Shubish- oneshots of two cuties

Drifted apart

(Ishan's dialogues will be in italics.
Shubman's dialogues will be in bold.)

Ishan's pov

15th March 2024
I was supposed to be meeting him after three months today. I didn't know how to feel about it. His plane was supposed to land right about now and I couldn't help but feel nervousness and excitement building inside me, to see him but also a twinge of guilt. I had already been staying here in Mumbai since the DY Patil tournament ended and Shreyas who had arrived a few days ago was rooming with me for some reason.

He had said it was because he'd be bored alone, but I knew it was because of the BCCI annual contract, because Shrey liked to be alone, most of the time atleast. Shrey had been kind of distant from everyone since that news came out, but he felt comfortable with me, maybe because we shared a mutual connection of loss. I had made it my duty to try and make him feel better and stick with him, during these times. So I didn't say no when he had asked to room with me after arriving to Mumbai despite me wanting to stay alone for a bit.

When I heard they had arrived, Shrey and I went to the lobby to receive them. Shubman, Yashasvi, Sarfaraz and Dhruv were there waiting at the reception to receive their rooms. Shrey and I had greeted all of them, and I had received a normal handshake with a half hug from Shub, just like I had done with everyone else. Since we would be leaving for IPL in a couple days, they were only getting a couple rooms among the four of them aswell. While Yash and Sarfaraz shared a room, Shub and Dhruv shared another one. I wanted to room with Shub, like we always used to but with the current conditions I knew it wasn't possible. I couldn't do that to Shrey.

As we all met each other and chatted for a bit, everything felt seemingly normal, only I knew it wasn't, at all. They left after a bit wanting to freshen up and rest a bit before all of us went out for dinner, to celebrate their test series win against England. Throughout dinner, Shrey and I felt kind of excluded. With their conversations and inside jokes which we couldn't quite understand. The both of us knew, they didn't mean to make us feel that way. They were trying their best to make us feel included and tried to explain the inside jokes but it just didn't feel the same as actually living through it all.

Shrey and I tried our best to keep up with them but in the end it turned out to be just us sitting at the edge of the table, whispering to each other and discussing random cricket stats, just the two of us. I kept glancing at Shub from time to time, as I watched him sitting between Dhruv and Yash, laughing and being loud the whole time. He caught me staring a couple times and as we made eye contact I could see his smile dimming a bit but then I would look away before I could notice anything else.

Two days later, with still zero personal interactions with Shub without other people present, I had given up a little. With the already increasing pressure to perform well in the IPL for my team and also for the selections of the upcoming T20 World Cup, which would be even tougher now for Shrey and I since they removed our contract, I hadn't been feeling too well. I had been a lot quieter and didn't smile much either. Everyone noticed but nobody commented on it including Shub.

Shrey, who had been going through similar emotions, of being unfairly removed from the contract, had given me a long tight hug in our room before he would leave for Kolkata. He knew I needed comfort and maybe that hug had probably helped him aswell. We were now all standing in the lobby, some waiting to go to the airport meanwhile others just being there to bid them a farewell.

As Shub was parting with Dhruv and Yash, Shrey looked at me again and whispered,
"Take care and don't pressurize yourself too much, I have faith in you."
I just gave him a weak smile and whispered a, "You too." back.
He pulled me in a hug again and we stood there like that for a few seconds, dreading everything that was to come. I noticed Shub looking at us, as Shrey and I were still in each other's embrace and as we made eye contact, Yash loudly said,
"Agar tum log ka hogaya ho, toh chale?"
Everyone laughed at that, as Shrey and I parted away and I saw Shub chuckling as well but it looked strained.