It was supposed to be a warm afternoon but somehow the sky was filled with dark clouds, rumbling quietly once in a while. The cold breeze was blowing in a gentle rhythm, ruffling the tree leaves in the college campus along with Ishan's hair that were tied in a messy man bun as he stared at the big clouds with a small smile.

He quietly hummed along to the song playing in his earpods, feeling an odd sense of calmness washing over him as he traced the patterns of the clouds with his eyes. The garden is his most favourite place in the whole campus, he loves sitting here in breaks.

"Hey,"

Ishan looked at Shubman, who approached him with a wide smile causing him to smile widely as well.

"Sorry, I'm late," Shubman muttered, sitting beside him on the bench as Ishan took out his earpods.

"What are you listening to?" Shubman asked.

Ishan smiled, disconnecting his airpods with the phone and "Tera mujhse" by Kishore Kumar started playing.

"Ah, I love this song," Shubman smiled, "I thought you would be listening to another one of your loud and obnoxious Bhojpuri songs."

Ishan rolled his eyes, "First of all, my Bhojpuri songs are not obnoxious, they're a vibe."

"And, second they're not the only thing I listen to, my music taste is very wide," He added.

Shubman chuckled, "Okay, got it, boss."

Ishan lowered the volume of the song, placing it on the bench, the gentle and low humming of the song created an illusion of it being played in a distance but still feeling very close at the same time.

"I got you the book," Shubman mumbled, rummaging through his bag to take out a book and handing it to Ishan.

Ishan flipped through the pages of the old book, smiling softly when his eyes located a dry rose between the pages. It was a book he really wanted to read for a long time but couldn't find it anywhere. Fortunately Shubman had the book in his collection and he told Ishan he could have it.

Closing the book, Ishan looked at Shubman with a smile, "Thank you, I'll return it as soon as I'm finished reading."

"Take your time," Shubman muttered, already looking at him.

Ishan chuckled, softly turning Shubman's face away with his hand when the latter kept staring. Following the past two weeks since Shubman came to the college, they have been spending a lot of time together, regularly going to the library after classes and sometimes going to grab coffee afterwards. In their time together, they often found themselves gazing at one another, like captivated by the mere presence of the other one, without even their knowledge, that's why even though it was still a little strange, the staring didn't feel awkward anymore.

"Are you all packed for the trip?" Shubman asked.

"Pretty much."

"Wait, what about Mishti though?"

"My brother lives here as well, I'll leave her to his care."

"Hmm, great," Shubman smiled, leaning back on the bench. A small silence engulfed them as they admired the serenity around them.

Ishan looked up at the sky as he felt a raindrop falling on his face.

"It's gonna rain," He mumbled, a smile appearing on his face. He loved rain. So much.

"Let's go inside then," Shubman suggested.

"No, I'm done with my classes for the day. I'll just go home," Ishan said, placing his phone and the book inside his bag and zipping it.

"Let me drop you," Shubman insisted.

"It's fine. You don't have to," Ishan smiled, "Also don't you have any classes left?"

"No, I don't. We can also get coffee on the way,"

"Or you just don't want to invite me to your house, huh?" He added, playfully narrowing his eyes at Ishan.

"Shut up," Ishan chuckled.

He got up, tugging Shubman up with him as well, "Let's go."

Shubman followed him with a smile. Well, who cares if Shubman actually have few classes left? For him, missing them seemed pretty worth it (Only if he gets to spend that time with Ishan).

When they reached the cafe that has become their favourite by now, it was only sprinkling. Ordering their coffees, they sat at their regular seat, the one beside the window, from where they usually watch the sunset, and right now's watching the rain that is picking up pace.

"I love rain," Ishan mumbled, smiling to himself. The pitter-patter of the raindrops on the window felt like a music of its own.

"Me too," Shubman agreed, "It's beautiful."

Ishan smiled, turning his gaze back to Shubman and sipping his coffee.

"How will we go back though?" Shubman asked after a while, "It's pouring heavily."

Ishan looked at him hopefully, "Do you mind getting drenched? Mera bheegne ka bahut man kar raha hai,"

"Plus, my house isn't far, it wouldn't take long to reach," He added.

"No, I don't mind, at all." Shubman smiled. Anything to see you smile was silent.

They left after a while. Ishan smiled looking up a little, feeling droplets falling on his face. Heavy wind engulfed them as the bike raced through the road. Even though the rear-view mirror was blurry by the water, Shubman could still see the happiness radiating on Ishan's face.

"Okay, bye. I'll see you tomorrow." Shubman smiled as he dropped Ishan at his door.

Ishan frowned, "Pagal-wagal hai kya? Chal andar aur kapde change kar le,"

"Thoda bahut bheegna theek hai, jyada bheegega to thand lag jayegi," He added, tugging Shubman off his bike after making sure it's parked perfectly and unlocked his door.

Shubman smiled, entering and looking around the house. He blinked when Mishti, who was sitting on top of the tv, came and sat on his shoulder.

"Ishu, it's that cutie, isn't it?" The little birdie squealed.

Ishan chuckled, "Yep, this cutie's name is Shubman. Now let us go get changed, then we'll come and play with you,"

Mishti squawked before flying away to the sofa.

"Come Shubman," Ishan said, guiding him towards his bedroom.

"Mishti likes you a lot already," He muttered, "She talked about you the whole day when I first saw you that day,"

Ishan handed him some clothes to get changed into before taking some for himself and going to get freshen up in the other bathroom.

After getting freshen up, Shubman stayed back till the evening, both of them just chatting about anything and everything, playing with Mishti and listening to music while watching the rain descend down on the surface of earth. He left when the rain had calmed down, Ishan insisted for him to just stay back but he still had some packing left to do for the trip next day so he went back to his house to do so.

-

Ishan panted, rushing into the bus hastily. He roamed his eyes around for empty seats, smiling when he noticed the seat beside Shubman just had a bag on it.

"You're late, the bus was about to leave without you," Shubman commented, picking up his bag and placing it under the seat.

"Aw, you saved me a seat. That's so sweet," Ishan cooed, sitting down.

Shubman rolled his eyes playfully, "Shouldn't have."

Ishan chuckled, "I just went to drop Mishti off to my brother and then lost the track of time playing with my nephew."

"Thank you for saving me the seat though," He added, smiling brightly.

Shubman cleared his throat, glancing away from him, "It specially wasn't for you. It's just no one sat here."

"Whatever you say, sweetheart," Ishan mumbled, suppressing a smile and reaching out to ruffle the other's hair.

Shubman closed his eyes, leaning back on his seat, hoping for the blush on his cheeks to go unnoticed. These out of the blue endearments by Ishan always have his heart in a frenzy. He might as well would go insane because of this man one day. I don't think you would mind though. His brain again decided to intervene but alas Shubman couldn't find any point to argue back.