Ishan was waiting for his uber ride because his designated driver ditched him at the last minute.
It was pretty late when he landed in Delhi. Last night's celebration and the very late flight he took right after had him tired to his bones. He just wanted to take a warm shower and hit the bed.
But nothing was going as planned, the driver was taking forever to come, his 'roomie' was not picking his calls and he had no idea where his spare keys were.
Thank God his ride arrived exactly when he was starting to curse his roomie for being this difficult over trivial things. He asked the driver to make haste and in record time he reached his apartment complex and was standing outside his apartment door.
He rang the door bell twice.
No response.
Called his roommate and rang the bell again.
No response.
He stood there ringing the door bell for five minutes straight. If this made him a public nuisance, he is ready to be one right now.
The door opened to a very annoyed but least bit sleepy Shubman on the other side.
Without uttering a word Shubman turned around and walked towards the living room where the tv was on with the Netflix home page.
"You were sitting here staring at that", he gestured to the TV "and couldn't open the door after the first two times? At least after I called you"
Shubman was now scrolling through his stories with a stoic expression on his face and not acknowledging Ishan's presence.
Ishan huffed while walking towards the kitchen for a bottle of water. He knew the reason for Shubman's behaviour but in all honesty he was not going to give him the satisfaction of being the first one to talk about it.
'I will just go take a shower and sleep, if he wants to talk he better do it himself. I'm not going to prompt him'
Ishan was in the middle of taking his towel and necessities out when he saw Shubman walking towards him. He shook his head and continued searching for his Pjs.
"Ho gayi teri maun vrat? Ab tujhe baat karni hai?"
He turned around when he heard the bathroom door shut and lock.
Ishan was this close to kicking the door down and strangling Shubman if he didn't come out.
"Abey teri problem kya hai?"
"Using the washroom is a problem now"
"You could have used any other washroom in this house when you knew I was going to take a shower"
"How was I supposed to know that?"
"You know my routine after a flight like the back of your hand Shubman so get out now!"
Hearing his full name Shubman knew Ishan was really pissed at him. So he didn't try his luck much longer and unlocked the door.
Ishan went in with the resolve to kick Shubman out. But when he saw the pout on his face his resolve crumbled.
'Okay okay I'll give into this but I'm not going to be the first one to talk', he finalised.
Arranging his clothes on the wall hanger he went towards the sink to wash his face. He could see Shubman looking at him and sighing occasionally with that ever present pout.
He was starting to unbutton his shirt when the sighing became so loud that he couldn't ignore him anymore.
"Baat kya hai Shubi? Tu kuch bolega nahi toh mujhe pata kese chalega?"
"Mujhe Shubman mat bulaya kar"
"I just called you Shubi" Ishan said exasperated "Why are you changing the topic?"
"You called me Shubman earlier"
"Tab me naraz ta"
"Naraz mat hua kar"
"How can I be not angry? You haven't picked up my calls since yesterday morning, you didn't reply to a single text I sent you, you didn't come to pick me up when that's how it has been since forever, you didn't bother to even look at me let alone talk to me since I walked through our bloody door" his voice rose a few decibels.
Shubman now a little guilty walked towards Ishan and sat on the counter facing him.
"That's because you said you'll be back by yesterday but you weren't here when I came back"
"I sent you a million texts why, you read every single one of them and replied to none."
"I was going to call you after boarding the team bus."
"But you did not. May I know why? ", Ishan asked with a single raised eyebrow.
"That's when I saw your post on Instagram"
"And?"
"And what? I didn't wanna call you anymore."
"Why do you think it's a valid explanation for your behavior since yesterday? You saw my post and didn't wanna call me anymore like that clears everything. Were those pictures a turn off for you? Sorry but if you didn't notice that was my brother's birthday post"
"It's not about that", Shubman grinned a little before saying "By the way you were so pretty in them"
"Oh god then what was it!", Ishan borderline yelled.
"Caption"
"Caption? What about the caption?"
"What not about the caption?", Now it was Shubman's turn to yell.
