When Yuri got up the next morning, he felt incredibly rested but nervous at the same time. Sleeping in his own bed for the first time in more than a month had been great, but he was unsure about how to act when he saw Otabek which could happen anytime as soon as he walked out of his room. Last night, they hadn't talked much after Victor and Yuuri had left, so Yuri was even more insecure. Would it be awkward being in the same room as Otabek? Would the latter try to keep his distance to make it easier Yuri him to get used to him again? Would Yuri be okay with that? Turning around to look at the ceiling the Russian tried to think about how he would like their life together to be from now on. If he was honest, he would like everything to be as it had been before they had started this weird relationship of being more than just friends. He wanted to have breakfast with Otabek, to watch movies at night. He wanted to have fun with him like they used to, but in order to do that, he would have to be close to him, talk to him. Although they had been truthful to each other, Yuri wasn't sure if his body would accept Otabek's apology as fast as his brain did. In the worst case, he would start feeling weaker again, maybe even start vomiting again and this was something Yuri wanted to avoid with all his power. Two weeks before the world championship, he mustn't lose any of his strength and determination. His brain told him that his performance in Japan was the most important thing and the cause of why he had to take care of himself, yet Yuri knew that there was another reason why he needed to stay healthy. It would hurt Otabek a lot if the Russian was showing any signs of getting worse. He would surely blame himself. He wouldn't leave Yuri a second time, but he would hate himself for asking his friend to come back home, leading him into getting sick again.

There was no doubt that Yuri still loved Otabek and as much he wanted to win this gold medal, he wanted the Kazakh to be happy. No, he wanted him by his side. He wanted them to be happy together, but Yuri also knew that he wasn't ready for that yet. He loved Otabek, but his trust in him was still shattered and only time would be able to mend it. Both of them had been hurt enough, so small steps were the safest way to rebuild their friendship and everything on top. Yuri sighed. After not talking to anyone for about one and a half months, he felt like he had lost any social competence. If he ever had any. Otabek had been the only person besides his grandfather he had been comfortable talking with. He had told him anything, yet now, he didn't even know what to say if he met him in the hallway.

The sound of his alarm clock made Yuri sigh once more. If he wanted to have breakfast before heading to practise, he needed to get up right now. Totally unmotivated, he threw his right leg out of the bed, then his left and then lifted his whole body up. His elbows resting on his knees, he rubbed his eyes and let out a loud yawn. Slowly, he walked through his room, kicking away the clothes he had worn yesterday and opened the door. The smell of coffee streamed inside. Curiously, he walked towards the kitchen when he heard Otabek's voice.

"God, I never thought, I'd miss you so much."

Trying to not make a sound, Yuri tip-toed through the living room and threw a glance into the kitchen.

Otabek was holding Potya in his arms, his nose buried in the cat's fur.

"Thanks for taking care of Yuri when I wasn't here. I know it was my fault, but I'll try my best to do better this time."

He let Potya hop from his arms and retrieved a pack of cat food from the cupboard. He put up his feeding dish and filled the small pieces of meat inside. Sitting down next to the car, he watched him emptying the bowl in no time.

"I'll really miss you when you go to Germany with him. I know he needs you more than I. I really envy you. I…"

Yuri coughed silently and Otabek lifted his gaze. At first, he looked surprised, but then a smile formed on his face.

"Good morning, Yuri."

"Morning." The Russian yawned again. "What's smelling so good?"

"Oh, I made some porridge. Do you want some?"

Hesitantly, Yuri walked into the kitchen, peering into the pan on the stove in which deliciously looking, fluffy clouds of white and caramel-brown were just waiting to be eaten. His stomach rumbled only by looking at it, yet the Russian wasn't sure if it was a good idea to stay in the kitchen with Otabek. His original plan had been to take a short shower, eat something and then get ready for practise without talking to the Kazakh. He didn't want to avoid him in particular. It was more like he was so nervous and unsure of what to say that he rather postponed their next meeting. On the other hand, escaping the situation by running to and hiding in the bathroom would be as, if not even more, weird.

"Sure, thanks." Yuri sat down on the small table and Otabek handed him a bowl of porridge with blueberries and small pieces of apple.

"Coffee?"

"Mhm.."

While Yuri started stuffing his tasty breakfast into his mouth, the Kazakh placed a cup of hot steaming black coffee in front of him. The silence that filled the room was really uncomfortable. The blond skater tried to hide himself behind the large bowl, but it didn't shelter him from the awkwardness around them.

"So…," Otabek tried to fill the quiet, "what's your practise plan for today?"

