A/N: My first Khalbir fic!

Warning: Auto corrects and typos are always behind my back so please forgive me for any mistakes. And please don't get mad at my attempt at typing Hindi, it is NOT my First or Second language so I am prone to make mistakes.

It started off as quite an ordinary day for Kabir. He had just hoped for starting the day with his usual morning run, a small break before his routine workout at the gym before joining his team for lunch and then loosen up for the rest of the day. But the break came in the form of Khalid, who was acting quite strangely since he saw him when he returned from his morning run.

Khalid was restlessly pacing in the kitchen, muttering something like he was trying to gather courage to tell someone something and Kabir just decided to wait by the side, watching Khalid in amusement as he bit into his apple. After a while, he decided he had had enough and approached Khalid, startling him out of his wits.

"Sir" he squeaked out, standing in attention. "Easy soldier. Kya hua? What has you so nervous?" he asked, looking into his eyes. Khalid gulped and stared back, his loss for words clear on his face.

"Batha na, itna pareshaan kyon ho? I'm not going to bite you." Kabir asked, growing confused. "Woh... um... Iloveyou" Khalid blurted out. "Kya?" he asked, not catching it. "I... love you... sir?" he said, not looking into Kabir's eyes.

Kabir just stared at him, face impassive and the tension in the room could've easily been cut like butter. Khalid finally gathered enough courage and stared at Kabir, hope shining in his eyes but it started to fall when he saw Kabir's impassive face.

"Nice joke" Kabir finally said bluntly, a forced smile on his face as he stared at Khalid. "Sir, I was not joking. Main sach mein..." Khalid trailed off as he saw the look Kabir gave.

"Mazak ko bhi ek hadh hota hai Khalid. Feelings are not something with which you play. Just because its April fools day, you can't play jokes like these." he said and walked out. But if he had looked back, he could've seen Khalid looking over at the calendar and facepalm at his own stupidity and muttering something to himself before heading inside.

Kabir went to the nearby tree and sat down in its shade, looking far off as he recounted the last time he had faced the same thing. The last time... he had been so na?ve to believe that guy who told him the same words on the same day and he had been stupid enough to accept it as he had been soo deprived of love that he was ready to take it from anywhere.

But not anymore, he wasn't going to fall into such traps ever again. He's had enough heartbreaks that he doesn't think that he can afford to have his heart broken again.

Ok, it was true that his heart skipped a beat when Khalid had said that he loved him... he could sense the passion and sincerity but there was that corner of his brain that said 'Woh bhi isi tarah kaha tha. Par kya hua uske saath? Chhod kar chala gaya tujhe. Gaddar tha woh' and Kabir was brought back to the harsh reality, which was very far from his fantasy of having a life with Khalid.

Kabir doesn't know how long he had been sitting there but when he became aware again, Khalid was sitting in front of him with a plate in his hand. Everything had turned dark and he could feel the dried up tear tracks and blushed in embarrassment as he quickly wiped them off.

"Sir... aap theek ho? Sab aapko dhoond rahe the. You missed both lunch and dinner aur hum sab pareshaan the jab aap lautkar nahi aaye..." he said as he handed over the plate to Kabir.

"Kuch nahi hua mujhe. Shukriya" Kabir said as he took the plate from him. "Sir... aaj subha..." "Kuch nahi hua Khalid, tum kuch nahi bola aur maine kuch nahi suna. Its over and forgotten." Kabir said with finality.

"Par sir, main sach hi batha raha tha. I really love you sir. Main..." "Khalid..." Kabir warned. "Nahi sir, ek baar mujhe sun lijiye aap. Main sachi mann se aap se pyaar kartha hoon aur I'm not confusing it with looking upto you and admiring you sir. Whenever I look at you... my heartbeat races... I can't explain it properly sir... it just feels like I'm in a different world... Main aapse pyaar kartha hoon sir" Khalid rambles.

"You are just taking it too far Khalid. As I said before, mazak ko bhi ek hadh hota hai aur you are going beyond the limit Khalid. I can't go through it again." Kabir said, the pain and hurt clearly shown in his voice as his eyes start to water.

"Sir?" Khalid asked, his concern growing as he saw the mask break slowly. "Tumhare tarah ek ladka aaya tha, pyaar karne ka naatak kiya aur chala gaya when he got what he wanted. Tab toh main bhola tha, pyaar ke liye thadap raha tha aur uski wajah maine ek boht badi saza li. Yeh dekh, April 1st mein pyaar accept karne ka tofa" Kabir said with a bitter smile as he unbuttoned his shirt to show the scar, a bullet wound just above his heart.

"Ek aur baar aisa hua toh I can't handle it Khalid so please, aisa mazaak math karo mujhse dobara" Kabir said as he started to break down, the memories too painful and raw as he had never confided about it with anyone. No one knew about what happened between the two of them and Kabir wanted it to remain that way but something about Khalid just made him open up without any hesitation and he hated it when his feelings are out in the open.

Khalid, ignoring the rational part that said not to approach Kabir, rushed forward and hugged Kabir tightly, not thinking about the consequences as right now, all he could see was a friend, a mentor and his love venting out feelings that was long bottled up and all Khalid knew was that he should comfort him.

And so the two of them sat there, Khalid rubbing circles on Kabir's back as he let Kabir release all the bottled up emotions, not caring about the shirt that was getting soaked or the probable reprimand that he was about to face later on. All that mattered now was Kabir, who was now reduced to hiccups.

"Sorry" Kabir said as he forcefully pushed himself off Khalid, immediately missing the warmth that he had been emitting. "No problem sir, I think this was something you desperately needed." Khalid said with a smile.

"Par, seriously sir, mujhe ek chance dijiye... dekh saktha hoon aapka chahat. Don't deny yourself the chance to love because you completely deserve it. Bas ek chance please!" Khalid begged and Kabir could see the hope and love shining in Khalid's eyes along with the unshed tears and he just let go and grabbed onto Khalid and pulled him into a kiss.

"Bas ek chance" Kabir said as he pulled back with a smile and Khalid gave a smile that could light everything up as he pulled Kabir into another kiss. All was well.

A/N: Written for April Fools but got out a bit late... Hope you all like it! All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated! Any prompts welcome!

Thank you all for reading!

Rasi10 signing off

Published on 3 April 2020

(Happy birthday sis)