" Shubi I honestly don't know what you're on about", he sighed. "It's either I'm so tired that I can't see it or you're not making any sense"
" You wrote 'love of my life' in the caption"
" So what? "
With that expression on Shubman's face Ishan knew he said something wrong before Shubman screamed.
"SO WHAT? YOU'RE ACTUALLY ASKING ME SO WHAT?"
"Shubi calm down please and without screaming tell me what's actually bothering you"
Ishan used his soft voice only reserved for his Shubi and it worked like a charm.
"Who is the love of your life?"
Shubman stared at Ishan with a murderous look when he took more than five seconds to answer.If looks could kill Ishan would now be a dead man.
"You are?"
"What!? Why did you say it like that?", Shubman's face went from confusion to a look of realisation and he gasped.
"Are you cheating on me!"
It sounded more like an exclamation than a question. This had Ishan panicking. Therefore he rushed to his own rescue.
"I'm not cheating on you. Where do you even get these ideas from?"
"You took a long time to answer my question and you said it like you weren't sure. Why wouldn't you be sure if there weren't others. Oh my god! I'm so stupid I didn't even realise it"
Now Shubman was close to tearing up and Ishan was panicking again.
"Meri jaan"
"Don't 'meri jaan' me. Go call my sautan meri jaan"
"Meri to ek hi jaan hey, aur vo meri samne meri paas khada hai", Ishan said sliding between Shubman's legs and pulling him closer.
"Sachi?"
" You have to trust me on this love"
" But you have so many people swooning over you everywhere you go. Look at the way they're looking at you like you hung the moon or something. Why would you settle with me when you can have anyone you want"
" What! You don't think i hung the moon when you look at me?", he teased as it was a topic that pops up every time ICT was together and had Shubman blushing.
"I do think so and I'll continue looking at you like that forever. But that's only for me" he said stubbornly. Ishan knew Shubman would probably stomp like a kid if he was standing.
Ishan took Shubman's face in his hands, caressing his cheeks with his thumb fingers and said,
"The whole world can look at me however they want but I got eyes only for my gorgeous, handsome, sexy and jealous boyfriend"
Shubman was blushing red as a tomato. Ishan leaned in to kiss him on the lips but Shubman stopped him at the very last moment and pushed him a little.
"Are you denying me kisses now?", Ishan asked with a fake surprise and a hand over his heart.
"I'm still not over the fact that you captioned 'love of my life' to someone else's picture"
"That was my brother Shubi!"
" Still, you could've written anything but that"
" That was the only thing I could come up with at that moment"
" What will people think when they read it? That I'm not your love of my life"
" Who are these people? ", Ishan asked shaking his head.
"And people did think so. Did you see all the comments under your post and the posts on other fanpages?", Shubman continued ignoring Ishan.
" For the matter of fact I did not see any of those because my boyfriend was being a pain in the ass over silly things"
" It's not silly for me! How would you feel if I put up a picture of someone with 'love of my life' as caption? "
" That's my brother! He is not just someone"
" You know what" he jumped off the counter and pushing Ishan towards the shower he said,
" Shower and come out soon I made you dinner"
Ishan grabbed his wrist before Shubman could slip out of the bathroom.
He was about to tease his boyfriend for his below average cooking skills but stopped at the last moment.
Shubman gave him a 'don't you dare say a single word about my cooking' look and Ishan knew better, for the sake of his well being and the future of Indian cricket.
"Okay I'll be quick but don't I at least deserve a kiss for all the worrying you put me through?"
"For all the worrying? Don't be so dramatic it was just one day"
Ishan stared at him.
"Okay maybe not one day, two days? But it was not like you left in the middle of your brother's birthday celebration. You took your sweet time and came a day later"
" You can't be serious right now", he said incredulously.
" I called and texted literally every other person on the team who was in South Africa. I called your sister, I had to call Dilip sir at one point because y'all were on the field and you left me on read! How did you even get hold of your phone while you were on the ground?", Ishan asked in disbelief.
" Why do you have every other team member's number?" He questioned.
" Shubi we both are in a group chat where there's like thirty three or so memebers of ICT", Ishan was getting tired of pointing out the obvious.
