Yuri shut the door behind him. The dorm facing him looked like no-one had been there for a while, it was true. Yuri had all but lived in the rink for months. He couldn't shake this awful feeling. Each competition made it worse. He sank to the floor in front of his door. Holding his head in his hands he started crying. He lied in his room only getting up for essentials. At one point he must have gone shopping because he had food he ate. He didn't remember anything from that week, He laid there, feeling sorry for himself, when his mom called he'd try to sound happy and told her he was training hard but we wasn't, he wasn't moving.
A week after he arrived back in Detroit, a week after doing nothing but laying there, had passed. Yuri sat up clutching his head. "What are you doing?" He asked himself. He shook his head his expression blank. He grabbed his phone, " OH, what a surprise, Victor won the next competition." He said it sarcastically but he couldn't find any malice in his voice. He thought back to his friends at home. Yuri swore he saw Yuuko's face and her laugh. It reminded him of something. He jumped up off the bed. In a scramble Yuri raced to grab his skates and change out of the week old clothes. He launched himself out the door and ran towards the ice rink in a sprint. He started practicing. At first he would laugh. Sometimes he'd change a move so he could land a jump. But Yuri was enjoying himself. Laughing with this joy and passion made him smile. He finally felt something other than the emptiness he had earlier in the week. Joy.