When Ishan regained his senses properly, it was the middle of the night.

He didn't need the light of the dim lamp to whose head was pressed against his stomach. Shubman was sleeping on the chair beside the bed, bent forward. His hand loosely held Ishan's.

Ishan smiled and turned to his side to ruffle Shubman's hair. The movement made his leg flare with pain.

Shubman woke and raised his head.

"How are you feeling?" he asked sleepily.

"Still out of action, but better," said Ishan.

Shubman grinned, but said grimly, "You're literally out of action. Your stunt on the banisters means you're out of the series."

Ishan sighed.

"And Rohit bhaiya is mad," added Shubman.

"I'm lying on a hospital bed with a broken leg," said Ishan. "Maybe you should try telling me cheerful things?"

"You don't deserve cheerful things. You terrified us."

Ishan had a vague flash of memory of Shubman holding him and crying. 

"I think I terrified only you," he said, smirking. "I don't remember anyone else crying-"

Shubman scowled, but Ishan sat up at another vague flash of memory.

"Where's Aditi?" he asked. "I remember her being upset earlier..."

"She's all right, she would have been upset about you sleeping like a zombie as well," said Shubman. "She returned to your room a while ago, so I came."

"You came?" said Ishan, indignantly. "You weren't already here?"

"No, I have my own work to do," said Shubman.

"Really? What kind of work? Maybe...praying to God for Ishan to recover? Yep, that's worthwhile."

"Yes, I was praying for Ishan to recover. Now that he has, can he stop annoying me and let me sleep?"

"Oh, certainly." Ishan moved to make space for Shubman on the bed, trying not to move his leg much. "Come and sleep with me, darling."

"Uh-" Shubman hesitated.

"What?" asked Ishan.

"Um, nothing."

Shubman got into the bed at the very edge. Ishan huffed and pulled him close.

"I'm going to miss you," said Shubman.

"When?"

"When you go back to India?"

"Oh, shit-"

Ishan was struck with fresh realization that he couldn't play the series, because at some point, the pain in his leg had seemed to vanish.

***

The next morning, Rohit bhaiya, along with unleashing an hour long lecture, told him he would be taken to India tomorrow. After that, Ishan found he could hobble along on crutches well enough, so he decided to go into the dining hall and give his teammates a shock.

Once they got over the shock, they cheered.

"Now you have a brilliant and uncliched way of asking your girlfriend to move in with you, Ishan," Shreyas hooted. "I doubt anyone ever did that by sailing in on crutches." 

"Ooh, heroic!" called several people.

Ishan began to think it was a brilliant way. "Where is Aditi?"

"Start with your room," said Shreyas.

"You can't go up the stairs-" said Rishabh.

"There's something called an elevator," said Shreyas.

"Go, Ishan!" cheered Surya and Hardik.

Ishan was so busy running the proposal in his head, he quite missed noticing that his two best friends were the only ones not cheering.

***

Aditi got up with a jump when she saw him, looking panicked.

"Why are you walking already?"

"I have something to tell you," said Ishan.

"Don't say it," said Aditi.

"What?"

Aditi helped him to the sofa and waited till he was sitting before speaking.

"Firstly, Surya bhai already spoilt the surprise-"

"He did?" said Ishan, outraged.

"More importantly," broke in Aditi. "I think it's the stupidest idea to move in together."

Ishan fell like he'd fallen from the sky with a very hard bump.

"You don't need me around," said Aditi. "Maybe you've just got used to having me around. Maybe you even think you want me around. But you definitely don't need me around."

"Aditi, what-? Of course I need you around!"

"When you were passed out, you know what you were doing?" asked Aditi.

Ishan felt a swoop of foreboding. "What?"

"Calling for Shubman, constantly. You wouldn't rest till he was with you."

"Right," said Ishan, relieved that it wasn't anything worse. "Right, I won't-I don't pretend I don't need Shubman around, too. And he was the last person I saw before, um, passing out, I guess, so... Just because I need Shubman doesn't mean I don't need you, Adi. I don't see why you're jumping to conclusions like that."

"I'm jumping to conclusions?" asked Aditi in disbelief. "I've been crawling to that conclusion over years, Ishan! Your world begins and ends with Shubman."

"Can we please talk about us keeping Shubman out of it?" said Ishan, both pleading and angry. "Shubman has nothing to do with it."

"If you say so," said Aditi, "though I believe Shubman has everything to do with it-"

"Still, keep him out of it, just for a bit-"

"You imagine you're in love with me, Ishan," said Aditi. "You're not actually in love with me."

Ishan was dumbfounded.

"Aditi, you're the only person I've ever been with-we've been together practically from our teenage-"

"Sticking by a teenage decision isn't very wise, now that you mention it," said Aditi. "You're desperately in need of a rethink."

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are, Ishan." When she looked into his eyes, he saw she meant every word of what she was saying. "We're breaking up so you can have the rethink. All three of us deserve better."

"Three of us?" Ishan held on to that bit, because the rest was too hard to digest. "Why on earth are you so fixated on Shubman?"

"Because," said Aditi, slowly, "as I said, he's the world of the man who claims to love me. Surely something's off."

Ishan didn't have words. "He's my best friend, of course he's my world-we can't break up over that, we can't break up at all."

"We already have," said Aditi firmly. "I'm leaving now, my flight is in some time. I hear you're leaving tomorrow, so I guess this is goodbye. I hope we can meet someday as friends."

"Aditi-"

"Goodbye, Ishan."

Ishan hadn't noticed she had already been dressed up for travel. Or that she hadn't unpacked her suitcase at all.

When he noticed, it was like a blow to his chest.

By the time he'd recovered from the blow, she had walked out.

And the worst part was, he could not run after her on crutches.

***

The practice nets. Shubman would be at the practice nets.

Ishan hobbled as fast as he could to the elevator.

***

Well, I'll be the strongest that he ever knew

And I'll be there when he needs a love strong enough