling at him so hard that his eyes crinkled and dimples were visible. 

Ishan reached out to take his helmet, while handing him the bottle of water. "Tu thik hai?" "Hmm." "Toh limp kyu kar raha hai?" "Woh ek chota sa cramp hai, tu chinta mat kar!" "Kamlesh bhaiya ko bulau? Tu kya apne thoda sa bhi dhyaan nahi rakhta? Jab dekho cramps hote rehte hai?" The sardonic smile he got in reply did not help to ease his worries. "Main bol raha hun na, main thik hun." Ishan did not speak any more, just peeled a banana and fed it to Shubi, not noticing when three people were busy being paparazzies. Tilak, Mayank and Rishabh saved the photos they had taken from the different angles in their shared google account, come on readers! They have to keep the #ISHMAN-FOREVER trend on Instagram alive! They could later decide which looked the best to be reposting under the couple goals series.

Mayank was very invested in his task, as he approached Ishan, the moment he separated from Shubi. "Mayu!" Abhishek's voice did not reach him for he was already half way across the ground. He tackled his best friend in a bear hug, "Saale, tune mere saath aisa kyu kiya?" "Mayu, Mayu, tu meri baat sun, mereko terese nahi chhupana tha, par...." "Par kya? Par kya? Bohot toh bolta phirta tha ki main tera best friend hun, toh aisa kyu kiya tune mere saath?" "Mere paas sachmain koi choice nahi tha bhai, yakeen kar, uss time par media exposure afford nahi kar sakta tha main." "Sweetu, ek baat bata." They started walking away from the field, to change their clothes before continuing, Mayank's hand resting in Shubman's position on Ishan's shoulder. "Bol!" "Tune Tilak ko trust kiya, par mereko dhoka kyu diya?" "Tu, tu.." "Yeh tu-tu kya kar raha hai? Bol mereko!" "You're just getting together with Abhishek! I couldn't let Shubman know about my pregnancy! It would have destroyed everything!"

"Tune mujhe sirf isliye nahi bataya ki Abhi Shub ko jaake chugli karta?" The hurt was evident in Mayank's tone. "Are, tu ekbar mereko bolke dekhta, main chhod deta na usko." "Isliye hi toh nahi bola, pagle! Kabhi toh apni khushi ke baare main bhi soch liya kar! Pata tha mujhe ki tu apna ghar baar chhod ke mera khayaal rakhne ke liye aa jayega!" Markhande nuzzled Ishan's neck, "Point tera sahi hai, but I demand payment for being left out." "Kya chahiye bol!" Ishan laughed at the tickling sensation he felt. "Aaj raat ko Harry bhai ki party main saari raat dance karenge!" "Abbe, kal practice karna hai ki nahi tereko? Umar ho rahi hai abhi, disciplined nahi rahenge toh cricket ko tata - bye bye bolna padhega!" "Jaddu bhai bhi toh over 40 hai, woh kidhar khelna chhod rahe hai?" "Well, teri himmat ki to daat deni padhegi! Woh Rajput hai!"

Abhishek was needed to ask Mayank what the man would have liked for dinner and that was the only reason he had tried to approach the elder when he was busy reuniting with Ishan. Okay, maybe, maybe he just needed the assurance that his boyfriend hadn't forgotten that he existed the moment Ishan re-entered his life. But what he did not expect to hear, after six years of being in a relationship with the bowler was that Mayank would drop him any moment for Ishan. He knew it was true, he knew his insecurities were true! Abhi could not bear to hear a word more as he spun on his heels, retracing the path he came from, just eight times faster, practically on a sprint. He closed his eyes, trying to stop the tears from escaping the dam of his eyelids. He had just been a replacement for all these years! How could Mayank even say that! Did he not love him? The twenty eight year old started feeling faint, but he did not stop running. He stumbled, and fell, maybe ne had tripped over a cricket bat someone had been careless to throw in the middle of the field? His last thought before his mind slipped from the land of consciousness was his life was a big, fat lie, he had crafted with his delusion addled mind and all those promises whispered in the warm comfort of those happy nights? Nothing more than lies, that had been necessary to keep him sane.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This chapter was supposed to be happy, I had really started the draft that way but many bad things happened and I had to vent! Sorry for not being sorry about writing this absolute piece of trash between the gaps I got between my boards. I really had hopes of progressing with the story, but ended up with this filler again! I hope you'll love the fluffy Shubish moments and the angsty Abhiyank moments.

@Ishmanforever21108 didi, amar Abhi ke suffer koranor jonno ideas kom pore jachhe!

@PriyaRout0 di, I just wanna say, THANK YOU!

Agle chapter main "Gilli banega jelly". For sure.

Enjoy, Adiraj!