Patience is Waning

Part 3 - After

Ishan woke up the next morning feeling like a truck had run over him. Ugh!! Why did he drink? He's a sportsman he should know better. He groaned and tried to stretch. That's when it hit him that he wasn't the only one on the bed. He was lying on Shubman Gill to be exact. Not really something that doesn't happen once in a while. The said man was shirtless, well that was unusual but nothing to take note of. Then he noticed he was shirtless too. Ok weird, he doesn't do that often. On further inspection he noticed that he was not just shirtless. Hmmmmmm. Ok that's definitely weird. He tried to peep under the sheets, oh wow.. Shubman had no clothes on either. Ok time to panic.

Before he could lose his mind. He heard a lazy voice.

"You done?"

Ishan flinched realizing Shubman was not just awake but also aware of what he was upto.

He met Shubman's gaze which was unreadable but he was staring at him unblinkingly.

A fleeting memory of Shubman's intense gaze from the night before came into forefront. They had kissed just after and it was no mere kiss either. He looked away, willing the memory to go away and his heart to calm down.

"Don't stare, bro"

"Don't bro me Ishan. Not after last night"

Ishan flinched again. He didn't know how to deal. All he knew was he and his best friend had done things way out of best friend category and were now currently lying on each other with not a shred of clothing. Thank god for the duvets that safeguarded their modesty.

"Gill, not now. I need to go to the bathroom, just close your eyes."

When he next looked at Shubman, he had indeed closed his eyes. He slipped away, wore his shorts then rushed to the bathroom.

He stood with his head rested on the bathroom door. He felt himself trembling. What had he done!! What had they done? He had not even acknowledged to himself that he was bi. Was Shubman aware of his own sexuality? He definitely seemed more chill than he felt. Ugh whatever!!

Forget sexuality, he had not felt as alive as he did last night. He was so into Shubman. Damn., he had never been so intensely attracted to another human being as he had been to Shubman. He was so screwed. They were friends, best friends.. team mates, room mates. What they had done had probably messed up every possible equation.

The right thing to do was to talk to the other party. He was aware. However, the desire to not talk and run was too overwhelming right now.

He took a quick shower and went out. Shubman was watching him quietly as he went about his business. He could feel a shiver run down his spine. He was being a coward, he knew it. He just didn't know what to do about it.

"I'm really hungry. I'll see you at breakfast"

It was fine. It should be fine. It would've been fine if it were normal for him to leave Shubman and go for breakfast. The thing is, it wasn't. He can count on one hand the number of times he had left Shubman "because he was hungry."

Shubman had not said anything. When he went to open the door he felt a little disconcerted but also very guilty. He turned around to look. Shubman was gazing at him with such intense loving eyes that he almost felt his legs give out.

He found himself waving to him which was stupid in retrospect. As he walked out of the hotel room, he wondered, why did he wave?? What was he, a politician? a diva or a 5 year old going to school?

If he were only stupid, he would take it. But he didn't think he would be such a coward as well. After everything he had been up to he had the audacity to run away from Shubman.