Because You do Matter (A Jassi-Hardik Friendship Fanfiction)

Part 2

When Natasha woke, she had to look all over the flat for Hardik, and finally found him and Jassi squashed in the corner of the gift room.

"How'd you two even fit in there?" she asked drily as they came up and Hardik enthusiastically introduced Jassi to Natasha.

"Can you get my laptop please?" said Hardik, sounding exceptionally courteous to Jassi.

"Sure, but why?"

"We have to play Anagram Magic!"

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So they were playing Anagram Magic for quite a long time, of course talking a lot in between, because they were seeing each other after so long.

Natasha came in and said, "I'm bored. Do you two want to go to the DJ party down the street?"

"A DJ party in the afternoon?" asked Hardik, his eyes gleaming.

"Yeah...and a few of my friends from back home are going there too...well?"

Natasha quite obviously assumed that any friend of Hardik's would love loud music and parties (and who could blame her?), but Jassi didn't, and he glanced at Hardik, hoping he'd decline.

Hardik, of course, had too less sense for that.

"Yes let's go! Jassi, you can borrow one of my jackets, because quite obviously you can't go in this thing!"

"What's wrong with my jacket?" demanded Jassi, who was a little disappointed but nevertheless didn't want to deny Hardik anything.

"A whole lot of things are wrong with this jacket," said Hardik dismissively, and started dragging Jassi to his wardrobe.

Natasha sent Jassi an empathetic smile that said I know how it feels to deal with this idiot.

Jassi decided that he liked Natasha very much.

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But at the party, Natasha introduced Hardik to her friends, and as Hardik got hell bent on impressing them with his (fake) decent behaviour and (attempted) quiet humour, Jassi got more and more disgruntled.

He had come for less than 24 hours, and did Hardik have to devote so much time to these stupid stuff--couldn't he just stay with him and talk or play Anagram Magic or do anything...

The loud music of DJ parties always messed with Jassi's brain, and he started having visions of the future, after he and Hardik had stopped playing cricket--Hardik would stay at social events all the time, Hardik would stay only with Natasha and Jassi would hardly ever get a chance to talk to him.

Clearly Hardik liked Jassi's company only when they were in the same team because parties and stuff were out of the question then. Clearly they would drift apart the moment they stopped sharing a dressing room 12 months a year (for India or MI). Clearly Hardik didn't value him even a little bit, because if he did, why would he ignore him when he had come from NZ to London overnight just to meet him?

And though Jassi wouldn't admit it even to himself, his annoyance was mingled with a lot of hurt, and he wished heartily he hadn't come at all.

It was nearly evening when they returned, and Hardik asked an upset Jassi wickedly, "Do you think Virat will be mad if he got to know you spent 7 hours at a party in the middle of a tour?"

Jassi froze.

Virat bhaiya.

He rushed to his bag and pulled out his phone and switched it on.