The locker room door clicked softly behind Rahul as he carefully helped Rhea to Shubman’s bedroom upstairs, where she could rest safely. The panic attack had left her drained, her breathing finally steady but fragile, and Shubman sat beside her bed, quietly watching over her.
Downstairs, the core playing members gathered in the dimly lit lounge, the air thick with a mix of confusion, concern, and curiosity. Virat, Rohit, Rahul, Ishan, Hardik, Yashavi, Kuldeep, Jadeja, Jasprit, Surya and Siraj exchanged glances. None of them had seen Shubman like this before — raw, unsettled.
Shubman appeared abruptly, the weight of something unspoken heavy in his expression.
“We need to talk,” he said, voice low but firm. The room fell silent instantly.
“I want you to understand why this is… harder than it looks,” he began, glancing toward the closed door upstairs.
Rohit leaned forward. “We’re listening.”
Shubman took a breath, eyes darkening with memory.
“This isn’t just about cricket, or pressure, or performance. It’s about trust — or the lack of it. Between me and Rhea.”
A few eyebrows raised, the tension rising.
He continued, voice steady but heavy.
“Years ago, back in college, we were close. Too close. I trusted her with everything — my fears, my hopes. I thought she did too.”
Shubman’s fists clenched briefly.
“But then something broke. A rumor leaked — about me, about doping, about supplements and stress hormones. It wasn’t true. But the world believed it.”
He paused, letting the weight settle.
“Someone fed that story. Someone who had access to my private data. Someone I loved.”
The room grew still, the implication sinking in.
“She never spoke up to defend me. She stayed silent while my reputation was shredded. I confronted her. Not once — but again and again. And each time, she walked away. No answers. No explanations.”
Virat’s jaw tightened. Rahul’s eyes softened.
“I believed she betrayed me. That she chose ambition over us.”
A heavy silence.
“And that’s the past we’re still carrying,” Shubman said quietly, almost to himself.
He looked at each of them, the core pillars of the team who now understood why his guard was so high — and why this wasn’t just about mental toughness on the field.
Rohit broke the silence. “That’s… a lot, Shubman. Thanks for trusting us.”
Shubman nodded. “I don’t expect sympathy. Just… honesty. I’m working through it. But right now, it’s affecting everything — my leadership, my mindset.”
Ishan added, “We’ve got your back. Whatever it takes.”
The team’s quiet solidarity was the first real crack in Shubman’s armor in years.
Back upstairs, Rhea stirred lightly, the tension between them unresolved but no longer unshared.
YOU ARE READING
almost, Always.
FanfictionA Shubman Gill fanfiction There are some people you never really get over. Not because you still love them-sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. But because what happened between you and them carved something so deep, even time walks around it car...
