As soon as the practice for the day was over, Rahul rushed to his room, doing his favourite thing these days—overthinking!

He has been continuously slipping off his form and last series had been terrible for him. And the frustrated fight he had with Athiya before leaving India wasn't helping at all. All he wanted right now was a break from everything.

Mayank sighed as he entered the room and saw his best friend sitting gloomily. Rahul has been behaving all tragically since the last series, and of course, his fight with Athiya. He couldn't take his best friend being all crestfallen and overthink about his own potential like this.

Mayank sprinted to Rahul and literally started dragging Rahul out of room.

"What are you doing??" Rahul asked, perplexed at being dragged out like this.

"Taking you out." Mayank said.

"I don't want to." Rahul said, annoyed, turning back.

"I'm not asking you." Mayank said as he pulled back Rahul, who could almost fall by the sudden pull. "I'm telling you that you're coming with me."

"I don't want to go anywhere, Mayu." Rahul said.

Yeah, you just want to sulk alone instead—Mayank thought—which I won't let you do!

Instead of saying this, Mayank just rolled his eyes at him and said, "I need to do shopping for myself so you're coming to mall with me."

"Shopping? Are you serious? We just can't roam around in mall like that." Rahul said, turning around again to walk back.

"We can!" Mayank said pulling him back again. "It's England, not India."

"Still I don't want to go." Rahul said hastily.

"You have to come!" Mayank said dragging a protesting Rahul again.

So finally after lots of struggle Mayank did while dragging his best friend, he and Rahul stood in Mayank's favorite showroom.

Ah—let's make it showrooms! One showroom has never been enough for him.
-----------------------

Two hours later, Rahul kept on sulking sitting on a couch in one corner of the third showroom they have visited since, as Mayank kept on trying the heaps of clothes that had ultimately crashed in Rahul's arms.

Wondering why?

Because, being a best friend, Rahul is obviously expected to hold all the clothes Mayank keeps on choosing as the 'best' one.

Rahul rubs his temple as a throbbing pain hits his forehead. Who in the heaven's name invented this whole freaking shopping thing?

I just can't hold these anymore! No sooner Rahul was about to throw the clothes, Mayank barged out of another section wearing one white t-shirt and holding other two white ones in either of his hands.

"Which one is looking better, K?" Mayank asked to Rahul, completely oblivious to the fact that his attempts to cheer up his best friend are evidently pissing him off instead.

Rahul raised his eyebrows after looking at him and t-shirts in his hands.

"Mayu, stop kidding me, okay? All three of them are white. What's there to choose?" Rahul said in frustration.

"Of course, there is! There are different things written on each one of them! Have a close look, K!" Mayank said bringing the t-shirts closer to Rahul's face.

Rahul shook his head in disbelief. Why? Why? Why did he come to bear this torture? And why the hell did he end up with the most stupid best friends?!

"Come on, K, tell me which one is better!" Mayank said.

"Argh.." Rahul scanned the three different white t-shirts as Mayank called them, reading what's written on them.

"If you can see me, my invisibility cloak isn't working.... How genius of Harry Potter's fan to print this one!

"Knowledge is not always power, untill it's used in exams.... Like seriously?!

"I was innocent, then I got a best friend.... Well, why does it sound so relatable?!

Rahul moved his head to and fro as he looked at his best friend and then at three so called different t-shirts Mayank held.

Has his best friend lost his sanity?! Who the hell chooses t-shirts with something like that written on it?!

He shook his head as he read them again. May be he read wrong! After reading it for the third time, when he got confirmed that what he had read first was right, he finally looked at his best friend in disbelief again!

"Choose one fast!" Mayank said waiting for his best friend's approval.

"Seriously, Mayu? How can I choose when I don't like any of them? They look so—" Rahul glanced the t-shirts again, trying to find perfect word to describe. "—er, stupid! Just go for the plain ones."

"Harry says the truth." Mayank rolled his eyes at him. "You're so boring, Rah!"

"You can find something better." Rahul said drily.

"Everything written in here has a charm of itself, K! You just need to use the eyes of your brain." Mayank said.

Seriously? Eyes of the brain?!

Rahul got up from the couch, grabbed Mayank's hands and started pulling him along himself.

"Rah! Rah, listen! We can at least choose one of them, please!" Mayank said pulling Rahul back.

"Can we please stop this pulling game, Mayu?" Rahul said.

"Okay! But at least choose one of them!" Mayank said dramatically.

"No!"

"Please!"

"No!"

"Please!"

"No way, Mayu!" Rahul said briskly.

And there comes the hurt face and the puppy dog eyes!

Rahul sighed before letting his head fall back on the couch and mumbling a "okay". Why can't he say no to that face?!

"You're the best friend ever, K!" Mayank said joyfully.

