After all this time

Prologue

Years and years after he lost his best friend, Virat saw two men in their thirties maybe, playing with their kids in a park visible from his balcony. They looked like they had been best friends for a long time.

Somehow they reminded him of Rohit and Jinks playing with Sam and Aarya--and a world he could never be part of.

They were in the same city, the three of them. And thankfully, he had never lost his connection with Jinks after retirement.

With Rohit, though...

Virat still remembered the day it happened like it happened yesterday. Or like it's happening now.

"Your dismissal triggered the collapse, Rohit!"

"Your captaincy ended it before it began!"

Two simple accusations, quite easily forgettable maybe, if they hadn't both lost themselves in that destructive rage born out of losing the 2019 WC, their dearest dream.

"Captaincy now, is it? Remember 2011? Remember how you were crying the day India won the World Cup? At least I won a World Cup, captain or not, and you keep in mind that you cried the day India had her biggest dream in years come true."

Every day since it happened, he wished he hadn't said that, because they both knew that that was the end of them--that was the end of 'Rohit and Virat' forever.

"I will, if you keep in mind that India has lost every multinational tournament in the knockouts under you."

Rohit had walked out at that point from the dressing room and Virat's life.

It had been 5 years, and Virat still couldn't forget it. Most of the times, he felt detached at the memory.

But sometimes--at times like this--the memories of the pre-2019 WC semi final-Rohit and Virat came back so badly that the piercing ache in his heart--the awful hollow feeling inside him--seemed unbearable.

Once again, he tried to understand why they had let their tiff get out of control. He couldn't decide if it was Rohit's resentment that Virat got captaincy, a WC spot in 2011, fame, rankings, everything ahead of Rohit, because Rohit had always had to live in Virat's shadow... or if was Virat's insecurity about Rohit's awesome WC, and the increasing demands to make him limited overs captain, all the IPL trophies, the normal life with Ritika and Samaira like the kind Virat had always craved.

Maybe it was both.

Or neither.

Virat didn't know.

The worst part was that they had never fought since then. Not even a single time. They didn't act hostile in front of others, they didn't ignore each other. Sometimes they even laughed at the same jokes.

But nothing could be more painful than acting like everything was ok when nothing was actually ok.

When Rohit won the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2019, Virat had sent him a congratulatory message, and when Virat captained India to the Test Championship final and lost, Rohit hadn't gloated.

Why was he thinking of these today anyway? wondered Virat, lying on his back and staring at the ceiling.

He didn't know why, but he was missing Rohit desperately hard that day.

Maybe with Anushka and their unborn child in the hospital--and knowing that Anushka had played a fair role in the way things had turned out between them, Virat needed Rohit.

He knew it was a need he would have to do without, though.

A/N: Dunno if this will have a happy ending or a sad one, though the chances of me giving my Rohirat a sad ending is highly improbable.

And see the cover, too, I spent hours on it😐