Sitting in the airport before her flight to Hyderabad, Surbhi tapped her foot against the carpeted floor of the lounge, anxiously. Her heart was thumping with excitement because in a few hours she would be able to see Nakuul, but she was nervous too. She hadn't told him she was was coming, not even when they had talked just a while back. In fact, she had told him that she was going out with friends tonight and wouldn't be able to watch his match. He had sounded so disappointed, and it had taken everything in her to not tell him the truth. Making him upset for a while would definitely be worth seeing his reaction when he saw her in the stadium. Surbhi could only hope that everything went perfectly. They hadn't met in almost 15 days and she didn't know about him, but she was dying to see him. It couldn't be just a coincidence that Starplus was sending her for KXIP's match again, right? Whatever it was, she wanted to make the most of it. There was no flight back to Mumbai that very night, so a hotel room had been arranged for her to stay in till morning. Meaning, if Nakuul wanted- because Surbhi definitely did- they could spend many hours together. The prospect made a shiver run down her spine.

There was still an hour left for her flight, and having gotten her boarding tickets already, Surbhi was bored. Nakuul was probably busy now already so she didn't want to disturb him. She texted with her other friends for a while, most of whom wished her good luck- teasingly, of course- for the night. Rolling her eyes, Surbhi opened her favorite app- Instagram- and scrolled through her feed. Nakuul had given a story- a picture of the boys practising- and had written 'Big Game Tonight'. It was indeed a big game, Surbhi knew. Nakuul had been slightly tensed about it; although KXIP was already through to the semis, this match would decide whether or not they were in the top two. Nakuul really wanted to bag the 1st or 2nd position because in that case, they would get two chances to make it to the finals. He had even mentioned to her, when she had told him about her plans for the night, that it would be difficult to win without his lucky charm watching. That had made her blush and fall for the guy even more.

When Surbhi was scrolling through the comments on her last post, from yesterday, she suddenly came across one that made her stop. It made her heart stop, too. Nakuul had, just an hour back, commented on her picture for the first time.

Beautiful Ms. Chandna ;)

It she hadn't been in a public place, Surbhi would have squealed and jumped in glee, and it took her everything to not do so now. But the wide smile just wouldn't leave her face, and her cheeks were starting to hurt. She stared at that simple line, a long time, thrilled because her crush who happened to probably be the crush of half the female population of India, had commented on her post for everyone to see!

Finally regaining enough of her composure to actually react, Surbhi liked his comment, and started replying. She noticed that a lot of others had already liked his comment;  this step of his was, in a way, bringing out their 'friendship' to the public. And she was ever so glad for that.

Why thank you, Mr. Mehta!

Deciding against giving a heart emoji, Surbhi posted the reply, and sighed while leaning back against her chair. 

Little did she know, that with this little exchange of her and Nakuul's on Instagram, social media was already in a riot, full of brand new #Narbhi shippers.

**

Nakuul sat near the boundary of the ground, under the shade with some of his teammates, ready in his helmet and pads with his bat lying beside him. He had known, the minute Surbhi had told him she wouldn't be watching, that the game wouldn't go according to them. He didn't really believe in luck and all that, but somehow, it gave him confidence when she watched. Currently, his team was batting and they still needed more than a hundred runs to win, with only 9 overs remaining. They had already lost four wickets and well, things weren't looking too well.

When, while trying to do a helicopter shot, Mayank Agarwal was caught-out, Nakuul exhaled and got up. Without wasting time, he made his way towards the pitch, to join K.L Rahul who was still in the game and Nakuul's only hope.

They formed a good partnership, but the game was still slow and they were currently at 8 runs per over compared to the 10 rpo they needed. Nakuul, after drinking some water that a teammate brought him, flexed his muscles as he got ready to bat again, determined to make this over a turning point. The bowler, Rashid Khan, was the best SRH had, and Nakuul knew it wouldn't be easy to hit against him. While the bowler discussed something with his captain, who in turn instructed the fielders, Nakuul's gaze moved towards the large screen inside the stadium. He never let his gaze wander there because it worked as a distraction, seeing the crowd and everything. But for some reason, he instinctively looked, today. And when he did, it took him a while to register just what he was seeing.

Surbhi Chandna, wearing a plain white tee-shirt with high-waist jeans, cheering along with the crowd as her long hair bounced around her, looking as beautiful as ever.

That's when Nakuul knew they would be winning the match today, and as the bowler got ready to attack, Nakuul got ready to hit an array of boundaries.

**

"....and the Starplus Nayi Soch Award goes to...."

Nakuul fisted his hands, silently praying, for the first time ever, that he receive the award.

"K.L Rahul for his spectacular performance! May I please request Annika from Starplus to..."

Sighing, Nakuul shook his head, staring on as Rahil took the award and posed for a picture with Surbhi. Admittedly, Nakuul was jealous. He would have loved to receive the award from her again, but maybe that was asking for too much. Because after all, KXIP had indeed won the match, and Nakuul had also gotten the Player of the Match award. When the presentation was done and everyone started walking away, Nakuul stayed back, and waited for Surbhi to come to him. She had a mischievous smile on her face, and a glint in her eyes. Her hands were clasped behind her back as she walked towards him.

"Surprise," She whispered when she came to stand beside him, biting her lower lip. Nakuul had this incredible urge to wrap his arms around her. 

