This was just a little warm-up exercise I did, which I ended up quite liking :)
Yuuri had looked at Viktor half his life. Looked and admired a person who had always seemed out of reach, unattainable and absolutely perfect. Yuuri had looked at Viktor skate so perfectly for all the world to see, had seen his eyes shimmer and laugh during interviews, and seen his beautiful smile all around him as he woke up and went to bed. Viktor was always there, so perfectly out of Yuuri's reach. And though Yuuri never dared to hope for anything, just like thousands others, Yuuri wondered if he could ever become a person Viktor would choose. And at the time, Yuuri had wanted nothing more than for Viktor to smile at him like that.
Yuuri didn't like to argue, but he had had his fair amount of fights with Viktor to know that it didn't change anything between them. Perhaps it even made them stronger. It was a dumb argument anyway. Neither of them cared that much for a bag of nuts, but what really pissed Yuuri off was the way Viktor smiled at him. Smiled as he tried to calm Yuuri down and close the argument. Smiled like Yuuri was just some random person who didn't care. Yuuri felt like he was looking at a poster as Viktor smiled down at him, but the way he cracked slightly as Yuuri snapped at him again was worth the argument. He hadn't meant to hurt Viktor, he never did, but he'd rather Viktor get hurt than feel nothing at all. That meant that he cared. Maybe Yuuri should show him that he cared too.
Logically, Yuuri proposed not an hour later.
And the way Viktor smiled when they exchanged rings was a smile Yuuri had never seen before. He smiled like everything was finally right and the moon, sun and stars belonged to him. Yuuri wanted Viktor to feel like that forever.
The two of them had never been that good with words, always preferring to show their feelings through skating or dancing or other small touches of affection, but every now and then, words were needed. Sometimes the words were few: 'I just want you to be you', 'stay by my side', I'll always be with you' and sometimes, sometimes that wasn't enough.
"You don't have to lie to me," Yuuri whispered into the darkness of their hotel room. Their hands were intertwined and Yuuri could feel their rings touch as Viktor tensed for a moment. In the darkness, Yuuri couldn't see Viktor's face, yet he kept his eyes on him.
"When did I lie?" Viktor whispered back, and Yuuri noted the sincerity in his voice, because Viktor didn't know. He had been smiling like that for so long that he just didn't know. It hurt Yuuri more than he could say.
"Today," Yuuri clarified, "Before we went to the Christmas market."
"What did I say?" Viktor asked, probably going through the events of the day to figure out what had been said and done. Because Viktor didn't doubt that Yuuri was right when he said he lied, even if he didn't know. Because Yuuri wouldn't lie to Viktor.
"It wasn't what you said. It's what you did." Yuuri's voice was soft. He didn't blame Viktor for it. Sure, it had made him angry at the time, but rather than put the blame on Viktor, he could help him, make him feel so safe and happy that he wouldn't have to hide behind that empty smile. At least not from Yuuri.
"What did I do?" Viktor squeezed his hand.
"You smiled."
"Is that so bad?" Once again, Viktor was genuine.
"You weren't happy."
"Neither were you. I was trying to make you feel better."
"You don't have to lie," Yuuri said again, because Viktor always did what he thought was best, always had the best intentions, even if it didn't always work out, "I would rather fight."
"I don't like that," Viktor whispered slowly, and Yuuri could feel Viktor averting his gaze. There were some insecurities deep in Viktor's heart that Yuuri had yet to uncover, but he would get there. They would get there. And until they did, Yuuri would do everything in his power to make sure that Viktor knew just how important he was to Yuuri.
"You don't have to like it," Yuuri said sweetly, and kissed Viktor's hand, "But we should be honest."
There was a short silence, before Viktor moved a little closer to Yuuri and answered in a small voice: "I can't promise."
Yuuri kissed him again: "That's okay," he reassured him, "I'll just remind you again, because I love you."
The tension left Viktor as soon as Yuuri said those three magic words, "I love you too."
The next time Yuuri hurt Viktor's feeling, he didn't smile. He cried, raised his voice and they fought until they were too exhausted to continue. And by the end, they loved each other just as much as they had done before. Maybe even more. Because this time, they were honest.