Yuri threw himself on his bed. Well, it was not actually his own bed. It was the guest bed that Daniel Wertmann and his wife Alina had put up in the small room he was currently living in. It was a nice room, besides the size. In general, their house was warm and welcoming, just like themselves. From the first day he had been living with them, they had done their best to make Yuri feel comfortable. Even their children, Tobi and Marie, were really nice. Marie was a bit too young to understand English, but her brother translated everything for her so she could talk with Yuri, too. The Wertmanns were a family that Yuri only knew from TV series. They were happy and understanding. No divorce, no missing parent. Daniel and Alina loved their children and motivated them to do their best, but they didn't forced them in any way. Sometimes, Yuri was a little jealous. What would have become of him if his parents had been that way?
One and a half weeks of his stay in Germany were already over and his training with Daniel had been great. He definitely was an awesome choreograph and Yuri was amazed how well they got along. At first, he had been a little too lenient, but as soon as they had found out how to work with each other, the Russian felt how he was already profiting from the change. Yakov was a great coach, without a doubt. Yet Yuri had trained under him for more than 10 years now and a new perspective was definitely not harming. Daniel was able to point out several things Yuri could improve just from watching him skate for a few hours. Their communication was on one level and although they only knew each other for a few days, Yuri had already categorised him as capable of training him.
His wife was fantastic coach as well. She had taken Yuri with her to a ballet class at the Bavarian State Ballet to show him where she worked. She was strict, just like Lilia, but she was very kind and when Yuri saw her dance for the first time, his breath had been taken away. She was so graceful and elegant. Her charisma was sweeping him away and her devoted expression made Yuri think for a moment that he would give up his skating career just to be taught by her.
So all in all, everything was great and if nothing had changed over the past few weeks, Yuri would have moved there without hesitating for a second. But something had changed and now, he had someone waiting for him at home. He and Otabek hadn't talked a lot the night before he had left. Actually, they hadn't talked at all since the Kazakh had kissed him. After Yuri had confessed, they had spent the whole night outside, hiding in the park from everyone who might have been searching for them, kissing and cuddling. It had been amazing and Yuri wouldn't want to miss any of this, but after Otabek had walked him to his room, kissing him one last time and wishing him a good flight, the Russian hadn't been so sure about whether they should have talked about what would happen with them from now on. The next morning had been stressful and only Yuri had time to take a look at his phone when he had been on the airplane waiting for the rest of the passengers to finally sit down. He had unlocked the screen, expecting texts and pictures from Victor and Yuuri telling him how much they already missed him and that he should take care of himself. He had been right, there had been a bunch of texts like this, but there had also been another one that had made his heart skip a beat. Otabek had written in last night when Yuri had already been asleep.
"Good morning, Yura. I don't know when you'll read this, so I hope everything worked out fine and you managed to catch your flight. I just wanted to thank you for tonight, for being honest with be. I'm not lying when I tell you that I never believed that you would tell me how you felt, after all the things I have messed up. I couldn't blame you for hating me forever. But you did and I guess I've never been that happy in my life. I'm the luckiest man to have spent this beautiful night with you. I'll remember it as long as you are in Germany.
Speaking of which, I want to tell you that I won't put any pressure on you to come back to St. Petersburg. This is an amazing chance and you should take it. If you and Daniel get along and if you think that this will enable you to get to the top of figure skating, then I'll encourage you to stay there. I'll root for you as long as I live, no matter how far away you are. As I told you, I'll wait for you until you decide to come back to me."
It felt great to know that Otabek was supporting him, to be assured that his feelings won't depend on Yuri's decision, but the Russian couldn't deny how much he missed him. Every night, he was thinking of him and how the short messages they had sent each other didn't fill the huge gap inside him. Yuri had tried to distract himself, but at every occasion, even if he didn't want to, he was reminded of the Kazakh. Today had been such a day as well. He had been out in the city to do some shopping. Munich was a nice city. Big and crowded, but not as bad as St. Petersburg. He had been at a coffee shop to treat himself with a huge cup of hot chocolate when a boy, probably a bit older than himself came up to him. Since Germany was a lot more open to homosexuality than Russia, Yuri was wearing his favourite black leather jacket with the rainbow stripes all the time. It had been a present from Otabek and Yuri loved to wear it, but he was a little hesitant to pull it out in the centre of his home town. As a consequence, a lot of guys had been talking to him which annoyed him a lot. Today's guy, too, was a little too persistent, so Yuri had to nearly shout at him until he finally left him alone.
Yuri reached out for his phone to check his messages. He had no WIFI when he was outside, so he had to wait until he was 'home' again to pursue his addiction. Secretly, he wished for a message from Otabek. That stupid guy at the coffee shop had reminded him once more how lucky he was to have an understanding and decent friend who would never dare to be so pushy. Otabek was just perfect as he was which made it even harder for Yuri to finally make a decision. In a few days, he would take a plane to St. Petersburg. Either to get all of his stuff packed and shipped to Germany or to stay there.
He had closed his eyes when a sudden ring made him look at his phone. A smile appeared on his face. He hadn't gotten a text but a voice message from the Kazakh. He pulled out his ear phones from his pocket, lay down on the sheets comfortably and closed his eyes as he pushed the play button.