"I'll be with the witch until afternoon and if I can move afterwards, I'll go to the rink. Lilia says I lost my elegance while I was…sick… So she forces me to go to her studio every other day. She would have made sleep there, if Yakov didn't tell her that I needed the practise on the ice more than learning how to stand correctly."

When he had mentioned his absence from training, Otabek had accidently dropped his spoon, but after he had finished, the Kazakh laughed.

"I bet she wasn't happy about that."

"Not at all. The two of them were quarrelling about it for half an hour until I asked them if they needed me to fight or if I could go home and do something more useful. Like watching the pig running around the apartment, while both his dumb husband and their walking carpet followed him everywhere. It's not possible to be in a room on your own in this household. I wonder how they don't get mad in there. Well…if you look at it from an outsider's perspective, their decision to marry each other wasn't to most sane anyways."

"I assume they weren't happy about you saying this either."

"No. They were shouting at me for another 15 minutes until they agreed on me being not sincere enough, that I wouldn't win a medal this way and if I wanted to be successful I had to train a lot more. When they finally made up a plan of when I was supposed to be where, I had stopped looking at my watch and started watching old videos of Potya instead."

Yuri dared to look up from his porridge, when Otabek's warm laugh filled the room. It was the first time he saw a real, non-forced smile in months and to see him so carefree and relaxed filled Yuri with a comfortable warmth. Otabek's smile was still one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen and until now, he hadn't even noticed how much he had missed seeing it. Before he could start blushing, Yuri tried to keep their conversation going. Once they had started talking with each other more or less, the lighter the atmosphere got and the easier it was to be here with the other skater. It even felt a little like nothing had happened between them.

"And what's your plan?"

"I'll go for a run after I did the laundry and then I'll head to the rink as well." Otabek got up, took his and Yuri's empty bowl and put it into the dishwasher. "So I guess I'll see you there," he smiled when he walked out of the kitchen.

"Yeah, I guess so," Yuri murmured into his cup of coffee.

Yuri's training has been exhausting, but when he got off the shower he felt totally pleased with himself. He still was a little nervous if his involuntary break would make him struggle during the competition, but he was on a good way to get to his usual form. Especially today, Lilia had been pleased with his performance. Well…saying she was please was maybe a bit overexaggerating. Lilia was never pleased, she had rather approved his movements. She had even spared him the second half of the latest stretching routine she had created for him after he had started training again.

Also, seeing Otabek at the rink hadn't been as awkward as he had imagined. When he had entered the stadium, the Kazakh had smiled at him as soon as he had noticed him, but after Yuri had stepped on the ice, both had concentrated on themselves. The Kazakh had left quite some time before him, so they had been able to elude the embarrassing situation of showering together. As much as the Russian was willing to get their relationship to work again, he wasn't ready yet to see Otabek that way. Being aroused by the memories of their nights together, evoked by watching little drips of water running down his well-shaped body, probably wasn't the best way to ignore this part of their former relationship. Yuri needed to learn to trust Otabek again and to get used to him being around again. So he had made a simple plan he wanted to stick to at all costs. First, they needed to rebuild their friendship. Then or meanwhile, Yuri would go to Germany. Depending on his decision whether to train there or not, they would have more time to strengthen their relationship and THEN, and just then, he could take care of anything on top of that.

Yuri took his back and left the stadium. It was already dark outside, but it wasn't as cold as one might have predicted for this season. It had been surprisingly warm the whole day and although it had cooled down by now, the smell of spring still filled the air. The Russian closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. This was probably the first time today that he had time to relax a little. A crackling sound, however, made him open his eyes again.

"Sorry, I didn't want to scare you."

"Otabek?" Yuri was surprised. "What are you still doing here? I though you finished about half an hour ago."

The Kazakh's hand were tucked into the pockets of his jacket and he seemed to be a little nervous, maybe even shy.

"I thought…I wanted to wait for you so we could take the bus home together."

The Russian looked at him with widened eyes. Had he really been waiting for more than 30 minutes, just to ride the bus with him?

"I'm sorry. I thought that this was a dumb idea. I didn't want to pressure you in any way."

Was it allowed to look this adorable? The way Otabek tried to evade his eyes, facing the ground was so cute, Yuri just had to smile. Some people could think that it was a bit straight forward to spent so much time together, right after moving back together again, but those people didn't know how much Yuri hated public transport. Just the imagination of being pressed against sweating and stinking strangers made him sick. So back when everything had been normal, Otabek had either taken him to the rink by his motorbike or Yuri would have used the extra miles of running to work out. But today, his body was so drained, even the lightest pearl of sweat would force him to his knees.

"There's no need to apologize," he whispered and walked closer to the Kazakh, "thanks for waiting for me."