A Love Twice Told (ishman) (shubish)

Meetings And Greetings

The following day, as Shahneel had predicted, Ishan's parents along with his brother and sister-in-law visited Shubman's place. His family had been preparing for their arrival since the day before. Just when Shubman thought he had seen everything, he was surprised to see his sister making a special effort to welcome the guests. He wondered if she was okay.

Shubman sat on the living room sofa and watched his family bustling around the house doing chores. The doorbell rang twice, but no one paid any attention. After exchanging glances with his family, Shubman reluctantly got up to open the door. When he did, he found Ishan standing there. Their eyes met, and Ishan smiled, leaving Shubman momentarily breathless.

Shubman hadn't seen Ishan up close yesterday and now he regretted being the one to open the door. He was stuck on the spot and really wanted to step aside to let Ishan inside, but his feet just wouldn't move. Shahneel fed up with her brother's antics, pushed Shubman aside and asked Ishan to come in.

Ishan entered the house and gave Shubman a heartwarming smile. He smiled back, but that made Ishan's eyes look sad for some reason. Shubman wanted to ask Ishan about it, but Ishan was pulled into a conversation by his father. Shubman realized that Ishan's family would be here until noon. After a good 30 minutes, Ishan was left unattended just like Shubman, and Shubman's family restarted whatever shenanigans they were doing before.

"Hello. I couldn't speak with you yesterday. It seems like we know each other very well," Shubman tried to start a conversation. There was a shine in Ishan's eyes when he saw Shubman initiating a conversation with him, and Shubman felt this urgent need to protect that shine forever. "We do, actually. We were best friends." The use of 'were' bothered Shubman a bit too much. Why was everyone hell-bent on using the past tense?

"Aren't we still best friends?" he asked, making Ishan smile sweetly at him. "Yes, Shubi, we still are best friends. It's just that I didn't know if you would still want to be my best friend. Sorry." Shubman wanted to punch himself for any reason why Ishan would be thinking like that. "I am sure I would always want you to be my best friend, Ishan. My family doesn't act like this with any of my friends. You have to be someone special."

Was that a blush on Ishan's cheeks? Shubman thought that it was the most adorable thing in the world. He was going to say something when the doorbell rang, interrupting their blissful bubble. When his sister opened the door, it revealed four people and a toddler. This was presumably Ishan's family.

Shubman got up to greet them when the toddler ran towards him, smiling happily. That smile reminded him of Ishan a bit too much. "Shubman chachuuu." And with that, he jumped into Shubman's arms. Shubman caught him but looked at his sister, searching for answers. "He is Viraj, Raj Bhaiya's son," Ishan added helpfully. "Viraj, come to Chachu, come on," Ishan tried to take Viraj from Shubman, but that child just refused to budge. Shubman just smiled at the gesture. He was practically clinging to Shubman for dear life while Ishan was struggling.

"No, it's fine. Let him be," Shubman said while he went towards Ishan's family. With Viraj still in his arms, Shubman bent down to touch the feet of Ishan's parents and take blessings from them. They weren't shocked at this gesture one bit. It seemed like he did so often enough for them to not be surprised anymore. "Kaisa hai beta?" his mother asked Shubman. He just smiled at her and nodded his head.

They were all soon settled in the living room, and the air was lively again. Shubman was just looking around, happy about having such amazing people in his life. Ishan was still trying to get Viraj off Shuman, but that child was too stubborn. "Shubman Chachu, when will you revisit our house?" he asked, looking too innocent. "He won't visit if you don't get off of him this instant, Viraj," Ishan said getting frustrated by the situation. How can he be losing against a fucking child?