"Choose fast!" Rahul chuckled seeing childish antics of his best friend.

"Okay, so how about the Harry Potter one?" Mayank said.

"No!"

"Then this one?"

"No!"

"And this?"

"No!"

"You again rejected all three of them!" Mayank said offended.

"Er—" Rahul glanced back at the t-shirts and decided that it was useless to say that 'okay' to Mayank. "—these are all rejected, Mayu."

"Then?"

"Let's get you some decent clothes wearing which I'll allow to come in public with me." Rahul mumbled as he again dragged his best friend along him.
----------------------------------

After hardly half an hour, Mayank and Rahul were sitting in their room with Mayank finally having some decent t-shirts with him. 

Rahul wondered what they were actually did for last two hours when it actually took hardly half an hour?

He rubbed as his temple as his forehead pain increased multiple times by the time they got back.

Mayank, being clueless about it, thought that his trick to get his best friend's mind off things for some time worked pretty well.

"You could buy something for yourself too, K!" Mayank grinned at him.

"Yeah, as if we had the whole night to spend there!" Rahul snapped.

"But they had nice collection, K!" Mayank said eagerly.

"Will you please leave me alone for sometime, Mayu?" Rahul said. His ranting and his headache has irritated him enough.

"What? Here, I'm trying to tell you how nice the showroom was and—" Mayank started.

"Will you please shut up for a while?" Rahul cut him off, a bit harshly.

Mayank fell silent hearing that tone of him. "What happened, K?" He asked slowly.

"Nothing, just leave me alone." Rahul said hastily.

"I didn't let you stay alone so that you don't overthink for the whole day and now you're asking me to leave you alone?" Mayank said putting an arm around him. "How many times do I need to remind you that I'm never gonna leave you alone?!"

"You just irritated me for the whole day and now I've terrible pain in my head." Rahul accused with a rare rudeness in his voice, not comprehending anything that Mayank was saying due to headache.

"I just wanted to distract you for a while!" Mayank said in a offended tone.

"You don't understand anything, Mayank!" Rahul said shoving off Mayank's arm.

"I don't understand anything? Seriously?" Mayank asked eyeing him.

"YES!" Rahul said, scowling as much as he could.

"You are just unbelievable! I wanted to cheer you up and that's why I did everything so that you don't start overthinking again!" Mayank said defensively.

"Just leave!" Rahul said, not looking at Mayank.

"I won't!" Mayank said being stubborn.

"Fine!" Rahul said getting up angrily and throwing menacing looks at Mayank. "I'll go!"
----------------------------

Rahul walked off the room and made his way to Virat's room where Virat was probably talking to Anushka when he entered and Virat hastily cut the call.

"Virat, please leave the room." Rahul said as soon as he entered.

"For your kind information, this is my room you just walked into." Virat rolled his eyes at him.

"I know and that's why I'm asking you to leave." Rahul said drily.

"What's wrong with you, Rahuliya?" Virat chuckled.

It's not everyday you see a fuming Rahul entering and asking you to leave your own room!

"Everything!" Rahul said sitting on the bed. "Now leave me alone!"

Virat raised his eyebrows at him before going and sitting beside him.

"Don't tell me Mayu and Harry pranked you again?" Virat asked jokingly.

"I don't want to talk about him." Rahul said ruefully.

"So he did prank you!" Virat said gleefully.

"No!" Rahul snapped. "I'm having a bad headache. Will you please shut up?"

"You're having headache?" Virat asked turning serious.

Virat got up and went out of room. He returned with a glass of water and painkillers in his hand.

"Here, have it." Virat said giving the glass of water along the painkillers to Rahul.

"I don't need." Rahul tried to refuse.

"Rahuliya, don't argue with me. Take them fast." Virat said plainly with a straight face.

Rahul took painkillers from his hand and gulped the water reluctantly while Virat smiled to himself listening to Rahul muttering something like "Always bossing around me..."

"I've legal rights to boss around you, Rahuliya. I'm four years elder to you!" Virat said smugly.

"Just four years!" Rahul rolled his eyes.

"Stop speaking and lie down. You should sleep, you're having headache." Virat said ignoring Rahul's statement.

"I'm not sleepy." Rahul protested.

"I'll massage your head. You will get sleep." Virat made Rahul lie down and started pressing his head, sitting beside him.

"Virat, it's not.. " Rahul tried protesting again.

"Stop speaking." Virat ordered.

Why is he so stubborn? Virat thought while he gently pressed Rahul's forehead and Rahul had finally closed his eyes.

After some time when Rahul felt a lot better, as he opened his eyes he saw Virat yawning.

"Virat, you can sleep." Rahul said holding Virat's hand.

"Huh—I'm fine." Virat said freeing his hand and continued to press his head.

