"Yurio! We're going now! Meet us there when you're ready," I hear Yuuri yell from the other side of the door to my bathroom.
"Yea, Yea, I know!" I reply as I dried my face. In the mirror, My reflection stared back. Did I always look this tired? Could it be because I got earlier than usual? I pondered as I tied my hair up. Today I was returning to the ice nothing will stop me. I'm going to show them I'm not weak. I'm so tired of the pity. I am tired of people underestimating me. Yes. He's gone, but he'd want me to go on. And Beka. Maybe if I show him. No, show the world that I'm still the same Yuri Plisetsky that beat the world's top skaters in the Grand Prix. I am Yuri Plisetsky. I can do this... but first. These withdraws aren't gonna ruin my first day back, I said, popping in an Aleve that should deal with the headaches for now.
"Come on, Yuri! Keep up!" I hear Victor yell from his bicycle
It feels like my lungs are trying to eat themselves.
"Great warm-up." Victor says, "Yuri, you did great for your first day back
"Fuck... you.." I gasped
"That's Yuuri's job.. but thanks for the offer."
"Vitya!"
"Jokes aside, let's start!. Yuri, next, we typically do sit-ups. but this shouldn't be too different from what you're used to from Yakov."
He's right, though... this is the same as with Yakov. So why does it feel like he's trying to kill me?! This went on for what felt like ever.
"Alrighty, we are done."
"Finally.."
"We can finally get on the ice." I hear Vic say cheerily. But my whole body tensed up. How could I forget! We haven't even been on the ice yet! My legs feel like lead. I don't understand
"Hey. Yuri, you really did well in strength training. I wouldn't have made it through if I stopped training for a few months like you did."
"Don't patronize me. That was pathetic." I replied as I tied my skates.
"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. Think about it this way. You're finally returning to the ice. Officially, that makes you happy, right?"
"Yea... I mean, Of course. Just you wait, piggy. By next week I'll be wiping the floor with you!" I exclaim as I walked through the door. The air was cold. It permeated my whole body; as it hit my inner arms, I cringed. I didn't zip up my hoodie.
"Oi! Yuri! Glad I caught you!" I hear Vic say form behind
"Yea, yea, What is it."
"Well, I just realized I might have gone a little hard on you for training. I almost forgot you had been sitting around for a few months even before your Dedushka was hospitalized. Maybe you should go home and rest for the rest of today."
"Don't underestimate me, old man! I've been waiting for weeks to return to the ice, and I am going to skate!" I yelled before running off.
"Yuri, wait!" I hear him say, but I don't stop once I got to the ice; the soreness of my legs set in. Not to mention my pounding headache. So much for the Aleve, I thought to myself as I removed my skate guards.
I watched as he skated off into the rink. Maybe he'd be fine.
"Vitya!" I hear my husband call from down the hall, "I thought you were gonna let him go home early?"
"I tried. He got angry and insisted on skating; we really should have seen that coming."
"I'm just a little worried... Anna told us that last time he was on the ice, he freaked."
"We weren't there; someone could have been bothering him; you know Yuri is prone to lash out in anger."
"But if that was the case, Anna would know that... I just want to do what's best for him."
"Hey! You guys gonna flirt all day, or we doing practice!?" we hear Yuri say from across the room.
"We should get in there.." Yuuri says
"You're right. We should trust him to get Through practice today and see how he does."
"Otabek! There you are. I haven't seen you since Friday!" I hear a voice call out, but I choose to ignore it. i'm still angry he tricked me into going out
"Beka! Wait!" he calls again. "Please hear me out!" Askar repeats as he grabs my hand
"Ok fine.. What is it.."
"Look, I'm really sorry.. Sorry I lied to you to get you to come, and sorry, Alexis yelled at you like she did. I just wanted to help you.. You're so isolated, and I can tell your hurting.. but by forcing you to come... it led to you being berated by my own friends. I know you probably had a good reason to leave your friend, and I won't push for details.."
"Askar, you're rambling get to the point.." I sighed
"Point is I'm sorry, and I won't lie to you like that again. Long story short.. Alexis is sorry too, Joel and I had a talk with her about assuming things, and she wants to apologize to your face.. That is if you're willing to come to see them again."
"Askar... Look, I'll think about it, but... Don't expect an answer any time soon. What I really want to do now that I'm home is spending time with family and get my thoughts and feelings about... him... straight.. understand?"
"Of course! I understand you flawlessly now!" Askar replies, putting his hand on my shoulder, "let's have a great practice! Don't work too hard!" he says with a smile and thumbs up before running off ahead.