Hey guys, brand new story - this one a totally self indulgent facing of one of my own fears, I'll explain more later but for now I hope you enjoy the prologue

The rink is still one of Yuri's favourite places to be. It has been since he was a child and even now it's still one of his favourite places in the world. Where it was once somewhere he would come alone to reflect on things, now he has company and he has friends that he actually enjoys spending time with (not that he'd ever tell someone like Viktor that, don't want to inflate the ego). It took a long time coming for him to accept these new friends but now he loves the fact that the rink is filled with people who care about him.

He also enjoys showing off for his friends and they are more than happy to indulge him (especially Yuuri and Otabek) and today is no different. He's been training at the rink all morning and he loves hearing Yuuri clapping and cheering as he finishes off his latest routine. The whoops and cheers are very encouraging and he practically beams as he skates over to where Yuuri is waiting at the edge of the ice.

"Well done Yura," Yuuri says. "That was amazing."

"Thanks," Yuri grins as he grabs his water bottle and takes a long drink. The praise feels good and he can't help letting his chest swell with pride. "Pissed I couldn't have filmed it though. I wanna be able to see what my form looks like from an outside perspective."

"Well as an outside perspective your form looked fine to me," Yuuri smiles.

"Thanks, I just wanted to be able to see for myself, you know?" Yuri grumbles.

"I know," Yuuri says placing a hand on top of one of Yuri's. "Is your phone still broken?"

"Yeah, damn thing's fucked," Yuri says. "I'm using an old one for now but I've literally lost everything that was on my other one. All my music, all my pictures."

"Had you backed any of it up?" Yuuri asks.

"Of course not, that would have been sensible," Yuri sighs. "I mean all the music is still on my laptop but I've lost all the pictures I had on there. I guess I always thought 'oh they'll be fine, they're on Instagram'."

"Can you not get them back from there?" Yuuri asks.

"Nah some fucker hacked my account and started posting weird shit so I had to get it taken down," Yuri replies. "Haven't had a chance to start up a new one yet."

"I'm sorry Yura," Yuuri says giving his hand a comforting squeeze. "If you want I can film you on my phone."

"Can you?" Yuri asks, face lighting up.

"I thought that might cheer you up," Yuuri chuckles. "I can think of something else that will cheer you up too."

"What?"

Yuuri just grins but, before Yuri can start whining and demanding that he tell him, he feels a pair of warm arms encircle his waist. He jumps with a yelp before turning to see Otabek standing behind him, smiling at him.

"Hey Yura."

"Beka!" Yuri cries happily, flinging his arms around Otabek's neck. "When did you get here, I thought you were still sleeping off the jet-lag."

"I was but then I realised I wanted to see you more than I wanted to sleep," Otabek says. "I ran in to Viktor on he way and he gave me a lift."

"Hi Yurio," Viktor says from behind him and Yuri turns to see Viktor, already with his arms around Yuuri's waist, hugging him tightly.

"Hey," Yuri says with a small smile.

"So now that I'm here do I get to see your routine?" Otabek asks, pulling Yuri's attention back to him.

"Hell yeah!" Yuri cries. "Katsudon's going to film me so I can watch it afterwards."

"I'm sure you'll look amazing," Otabek smiles.

"I've got a quad flip in this one and I want my landing to be perfect as I'm still not totally there yet," Yuri says, eyes brimming with excitement as he talks.

"Then let's see what you've got," Otabek says, a sexy smirk twisting onto his lips.

"Gladly," Yuri grins.

"And," Otabek says leaning in so that his lips are at Yuri's ear, "if you land that flip I'll do that thing you like with my tongue later." As if to emphasis this he flicks his tongue lightly over Yuri's tregus, making him shiver.

"Beka not in front of the olds," Yuri hisses, certain that his face is scarlet.

Otabek presses a soft kiss to his cheek, chuckling. "Neither of them are paying any attention to us."

Yuri casts a glance at them to see that he's right. Viktor and Yuuri are far too busy making eyes at each other to be paying attention to them. He clears his throat pointedly. "Hey, you want to watch me do this flip or not?" he asks.

"Yes," Yuuri says hurriedly, blushing as he moves Viktor's hands to where they can both be seen. "I'll stick the music on."

Yuri untangles himself from Otabek's embrace and takes his place in the centre of the ice. He tosses a wink Otabek's way who smirks in response and Yuri feels a tiny thrill jolt through him. He loves it when Otabek is watching him regardless of what he's doing but it always feel particularly good when he's skating.

He begins his routine as the music starts up and he feels like he's on top of the world. Knowing that Otabek is watching him as he glides gracefully across the ice fills him with confidence and makes him feel like the champion he is. Even in the harder parts of his routine, the parts he put in to really challenge himself, feel like they're coming together more. That's probably all the practice.

As he starts his build up to the quad flip somewhere in the back of his mind he realises that the ice feels funny underfoot. Slippery almost, unstable. He tries not to think about it as he launches himself into his flip but as he lands he realises that he should have paid attention. His foot slips and he's suddenly propelled forward towards the edge of the rink.

Before he can stop himself his head cracks against the side. He falls to the ice, hitting his head again, the world lurching horribly. Through the fog starting to cloud his head he just about hears people calling his name. He opens his mouth to answer but all he can think about is the warm, wet feeling spreading down his face.

Before his vision fails him completely Otabek suddenly appears in his line of vision, looking terrified. Yuri wants to tell him that he's fine but everything is dark and thick as if he's lying in a puddle of syrup. Darkness envelops him and all he can hear is Otabek's voice echoing all around him.

"Yura... Yura... Yura!"