"Nothing to worry about, Shubi," Ishan said as they sat on his living room couch. "We'll find out who the father is and clear if he wants joint custody, visitation rights, or nothing."

The younger one nodded, still thinking about the information provided to him the previous evening.

Can he say that he felt insecure? Knowing that someone else out there could love Nini as much as you and he did.

"She tried checking the hotel's CCTV footage," he started in a low tone. "But she wasn't allowed because she didn't have the 'connections.'"

The former listened before taking in the information and coming up with questions of his own.

"Which hotel?" He asked, one leg folded over the couch.

"Hyatt," he answered. "She was having a school reunion on the evening of August 29th."

"So Nini was born on June 29, 2023," Ishan stated and received a low hum in response. "Technically speaking, Y/n got pregnant around September of 2022."

Shubman nodded in response, jabbing his finger at the cushion on his lap. "But she discovered about Nini only much later."

Ishan thought for a while, eyebrows weighing with suspicion.

"That'd be a month after Hardik bhai's party," he said slowly. "He hosted the party at Hyatt on August 29th."

"To celebrate the third monthsary of us winning our first title," the younger one finished for him.

Silence followed for a while as Ishan noticed how he refused to look at his face.

"Shubi, you do know the possibilities of this, right?" He asked and the latter said nothing.

And then his best friend couldn't avert his eyes anymore.

As Shubman finally looked up at him, he was able to read between the lines.

"You do know then," Ishan understood from the reluctant gaze.

"We made a call to all of her friends yesterday. Everyone who was at the school reunion, and one of them remembered her saying something when she was drunk," he looked away again. "Y/n said that she'd just met a cricketer and left with him."

Ishan gave no pause and swore before asking, "They don't know his face?"

"They only saw the back," Shubman mumbled.

He couldn't possibly be in a place to get jealous of one of his own teammates. They were like- No, not like. They're legit brothers to him.

"Well," the older one started. "Let's launch a full-blown investigation. I'll call everyone who was at the party and ask them what they were doing."

Ishan was aware that he was starting to ramble but he needed to know.

"You were with di in a different place, so you never came to the party," he thought about everyone. "Most of us were drunk but we remember exactly what we were doing. We all have an alibi but- Sh!t, Rahul bhai was the only one too drunk that night. But he was with Athiya bhabhi."

His mind wandered back to how during the initial times of his and Athiya's relationship, his fellow wicket-keeper and batsman turned very formal while watching movies of Suniel Shetty.

Yes, the feeling subsided over time and now they're father and son.

"Could be," Ishan mumbled. "Or not. I only doubt it- Wait, is it me? I was drunk too, Shub-"

"Ishu, shut up," Shubman cut him off. "You're not helping. And we're not going to sit here and question everyone's fidelity."

The older one went mum and waited for his best friend to speak further.

"I talked with the hotel manager this morning," he continued. "I'm leaving in a bit to check the footage.

-

Shubman was nervous and he'd admit it to anyone. It just means that something important is happening.

But he hadn't felt this anxious, now that he stood in front of the several monitors.

Not even when the manager greeted him when he entered the hotel.

Or not when he asked for this matter to be private.

Not when the person in the CCTV control room asked him for the date and a time stamp.

All the others had left as Shubman requested for privacy.

They did so after letting him know the basics of how to forward and rewind, pause and play.

Being famous came with its own privileges, good or not.

He did have to persuade them. By 'paying' a certain amount though.

But what needed to be done had to be done.

Shubman stood in front of the monitor, watching it keenly for a few minutes as he fast-forwarded the footage.

He actually almost winced when you appeared on screen, making out with who he presumed to be 'him.'

With a deep exhale, he tried to calm his heart down.

It didn't matter to him now. That was just a part of your past.

He paused the footage, the camera frame focusing perfectly on you in a hallway.

It was near the bar, the venue of your school reunion.

Playing the footage again, with normal playback speed, Shubman watched for a few seconds.

He could see your face, and the other person's back.

The footage was paused again.

His fingers left the controls, his hands shaking as he could feel himself get lightheaded, looking at the justly familiar back.

He could partly see the face.

But Shubman knew it so well, not just because of that.

There's only one kind of shock worse than the totally unexpected.

Blood froze in his veins and his heart stopped, not knowing if he was really seeing what happened, and not what his heart actually wanted it to be.

That was Ishan's jacket.

He swayed and stumbled a little back, staring at the revelation.

His eyes never left the screen as his other hand subconsciously played the footage again.

The unexpected for which one never knew to prepare.

Because wearing Ishan's jacket, that was Shubman himself.