Two days later and Yuuri still couldn't stop thinking about that night with Viktor. Luckily his first class of the day was a rather dull history lecture he took along with Phichit. The professor droned monotonously on about things he never tested on, so the two usually sat in the back and chatted.
"I seriously can't believe what a fool I made of myself," Yuuri sighed as Phichit doodled a hamster on the sides of his notes.
"Well at least the rest of the night went smoothly," Phichit whispered, "I mean, after you ran into a mailbox and then spilled ice water all over Viktor's crotch."
"I guess…" Yuuri replied.
"What do you mean 'you guess?'" Phichit said, "Yuuri, the...I don't know...vibe he was putting out toward you...did you really not notice?"
"He's just being nice," Yuuri replied. "I mean, he's...him! Why would he be interested in me? I just don't believe it."
"Maybe cause you're one of the top figure skaters in the world?"
"Well he's the number one skater so…"
"Okay obviously he can't like you then," Phichit sighed sarcastically, "Maybe cause you're nice? Or cute? Or he's just got yellow fever," Yuuri's eyes went wide, "I'm just kidding. But seriously, he likes you. I can tell."
"I still don't believe it," Yuuri muttered, "but I believe YOU believe it."
"Well that's a start," Phichit replied. "Maybe try to hang out with him again. Without me. Seriously, you don't know how hard it was for me to be around you two and want to jump into conversations! But then I knew I needed to let you have some space to get to know him...it was torture!"
"Wait, so it was torture when I didn't want to speak to him, but now it's torture when I talk to him...Phichit make up your mind," Yuuri chuckled and a girl in front of him turned around to give him a shush and a glare.
Yuuri gave the girl an apologetic shrug and turned back to whisper with Phichit. Even though he didn't believe it, there was still questions. Like what the hell was that moment they shared after the hug, where Viktor leaned in so close and touched his forehead to his own. That was surely not normal, not something friends did. Even weird Russian friends.
Morning dragged into afternoon and Yuuri finally got a break between classes. Wolfing down a sandwich on his way home, he decided to take advantage of his next free hour and think on his Viktor situation. Unfortunately for Yuuri, that very situation presented itself sitting at the kitchen table when he entered the house.
"Oh, Yuuri!" Viktor said pleasantly, looking up from his books.
"Hey," Yuuri replied, biting his lip. Damn Phichit for not coming home with him, now it was just he and Viktor, alone in the house.
"Did you just get back from class?" the other man asked as Yuuri set his backpack on a free chair.
"Yeah, Phichit and I have history together," Yuuri replied.
"Oh, must be nice having a friend in class," Viktor said, somewhat sadly.
"Er yeah. Have you...you know, met any new friends since moving here?" Yuuri asked in trepidation.
"Um, well, there's you and Phichit," Viktor replied. "I guess I've been so focused on skating and trying to understand the lectures in English...it's so hard Yuuri!"
Yuuri's eyes widened as Viktor let out a dramatic wail and put his head in his hands.
"Yeah, I know," Yuuri said, pulling up a chair next to Viktor. "My first year here, I was so confused during classes. So I decided to find the blondest person in the room, sit next to them, and copy their notes."
"The blondest?" Viktor started to laugh.
"Well, I figured they would be the best at english. Stupid, I know. Especially when I sat next to a guy in Statistic who happened to be a swiss exchange student. At least we're still friends. He's a skater too, Christophe Giacometti, maybe you know him?"
"Oh Chris!" Viktor said, "Did he hit on you? He's quite the flirt."
"Err," Yuuri blushed and ducked his head, remembering multiple ass grabs from said swiss skater. "Maybe. Anyway, I can help you, I mean if you need. My english isn't perfect but I've gotten better."
"Well I am the blondest person in most rooms, so I guess we're destined to study together," Viktor chuckled. "Say, um have you had lunch yet? I was thinking of going out…"
"Oh," Yuuri said, furrowing his brow. "Actually I ate on the way over," Yurri watched Viktor's face fall, "But I'd love some coffee before class starts in an hour. If, I don't know, maybe you could get a sandwich there or something?"
"That would be perfect," Viktor said, grabbing his jacket from behind his chair.
