"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY....."

Rahul's hands automatically travelled upwards to cover his ears to save himself from hearing impairment because his best friends were certainly trying to make him deaf.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU..."

"Stop screaming!" Rahul snapped at Hardik who had just mistaken himself to be a great singer.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU..."

"Ask him to stop screaming, Virat Bhaiya!" Jassi demanded to Virat who was just a second away from joining Hardik.

"Or we will be deaf!" Kuldeep agreed too.

"Uh, yeah yeah, I was just gonna do that." Virat said scratching his head, shrugging away the idea of joining in Hardik.

He looked at Hardik and Mayank trying to drive Rahul crazy with their awesome singing talent. He regretted to be missing out such an amazing chance to irritate Rahuliya.

"Ask them to stop screaming, Mahi Bhai!" Virat said turning to Mahi Bhai.

Virat knew none of the two will listen to him right now.

Mahi looked at the two best friends making the third one freak out in frustration on his very own birthday. He did feel pity on the poor kid but he knew his best friends deserved to do this much today at least.

"Harry! Mayank! Stop singing." Mahi said and Virat wished he could start screaming right away.

"Mahi Bhai!" Hardik and Mayank said in unison with please-let-us-continue look.

"He wasn't singing, he was screaming, Mahi Bhai!" Jassi said drily, looking at Hardik who sent back a smug look.

Mahi silently agreed wondering how Hardik could take out the violent mode of Jassi who was so timid with all of them, well, with almost all of them.

"Let us also wish!" Mahi said politely to Hardik and Mayank.

Rahul quickly sent a thankful glance to Mahi Bhai and Mahi returned it with a smile and 'I know' look.

"I deserve that thank you, Rahuliya!" Virat whispered in Rahul's ears making Rahul jump an inch. He was definitely not standing at the same place precisely a second ago!

"I asked Mahi Bhai to ask those two to stop." Virat said and Rahul rolled his eyes at him.

Virat grinned. He knew Rahuliya would do that!

"Happy Birthday, Kiddo!" Virat said throwing an arm around Rahul and ruffling his hair very slightly.

For once Rahul decided to not protest or retort on being called something he definitely considered pretty offending.

"Hope you start behaving like a boy of your age this year, Rahuliya—" Virat grinned at him. "—and remember you're still four years younger to me so behave like one!"

Virat just had the chance to look at Rahul rolling his eyes again before others gathered around to wish him.

"Stop grinning like an idiot, you idiot!" Rohit said as he passed by Virat to wish Rahul.

Virat rolled his eyes at him as he didn't get any chance to reply.

Mahi chuckled to himself as he heard Rohit and looked at Virat. Somehow, he always knows what they will do!

Virat turned to Mahi Bhai grumpily.

"You see, Bhai? It's him who always fights with me!" Virat complained.

Mahi pretended not to hear Virat as he went on to wish Rahul too.

"Happy Birthday, Kiddo!" Mahi Bhai ruffled Rahul's hair as Rahul made him eat the cake and Rahul murmured a 'Thank you' with his mouth full of cake.

"What's wrong with you?" Virat asked when everyone had scattered around, his voice only being audible to Rahul. "You're giving formal smiles."

"What are you saying, Virat? Stop overusing your non existent brain, will you, please?" Rahul muttered, cutting the thinnest slice of cake and offering it to Virat.

"I can clearly see that you're giving formal smiles, Rahuliya." Virat said, narrowing his eyes and keeping the cake back in plate from Rahul's hands. "I told you, you're still four years younger to me."

"I seriously doubt that." Rahul sighed as he picked up the piece of cake and finally made Virat eat it himself.

Virat accepted it without thinking of protesting at all this time.

"Come on, tell me what is it?" Virat demanded.

Rahul averted his eyes.

"I—I miss my family." Rahul mumbled grudgingly. "I haven't celebrated my birthday with them for last five years."

"Ahh, so my kiddo is home sick, eh?" Virat said teasingly and slung an arm around him. "Should I call up aunty and tell her that her baby is missing her?"

"Look, this is why I didn't want to say it." Rahul said offensively, slipping out of Virat's arm hastily.

Virat laughed out, pulling him in for a hug, "Stop wrestling with me, Moi, I know you won't push me so stop your acting." Virat said and Rahul finally gave up, almost hiding his face in Virat's shoulder.

"I know you're missing them and their absence can't be filled but," Virat said warmly. "—aren't we your family too?"

Rahul automatically smiled listening to that and nodded his head mildly in the hug. Once in a blue moon, I do agree that you're four years elder to me! Rahul thought to himself and decided that he shouldn't ever admit this to Virat.

"Are you crying again, Rahuliya?" Virat asked with a chuckle as Rahul hadn't lifted his head from his shoulder yet. "Should I ask Athiya to video call Bhavna?"

"Shut up!" Rahul warned against it, breaking the hug quickly, his face turning red in embarrassment.

