The Prince And The Commoner (Shubman Gill)

~Forty~

With this comes an announcement that the story is coming close to an end 😔😔 to those who have been reading this until now and enjoying it there's only about 5-6 more chapters to go so have fun ig 🥺🥺
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"Hardik bhaiya?" The couple walked into the team room where the boys were in their own groups talking, some of their female counterparts with them. It looked like a fun environment to be in so Shubman led her further in, looking for his bhaiya. More like bhaiyas, most of the ones there seemed to be the little ones, no Rahul (Rahul Tewatia) no Lalagi (Mohammad Shami) no Wriddhi (Wriddhiman Saha). Akanksha hid behind Shubman as to not be seen. She felt shy and weird and felt like she would be judged.

Everyone else who was there seemed to be wearing such nice clothes and she was simply wearing a hoodie and jeans. That too of Shubman, but she just didn't have any hoodies since she didn't think it would be cold. But with the rain that had poured for a few days, it got rather chilly.

So she wore his hoodie.

"Shub, tu udar kya khada hai?" They heard a voice behind them. Hardik Pandya. The two turned back, one in excitement and another in fear of not being approved by them, she knew the bond the ICT had, she knew how important they were to Shub.

As soon as she turned she saw an inviting smile on Hardik and Nataša's face, she melted.

"Akanksha right?" Nataša asked, extending her hand for a handshake.

Akanksha nodded her head, "Hi ma'am." She gave her a kind smile back and shook Nataša's hand.

"Oh please don't call me Ma'am, you can just call me Nat." She denied immediately, "Oh no ma'am how could I-"

"Well why can't you? Look, as far as I know, I feel like I've known you for years." Akanksha didn't understand so Nataša helped her understand by pointing at Shubman.

He had been telling them all about her and that was clear.

He sheepishly scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed.

Hardik laughed, "Akanksha tumhe dekhna chaiye iske chehre pe khushi jab ye tumhare baare me baat karta hai."

"Bhai, ye aap kya kar rhe ho?" Shubman whined. Akanksha looked away shyly.

"Anyways, Akanksha mai iska bada bhai aur team captain, Hardik." He gave her a handshake and she shook it firmly.

"Hello, Sir." She smiled. Hardik rolled his eyes at the sir but moved on to tell her later when she felt more comfortable around them.

(Like I said...not gonna be the funnest conversation because Akanksha is too shy to say anything really...)

Throughout the session Nataša realised that Akanksha was mostly quiet, listening intently to everything Nataša had to say and asked a few questions but only spoke of herself when asked directly. It made her slightly curious about the girl and kind of attached to how good a listener she was. She needed another friend like Anushka and Ritika in her life and that could be Akanksha.

Nataša was just about to ask for her instagram account when Akanksha got a call.

"Sorry Ma'am, I just have to take this call." Akanksha excused herself, moving away slightly to answer the call.

"Hello? Bhai?" She responded to the call. It was Kushal.

"Kannu, hey, tu thik hai na?" He sounded aggitated. He never really called her so randomly asking of her well being as if she shouldn't be well.

"Haan bhai, mai thik hu...kyu? Mujhe thik nhi hona chaiye kya? Aapne kuch kiya kya bhai?" She teased him slightly but when she heard him sigh in relief she stopped.

"Kuch...hua hai kya bhai?" Her voice lowered. She heard murmurs from the other end of the phone.

"Nhi nhi, kuch nhi-" He got cut off by Divya. "Akanksha, tujhe Instagram pe troll kar rhe hai. Shubman ko bhi. Toh please khud bhi Insta pe matt jana aur Shubman ko bhi jaane matt de. Samjhi?" She confusedly stood there before slowly nodding her head. Realising they couldn't see her, she replied, "Ok bhabhi."

As soon as they hung up, Akanksha went to Instagram, she could take the trolls, she thought...until she actually saw them. Someone had taken their photos when Shubman helped her wear the payal.

They said horrible things about her. Some said she was a whore that would sell herself to anyone who is rich or has fame. Some called her an attention whore and some argued that's where Chitra came from. They called her the result of whoring. Even Shubman received the trolls, they called him her slave and insulted him for not having any  'manliness' which meant masochism. The fact that he wasn't ashamed of kneeling in front of her and even touching her feet. And just too many of those comments. They felt heavy on her chest like a tonne of weight being pressed down on her. Her throat collapsed in itself causing her to choke on air. She struggled to take normal breaths as she started hyperventilating. Her fingers trembled to close the screen but as she tried she read some more comments, they were absolutely horrible. Many rape threats not just to her, one of them to Chitra too. The farther down she reached the comments only got worse. Her eyes blurred but she kept it in. She knew in the back of her head Shubman would be distraught seeing her in this state. So she took deep breaths and counted the numbers taking as controlled breaths as she could.

She rushed to the bathroom so anyone who came to find her wouldn't see her in such a state. She knew this was what they had done in the RCB match to Shahneel as well. She even flew to where Shahneel was, staying with her all night and day making sure she was well. And now it was happening to her. But she could take it. She would take it. She was strong. Especially when it was about Chitra. She could stay quiet about herself but not about Chitra. So she would deal with it herself. She didn't want to drag Shubman into this. He would feel horrible seeing those comments. He was completely broken the last time it happened with his sister and now it happened with her too. She couldn't let him feel that way, she didn't want to see him in that broken state again when he was still quite a bit affected by it. He had almost begged her to stay with Shahneel because of how much he feared those comments, luckily she was already in flight when he called her. It reassured him a lot. Having her there.

She couldn't see him in that state again. She didn't want to have to see him like that again. Never again.

She gathered herself in the bathroom. Making sure she looked just like she did earlier and so she walked out. Reaching out in Shubman's bag when Nataša wasn't looking. She needed his phone. She found it immediately and went straight to Instagram. She of course knew his passwords so she changed his passwords quickly. She did the same with some of the other apps. As she was about to put it away...Nataša turned back.

"Akanksha, what're you doing?"

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oops a cliffhanger for one day...