"Yaar snacks lene me kitna der lagta hai?" Yuvi said when he realized that the kiddos were now gone for a long time.
"Jake check karna h kya? " Mahi asked and at the same time there was a knock on the door and it opened to reveal Rohirat with the snacks.
"Zindagi bhar ke liye snacks laye ho kya? " Yuvi asked as he saw the two bring in a lot of snacks.
"Ha" Rohit answered as Virat just grinned sheepishly.
"Kaunsi film chose ki h? "
"Lights out. Ranking badi achi h. Jaldi aa jao. Horror film h. That's fine right, Virat?"
"Yes, absolutely." Virat said after a second's pause.
Rohit settled himself between Mahi and Yuvi while Virat sat next to Mahi. Mahi put the blanket on all four of them.
Virat was struggling to open the juice can. "La idhar, mein kholke deta hu. " Yuvi said as he was the only one who saw him struggling with it. Soon they were all immersed into the movie. The movie was about a woman who had a friend who had an skin diseases in which if she came out in the sub, she would literally burn. So this friend died and comes back to haunt the other woman's family. (Trust me, the movie is actually good. I suck at descriptions.)
Ro, Mahi and Yuvi were not feeling scared cause they had seen even scarier movies with the whole of Ict but poor Virat was flinching and squealing with every jump scare. Mahi looked at him. He looked so vulnerable. He quietly put his arm around Virat and pulled him into a side hug to which Virat responded by cuddling more closer.
"Should I stop the movie? " Yuvi asked seeing that.
Virat shook his head. "Nahi...." he just did not want to appear as a scared cat in front of his seniors. Mahi and Yuvi turned back to the screen. The little yells that Virat was letting our was really sad to hear. But they wanted Virat to tell for himself that he was done with the movie . Yuvi looked to the side again and saw Virat really close to tears and felt bad. He looked at Ro to see that he was already sleeping.
"Are, Shana to so gaya! Hame bhi so jaana chahiye! Virat-"
"Yeah I'll leave. Thank you for the movie night! Good night! " Virat said as he jumped out of the bed before the other two could say anything .
Rohit woke up around the same time.
"Arre movie khatam ho gaya kya? "
"Haanji. Aapka neend kaisa raha" Yuvi asked sarcastically.
"Amazing!" Rohit replied cheekily. "Virat kaha gaya?"
"Woh apne kamare me sone chala gaya " Mahi bhai replied.
"Main paani peeke aata hu" Ro said as he left for the dining room. As he went there, and turned on the lights, he saw Virat literally trembling where he was standing and hugging himself.
With Rohirat -
"Virat! Kya hua tujhe? "but Virat was not in a position to answer. Rohit slowly made Virat sit on a chair and winced when Virat flinched. He quickly took two glasses of water and made Virat have one. He finally saw some colour reappear on Virat's face as he slowly rubbed his back.
"Kya hogaya tha tujhe ? And don't you dare say kuch nahi!"
"Woh, I'm scared of horror movies and darkness. Bachpan se.... " Virat replied ,his eyes tearing up again. He had totally made a fool out of himself in front of his idol.
"Arey pagle! Toh bolna chahiye tha na! We could have watched another movie!"
"I did not want to ruin it for you!" Virat hiccuped.
"You wouldn't have. I was already sleeping
. Now come on, get to bed. It's late. "
"Mujhe nahi sona" Virat said with a pout.
"Aise kaise chalega? Come on, I'll take you to your room." Rohit said as he led Virat to his room.
"Mujhe nahi sona please." Virat pleaded. Rohit looked at him . His eyes were drooping but he was scared to sleep and felt like he should do something.
"You're scared that something will come and hurt you? " there was a small nod.
"Listen, I'll sit here till you sleep and keep all the bad things away yeah?"
"What about after you go? " Virat asked vulnerably.
"Kuch nahi hoga. Now be a good boy and get on the bed." Virat complied and Rohit pulled up the comforter up till his chest and slowly patted him to sleep. Once he was sure that Virat was sleeping , he left the room.
With Mahiraj -
"Mahi, phirse kya soch raha h? "
"Nothing, just this Virat boy seems very familiar. There is something about him that just makes me feel connected to him. "
"I know right! I felt the same during the movie. "
"Sachin pa said he's 17 right? " Mahi asked all of a sudden.
"Ha. Kyu? "
"You remember mama was pregnant when that Rathore killed her? If that kid had been born, that kid would have been 17 now. That b*stard didn't only kill one person of our family that day, he killed two and I'm never gonna forgive him got that. "
"I agree Mahi! I was recently talking with Vikas bhai and Vishal bhai. They said that they were really close to tracking this Rathore down."
"Hmm" Mahi said and right then, Ro came back into the room.
"Oye itne der kaha tha be? " Yuvi asked.
"Woh Virat ko neend nahi aa rahi thi toh main uske saath tha. " Rohit answered as he took his place in the centre.
"Aur ab kaha h woh? "
"Apne kamare me. Maine usse sula diya."
"Are waah Shana, you're becoming responsible." Mahi Bhai and Yuvi pa teased.
"Kya bhai! " Rohit whined as he cuddled close to his brothers and slept.
But Mahi couldn't sleep. He kept thinking of the day he and Yuvi had returned from the boarding school thrilled with the news that they would now have a new baby sibling only to know that their mother along with the baby were dead.(more info in the next chapter).
He saw that both Yuvi and Ro were sleeping so he quietly got out of bed and walked to the garden. He stood there for sometime staring at nothing. That day still haunted him. That's way he had promised himself hell keep his rest of the family safe no matter what.
That's when he heard someone crying. He went near the swings to see Virat crying, sitting down and hugging himself. Mahi felt a sting in his heart and quickly went towards him.
"Virat?Kya hua" he asked as he approached him.
"Kuch nahi" Virat answered. He was mortified. Now all three of them would surely think that he was weak.
"Acha, so you're crying in the garden in the middle of the night for no reason, yeah? In this chilling weather without a jacket? " Mahi asked sarcastically.
Virat didn't answer. Mahi sighed. "Rohit was boasting that he made you sleep. Kya hua?"
"He did! I just couldn't sleep" Virat said.
"Chal andar! You'll catch a cold." Mahi said as he extended his hand for Virat to take. But Virat was so numb after sitting down for so long that his legs trembled under him but luckily Mahi Bhai caught him and held him tight.
"Chal mein hi lejata hu" he mumbled as he carefully carried Virat into the house and their room.
Yuvi and Ro had already woken up when Mahi walked in. "Oye kaha gaya tha? " Yuvi asked and then saw Virat clinging on to Mahi shivering. He cursed himself for showing the movie to the kid.
"Bas idhar hi garden me"
"Main toh tujhe sulake aaya tha na, fir tu kaha se aagaya"
"Sorry, couldn't sleep."
"Toh sidhe idhar aa jata na? Bahar jaane ki kya zaroorat thi? Dekh you're freezing now... Kal thak cold ho jaega." Mahi scolded gently while Virat just pouted.
"Oye yele, yeh hoodie pehen." Yuvi said as he made Virat wear his really warm hoodie which came till his thighs for him.
Mahi finally took his position on the bed ( the middle), Yuvi on the right, Ro in the left and Virat on top of Mahi . All three of them hugging the new kid and Virat slept with smile on his face. All four of then covered with the blanket
That's how the seniors found them when they came late in the night. They just caressed everyone's hair and let them sleep peacefully.
"I think they will get along well " Jammy Bhai said as they came out of the room.
"Of course they will."Sach pa and Dada replied and they truly believed that.