" And that's all you heard from the whole paragraph I just said"
" I was a little angry that you called every other player. Every time they pass me or see me they'll go, 'Ishu tujhe call kiya? Uska missed call hai' like you'll call them and not me"
Shubman scoffed and spoke in an animated voice " and they'll go 'Uska text ayata bol rahe te tumhara phone nahi lag raha' Do they really think you don't text me? "
Ishan now knew for sure it was not just the caption that was bothering his boyfriend there was definitely something more.
" Shubi is it really the caption that had you worrying or is it something else? Sach sach batana"
Shubman was looking everywhere but at Ishan.
He quickly pecked Ishan on the lips and slipped through the door closing it behind him.
Ishan whined how he didn't even feel a thing and Shubman needs to come back and give him a proper kiss.
But he knew his best friend of eight years and boyfriend of six years more than he knew about himself. Therefore he did not miss how Shubman had dodged the question and pecked him just to escape.
"No worries I'll dig it out of him myself"
He took a quick shower and changed into Shubman's t-shirt and sweats.
Tbh he is not sure if this was actually his boyfriend's or his. They have been sharing clothes since day one, it's hard to distinguish them anymore. But it has never been a matter of concern for both the parties involved.
He was hit with the delicious aroma of butter chicken the moment he stepped out of the room.
'Wow did Shubi really make that', he wondered.
"Arrey wah kushboo to badiya hai, serve me fast please I'm famished!"
With a sheepish smile Shubman pushed the plate towards him with a bowl full of impressive butter chicken and not so impressive lachha paratha. It would have not been an issue if they weren't round but parathas that looked like burnt paper were a bit unacceptable.
Ishan didn't have the heart to let his Shubi down by pointing it out so he proceeded to break a piece out of it and dip it in the curry.
Shubman who was ready to be teased about his cooking skills couldn't believe his eyes. He knew how bad the parathas were. They didn't just look bad they tasted horrible too. So he grabbed Ishan's hand and asked him to drop that piece on the plate and took it away ready to dump it all in the trash.
"Butter chicken kyu kachare me dal rahe ho? Dikne me to koyi problem nahi hai."
Shubman brought the plate back to the counter, took the parathas and threw them in the trash.
"Now we'll have to eat just the butter chicken"
" Nah we have a loaf of leftover bread in the fridge", Ishan remembered.
To Shubman's surprise there really was a loaf of bread. He toasted a couple of them and sat down to eat.
"Shubi yeh butter chicken tune banayi?"
"Can't you say by just looking at it I didn't make it? I tried making parathas the keyword being tried."
They both laughed at his poor cooking skills and continued eating.
Midway through their dinner Ishan brought up their earlier conversation again.
" Shubi sach bata tu mujhse itni naraz kyu ta?"
Shubman stopped eating for a second just staring at his plate, he suddenly got up and left the kitchen.
"Shubi you can't keep doing that you'll have to tell me now or later. I'm not letting it go until I know the reason"
Shubman was back now standing opposite Ishan scrolling through his phone then he sat down and pushed his phone forward. Before Ishan could overthink he took the phone and the first thing he saw was a tweet.
"You might wanna scroll down and read the rest too"
Ishan was going through the thread and grinning a little remembering all those moments he had with his dear brothers and Shubman. He was a bit so engrossed that he did not see Shubman scowling with his arms crossed over his chest.
"This is so cute!", he said with a chuckle.
Ishan gave him the phone back and he lifted his head to look at a very quiet Shubman. The expression on his face made him stop smiling and ask,
"What about this made you upset?"
" You don't find anything wrong with it? They are literally comparing my love with others on the team!"
When Ishan didn't say anything he continued.
" Instagram, Twitter, YouTube shorts, anywhere I go, all I see is content about your team members being obsessed with you" he exhaled
"And the next time I see Mayank or Tilak near you or anyone trying to flirt with you I'm gonna hit them with my bat", he said with an ultimatum.
Ishan had his eyes wide open and mouth agape. Was Shubi actually being serious? He did look like he'll do exactly what he said.
