In the restaurant the night before the Grand Prix final, Yuuri was quickly losing control. The skaters around him had their eyes glued on him and Victor - noticeably the gold rings on their fingers - but even as the applause and congratulations started to dissipate, Yuuri's eyes linked with Phichit's. Something knowing lurked there, sparkling yet deadly serious. Yuuri nodded once, both sharing the same silent thought.
Engagement rings,Victor had called them. He'd said they would get married. Yuuri's heart skipped a beat just thinking about it, but it was for more than one reason. Elation was one; the other was mirrored in Phichit's gaze.
They had to tell Victor.
Phichit: He doesn't have to know...
Yuuri froze at the message glowing from his phone, a single beacon in the dark hotel room. On the other side of the bed, Victor didn't react. He'd been so tired when they'd finally gotten back to the hotel room that he'd fallen asleep nearly as soon as his head had hit the pillow, not even enough energy to curl himself around Yuuri like he usually did before he slept. For once, Yuuri didn't mind.
His fingers froze over the keyboard of his phone, not sure what to say back to his best friend. Phichit would know he had read his message. He had to say something.
It wasn't something they should discuss via text, but at the same time it was the safest option. Phone calls could be overheard and slinking off to talk in person would look suspicious. Victor would never go through Yuuri's texts though. Yuuri didn't want to hide it from Victor as much as he didn't want Victor to find out about it in the wrong way. It would come from Yuuri, from his own mouth - when he'd figured out how to break it to his sensitive fiancee.
Phichit: We could do it quietly. He wouldn't have to know.
Phichit's message buzzed quietly against Yuuri's thigh and Yuuri frowned down at the words. It sounded like a dirty little secret. Well, it kind of was...
Yuuri: He'd know.
He punched the message back without thinking, but he knew on instinct that he would be right. Victor would find out eventually. Through paperwork or press - or something like that - he'd find out at some point. A secret never stayed a secret forever.
Phichit: So we have to tell him.
Yuuri: We have to tell him.
Phichit: When?
Yuuri thought for a moment, but the answer was obvious. It had to be after the competition, after the public eyes had gone away and the reaction to the news wouldn't be on full view for the world to see. After the pressure of the Grand Prix was over and Yuuri hopefully had a gold medal to soften the blow. After. After everything.
He texted Phichit as much, silently starting the countdown in his head to the most uncomfortable conversation of his life.
The camera's flashed.
They were blinding from the podium - even from the silver medal stand! - and the lights of cell phones sparkled from the mass of the crowd wrapped around the stadium. It was like the starry night sky painted around him, glittering beyond Yuuri's wildest dreams.
It was so much different to how he'd imagined. For a start, it wasn't the gold he'd always wanted. Silver twinkled proudly from around his neck under the camera light and even though it wasn't gold, Yuuri was still proud. He just wished Victor was with him on the podium. Instead, his coach waved wildly from the rinkside - the barrier barely holding him back from leaping onto the ice in his excitement - and he bluntly ignored the reporters baying for an interview behind him. His heartshaped smile shone brighter than any camera flash.
The rest of the day would be a whirlwind, Yuuri knew. There would be interviews, and press conferences, and then the banquet … Yuuri just hoped he could remember this one by the end of the night. He had a lot more worth remembering this season around.
The white of Phichit's free skate costume caught in the corner of Yuuri's eye, half a head turn over his shoulder. Brown eyes met grey, effortless even across the stretch of ice.
Tomorrow, Phichit mouthed across the rink. An eyebrow arched in question.
Yuuri nodded.
Tomorrow. They would tell Victor tomorrow, after the banquet.
He hadn't planned on getting drunk. Honestly, he hadn't. He'd wanted a few drinks, a few photos, a few dances with Victor - and then an early night.
Yuuri wasn't sure how many hours had passed at the banquet before he started to notice the heaviness dragging his feet when he walked, the way his mouth moved but he didn't hear any of the words coming out of it while everybody else's voices were loud -impossibly loud!
"It was for financial reasons." Phichit's voice boomed beside his ear."We were in college. It didn't… it didn't mean anything."
Warm arms stretched behind Yuuri's back and round blue eyes flashed in front of him, stark against the blood red backdrop of the hotel corridor. Had they left the banquet? Colours flashed, but little made sense in his head; grey hair; darker grey eyes; tanned skin; fair, alabaster features; dark eyeliner; long, silver eyelashes that fluttered so beautifully it made Yuuri want to cry. Perhaps he did. Something was welling up in his chest after all, alcohol dissolving his usually self conscious barrier.
"He loves you."Was that Victor in his other ear? Damn, he sounded miserable. "I'm not blind."
Yuuri's mouth was still moving, feeling the words slur more than hear it as he noticed a champagne-induced weight tugging at his jaw. What was he saying?
"Love both ….you."
Shit,was that his voice?
The elevator dinged, and Yuuri's world went dark.
The next morning, Yuuri woke up with a pounding in his head and his body aching in more than one way. He and Victor must have, um… hem. Sure enough Victor was beside him in the large hotel bed, lying on his front with his tousled silver bangs splayed out over his face. Even in disarray, he was still beautiful.
