Shadows Of The Stumps

Chapter - 142 - Fading In & Fading Out

The match was over

But the noise inside Rahul's head hadn't quieted.

He had tried everything—pacing the hotel room, scrolling through his phone, lying in bed with his arm flung over his eyes. Still, sleep didn't come. The happiness of the innings swirled with something heavier. Something stickier.

It was strange.

He had batted like a man possessed—93 off 57. It should've felt like bliss.

But now, in the aftermath, the silence felt too loud.

Athiya had drifted off while talking. Meera hadn't replied. So he slipped on a shirt, walked out into the corridor, and took the stairs up.

He had always been a stairs person.

The terrace was hushed, moonlight bleeding faintly through the clouds. The city below blinked and breathed like it was still awake with him.

And there—of course—was Virat.

Leaning on the railing, staring into the dark, his profile lit by the ambient glow of the city lights. He didn't turn around.

"Didn't think you'd be here, Rahuliya," he said, voice low, casual.
"World's out there celebrating you."

Rahul stopped for a second, caught in the familiarity of that voice saying his name like that. Then walked forward until he stood beside him.

"Have you celebrated me yet?" he asked, half-teasing, half-serious.

Virat chuckled under his breath.

"Does it matter?"

Rahul looked out at the skyline.

"It does to me."

Virat smiled faintly, still not turning.

"Then yeah. I did. Quietly. When you planted your bat into the turf like a damn flag."
He exhaled.
"In my own stadium. I celebrated you, Rahuliya."

Rahul felt something twist and melt in his chest.

He looked down at his feet, unsure again.

"I didn't want to... I mean... I know what this ground means to you. I didn't want to feel like I took something from you."

This time, Virat did turn.

His eyes were calm. Clear.

"Rahul."

Rahul looked up.

"Don't do that to yourself. Not with me."

There was a beat of silence.

Virat stepped away from the railing, faced him fully now.

"You didn't take anything. You earned it. And I was proud—am proud." His voice softened. "You looked free today. Like you finally stopped fighting your own mind. Like you were just... being."

Rahul blinked hard.

"I didn't know if I could anymore. Be that guy again."

"You were better," Virat said. "You were more. That boy from 2016? He didn't have a wife who believed in him the way Athiya does. He didn't have a baby looking upto him. He didn't carry all that and still make it look effortless."

Rahul didn't know what to say.

So he just asked—

"You're not mad?"

Virat tilted his head.

"Why would I be mad?"

"Because it was your crowd. Your pitch. Your team. And I—"