Yuuri took the moment to appreciate Viktor's impeccable aesthetic today. A long grey coat hung over even darker grey jeans, and his shiny silver hair was pulled over one shoulder in a loose braid. He looked stunning. As always.
Realizing he was staring, Yuuri turned to grab his backpack and take a deep breath to slow his racing heartbeat. It was just unfair what Viktor did to him without even trying.
Viktor seemed to realize Yuuri had stalled as he laughed and raised an eyebrow. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah. Yeah sorry, let's go get you some lunch," Yuuri replied.
Yuuri watched Viktor smile as they walked down to a nearby coffee shop. Though he was still nervous in the other man's company, he appreciated how easy-going Viktor was, how he seemed to take Yuuri's bumbling manner and anxiety in stride and not make a big deal of either.
As they entered the coffee shop, both men stood in the que, Viktor craning his neck to read the lunch specials from the overly-hipster chalkboards.
"Why don't you go grab us a table and just tell me what you want?" Yuuri said, eyeing the crowded room, hoping there even was an available seat.
"Oh, okay, um, let me get...the uh...I don't know some of these ingredients," Viktor confessed, scratching the back of his neck.
"That's okay I can order you something, is there any meat or veggies you don't like?"
"Just peas," Viktor said, pulling a frown.
"Shoot, all the bread is made with peas, I forgot to tell you," Yuuri replied with a straight face.
Viktor held his chest, gasping in horror.
Breaking into a smile, Yuuri threw his head back and laughed. "I'm just kidding."
Viktor shook his head. "I'll get you back you know," he chuckled, "Oh look a table, I'll go grab it!"
Still laughing, Yuuri watched as Viktor flung his silver braid over his shoulder and made a beeline for the vacated seats.
Within five minutes Yuuri had made it to the front of the line, ordered, and returned to find Viktor sitting and waiting, tapping away on his phone.
"They'll bring out the food and my coffee when it's ready," he explained, putting his backpack over the back of the chair and taking a seat. "You looking at Facebook?"
"Ah, Instagram actually. I have a Facebook page, but it's a not a personal one. I don't have time for two social media accounts, so I just send my Instagram photos to the fans who run my public page there."
"Wow," Yuuri said, momentarily having forgotten he was having coffee with the world's top male figure skater. "So um, what do you think of Celestino as a coach?"
"Oh, he's good, very different than Yakov," Viktor laughed.
"Ah, I bet you miss him," Yuuri replied.
"Can you miss someone who's constantly yelling at you?" Viktor asked.
"Well…"
"Okay yeah I miss him. A lot actually."
"And Makkachin too I bet," Yuuri said, feeling sad for the other man. He could relate. Leaving everyone and everything you knew and loved was beyond difficult.
"Yeah," Viktor sighed, then perked up unexpectedly. "Actually Georgi just sent me a photo of him, wanna see?"
Both men awwed over the photo of Makkachin sleeping with his head on his fluffy brown paws, drooling on Georgi's sofa. Viktor was about to show Yuuri more photos when a message appeared, scrawled in all caps over the screen.
"Oh shoot, it's Yakov," Viktor said, a bit embarrassed. "I guess he's really angry, he's writing in english."
"IF U FORGOT RUSSIAN, HERES ENGLISH, GET UR ASS BACK 2 RUSSIA," came the first text as both men laughed.
"Guess he misses you too," Yuuri replied as they continued to look at photos.
"I CANT BELIEVE U LEFT 4 A BOYFRIEND," came another angry text.
"Haha, oh Yakov," Viktor chuckled, shutting off his messages.
Yuuri wasn't sure why he felt like his heart was suddenly breaking. Viktor had a boyfriend. Of course he did. And that's why he was here in Detroit. It all made sense.
"Here's your coffee and sandwich," a waiter said, placing a steaming cup in front of a visibly shaken Yuuri. He couldn't even respond to say thank you. It was so stupid. He felt so stupid. Getting even the tiniest hope up...it wasn't even his hope. Phichit had given him the idea. The incredibly unlikely idea that Viktor might be interested in him.
At least Viktor didn't seem to notice. He took a huge bite of his sandwich before closing his eyes and moaning in contentment. "Yuuri this is delicious!"
