Sara's speech had put some part of Shubman's anxiety to rest. A large part was still there, so he pushed the visit to his parents till evening, reasoning that Ishan had fever, his parents would be out for tea, di wouldn't be back yet and everything. 

He finally brought up the topic.

"Will you come with me to my home for a bit, Ish?"

Ishan kept his tone normal. "What for?"

"Di said....and I thought, too...I should go and tell them..."

"Okay..."

"Okay to me going and telling them or okay to you coming?" asked Shubman hopefully.

Ishan smiled a little. "If Nisha's aunt and uncle are there, won't it be weird for me to go?"

"It's going to be weird irrespective, if you're there, I'll feel braver...." Shubman knew he was being selfish, yet he went on. "You know. You get better motivation for a challenging feat if the prize is right in front of you."

"Prize," repeated Ishan.

"Yes, you," said Shubman, grinning. "You're my prize."

Ishan sighed, but Shubman could see he was holding back a grin, too.

"All right, I'll go with you."

Afterwards, Shubman was to feel the most selfish jerk of all times, because there was a shock waiting for them at his home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shubman's mother opened the door and froze for a second. Then she ushered them in, saying, "It's good you came along, Ishan...."

There was quite a crowd in the living room. The ones across from him father, Shubman assumed, was Nisha's aunt and uncle. Then his eyes moved to the remaining two on the sofa against the window.

God.

God.

GOD.

"Your parents were hoping you'd be here, Ishan," Shubman's father said.

Ishan's eyes were wide with terror like a deer caught in the headlights.

Shubman closed his eyes and prayed they could go back in time. There was no way in hell he would have convinced Ishan to come along.

When he opened his eyes, he found of course that they had not got back in time, and now Ishan's parents were coming up to him, and Ishan was clearly fighting not to step back.

"How are you, Ishu?" Mrs. Kishan asked.

How do you think he is? thought Shubman furiously.

"Are you all right?"

Ishan couldn't quite speak so he just nodded. He couldn't keep himself from flinching when his mother hugged him.

Shubman felt possibly the worst he had ever felt in his life. How could he have pulled Ishan into such this?

"We understand we were unnecessarily harsh on you," Ishan's mother said. "We....could have dealt with the situation with a lot more understanding."

Really? Shubman shouted in his head.

Ishan's father put a hand on his shoulder. "So we can move past all that and you can come back home with us, son."

They weren't shouting, in fact they were speaking quite gently, but they could have been yelling for all Ishan looked like.

Shubman forced himself to look away.

He was forcing himself not to say something rude to Mr. and Mrs. Kishan that he would dearly have liked to when Ishan spoke in a hoarse whisper.

"I-I won't-go back...till you both accept I love Shubman and, and....if you can't...can't accept that I will spend my life with...with him, I don't need to...you can go back without me."

"You can't spend your life with Shubman, my dear," his mother said with a good pretense of kindness. "He's getting married."

"No," said Shubman before thinking.

When everyone looked at him, he wished he'd planned it a bit beforehand. He chose to address his father.

"Dad, what I came to tell you is...neither Nisha's cousin nor me...want this marriage to go ahead." He tried not to look at their guests, his supposed future in-laws. "Di and Nisha talked to her, she doesn't want to, and I certainly don't want to either, and you-you had better called it off."

"Mr. and Mrs. Sharma spoke to Diksha," his father began.

Shubman almost asked Who's Diksha? 

When a look from Ishan had prevented that disaster, Shubman felt a familiar absurd urge to laugh. Ishan's expression stopped him.

"She says she is ready to go ahead with the wedding if needs be," Mrs. Sharma said.

"And it does need to be," Mr. Gill said. "The engagement can't be called off, Shub. It will reflect very badly upon of you and her."

"Reflect badly how?" asked Shubman.

"An engagement isn't something to fix and cut off, Shubman," his father said firmly. "It is done, with both your consents. If you're getting cold feet now, bear with it for a few days. Soon enough you will get used to the idea, before the wedding, I'm sure..."

"Dad, I am not going to marry anyone who's not-"

"Shubi," said his mother, sounding tired now. "We have had enough instability over a very long few weeks. We were ready to accept Ishan if you wanted. You said that door was closed. You agreed to the engagement. Now please don't go into it again."

"And be a grown up now," his father added.

For a long while, Shubman could not believe his parents could gaslight him so expertly, like he was the one with a problem.

Then, suddenly, he could believe it.

He only wondered why he had thought his parents incapable of it. He wondered why he had thought his parents were different, better from Ishan's.

He caught Ishan's eyes. Ishan didn't appear to comprehend what was going on. Honestly, Shubman didn't blame him.

The doorbell rang and the maid led a visitor in. Shubman's fury and hopelessness morphed into a tiny flare of hope.

"Hello, everyone," said Virat bhai politely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I know I'm causing an intrusion, but this is really important," Virat began when he'd been welcomed in with great respect. Which Indian family would not welcome Virat Kohli with utmost respect?

"Of course, of course," said everyone.

"I have to start by saying that Shubi and Ishan are like my own younger brothers and I can't be a silent spectator to whatever's going on due to the, uh, unconventional nature of their relationship," said Virat. "But I'm also a father myself, so I understand all your concerns."

He looked distinctly at all four of their parents by turn.

"I know, when we bring a child into the world, we imagine them up in a certain way. I know I have an image for my daughter. And I guess it's natural we'd try to cast them exactly the way we want. But the problem with us is we don't know where to draw the line. We forget that our kids are not just kids who we brought into the world. They are individuals, too. And those individuals may not be the exact individuals we imagined when we first held them in the hospital." 

Everyone's eyes were fixed on Virat. Shubman felt the familiar stars in his own eyes which inevitably appeared when Virat bhai was in front of him.

"While what Shubi and Ishan want is no doubt unconventional, you have to acknowledge it is not wrong. Being in love....supporting each other through highs and lows, wanting to spend their lives together...and what they have been doing, fighting for their love...it is not wrong. And even if it is hard for you to change your perception of right and wrong-" Again, he looked at each parent by turn. "-if you love your sons, the least you can do is sacrifice your belief for their happiness."

Shubman could not tell what his parents or Ishan's were thinking. Everyone's expression was closed up, calculating. Then Virat bhai turned to his father.

"I must address you especially, Mr. Gill. You have brought Shubi exactly the way you wanted. Even at this age, in any situation, he thinks of what you would tell him to do. Shouldn't you be using that power to make your son happy, instead of to impose your will on him?"