" See this one, it says 'you are like a Veela and can charm or make anyone fall in love with you'. Oh look at this ' you're collecting Indian cricketers like infinity stone'. This one pissed me off the most 'Shubman nahi hai toh kya hua, Ishan can have anyone he wants' "
Shubman continued reading through the tweets but Ishan had stopped listening and was staring at his beloved boyfriend who had let his insecurities win and was overthinking even about the little things around him.
He got up, took both their plates to the sink and washed them. By this time Shubman had stopped reading the tweets and was looking agitated.
"Come on get up, let's go wash our hands and go to bed", Ishan said walking towards the hallway.
Once both had settled on the bed with the duvet covering their lower body, Ishan turned towards Shubman who was already looking in his direction and said,
"Meri jaan, I don't want anyone but you. Haven't I made it absolutely clear over the past years or was I a lousy lover? Haven't I loved you enough that you still can't trust me with others? Did I always make you feel like that?"
Ishan couldn't believe he had failed his boyfriend all these years and made him feel he's just someone he will replace the first chance he gets.
Shubman climbed over Ishan, straddling him and cupping his face. He made Ishan look at him straight in the eyes.
"Don't you dare doubt your love for me. I have been overwhelmed at times with your care and concern when we are with others, which I absolutely adore by the way. But never felt like you didn't love me enough"
" But-"
" It wasn't your fault Ishu, please believe me. I was spiralling with thoughts after my poor performance in the test series and I missed you so badly"
" I missed you too"
" The tweets didn't help at all, you know how I get affected by all these" Shubman sighed.
"I should have stopped right when I saw a tweet where they called you the sautan in Virat bhai and Anushka bhabi's marriage"
" What!? "
" Yeah", he chuckled. " You should see others you're either the sautan or the devar of every other ICT couple"
" What am I in the Shub-Sara relationship? ", He asked a little sad.
" Aww my baby don't worry your fans got your back. Sara is the sautan in our relationship"
Ishan couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud and seeing Shubman's mirth, he pulled him down and kissed him properly. Until their lips met they didn't realise how much they missed it and how long it's been.
Which began as a slow display of love turned fervent very quickly. Shubman's lips descended, leaving kisses along their path on his jawline, behind his ears, the crook of his neck, and his collarbone.
He slowly lifted his head while tracing Ishan's abs under his t-shirt.
" I'm so sorry for being dramatic and making you worry Ishu"
" I'm sorry too for if i ever made you feel like I prioritise our teammates over you"
" Shut up Ishu don't even think about it and just accept my apology"
" Apology accepted"
" And-"
Ishan waited for Shubman to continue but he was looking at Ishan with anticipation. So he prompted,
" And? "
"What! you're not apologising?"
"I just did and you asked me to shut up about it"
"Not about that but the other one"
" Other one? "
" The caption. You have to apologise for captioning 'love of my life' on someone else's picture and not mine"
" For the last time Shubi that's my brother and I'm not apologising for it"
Shubman took his hands out from underneath his t-shirt and was getting off of him when Ishan grabbed his thighs and stopped him.
"Okay okay I'm sorry for using the love of my life for my brother and not just you"
Shubman grinned while removing Ishan's t-shirt.
" Now promise you won't caption it on any other picture until and unless it's mine"
" I promise. Now please shut up and get on with it", Ishan begged.
With a victorious smile Shubman removed his shirt and put his hands and mouth to work.
Ishan was the first one to wake up the next day. It was near noon but still quite dark inside the room as the curtains were drawn. Shubman was tired from all the hard work last night and sound asleep.
Ishan took his hand that was on his waist and intertwined them. He took a quick picture and uploaded it on Instagram stories with the caption 'the real love of my life 🙈😘'
He knew there would be a whole fiasco over this single picture. Speculations on who it was and some trying to prove it was Shubman or if it was someone else. But he was not going to think about any of the consequences now, he'll worry about them later.
It was during their late brunch Shubman saw Ishan's story and the smile he had on his face made it all worth it.
-Fin-
P. S. Neither English nor Hindi is my first language so please ignore the mistakes 👉👈
Inspiration: The n number of tweets my best friend sent me day and night.
Sreeya: hey did you see this?
Me: No?
Sreeya: Sends 10+ screenshots.
Me: 😱 keep 'em coming.
Sreeya: Sends 20+ screenshots.