"Can I stay here for a while?" Yuri tried to hide the exhaustion in his voice, but failed half-way through the sentence. The auburn-haired woman that had opened the door looked a little shocked, but then stepped aside. "Of course you can. Come in." The young Russian entered the small apartment, kicked off his shoes and let himself fall on the dark red couch. "It's not that I don't want you here, but it's unusual of you to visit me. Especially at this time of the day. Do you have any problems?", Mila asked with a worried face after she had taken a seat next to him. "Hm" Yuri answered. He didn't want to talk about anything now. His eyes became heavier and heavier, so he turned to the side and made himself comfortable. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. But does Otabek know that you're here? I bet he's worried." As an answer Yuri only grunted. "Oh…I see…so you two have a fight, hm?" The blonde boy wanted to shout something at her. It was not her business why he was here and why he didn't want to tell the Kazakh, but the only sound coming from his mouth was a loud yawn. "Alright, alright", Mila smiled. "Just rest for a while." Just before finally falling asleep, Yuri noticed that she covered his body with a blanket.

When he opened his eyes, the first orange rays of sunset filled the room around him. The blonde boy had to blink a few times until all the sleep was gone and he could orientate. He remembered that he decided not to go back home after he sat on the beach for hours, but to move somewhere else to gain some distance. He knew why he had chosen Mila over everyone else. Even though they used to fight quite a lot, she knew when she was not supposed to ask stupid questions. At least, he hoped she would.
Yuri got up and stretched his hurting muscles. As much as he wanted to trade that uncomfortable couch for his own super comfy bed, he knew that he had to pay that price in order to let things and especially himself calm down.

"Oh, you're awake? I didn't expect you to wake up before tomorrow. You slept like a stone." Mila entered the living room carrying her sports bag. She put it down and sat down next to Yuri. She smiled at him, but then her expression turned earnest. "I know that you don't want me to ask questions, so I won't. We all noticed that there was something wrong with you lately and now you're standing in front of my door asking me to let you stay here. Of course you can, as long as you need to, but please, whatever it is, please settle it soon, okay?" Then, she ruffled through his hair and her usual smile appeared again. "We just worry about you. That's what a good family does." She got up again and picked up her bag again. "Do you have a plan on what to do now?"

Deep inside, Yuri was touched by her words and her worries, but he didn't ask for her to care about him. 'Neither did I ask you to be part of my family', he thought. However, he knew that it was smarter to hold that back as he didn't want to be kicked out right away. So, without reacting to what she said before, the young Russian asked "Otabek is training with you today, is he?" – "Yeah, but why do you ask?" Yuri walked towards to the door and put on his shoes. "I'll go home and get a few things." He already had taken the first step downwards, when something small hit his back. He turned around and looked furiously at Mila who just grinned. "You might need this if you want to come back here." The skater looked on the floor where a small sliver key was laying.

While walking home, Yuri's thoughts slit back to what Mila had said before. 'Please settle it soon'…He had no idea how to settle their situation any time soon. It was too complex and too mazy to be talked over easily. At first, the young Russian had to get his own pride down before talking about any of this. He knew that it was necessary, but he just didn't feel like stopping sulking soon. Being aware of his own bad habits was one of the things he hated most about growing up. He comprehended that he didn't need to forgive Otabek right away, but at least he should listen to what he had to say. However, he was still too angry and too hurt.

Next, he should figure out what he wanted from the Kazakh and what the nights they had spent together meant to him. But no matter how he felt, he probably had to consider the other's feeling as well. If they wanted different things, it could have an enormous impact on their friendship. Yuri was not stupid, so he didn't think that they could just go on living together and being friends like usual if one of them confessed, but was turned down by the other one. On the other hand, their friendship was already a huge mess, so there was not much left to be broken anyways.

Yuri massaged his head with his fingertips. It already hurt so much from just thinking about what he had to consider that he didn't want to know what it felt like if he thought about the matter itself. Why did they make out at the wedding anyway? Was it only because of that time that Otabek kissed him earlier that day? Would something have happened between them even if they hadn't had sex that first time? The blonde boy knew that his thoughts were spinning in circles and that he was getting nowhere without talking to Otabek, bet he just couldn't stop thinking. Once, he got back to Mila's he had to do something about it – either working out or sleeping – right now he didn't really care as long as his head would finally shut up.

Once he had reached the right building, his legs started to tremble. He knew that the Kazakh wouldn't be there, but somehow he felt nervous. Reluctantly, he climbed the stairs. With every step his stomach cramped a little more and when he tried to get the key out of his pocket, his fingers were shaking so much that he let them fall down. Cursing he knelt down, when his phone started ringing. Yuri got the keys, took his phone – luckily without letting it fall down, too – and answered the call. "What do you want, old hag?" – "Yuri! So good that I caught you. Listen! He's not here!" Somehow the Russian managed to insert the key. "What do you mean?" He turned it around and the door opened. "Otabek! He's not at the…" – "Yuri!"