fade into you | shubman gill x ishan kishan

from far away

it was the middle of chemistry class, on a friday afternoon. shubman was absolutely delirious, the heat and the boredom of the day getting to him. he was zoning out of the window, when the teacher cleared her throat.
'class , i'd like you all to meet our new student. his name is ishan kishan. i hope you treat him well' she said with a smile.
a boy, with bright eyes and an even brighter smile walked in, not a trace of hesitation in his eyes. shubmans own face lightened subconsciously, his own being being drawn to the short boy with fluffy black hair and earrings.
'hi, i'm ishan!' he smiled.
'why don't you tell us about yourself ishan?'
'hmmmmm. i play cricket, and i'm 17, and i love getting piercings' he almost yelled out. shubman wanted to run up to him, grab his hands and put them at his chest, make him vow to be at his side forever. but he did none of the sort, because that would be weird and dramatic, so he went back to doodling in his notebook, as he kept note of ishan, who made his way to the back of the classroom. shubman quickly noticed with acute dread that the only available seat there was the one next to him.

'can i sit here?' he asked, already pulling out the chair before shubman could nod.
shubmans whole body tensed up as he felt the heat of the boy so close to him. the class went by quietly, and the second the bell rang to indicate lunch, shubman had raced off, although he could hear a voice in the back of his head telling him to wait.

the rest of the term went by like this. ishan would sit next to him in all their classes together, and shubman would promptly leave as soon as the lesson was over. ishan had tried to stop him, but shubman could not deal with letting himself talk to the boy with the softest eyes he's ever known. he couldn't allow himself to fall for a guy who he didn't know the sexuality of. he couldn't put himself through the rejection and the desperation.
but ishan was like a magnetic force, and shubman found himself drawn to him. the way his eyes squinted with concentration at the maths problems, his hair blowing gently in the classrooms draft as he tapped the end of the pen to his rounded chin. he would wuietly observe him, but never get close enough to talk or to touch him.

at the end of the term, a terrible summer day, ishan walked into the maths classroom as always. shubman sensed him walking towards the desk, anticipating him to sit down. however, after a moment of lingering, ishan swiftly turned on his heel and sat at the other end of the classroom. shubman almost yelled out to him, to ask him where he was going, and why he was going away from him. but he bit his tongue, his eyes growing heavy with worry. was ishan finally sick of shubman? was shubman not talking to him finally gotten to ishan? did he hate him?

as the painful lesson ended, shubman tried to approach ishan, gathering all his courage to speak to him and ask him what had happened with their seating arrangement. but, he found ishan walking to the door, not sparing him a single glance, animatedly talking to his friend. his friend was another boy named mayank, a moderately popular and good looking guy. shubmans insides coiled with unease, as he watched ishan slip his arm into mayanks, a smile adorning his lips. a smile shubman hadn't been the reason for.

the rest of the week proceeded this way. ishan would not make eye contact with shubman, sitting with mayank and aimlessly talking about something. shubman watched greedily as ishan would laugh and place a hand on mayanks chest, leaving the other boys eyes wide and lust blown. now, shubman wasn't an idiot, he could see the way mayank would eye ishan hungrily when he spoke and when he laughed, and it made shubman absolutely delirious.

on monday afternoon. after a particularly horrible day, where he had spilled his food in the canteen, tripped on his own shoelaces, and been particularly bored at lunch sitting with his friends, while he zoned out, shubman decided he couldn't take this anymore. a week without ishans presence had made his life absolutely miserable, and he didn't think he could take any more of it. he decided to talk to ishan as soon as class was over.

after ishan came and sat down, they began their usual banter, the two apparent friends. shubman watched as mayank leaned into ishans body, placing a hand on his knee and whispering something in his ear. he watched as ishan tensed up, his body stuff and eyes huge. mayank pulled away, knowing exactly what effect he had on the other boy. a pleased smile spread across his very punchable face. shubman almost saw red.

when class finally ended, shubman raced up to ishan tapping him on the shoulder by the door.
'could i, um, speak to you?' he asked nervously.
ishan had this look, which shubman couldn't deduce as confusion or excitement, as he quickly nodded yes.
shubman gave a small smile and led him into a deserted janitor room.
'so, we haven't been sitting together anymore' shubman started
'and i just wanted to say, i liked sitting with you, even though i didnt always show it' he said, drawing circles onto the carpet with his foot. he was too paranoid to look at ishans face, but if he had, he would have seen a delighted smile growing on the boy.
not hearing a response, shubman panicked.
'but it's like, totally up to you who you sit with. i'm not telling you to sit with me, it's totally your choice. yeah, i just wanted to say i'm sorry cause like i don't talk much and-'

'of course i want to sit with you, silly!' ishan interrupted. shubman finally looked at him with shock.
'and i knew wanted to sit with me too. i could tell. you've been staring at mayank and i like a creep the last week'
shubman blushed furiously, embarrassment creeping in.
'i just wanted you to talk to me. and to tell me you wanted to sit next to me. the silence was peaceful, and i liked sitting there just observing you, but i wanted to get to know you. can we?'
'can we what?' shubman asked. because his brain had short circuited ever since ishan had subconsciously admitted that had been staring at shubman.
'can we get to know each other?'
'of course' shubman said, relief easing his body.
suddenyl, it didn't matter if ishan was straight and he's be at least a little bit heartbroken whenever he would be with him, because at least he would be with him.
ishan smiled back, and tentatively played with his earrings, an action shubman found himself zeroed in on.
'let's go' he said, leading them out of the room.

—- • • • ——
UMM i'm not too sure abt this one but i think there will be a part two coming. please let me know if you would like that or if i should just scrap this and choose a different storyline altogether. ALSO 1.3K???? THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! do comment more because i seriously do not know if you guys are enjoying this or if i should do different plots!!!!!