Virat laughed out. Rahul knew he's gonna be teased about this till his next birthday. Why did he ever open his mouth?

"We've one more cake for the birthday boy, guys!" Rohit said loudly. "The hotel management has sent this and it looks yummy." Rohit added with a grin and a certain person had already taken away the cake from his hands.

"You're not getting to eat it though." Virat stated flatly while keeping the cake on table and passing the knife to Rahul.

Rohit sulked and muttered something on the line of, 'Neither does he eat himself nor let others eat' and 'complete jerk'.

Rahul cut the third cake of his birthday and Mayank had already claimed the first slice while applying the rest of cake on every corner of his face alongwith Hardik.

"Bhai?" Jaddu whispered to Mahi Bhai, standing behind Rahul.

Mahi gave back a questioning look.

Jaddu grinned, gesturing him something mischievously.

Surprisingly, Mahi grinned back too.

"I'm joining in too!" Virat said, appearing just then, grinning most of them and fed the piece of cake in his hands to Mahi Bhai quickly before turning his attention to Rohit whose jaw was dropped at the unfairness done to him.

"K, see what's there!" Mayank said suddenly pointing upwards.

"There's no—" Rahul looked up and as soon as he did Jaddu and Mayank had put loads of ice cubes inside his t-shirt making him jump out of his skin.

"What the—" Rahul shrieked as the cold ice cubes almost made him jump out of his skin.

"Did it actually have ice cubes?" Mahi's eyes went wide as he realised Jaddu had showed him an empty ice tray but they were actually full of ice cubes. He had thought they will pretend to have put ice cubes into his clothes.

"How can you guys prank him—" Hardik wailed, looking particularly at Mahi Bhai.

"—without me?!" Hardik completed, grabbing the tray of ice cubes from Jaddu' hands and emptied the chilled water over Rahul's head.

"HARRY, NO!"

Mahi Bhai, Virat and Rohit and Jassi, all warned at once but—

SPLASH!

Virat pressed his lips together to stop himself from laughing out while muttering, "You're so—"

Rahul tried to catch his breath, stunned by the sudden downpour over him even before the ice cubes inside his clothes could melt. Was it raining at this time? It was sunny whole day as far as he remembered.

But wait—

It was chilled water!

And how could it rain inside the hotel?

That only gave one conclusion!

It wasn't raining surely.

"—dead, Harry!" Rohit completed Virat's sentence grabbing him by his arm as a support to stand and watch the drama unfold.

Mayank, who was standing right beside Hardik, took two steps back—with the absolute gleeful look on his face—to make it clear to his best friend that he was nowhere included in the prank.

Rahul slowly lifted up his head and stared at his teammates with complete deadpan face.

Hardik gulped and handed back the tray to Jaddu and looked at Rahul with the most innocent look he could pull out.

Mahi hissed. Where had he gotten himself into?!

Rahul was so drenched that he almost felt chills running down his body.

"Do you need an umbrella, bro?" Jaddu asked with a serious face, which he thought was conveying that he was offering help.

Mayank chuckled loudly.

Everyone tried to hide the spilling smile on their faces untill Hardik decided to play the hero.

"How can you guys laugh at the poor boy?" Hardik said in a superior voice, pulling out the best of his acting skills. "Can't you guys see he's all wet?"

Rohit almost choked on the piece of cake he had laboriously kept hidden from Virat.

"Oh yeah, do you need a blow dryer too?" Jaddu asked, this time grinning widely.

"How about a heater or-" Hardik began gleefully to see at least someone was not throwing glares at him.

"SHUT UP!" Rahul hollered. "I DIDN'T WANT THIS KIND OF CELEBRATION!"

"Save me, Ro!" Hardik whispered dramatically, almost pushing Rohit ahead of him. "You've to take the show ahead from here. I can't."

"Err, Rah, we're—" Mayank started.

"I DON'T WANNA TALK TO YOU!"

"Rahuliya, it was just—" Virat came ahead, pulling Mayank behind him in a gesture that Rahul would listen to him.

"TO NONE OF YOU!"

Rahul walked out of the hall straight towards his room without even looking back at anyone.

Virat looked offended while Mayank shrugged and gave a I-knew-he-wouldn't-listen-to-you look to Virat.

"Kids these days don't listen to anyone!" Virat muttered under his breath, shaking his head with an exasperated sigh.

"Is that so?" Mahi Bhai asked glaring at him, coming from behind.

"No, no." Virat said quickly.

Mahi sighed. He really regretted to be a part of the prank now. They had really pissed off the boy on his own birthday.

"Don't worry, Mahi Bhai, we'll get him back in a jiffy." Virat said, putting an arm around Mahi Bhai.

"And how?" Mahi asked suspiciously.

Virat grinned.
____________________________________

A/n

This is a total random story but I really liked writing something after so long and hope you guys liked it too!

Two days of continuous train journey is getting on my nerves so writing down something was the best thing I had to do! (:

Second part coming up soon.

Till then, please, do vote and comment!

Love ❤️