"You'll call when you get there, right?"

Otabek nodded to his spouse as he shuffled his shoes onto his feet. Their daughter gave a small huff and protested, "Papa, it will be fine! You don't need to worry so much."

Yuri glared at her. "I'll be the judge of that, Aliya. You're lucky your әке and I agreed to this in the first place. Don't push it." Turning his gaze back to his husband, he pressed, "And you're sure she'll be able to be with you?"

"Yes, Yura. I called the club and made sure that she can have a place with me. It's not a problem." He gave Yuri a kiss on the forehead and added, "It will be fine. You were 15 when you first sneaked into one of my shows, and you probably would've done it sooner if you could have. I think she'll survive."

Yuri turned his wrathful gaze to his husband. "That's different!

"How so?"

"She's my daughter, so I have to make sure she grows up alive."

Otabek asked mildly, "Isn't the fact that she's your daughter more relevant to my point than yours?" As the Russian man glared daggers, Otabek added, "You can always come with if you're so worried."

Yuri snorted. "No thanks. That kind of scene doesn't exactly appeal to me anymore."

Despite knowing his husband was worried, Otabek couldn't resist a small jab. "I understand. You are getting older, after all."

Aliya made a choking noise as Yuri immediately bristled. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? You're three years older than me, you know! If anyone is too old for this shit, it's you! I just don't like all those crowds." Huffily, he gave his husband a push with a gentleness that belied his angry tone. "You'd better hurry up and leave. You'll want to get home before your bedtime, grandpa."

Smiling at the irate blond, Otabek nodded. "Come on, Aliya. You heard your papa, we have to get home before bed time."

Their daughter grinned. "Bye, Papa. You shouldn't wait for us, our bedtime is pretty late." Her voice was bursting with importance as she waved goodbye and stepped out the door.

Once they were out on the street, Otabek hailed a cab for them. He was headlining tonight, and didn't want his preteen daughter walking around St. Petersburg at such a late hour. Despite having teased his husband for worrying, Otabek knew he had to be diligent about Aliya's safety. He shuffled her into the car along with his laptop bag and directed the driver to the club he was performing at.

As he settled in for the ride, he felt an unfamiliar flush of nerves. He wasn't sure if it had to do more with the fact that he hadn't headlined for quite some time, or the worry of taking care of his daughter. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She was certainly starting to grow up. She had been skating competitively for some time, so she wore the mantle of maturity that was a hallmark of young athletes. Other than that, though, she had started to change physically. Her small body was starting to elongate almost imperceptibly, and she was losing the last of the baby fat from her face. Sometimes Otabek felt that his daughter looked older by the day.

She caught his gaze and turned to look at him. "What's up, Әке?"

He felt a sudden urge to hide his pretty little daughter away from the world, but he just shook his head and replied, "Nothing, really." He tapped one finger on the armrest of the door before asking, "Are you interested in dancing tonight? Or do you just want to hang out?"

"I definitely wanna dance!" Aliya's eyes shone as she looked at her әке.

Otabek couldn't help but smile at her expression. "All right. I'll play you something special if you behave."

"Oooh, what is it, Әке?"

"You'll only find out if you behave. Stay near me. And don't talk to adults. Particularly men."

Aliya huffed in frustration. "Geez, not you too. I'm not stupid. I'm going to be just fine. I've been with you plenty of times before when you DJ'd at clubs and bars."

"Mm. That you have. But not when I've headlined. People at this time of night act differently, so it's just smart to be on your guard. Particularly as a woman. Don't be afraid to kick someone in the—"

"Oh look, we're here!" Aliya pointed out the window, cutting off her әке's words. Her face was flushed red as she practically darted out of the car. Otabek sighed as he grabbed his bag and followed her. He was pretty sure she had gotten the message, but he still couldn't help but be concerned about his daughter.

Resisting the urge to hold her hand like she was still in primary school, Otabek lengthened his stride until he was abreast of his excited daughter. He led her around to the back door for performers. As they entered, a small echo of the club's noise rang through the entryway, like a promise of what was to come. Otabek quickly navigated the process of checking in, and soon they were ushered into the main club room.

They were both used to the pound of the music, the luster of the lights, and the throng of people. The main difference at this time of night was that the throng was more like a crush. Security guided the two of them through the crowd to the empty DJ booth, where stock music was cranking out in between sets. Otabek nodded to their escorts and then quickly got to work setting up his equipment. When he was done, he turned to his daughter and leaned into her ear to ensure she would hear his words. "I'm ready to start now. If you want to dance, just make sure you stay right in front of the booth. Otherwise, just sit here with me. And make sure to check in with Papa first."

She gave him a thumbs up in response. Otabek didn't miss the delighted twinkle in her eyes as she hopped out of the DJ booth and claimed a place on the dance floor.

As Otabek gave his intro, he saw Aliya answer her phone. She seemed to be exasperated as she talked. Otabek resisted a little snort of laughter. Yuri seemed to be more concerned than he had imagined. As he wrapped up and got ready to play his first song, he saw his daughter stomp her foot a little, then hang up the phone decisively. He decided to aid her in her quest, and selected a song with a heavy bassline that would be hard to talk over. As it began playing, their eyes met, and Aliya grinned at him in thanks.

But the music alone didn't seem to be enough to stop his concerned spouse. Twice more during the song, he saw Aliya swipe at her phone, ignoring either calls or texts. Otabek scrolled through his setlist, selecting a different song to play next in hopes that his daughter would relax a little.

When the song began to play, everyone in the club went wild. He looked at his daughter, and she gave him a big grin in return. As she popped into motion on the dance floor, she began to sing along with the remix:

"Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down…"