Destined hearts (Ishan x Shubman)

3.

Ishan hummed softly as he walked through  the streets, the gentle evening breeze brushing his face, making his slightly longer hair sway a bit.

He smiled, stepping into his favourite library. The comforting smell of books filled his senses, providing him with a sense of calmness.

"Good evening," He quietly greeted the librarian, smiling at her.

The old lady kindly smiled back at him.

He walked further into the place. He always loves coming to this specific library that is quite near to his house, whenever he has time. Reading the words on pages, being lost in the different worlds of books, letting his mind wander freely with imagination, it always calmed him down whenever he was feeling anxious about something and helped him escape the reality for a while and forget everything else other than what he was reading.

He stepped into the paranormal section, searching for the vampire book he wanted to read for a while now. These different supernatural creatures had always seemed fascinating to Ishan, specially vampires. He often wondered if they are real. Do they exist or ever existed between the humans? If yes, then how were they? Dwelling into different books to possibly find the answers to these many questions seemed like the perfect thing to do in his free time. The fact that he had taken up the course of Parapsychology this year was like a cherry on the top for this reading obsession of his.

He scanned through the shelf, finally spotting the book he was looking for. As he was about to pick it, another hand grabbed it at the same time.

"Hey, I've been wanting to read this for a while-"

Ishan spoke, turning towards the person before he trailed off, noticing who it was.

"Oh, dimple boy?!!" Goodness, what is up with these coincidences? Ishan wondered.

"Hey!" The guy exclaimed, as surprised as him.

"Why do we keep bumping into each other?" Ishan chuckled before playfully adding, "Are you stalking me or something?"

The guy grinned, "Oh, how did you know?"

"I know everything," Ishan narrowed his eyes, "Be careful, I might break your face."

"Ouch, not my handsome face," The guy mumbled, dramatically hiding his face from Ishan's sight.

Ishan chuckled quietly, "Oh, by the way, I remembered we still don't know each other's name. Hi, I'm Ishan," He said, forwarding his hand for a handshake.

The guy smiled, his dimples poking out as he shook Ishan's hand, "Hey, Ishan, I'm Shubman, It's really nice to meet you."

"Vaise, I really wanted to read this book," He added.

Ishan glanced down at the book, both of them were still holding the book, their fingers brushing together by the action, "Me too," He mumbled.

Shubman gave him a small smile, "It's okay, I'll read it someday later."

"Or we can read it together?"

"Really?" Shubman smiled, "Thank you so much."

"No problem. Come,"

The both went and set on the table beside the window, gentle breeze blowing through the window caressed their faces.

"Do you read paranormal stuff often?" Ishan asked.

"Yep, I do. It's very interesting, specially vampires,"

Ishan hummed, both of them getting engrossed into reading the book. Shubman often found himself staring at Ishan as the latter talked about his knowledge on the topic of vampires and other supernatural stuff. Since the time he first saw him, he felt oddly enchanted by the man. And the fact that they kept meeting each other again and again seemed something more than just simple coincidences. He couldn't understand the way electricity had run through his body when he had offered Ishan his hand to help him up and how his heart picked up pace whenever Ishan's fingers brushed his while turning the pages of the book. His hand that badly itched to brush the strands of hair falling on the man's forehead confused him, he had never felt anything like that before.

"Shubman, Shubman, where are you lost?"

Shubman snapped out of his thoughts by Ishan's voice. He looked down, his face heating up in embarrassment as he realised Ishan had caught him staring.

Ishan chuckled, "I know I'm handsome but you don't have to downright stare like that."

Shubman looked back at him, rolling his eyes, "Don't flatter yourself too much, sweetheart."

-

They walked out of the library after a while.

"Are you new in the town?" Ishan asked.

"Yeah, just moved here a week ago," Shubman replied. Before Ishan could say anything more, he heard Shubman's stomach grumbling causing him to chuckle nervously.

Ishan smiled, "Are you hungry? There's a cafe nearby, we could go grab something to eat."

"Wait, are you taking me out on a date? Already?" Shubman joked, grinning.

Ishan laughed out loud, inviting some glances from the people passing by. He looks beautiful while laughing. Shubman thought, his heart warming up a little while looking at Ishan's laughing face.

They walked to the cafe, settling on the table beside the window and placed their orders. Ishan smiled, looking outside the window. They could see the sunset from here, the sky painted with beautiful hues of orange and pink as the sun descended down the horizon.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Ishan whispered, his eyes glued to the mesmerising view.

Shubman blinked, his eyes focusing on Ishan instead. The soft sunlight that fell on his face through the window, made it seem like he was glowing, every detail of his face shining with the soft light or maybe just naturally. The way his lips curled up in a soft smile, his beautiful-beautiful eyes that seemed captivated by the pretty, but not more than him, scenery, Shubman would agree without any hesitation that this is the most enchanting sight he've ever seen in his whole life.

"It is," Shubman whispered back, his eyes also glued to his mesmerising view.

Ishan looked back at him, startled by the intense gaze. Once again he found himself getting lost into the other's dark brown orbs, they always seemed to captivate him, rendering him of all his senses about his surroundings and only allowing him to  focus solely on those beautiful eyes. He could already feel his heart thumping loudly in his chest, ready to jump out if it was possible.

"Here's your order, please enjoy your food,"

They were snapped out of their daze by the waiter bringing their order. They looked back at each other after thanking him, both of their cheeks painted scarlet.

"Oh, this looks good," Ishan mumbled, grabbing his cold coffee, probably to break the awkward air surrounding them. Both of them soon eased up into their conversation as they ate, already feeling like they know each other since ages.

"Bye, Shubman, it was really nice to meet you. Hope we bump into each other again," Ishan smiled, turning around to leave, that same strange hesitation engulfing him again.

"Me too," Shubman mumbled to himself as he watched the other leave, his eyes watering even without his knowledge as his heart felt like a part of it was snatched away again even before it had  the chance to reunite with it completely. He exhaled a shaky breath, physically feeling the ache spreading throughout his heart.

Ishan looked back to wave at him and a smile involuntarily made it's way onto Shubman's lips despite the tear that slipped down his cheek.