Did You Know Me? (Shubman Gill x Ishan Kishan)

What it means

Ishan was undergoing the most serious dilemma he had ever had to.

His flight was being called for boarding, and Shubman's phone was switched off. The idiot must have forgotten to charge it. Ishan wouldn't be surprised.

What had he meant? Was he actually coming to the airport? What could possibly be that important?

And his parents would be waiting to celebrate the end of his birthday with him. He couldn't just...miss the flight. When it was quite possible he'd misunderstood Shubman's words and had no way to cross check.

'Okay, who's taking everything as a joke now?'

But would Shubman refer to their most serious and most heartbreaking fight in vain?

No, he would not.

It had to mean something.

"Final boarding call for Indigo flight to Patna..."

Ishan closed his eyes and decided to trust his friend.

He turned away from the boarding gates and walked out of the airport.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour late, Ishan was heartily regretting his decision.

Obviously he had misunderstood what Shubman had been trying to say, and his flight had taken off, and he'd had to lie to his parents he'd missed it by accident. He wasn't sure Raj had bought it, but come on, missing a flight by accident was far more believable than missing it deliberately.

He figured he might as well start making his way back to the hotel. Then he'd give Shubman a piece of his mind, a richly-deserved one, mind you, joking all the damn time...

"Ish!"

Ishan whirled around to find something like a tornado colliding into him in the name of a hug.

"You waited!" shouted Shubman, jubilantly.

"You came," said Ishan wryly. "I thought I'd got you wrong..."

"Well, you didn't." Shubman pulled him around one of the coffee stalls just outside the airport and looked around to see if anyone was within earshot. "And it's very important you don't get me wrong now either, because...because it's...very important."

"All right?" said Ishan, astonished.

"You see..." Shubman paused.

Why did he sound so nervous?

"When you and I weren't talking, everything felt worthless to me," began Shubman again. "Even...even the World Cup."

"Yeah, well, it was the same with me," said Ishan, frowning.

"And, and it's like I can't live without you." Shubman sounded like he might faint from nervousness. "You're all I think about, all the time...you're everything to me..."

Shubman reached for Ishan's hand thrice before he managed to take it in his and intertwine their fingers together. Ishan looked down at their hands and up at his friend again. He did not know what to say.

Well, it was Shubman's duty to do the talking anyway, he was the one who'd made him miss the flight...

Shubman went on, sounding less nervous now.

"And...I've realized how blind I've been. Harry bhai and Surya bhai helped me see."

The way Shubman was looking at him made Ishan's heart jump and then race, but he forced himself to stay quiet. Somewhere, he was terrified of overstepping again by taking Shubman's jokes seriously. 

"See...see that I," Shubman fumbled, "I love you, Ishu."

In what sense? Ishan shouted inside his head. 

Why had they made 'I love you' so common for them?

"I'm...in love with you," amended Shubman. "And I...I hope you know...know the difference."

Ishan gazed at Shubman silently.

He'd never felt so hopeful, but he'd never been so scared either. If this turned out to be false hope, it would kill all hope inside him forever.

"Won't you say anything?" asked Shubman, his eyes so melting and beautiful that Ishan's breath caught in his throat. "You're-you're in love with me too, right?"

"You know I always have been, Shubi," whispered Ishan, almost inaudible.

"I've also always have been," Shubman whispered back. "Just...didn't know it."

"So," said Ishan. "What does this mean?"

Shubman closed his eyes and opened them again. Suddenly, he was dangerously close. Ishan had to stop himself from backing up against the wall of the coffee shop.

"What...what exactly do you want?"

"Guess?"

Shubman bent down slightly till their faces were level. If Ishan could look away from his friend's eyes, he would probably have been gazing at his mouth, but so long as Shubman's eyes were fixed on his, he could not look anywhere else.

Ishan let go a shaky breath as Shubman caught his head and closed the gap between them. Ishan turned his head the last second, gasping.

"If you're doing this because you haven't thought it through, get the hell away from me, Shubi."

"Ish," Shubman's whisper sent vibrations down Ishan's ears. "I had two whole hours in Delhi's traffic to think it through."

"Well, you can be stupid enough-"

Ishan was cut off very effectively by Shubman's mouth.

Then they were kissing for real.

And once again, Ishan could give it no name but...

Bliss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This time, they might have pushed it beyond their lung's power.

Even without the drinks, Shubman's head was light and knees were weak when they broke apart, gasping.

Ishan's searching gaze made Shubman's skin burn.

"There," he said shakily. "Now you know what it means."

"Unless you're doing it as a joke." Ishan winked.

"God," said Shubman. "Will you stop giving me the joke line?"

Ishan smiled.

Shubman could swear the universe stopped.

"You know," said Ishan, tracing a line along Shubman's neck and drawing his face close again. "I don't think I will."