Yuuri barely heard him. A boyfriend. 'Viktor has a boyfriend' rolled over and over in his mind like a tidal wave.
"Yuuri?" Viktor said, reaching out a hand to touch his arm.
Sucking in a deep breath, Yuuri came back to reality. "Huh?" he replied, leaning back so Viktor no longer touched him. He missed the feel of the other man's warm fingers, but it was for the best.
Viktor looked puzzled. "The sandwich? It's really good, do you want some?"
"Ah, I'm good," Yuuri replied, far from hungry for multiple reasons. His stomach felt in knots, his head hurt as his thoughts roiled and his tongue felt dry in his mouth. At least the coffee could help with that. He took a sip and closed his eyes momentarily. Maybe this was for the best. Being around Viktor was stressful at best, but without the pressure of thinking Viktor could be interested in him, perhaps he could relax a bit-not care as much what the other man thought of him. Yeah, he could do this.
"How much was it?" Viktor asked and Yuuri blinked in confusion. "The sandwich?"
"Oh, um," Yuuri honestly couldn't remember, his thoughts were anywhere but the present, "don't worry about it, I've got it."
"Really? Wow thank you. I'll get you lunch next time," Viktor said with a wink.
Yuuri sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Damn this hurt. Why was Viktor still flirting with him? Or maybe that's how he treated everyone, it was just him being nice. That made the most sense. Viktor was so damn charismatic.
"Yuuri?" Viktor said, and only then did Yuuri realize that he hadn't heard a word the other man had been saying.
"Huh?" Yuuri tried to snap back to reality. His chest suddenly felt tight and his eyes stung slightly. Damn. "Uh sorry, what were you saying?"
"Oh are you okay?" When Yuuri nodded, Viktor cocked his head but continued. "I was asking whether you wanted to get dinner tonight. I'll be practicing till 7:30 but if you want to meet after?"
Something about practice...dinner. Yuuri blinked and tried to swallow against the tightness in his throat. His chest felt heavy, his mind swarmed with emotions, Yuuri needed to leave. Now. Before he embarrassed himself by crying. He pushed back his chair and stood, turning his head to the side.
"Yuuri?" Viktor asked, getting to his feet himself, concern written all over his beautiful face.
"Sorry, um I need to get to class," Yuuri said, grabbing his backpack and turning away completely. "I'll see you later." He hoped his voice didn't break as he all but ran from the coffee shop, Viktor left confused in his wake.
All but flying through the daily mill of students surrounding the campus, Yuuri fled until he found a secluded corner of grass under some shade trees and sank down, his back to the wall. He was so confused and humiliated. Viktor probably hated him after leaving him, alone at their table. It was just too much. Viktor having a boyfriend, asking him to dinner, touching his arm. So many mixed signals for Yuuri to attempt to understand. He wished he had time to go skate, that always helped him clear his head, to put things in perspective. But with only a half hour till class he'd have to make due with trying some breathing exercises Celestino had taught him for such stressful situations. Breathing in and out, long deep breaths until his lungs felt stretched and empty, over and over until his eyes no longer stung and his throat untightened.
Ten minutes later he was feeling much better, in body if not in mind. But Yuuri knew this would be fine. He would be fine. As before, Viktor was just an unattainable fantasy, nothing Yuuri had not dealt with for years. And from the look of things, Viktor really needed a friend. Maybe his boyfriend was incredibly busy, or even worse didn't appreciate Viktor. Leaving him lonely and eager for any attention. Yuuri would never do that to Viktor, he would be there, be his friend. That was something Yuuri could do easily without feeling the pressure of having the other man interested in him.
Yuuri sighed. He was determined to be there for Viktor. Rising, Yuuri grabbed his bag and pulled out his phone to look at the time. Ten minutes till class.
Walking back across campus he looked down at his phone, sighing deeply before shooting off a quick text to Phichit.
"You were wrong. He has a boyfriend."
Then he turned off his phone and headed into class.
Sorry this chapter is kinda character-building, not much action till the end!
Oh and yes, my head cannon is that Yakov texts like at high school girl from 2007 you're welcome