Sighing, Yuuri rolled back onto his side to get a better view, watching Victor for a just moment longer and holding onto the peaceful moment before the reality of what he had resolved to tell Victor that morning came to light. His countdown grew ever shorter. Yuuri groaned softly. Reality still felt so far away; everything was warm and comfortable, sheets draped over Yuuri's lower legs and the unmistakable press of bare skin flush against Yuuri's back.
A firm frown nudged into Yuuri's brow. Bare skin behindhim? But he was looking at Victor in frontof him…
His mouth ran dry long before he pushed himself up onto his elbows and twisted through his stiffness, glancing over a shoulder. The familiar sleepy moan hit him first. Then tan skin. Wild black hair. That little birthmark on the left pectoral muscle chest that could only belong to one person.
Phichit's body stirred at Yuuri's movement but he didn't wake, cheek pressed into the pillow and leg draped over Yuuri's. Something firm pressed against Yuuri's thigh. Waoh!He jolted.
"Fuck!"
Right back into Victor.
The sleeping Russian tumbled off the edge of the bed, hitting the wooden floor with a resounding thud that bounced Phichit awake.
"Ow!"
Yuuri sat pressed against the headboard with wide, horrified eyes darting between the two naked forms of his best friend and fiancee. Victor propped his chin up on the edge of the bed, pouting underneath his tangled silver locks.
"Yuuri?" Phichit blinked at him innocently. Too innocently.
They were naked. So very naked. And - oh god - covered in marks when Yuuri dared glance down his body, teeth snagging his lower lip to hold onto his groan. Fresh purple bruises littered over his collarbones, chest and hips, small and too precise to be accidental.
Air caught in Yuuri's chest and he saw white. Weight settled in his lap, warm hands closing either side of his face.
"Yuuri, it's okay." Phichit's thumbs stroked gently over his cheeks, molten grey eyes never once leaving his.
Yuuri couldn't hold the gaze though, darting around the room. The sheets were chaotic and clothes littered the floor; suits, ties and underwear strewn everywhere. He couldn't remember how it had all gotten there. The opened box of condoms on the floor sent his heart into overdrive though, a few scattered over the wooden panels and a used packet crinkling under Victor's fingers as he crawled forward, eyes glowing. His hand closed over Yuuri's at the edge of the bed.
"What-what happened?" The words barely came out.
It was all wrong. Victor naked like this, he would understand. Even Phichit naked like this - he'd be shocked and horrified - but he'd understand.
But Phichit and Victor togetherlike that…
A small smile quirked at Phichit's lips, glancing to Victor.
"He doesn't remember."
"I'm not surprised."
"He did drink a lot..."
Yuuri's eyes flickered between Victor and Phichit at their too casual conversation, junk still hanging out for all the world to see. His gaze rolled to the ceiling, swallowing thickly. "Oh God."
"Yuuri, it's okay. We worked everything out."
Yuuri squeaked. "What?"
"He knows."
"He..."
"I know." Victor nodded.
"B-but…how?"
"You blurted it out when you were drunk last night."
Yuuri groaned hard, dropping his face into his hands. Of course, he did. He wasn't altogether surprised - just mortified.
"I know all about you and Phichit's marriage in college. Peach," - nobody called Phichit 'peach' except for his boyfriends!,Yuuri thought with wide eyes through his fingers - "filled me in on the details. We can to … an agreement."
Yuuri was speechless at that. What kind of agreement? He wanted to ask, but he was half afraid of the answer he might get.
A wicked smile passed between Victor and Phichit and Victor shifted his smirk to Yuuri. "You really don't remember? You were so into it last night…"
"I-into what?"
"Yuuri."
Phichit's voice was soft but commanding and Yuuri turned on instinct. The second he did, Phichit's hand closed over where his neck met his shoulder and he silenced him with a kiss.
"You're getting divorced." Victor's voice said, closer than Yuuri remembered.
Phichit smiled against his mouth, pulling away. His eyes flickered down to Yuuri's mouth. "But you still get to keep me."
So many questions hung on Yuuri's tongue but they were all forgotten under the lingering pressure of Phichit's mouth on his. Phichit had... kissed him. In front of Victor! And Victor didn't look upset or angry about it, he looked - the breath hitched in Yuuri's throat at the lustful swirl in Victor's aquamarine orbs, leaning an arm over Phichit's shoulders.
Phichit reached up and cupped the back of Victor's head, pulling him down for a slow, lazy kiss. Yuuri felt his jaw drop.
Victor and Phichit… but Phichit had kissed hima second ago… and Victor was still wearing his engagement ring…
Yuuri slowly pieced the puzzle together. He could hardly believe it, even with his best friend and fiancee lip locked in front of him, Phichit's fingers threading through Victor's hair. A needy sound escaped Yuuri's traitorous lips. He clamped a hand over his mouth, eyes shooting wide.
Victor's mouth peeled off Phichit's, shooting Yuuri a wicked grin. "We're going to need three tickets to St Petersburg."