Rahul didn't protest.

"Why were you so worked up, Rahuliya?" Virat asked casually.

"Mayu!" Rahul said ruefully.

"So I was right. You two fought again?" Virat asked smirking.

"I think it was me who fought this time!" Rahul mumbled.

Yes, may be it was me who fought this time!

But.. But.. it's always him who fight so what's wrong if I did once?!

"So what happened this time, Rahuliya?" Virat asked making Rahul come out of his thoughts.

"Nothing!" Rahul said wearily. "I asked him to leave me alone but he won't."

"I know he wanted to cheer me up but he could have left when I asked him to but no! He always has to do opposite of what I say! Firstly, he took me to some stupid showroom only to choose those super stupid t-shirts and then he kept annoying me! Idiot!" Rahul ranted half angrily, half whinily.

"If he had left me alone, I wouldn't have shouted at him!" He added dolefully.

Virat smiled as he could visualise a similar scene with him being at Rahuliya's place ranting similar things few years back. He misses his midnight rantings to Mahi Bhai!

"You don't leave him alone either when he asks you to, Rahuliya." Virat pointed out.

"Yeah but only at times." Rahul defended.

"May be this was one such time for him too!" Virat said shrugging.

"Yeah but—" Rahul started.

"Let's drop the topic, Rahuliya. I'm super sleepy." Virat said quickly before Rahul could speak anything.

"Uh, okay." Rahul agreed.

"Then sleep." Virat said.

"I'm sleeping only. You need to sleep." Rahul said gesturing at himself lying down on bed.

"Yeah so close your eyes too and stop talking." Virat said keeping his hand on his eyes as to close them.

"Stop, Virat, I'm not a kid!" Rahul protested.

"Good night, kiddo!" Virat said as Rahul closed his eyes.

"Don't call me kiddo!" Rahul said with his eyes still closed.

Virat chuckled. Rahul dozed off real soon due to the effect of painkillers he took. Virat was about to get up when he noticed Rahul gripping his hand tightly in his sleep as if not wanting to let him go.

Virat smiled and kissed his forehead very lightly to not disturb his sleep.

"I won't go anywhere, kiddo!" Virat mumbled to himself stroking his hair. "Never gonna leave you alone!"

"Virat?"

Virat looked up to see Mayank standing at the door.

"Yes, Mayu?" Virat asked casually.

"Umm.. I—I came to ask if Rahul is here?" Mayank said trying to sound unbothered.

"Yeah, he is. But why are you sounding concerned?" Virat asked with all the innocence.

"No, I was just—" Mayank began hesitantly but stopped as he caught Virat giving teasing smile.

"Stop feigning innocence." Mayank said drily. "Did he sleep? He had headache!"

Why was it almost impossible to not be concerned for your best friend even if he is being a complete jerk?

"Yes, he slept." Virat said clearly being able to hear the concern in Mayank's voice. "And don't worry, I gave him painkillers."

"Only you could give! Meri toh sunta nhi hai.. Idiot!" Mayank muttered.

"He was just in awful mood." Virat smiled as he could visualise a similar scene again.

"Because of me may be!" Mayank mumbled to himself but Virat heard anyway.

"No, not because of you!" Virat said quickly.

"Huh?"

"Nothing! Don't worry about him, Mayu. He would be fine. Go and sleep." Virat said.

"Can I sleep—" Mayank began hesitantly.

"Sleep here tonight?" Virat asked noticing him.

Mayank nodded.

"Of course, you can! We would fit in easily!" Virat said looking at half of the empty bed as Rahuliya just snuggled closer and closer to him in his sleep.

"Thanks, Virat!" Mayank said happily.

Mayank slipped beside Rahul from other side and Virat settled down at the corner only with Rahul snuggled in his lap and gripping his hand with a pillow behind his back.

It might be uncomfortable but there was no way Virat was going to shove that kid and not let him sleep holding his hand if he wanted to.

Virat could stay in that position for his whole life if his Rahuliya wanted him to! If his kid wanted him to!
______________________________________

A/n

Hey everyone!

After long time! I was awfully busy with my final exams and now that it's finally over I'm celebrating it in my own little way! 🤭

INDIA WON THE SERIES AND WE ARE IN WORLD TEST CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL!!! It just couldn't get any better!! This team never fails to give me more and more reasons to love them and be incredibly proud of them! 😭❤️

And Rishabh completing his century with a six and Virat running towards balcony to celebrate it was one of the best things I saw on TV lately! So so proud of him!! ❤️

Also, I had kept my fingers crossed for over half an hour for Washi's century but looks like so much happiness in a single match isn't granted! 🙃

And why do MayHulRat reminds me of MahiRoVi? Anyone else who can relate??

Do tell me how was it!

Hope you guys liked it!

Love ❤️