Shubman Gill was having one hell of a day. They had just completed their first practice session for the 2023 ODI World Cup and he felt absolutely exhausted and worn out. It wasn't like he hadn't been practicing for a long while. He had had an absolutely explosive IPL season and was hungry to do more. However after today's practice session, he felt as if his feet would give out from under him.

As soon as he reached the room that he and Ishan shared (obviously), he collapsed onto the bed. Now normally, Ishan was the messier one out of the two of them, so to see Shubman collapsed on the bed without even changing out of his practice jersey, looking pale and clammy was a sight that surprised Ishan.

"Shubi, you doing okay?"

A non committal grunt was all Shubman could produce as an answer.

"Come on Shubman, just change into fresh clothes and have dinner, then you can go right back to falling on the bed. I won't even bother you with Bhojpuri songs tonight."

"I don't feel like having dinner, Ishan. You go ahead, and I'll get up to change in a while, just 5 more minutes, please."

"Shubman, we just had an intense practice session, you can't just skip dinner, it's not good for the body. So you could either come with me or I could call Virat bhai and you could listen to him scold you about the importance of not skipping meals, it's your choice."

"Ishu, please, I do not have the energy to move a single inch from here, please could you let it go, just for today? I promise I'll be ready for breakfast bright and early tomorrow, pakka promise."

Ishan knew that if the threat of getting scolded by Virat bhai didn't get Shubman to move, hardly anything else would. He went and sat next to Shubman on the bed, running his fingers through Shubman's hair lightly.

"Do you feel okay Shubi? Your skin feels warm. You're not coming down with a fever, are you?"

"I don't know, Ishu, I don't feel so good, my head hurts and I really really don't feel like eating."

"Do you want me to call the team doctor? He can check if there's something seriously wrong."

"No, please, I don't want to worry Rohit bhai and Virat bhai without a reason, Ish, it's probably just exhaustion, I just need to sleep it off."

"Okay, I'll tell you what, I'll order dinner to our room and call Ashi, okay? If you keep feeling sick, she could at least take a look, is that okay with you?"

"Okay- what? Ashi is here and you didn't bother to even tell me? I wanted to meet her yaar Ishan, kya tu bhi? When did she come here, she's my best friend yaar, you're supposed to tell me when she's coming to see us!"

"Achha ji, Ashi best friend aur main kya hun fir? It was supposed to be a surprise for you, I was going to take you out for ice cream and Ashi was going to surprise you but it's okay, I'll call her here now."

A few minutes later, Ishan had ordered some food for all three of them and called Ashi to their room so they could have dinner together.

Soon, a knock was heard on the door of their room. Ishan opened the door to reveal Ashi standing there with trays of food balanced in her hands, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Shub, look who's finally here! Waise Ashi, tune hotel me job kab le li ki unhone tujhe sab khana pakda ke humare room bhej diya?"

"Do minute hue nahi hai mujhe dekhe ki bas shuru ho gaye naa tum?" Ashi glared at her older brother, but there was no mistaking the mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Haq hai mera, tu meri chhoti behen jo hai, Ashu!" Ishan said, pulling Ashi's cheeks as she tried to get away from him while precariously balancing the trays of food in her hands.

"Achha woh sab chhodo, yeh khana tum pakdo and let me meet my favourite person on the planet." Ashi hastily shoved the trays of their dinner into Ishan's hands and stalked into the room, looking to attack Shubman with a tight hug.

Meanwhile, Shubman had managed to somehow stumble out of bed and had gotten himself into an upright position, his eyes looking tired but full of happiness at the chance of reuniting with his best friend who he hadn't met since the last MI vs GT match.

As soon as Shubman came into sight, Ashi engulfed him into a comforting hug and Shubman buried his face into her neck as he hugged her back tightly.

They stood there like that for a few minutes, just taking each other's presence in. If there was one common thing that Shubman loved about the Kishan siblings, it was that they gave the best hugs.

"Waah bhai, mujhe toh nahi mili thi tum itna pyaar se Ashu? Shubman ko toh aise gale laga rahi hai jaise pata nahi kitne saalon baad mila ho tujhe."

"Kyu na milu aise, ek toh bechara tumhare saath rehta hai poora din, the least he deserves is a nice hug for dealing with you all the time. Anyways, what happened to you Shub, you're definitely getting a fever, did you over exhaust yourself during practice?" 

As happy as Ashi was to see Shubman, his pale appearance concerned her. Usually Shubman would be teaming up with Ishan to pull her leg, but today, he looked as if he was barely holding himself up, trying not to collapse.

"Ek kaam karte hai, you guys go and get changed, I'll set up dinner and a movie until then, okay? Dinner ke baad Shubman can have a Paracetamol and get some rest, if it's just exhaustion, it'll be okay by tomorrow."

While Shubman and Ishan took turns taking a shower and getting changed, Ashi set their dinner up and finally decided on Chup Chup Ke after scrolling through Netflix for a while. 

Try as he might, Shubman just couldn't manage to have anything but soup during dinner, his appetite almost non existent. Despite taking the medicines, he felt no relief. His entire body was on fire, his head pounding, every muscle and bone aching. Noticing his agony, Ashi quietly went and sat behind Shubman. She ran her fingers through his slightly wet hair from the shower, starting to gently massage his head. Feeling slightly better, Shubman's eyes grew heavy, and he ended up with his head in Ashi's lap, her fingers slowly massaging his temples.

As Shubman fell asleep, Ashi gently nudged Ishan, who was still engrossed in the movie,

"I think he's seriously falling sick Ishan, his forehead is burning up, and the intense aches he's having don't feel like just exhaustion to me. If he doesn't feel better tomorrow, he should get blood tests done. With the world cup approaching, it's better to be safe than sorry."

Ishan nodded in agreement, both the siblings silently praying that Shubman felt better the next morning. That's how they fell asleep, with Shubman's head resting in Ashi's lap, and Ashi's head slumped against the bedrest with Ishan snoring slightly next to them.

A/N: That was the first chapter guys. Sorry about the delay, I originally intended to post it a long while ago but just couldn't get enough time to wrap the chapter up. Anyways, let me know what you guys think about it, constructive criticism and any ideas are always welcome!