Rewrite the Stars | A Ruturaj Gaikwad Fanfiction

Distance (Mahati's pov)

FC Kundra Gardens, December 2028 (Present)

Mahati gazed down at her yellow hands, feeling too lazy to move from the podium of the haldi ceremony even after everyone else had left.

"I've heard if you don't wash your hands, they will permanently become this colour," came Rutu's laughing voice above her head.

"Stunning GK, Rutu." Mahati looked up and saw that he had cleaned all the haldi from his face. She moved over to let him sit.

"Sprite?" he said, offering her a plastic cup.

"Are you sure it's just Sprite?"

"I opened the bottle myself," said Rutu, grinning.

The sun had risen high into the sky by now, bathing the whole place in bright light. Rutu's face seemed lit up from within, too. But Mahati still felt cold from inside.

"Are you scarily happy just now?" she asked.

"Scarily happy? No...I don't think so," said Rutu, frowning.

"Good omen. I was scarily happy during the haldi of my wedding and look how that ended." Mahati shook her head.

Rutu moved closer and put an arm around her. She moved a little closer, too, till they were leaning against each other.

"I thought you might be thinking of that," said Rutu. "But you know why I think that happened? Wonderful things are waiting for you in the future."

The affection in his voice sent a warmth through her which even the afternoon sun couldn't.

Considering the distance she had once imposed between the two of them, this was a privilege.

..............................

Mumbai University, December 2022 (Past Flashback 11)

Nothing was ever the same since that eventful day, 15th of October, 2021. 

Till the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the end of 2021 was going on, things could still be called going okay...Aditi, Rakesh and Mahati watched the matches of Maharashtra together in Hotstar. Rutu gave them much to cheer that season, even if he could not get his team to qualify.

But things were not truly normal.

Rutu, unlike his previous domestic tours, did not come to meet them at every tiny gap he got off, something that bothered Mahati more than she would care to admit. On top of that he and Aditi were growing closer than ever; however bad that night of her grandmother's death had been, it seemed to have cleared the way for her and Rutu...

 Mahati, almost against her wishes, started resenting them both. Since the events in Dubai, she was thinking of Ruturaj all the time, and he seemed to be spending all his free time talking to Aditi because she had told him she loved him.

What kind of creepy behaviour was that?

"Creepy?" Rakesh repeated with a laugh when she told him. "You're calling Rutu creepy? He's the least creepy person in the universe."

Of course, Mahati knew that perfectly well herself.

"They certainly seem to have forgotten we were a group of four once, not two," said Mahati dourly.

"Come on, MC, Rutu calls us all the time," said Rakesh.

"Does he?" said Mahati sarcastically.

"It's not his fault if you've blocked him or archived him or whatever."