"You're really, really mean, Miss Chandna," He told her with a smirk, both of them uncaring that they were still in the middle of the ground, with cameramen around them. Surbhi was about to reply saying something, when a guy with a camera hanging from around neck approached them.

"Sir, ma'am, can I have a picture?" He asked eagerly. Surbhi and Nakuul looked at each other, before silently agreeing to pose. He kept one arm around her waist, making a tinge of pink appear on her cheeks, and they smiled brightly into the camera. Once done, the man walked away, and Nakuul asked if she wanted to accompany him inside.

"To the changing rooms?" She joked, and he laughed.

"Noo, to the lounge inside. But I mean, if you wanna come with me to the changing rooms, I won't mind..." 

Surbhi shoved his chest at that, and they started making they way to the end of the ground, Nakuul casually keeping an arm around her shoulders as they walked. 

When they entered into a carpeted hallway that was deserted now since everyone had gone into the changing rooms already, Nakuul did something he had wanted to do since he had seen Surbhi on the stadium screen. He stopped walking, and turning to her, wrapped his arms around her waist, engulfing her in a warm hug. Surbhi was taken by surprise, but hesitated only a second before hugging him back. She wondered if he could feel her heart beating extremely fast, but then it didn't matter because she could feel his loud heartbeat against her chest, too. 

"I'm so glad you're here," Nakuul spoke against her hair, while she smiled into his shoulder.

"Me too," She whispered. Pulling back, they remained holding each other for a while, just staring at the other's face with a smile on their own.

"You wanna meet my teammates?" Nakuul asked, tilting his head to the lounge inside. Surbhi nodded, a bit skeptical about it but excited, nonetheless. They left each other, but then, much to Surbhi's surprise, he took her hand in his and started walking again, leading her into a cozy room decorated with plush sofas and expensive coffee tables. Only two guys were there, sitting on the couch and laughing amongst themselves. The stopped and looked up when Nakuul and Surbhi entered. 

"Guys, this is my friend, Surbhi," He told them, and immediately, their faces broke into grins. Before Nakuul could give their introductions, they stood up and walked over to her, themselves.

"Hi Surbhi, I'm Yuvraj," He shook hands with her. 

"And I'm Ashwin."

"Good game today, guys," Surbhi congratulated them, and they all sat around a coffee table. A waiter came and took Nakuul's and Surbhi's orders.

"You know, Surbhi," Yuvraj started, taking a sip of his coffee, "I was surprised all these days to see Nakuul on his phone all the time, but if I had such a pretty friend, I would be on my phone 24/7, too."

Surbhi laughed at that, blushing slightly, while Nakuul rolled his eyes and wondered if it had been such a good idea to introduce her to his friends. They could be embarassing.

"And you know what," It was Ashwin, this time, who knew just how much Nakuul liked her and wasn't going to spare him, "Nakuul keeps talking about you all the time..."

Again, Surbhi tried brushing it off with a laugh, but truth was that had made her feel all giddy inside. While Nakuul only glared at his friends and silently begged them to shut up. Thankfully for him, the other team members arrived then, and he introduced her to everyone.

"Is this your girlfriend?" Chris Gayle asked him, grinning widely, much like the last time he had seen her. Nakuul and Surbhi looked at each other, before looking away quickly at that awkward eye contact. Nakuul didn't reply to Gayle, much to Surbhi's delight, but instead asked her to wait while he freshened up in the changing rooms. She nodded, and got talking to some of his friends. They were all extremely nice and she mingled with them, easily.

"When's your flight, Surbhi?" Nakuul asked her as he came back, dressed in a grey t-shirt that accentuated his abs and made Surbhi almost drool, with black track pants.

"Tomorrow morning, 8 am," She replied. Nakuul's eyes lit up at that. He had thought she would be leaving in a few hours, but now his heart was jumping excitedly because they would be able to spend so much time together. He didn't know how to make that happen, though.

"So where are you staying tonight?" He asked, trying to keep the nervousness at bay.

"Radisson hotel."

"Oh wow, that's where we're staying, too!" Nakuul almost yelled, making a few of his teammates snicker. He lowered his voice again, embarassed. 

"That's our team's hotel. What a co-incidence, right?" He asked, grinning stupidly. Surbhi wanted to pull his cheeks.

"Yeah, it is." She didn't know what else to say because the prospect of staying in the same hotel as him, even if for a night, was making her a little light-headed. If this is what staying away for 15 days would bring them, she was definitely not going to complain anymore.

"So um, have you watched the movie 'Hereditary', yet?" Nakuul asked her out of the blue, looking a little nervous. Surbhi frowned in confusion at the random question, but shook her head negatively.

"I've heard it's good movie. And, uhm, since you're into horror movies and all, would you like to watch it with me, tonight? I mean, I have it downloaded and we could connect my pendrive to the tv in my room, maybe order room service, and, yeah...." He trailed off, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly and looking down. Surbhi tried not to smile idiotically at his suggestion, but ended up doing so, anyway.

"I'd love to, Nakuul," She told him, and when he realized that she had said yes, he moved up his gaze to her from the floor, and they both grinned, shyly and adorably.

"Let's go, then?" He offered his hand to her, which she took gracefully. As they walked out, his teammates cheered from behind, but the two were too lost in each other to notice or care.

**

I'm quite sick and bedridden right now but I'd written half of this chapter a couple of days back and decided to finish asap since it's been so long since I updated. I hope it's up to the mark.

(Not proof-read properly so please ignore mistakes)

Much love ❤

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