Love on the Pitch

Platonic Love

April 24, 2021

"But that's not how it works shubhi" Sara exclaimed getting up from the bed and moving towards the night table to grab her hand bag making shubman a little startled who was still in his Kolkata knight Riders jersey and was lying on his stomach, his right hand supporting his head while he stared at sara wide-eyed, he hasn't seen her so angry before.

"Why is it such a big deal for you, Sara? Why does it even matter if anyone knows or not?" Shubman questions with his brows furrowed as he shifts himself on his knees and sits up, genuinely confused, eyes desperately fixated on his girlfriend who didn't even bother to look at him but rather kept looking at her own reflection in the dressing mirror situated beside the night table, gently combing her brown silky hairs with her dainty fingers, her composure not matching the sullenness on her face at all.

She is beautiful, no doubt about that, she looked even prettier today in her floral print white summer dress, however, tears in her eyes were something new to shubman.

"So that I can feel secure about our relationship. What if I ask you the same," Sara retorted, finally turning herself towards shubman before completing her sentence "Why do we have to hide it?"

Her expressions woeful, shubman tried to read into them more, disappointment and hurt was all he could find which made his heart throb in an unknown guilt.

Having no answer, Sara sighed closing her eyes for a couple of seconds, it had always been like this.

"It has been a year, shubman" she sorrowfully breathed out.
"I don't want to be your secret anymore, I want the world to know that we belong to each other. How am I making it a big deal, huh?" She asserted as a tear dropped down her cheek which she promptly wiped.

Shubman just gaped at her being speechless with scrunched up expressions. He was exhausted mentally and physically, this is not what he was expecting after playing for 3 hours straight only to get beaten by Rajasthan Royals by 6 wickets and then get into a huge argument with his girlfriend.

He got to his hotel room as soon as possible after getting Sara's text, happy that his mood could finally be uplifted. They were in fact having a great time until Sara bombarded him with questions about making their relationship public.
He wasn't ready yet, his heart just never allowed it. He liked to keep things private and he had explained his perspective to Sara multiple times. They sure had this conversation before as well but he didn't imagine it to go so downhill this time.

The sound of the door opening interrupted them as both looked toward the same direction getting introduced by ishan who happened to share the room with shubman.

"Oops, am I disturbing you guys? I'm so sorry, I had no idea, I-I should have knocked" Ishan rambled in one breath, hastily getting out and closing the door again.

"No, it's okay, I was leaving anyways" Sara stopped him halfway through as all the perturbation on her face was replaced with a warmest smile. She had always liked Ishan, he was such a good friend and a good human, his innocence and kindness reflected in his eyes and actions.

Ishan looked up at her from the door handle, returning her a gentle smile and opening the door fully for her as a courtesy which she accepted and walked out without sparing shubman a single glance.

Ishan's gaze followed her before looking in front and finding his bestfriend's drooping face. Shubman wearily slumped down on his bed, his mind in chaos, he couldn't think clearly.

"Hey, is everything okay?, Tera muh kyu latka hai?
Ishan inquired closing the door behind himself and moving forward to sit on the bed beside Shubman.

"Kuch theek nahi hai yaar, match haar gye, Sara se bhi ladai hogyi" Shubman dejectedly replied, still not looking up at him.

Ishan let out a soft chuckle as he held Shubman's face with one hand, making him look up and giving it an affectionate tug, "Are toh tu aise kyu udas ho raha hai jaise duniya khatam ho rhi ho, harna jeetna toh chlata rehta hai. Aur ladai kis baat pe hogyi Sara se?"

"Usko public relationship chahiye yaar", Shubman exasperated while removing Ishan's hand and lowering his face again.

"Mere ko samajh nhi aati yeh baatein, wo nhi chahti ki ab humara relationship secret rahe. She feels insecure ki sab nahi jante humare baare mein. She wants people to know ki we belong to each other but I want to keep it private, mai ready nahi hun abhi" Shubman expressed meeting Ishan's understanding gaze. His eyes so puppy like that they melted Ishan's heart who ticked his tongue at his bestfriend's foolish yet adorable rant and rolled his eyes with a smile lingering on his lips before looking back at Shubman.

"Tum dono hi apni jagah theek ho yaar, wo bhi hurt hogyi hogi bechari akhir tu usko kabse deny kar raha hai iss cheez k liye. Uska iss baat pr bura manna jayaz hai or yeh toh achi baat hai na ki wo tujhse itna pyar krti hai that she wants the world to know, pyar se sort karega toh wo samjhegi. Agar wo insecure hai bhi toh usko secure feel karana is your duty. Relationship goes hand in hand, uske perspective ko bhi samajh or uski feelings ki respect kar."

A mellow relieved smile finally appeared on Shubman's lips, his eyes still tired though, "Karta hun yaar, bhot respect karta hun, I love her afterall"
Right, the words hit Ishan like a truck once again, realisation striking him. He always felt a little jealous ever since Shubman got into a relationship with Sara, but it was unusual.  Best friends weren't supposed to feel this envious of each other's partner.

It was wrong, even though he wasn't with Aditi anymore. They broke up a few months ago, things didn't work out. Ishan just wasn't feeling it and ended it himself after coming to the conclusion that it was unfair to both, him and Aditi, more to Aditi comparatively. He wished he could have Shubman all to himself once again–No, not again, 'stop thinking like this', he tried halting his thoughts.

His love for shubman was totally platonic, absolutely brotherly, friendly and platonic, right? Right?
Although, he didn't let the mayhem within him show on his face and veiled it with the serenity of those deep eyes of him and a constant grin.

Shubman sighed before adding further, "Tu sahi kehra hai, mai mana lunga usey."
Ishan reciprocated a tender smile before he heard the other one saying,
"Thank you, tujhse share karke hamesha sab theek hojaata hai."

It made Ishan chuckle yet again, as he head locked Shubman making him laugh as well, "Saale thank you bolta hai"

Their giggles and laughter echoing in the room, after wrestling for a minute they ceased.

"Bass kar yaar, chord" Shubman huffed pushing Ishan away who despite being out of breath kept breaking into small laughs as he let go off Shubi's collar and settled down. Both catching their breaths before having another glimpse of each other which caused them to break into one more fit of laughter.

Quietening down again Ishan found Shubman crawling toward him as he laid his head on Ishan's lap and hugged him tight from the waist like a baby, "Ishu, I m so tired" he whined causing Ishan to chuckle once again as he fondly caressed Shubman's back and gently kissed his hairs, his heartbeats suddenly losing the rhythm.

"You stink, nahale jaake, fir chalte hain neeche dinner ke liye, everyone must be waiting", Ishan composedly said as if his heart wasn't going crazy.

Shubman picked his head to have a boring glance at Ishan and huffed before lazily getting up and walking toward the wardrobe.

Ishan watched him grab a towel, his gaze not leaving Shubman until the other one disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Ishan in his deep thoughts once again.

Right, he doesn't have any stupid feelings for his best friend, only his stupid rapid heartbeats want to tell him otherwise which is stupid because they tend to do this very often lately, there was no reason to feel this way, it couldn't be real.