Cherié ( Ishman Ff )

chapter 9 : Truth

Ishan drove off shubman's house and stopped his car a few miles away from his house in a nearby cafe.

He glanced over at shubman whose eyes were teary and lowered down. Ishan felt a pang in his heart seeing his shubman like this.

He shrugged off his thoughts and got out of the car walking towards shubman's side , He opened the door for shubman and gently got him outside the car.

Both of them walked over to a very secluded corner of the cafe and sat beside each other. Ishan ordered a cup of coffee and chocolate chip pancake for both of them as he very well remembered shubman telling him that he likes pancakes.

The order arrived and they started eating . He tried talking to shubman but shubman would remain shut most of the time.

Shubman hadn't met his eyes ever since that incident in the car and was terrified to make eye contact even now.

Ishan understood that shubman was overthinking, he knew that shubman was scared.

"Shubman, sweetheart ,talk to me "
Ishan tried to have a conversation with him.

"Are you okay , bubba ? Please tell me " Ishan asked again and shubman scratched his collarbone , something
he did when he was scared. Abhimanyu and Malini would always punish him if he did that.

Shubman was surprised at how ishan didn't force him or hit him after he did something like this . When he looked at ishan , he saw genuine concern and love in his eyes.

"I...I am ....sorry ishan , i shouldn't have behaved that way , please forgive me . I won't repeat that again . " Shubman said.

"What for sweetness , You have nothing to be sorry about darling , you did nothing wrong " ishan answered him gently .

"I shouldn't have freaked out that way , I am sorry , really. " Shubman responded still not ready to trust ishan .

"It's ok bubba , it was not your fault" ishan said in a calm tone making sure he doesn't scare the poor boy .

" Hmm , thanks ishan " shubman replied and lowered his eyes .

" Sweety , why were you so scared , does someone do something to you ,
Do you mind telling me if you are comfortable "Ishan asked shubman trying to dig out the truth .

Shubman's lips wobbled , he wanted to tell the truth to Ishan but feared the warnings Abhimanyu had given him.
He wanted to protect himself .

"Shubman , you don't have to be scared of anyone , I promise. No one can do anything to you " ishan asked , his tone calm and still.

That was it , he broke down into fits of tears and ishan softly wrapped his arms around him and engulfed him in a hug . While shubman was crying , ishan frequently rubbed his back and let him vent.

It was almost half an hour and shubman's cries had subsided into sobs.

He looked at shubman's state , red puffy eyes , tears on his cheeks and a fearful expression on his face .

Shubman was way more calm now and was still in ishan's arms where
He felt safe. Safe was something shubman hadn't felt in the past 9 years . It was a foreign feeling for him . Shubman felt safe only with his father before he died in a car accident and left the 12 year old shubman with Malini and Abhimanyu.

When shubman finally came back to his senses , he realised there was someone's hand on his back , he jumped out of fear but then relaxed when he realised it was Ishan .

Wait Ishan , this  means that ishan didn't leave him alone when he was crying , instead he took care of him . He looked at ishan with teary eyes while Ishan smiled at him.