LONG DELAY - ONCE AGAIN. (BIG SURPRISE.) HERE YOU ARE. ENJOY. (P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YURI KATSUKI đź’—đź’—)

I've been taking my lazy-ass time to tell Yuri what I said tonight. I'd love to tell you how many times he's texted me since dinner to tell him, but I'm afraid my ten fingers won't account for the total number. Before you think anything else, yes, I'm getting the feeling you want to tell me otherwise; I have the ability (est. Elementary school) to count without using my fingers, and calculators and minds were invented for a reason… But I don't give a shit. I love my Yuri, and I'll do whatever I can to keep our relationship sounding as spicy as possible. You guys must be anticipating this… How about I continue?

It's eleven o'clock at night. I'm more than ready to crash. Ping! Aaaaand there goes Yuri again. But this time he isn't begging for the answer he's been wanting for hours. He tells me he's gonna go to sleep soon.

Up for a FaceTime before that? :) I text him.

Only a moment later, my phone has an 'Accept or Reject' FaceTime notification, and after clicking the 'Heck Yes' option, I see my boyfriend, Yuri Katsuki. Even through the trippy lighting, I can clearly tell he's in bed, judging by the pillow taking up about a third or so of the screen and his, can I say, bare chest?

"Are you fully dressed, play-boy?" A contagious dirty smirk spreads across my face and immediately runs along to Yuri's as well.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd call you a creep." he shoots back as he protectively pulls his covers closer to himself. I have to admit, he basically knows what best to say in every situation I've seen him in. I'm jealous of whoever has known him for so long.

I drop my phone onto my bed, leaving Yuri hanging with a lovely ceiling to gaze at instead of my face. His curious shouting is incoherent as I jump towards my closet, quickly dress down, and then, for shits and giggles, shout, "IT'S AN UNDRESS REHEARSAL, BABY!"

In response, a loud and sarcastically-horrified yell erupts from the phone. Chuckling, I throw on some pj bottoms and roll onto my bed, snatching my phone in the process. His gaze quickly moves from my face to my torso. "Holy shit."

"Hm?"

Yuri swiftly answers with, "The… time! I need to sleep!"

I smile, amused, and nod my head. "I should head out, too. Work tomorrow."

I guess Yuri forgot about bugging me for that answer. "Later." I say, and close off FaceTime. I slap my phone down on my side-table and tiredly stretch out on my bed, facing upwards. I've never felt this way before with someone. Is this what falling in love feels like?

Monday Morning

I was tired as heck this morning, but that certainly didn't stop me from leaping out of bed to freshen up with a quick shower. As I run my hands through my wet hair, I shut my eyes and take a moment to imagine… a universe with color; with different shades; with magical surroundings anywhere and everywhere. How is a colorful world not every person's obsession? I mean, I try to keep my mind off of it when I'm with Yuri. It's entirely selfish of me to want that more than anything else. Color should be seen as more of a perk, not an ultimate goal.

"Cell division. A boring topic, I know. However, it's part of curriculum, and it might just interest or be of use to some of you guys." Pretty much the entire class looks back at me with dead eyes. I begin to strut around the room as I continue. "Why don't we make a bargain, then? I get you all to take this class seriously to refresh your knowledge on cell division, and I can spare you the pain of an extremely childish and catchy jingle that apparently helps you with learning cell division." I proudly stare at the students in front of me, hands firm on my hips. "All in favor of the jingle?" Hopefully none.

All but three students raise their hands. I sit there speechless for a second, and just let out a deep breath. Why didn't I see this coming? I glance at the three angel students for a moment and, with a suspicious grin, jot their names down on a scrap piece of paper. Once I've pulled up the video and it's only ten second through, each of the three kids who weren't in favor look like they would rather die in a pit. Thank you and sorry. But hey. Bonus: All of the students ended up groaning about it being drilled into their mind. Who was right? Me and my three new best friends.

I sit inside of the Teacher's Lounge during lunch break and take a good bite of some crisp lettuce from my salad. I get some looks from a couple of typical grumpy, older teachers for the unwanted noise with every chew I take. It sort of irks me. I mean, they need to respect my healthy life choices. And it's not like Mr. Barteli eats anything other than takeout every day. Ouch. Sorry, I'll shut up now.

I decide to surprise Yuri with straight-out telling him what I'd said last night at dinner. "You are the most beautiful in the room, Yuri. I love you, too."

I put my phone down and stab a couple strands of lonely romaine lettuce with my fork. Mr. Barteli's over-dramatic sigh is heard by everyone in the Lounge, triggering absolutely no response in me or anyone else, for that matter. It was normal for him to complain and sigh about everything. As I eat what's on my fork, I hear a couple of pings piggy-backing each other. It seems like Yuri got the message. I excitedly open up my messages to see what he said, but when I realize what the noises were really for, I let out a small sigh.

Hello, Mr. Viktor Nikiforov.

A reminder: You have a dentist appointment with us on Thursday, December 12th at 3:30pm. Please respond with YES to confirm the appointment. Thank you.

Alright. You win.

In the meantime, I play some Candy Crush levels and lose, like, all my lives a.s.a.p. because I can't focus worth beans. The time that's passed by now without an answer from Yuri is making me awfully uncomfortable. Has he seen it yet? What will he say when he does? Was I too confident by putting that into the conversation in the first place? Yuri?!

"Oh my goodness, Viktor." I nearly jump out of my skin but notice that it's only Andrew, the chill thirty-year-old Math teacher. "Those kids were going on and on about how much that cell song was stuck in their head from your Biology class."

Shining a slightly sarcastic, emotionally-drained smile, I say, "I gave them the option to choose the song or not, and majority chose incorrectly." I shrug and turn back to my phone to play some more Candy Crush.

All of a sudden, I get a message. Using my demon-speed finger-swiping skills, I found out that, indeed, this time it was Yuri.

You son of a gun.

… Uhmmmm… what? And no emoji to back it up? 'Kay.

? :D, I text.

How so? :) He responds.

I can't read you thru texts.

My phone pings and a large file comes up. I click it and it shows a large picture of him sitting where he is forming a heart with his hands.

I love you. He adds.

Love you always ;) Gtg. Ttyl.

Byeee!

Now, it's fricking COLD OUT. Right now I'm walking home from school. My gloved hands are stiff from the terrible, chilly weather, but the only thing that makes me more optimistic about it is my music. Earbuds are miracles. Thank you, whoever invented them. You absolute genius.

I bob my head to the classic, trendy "Happier, by Marshmello & Bastille", not able to help myself but think about seeing Yuri again. I want him to be happier.

As I get closer to the crosswalk, I catch a glance of a shop I can't remember being there before. It must've been the company that bought out that ancient, cleared-out bakery. I let out a tiny whispered "Yes" before crossing the street to check it out. I LOVE pet stores. (The real bomb.)

I immediately absorb the sounds and smells as I enter the shop; I probably freaked out the employees at least a little, considering how I had no shame in closing my eyes, stretching out my arms, and slowly spinning in a jolly circle.

It doesn't take me too long to check out everything in the shop, but the one animal that especially caught my interest was a small, brown, curly-haired pup. The moment I looked into its cage and into its warm eyes, I knew we were always meant to meet.