~Yes Captain~

.Defining moments.

Then there were his days in RCB, no matter whether he got to play or not. He learned a lot. The invitations to dinners and the blatant tries to involve them all. He got friends. He got brothers. He got people who cared and then he was sent to SRH. A little angry, a little frustrated and a lot gloomy. He wanted to stay in RCB. He wanted to stay with Virat and he was afraid Virat will forget him. Their bond will break.
But the bond withstood the storm of oppositions. It withstood everything. Debuts, failures, trolls, everything.

And it bloomed and grew from the threshold of a fan and idol-to teammates-to comrades-to friends-to family. Yeah, it has been quite a journey and it took him quite a time, to realize that they were family.

A quite crazy journey full of odd incidences, dubious consents, late night-strolls, mutiny, drunk antics and midnight pranks and mooning over David Beckham and Rolando among many absurd things they all bonded over.

And many things that pulled him towards Virat like gravity pulls every object towards itself. He had been always a free-falling, nervous wreck around Virat. An angsty teenager, a guy burried under the rumors of the good boy turned bad and the sudden increasing burden of spotlight. He suddenly turned into a guy who will dump all his problems and fear onto one Virat Kohli. Virat was his chosen person to rant, complain and let go. Virat was always there and that's why always so vital to him.

And even though Rahul enjoyed the popularity and stardom in the starting days. It made him feel invincible and quite something great but soon it became more of a nightmare then dream. He didn't want everything about his life splattered on newspaper,  magazines and shows.

He didn't need his family harassed and some true, some made up and some totally ridiculous stories about him, things he himself doesn't remember doing circles around everywhere. He didn't need people who knows about his name, b'day, fav food, fav drink and almost every true and made up story about him act like they know him. He didn't want all that and knowingly or unknowingly Virat always found him on his worst moments as many times as he found him on his best. Virat was always there whether Rahul was breaking down due to panic or happiness.

It didn't matter Virat was always there. Always helping.

Whether it was when he was silently crying in his hotel room during 2014 during his test debut. His fear and anxiety getting better of him. He had heard many times that how everyone went to Mahi bhai. How Mahi bhai helped them feel at home? But he didn't know Mahi bhai then he just knew MSD- the legend.

He was a bundle of cracked nerves, wallowing over something unimportant, crying over something he doesn't even remember now. But he remembers Virat walking in his room to drag his "Sorry ass" down for dinner were Virat's exact words while he acted totally like petulant child telling him off in a totally sulky tone bordering rude.

Virat wasn't the star player to him at that time. He was his mentor from RCB and he was in a too much sulky mood to not snap at the only familiar and truly known face around. At that time, he hadn't realize Virat had became his safe zone.

At that moment, he didn't realize you only let down your guard and let all kind of utterly strange, complicated and maddening emotions out around the people you truly love and care. At that moment, all that matter was that Virat didn't look him in a judging, analyzing way the whole world did and he was more than happy to half sob, half complain to him.

Crying out in outrage and then the next second sobbing uncontrollably like a loon. He didn't know why Virat didn't call a mental hospital at that time? Virat just sat there letting him scream, cry and sulk and when he was done with all that Virat analyzed him from head to toe and then told him quite seriously "I think now you're quite ready for dinner. Let's go"