Hey guys, so sorry about the document error with this one, I honestly have no idea what happened... thanks to the people who let me know!

I believe I've fixed the problem, but if it's still gibberish, let me know and I'll see what else I can do.

Also, while I have your attention! If you're in need of another angsty Yuri! on Ice Story, check out YuriKasuki1's amazing story, Never Forget me. They've had nothing but support for me through my journey with Dancing on Broken Glass thus far, and their story has literally had me in tears since the very beginning. Go show them some love!

Anyways, happy reading,

~Ace

"Are you feeling better?" Viktor slowly came into the dark room, taking in the hunched over form of Yuuri on the edge of the bed. Yuuri just peered up at him through strings of still damp black hair. "Ready to talk yet?" Yuuri's gaze dipped again, settling somewhere ahead of his toes on the carpeted floor. "Okay then I'll talk."

Viktor closed the door behind him and sat on the edge of the bed next to Yuuri, offering his shoulder to the younger man. It melted Viktor's heart when Yuuri snuggled into him, no longer pushing him away. Accepting the love and support Viktor housed.

"Phichit told me you used to do this in Detroit when you got super stressed…" Viktor began, feeling Yuuri tense beneath his arm. "Yuuri… When you spaced out today… Were you thinking about… hurting yourself?"

Yuuri took a deep breath, his ribs expanding against Viktor's, bringing them closer. It felt nice to be so close. Yuuri wondered why he'd ever stopped accepting the touch, refusing to remember. He shook his head.

"What were you thinking about?" Viktor pressed, unable to voice the second option Phichit had supplied him with. A few moments passed, Viktor waiting for a response while Yuuri worked up the courage to grab his notebook. Once the stack of paper was in his hands, he would have no choice but to tell Viktor where his mind had been. He really didn't want to burden him any more than he already had. He couldn't. He wouldn't.

"Yuuri." Viktor whispered, handing him the notebook that had been within arm's reach for the ten slow breaths they'd shared.

Yuuri slipped out from under Viktor's comforting arm, cold air latching onto his skin that had been warmed by shared body heat, making him shiver. He thought carefully before formulating his response, writing it even more guardedly than his planning.

I was thinking that things would have been so much easier if they had just killed me. For everyone.

Viktor's eyes widened and he found himself at a loss for words as his eyes widened in the dark. His jaw was slack, unable to form any kind of structure that could have been useful for producing sounds, tongue nearly lolling out between his teeth. It had been one thing to hear Phichit say it, but to read those words from Yuuri himself…

"Y…" Viktor swallowed, trying to dampen his dry throat and send the lump back down to his stomach. "Yuuri… what would make you think that?" he made sure to keep his voice level, no matter how much he wanted to just sob and hold Yuuri so tightly they would meld into one person.

I've caused nothing but problems. You guys don't need that weight on your shoulders. You're all acting different because of me. I hate it.

"No." Viktor shook his head, cupping Yuuri's now slick cheeks in his hands. "No, no, no, Yuuri. If you were… gone… none of us would know what to do with ourselves." Viktor surprised himself at how level and soft his voice was. Inside he was screaming, kicking, shaking all over, but outside he was cool and collected, not even letting a tear slip. He had no idea how it was happening, but it was, and Viktor took it, not giving it much thought. "If I lost you, Yuuri, I would lose a part of myself. A part that was missing for a long time. You complete me, my love. I never thought I could love anyone as much as I love you. You have to know that. I don't know how else to show you. What else can I do to show you?"

You don't have to do anything. I just need to remember.

Yuuri was suddenly holding onto Viktor as tightly as Viktor had been imagining a few seconds prior, and he followed suit. The two just held each other, squeezed the life out of each other, lungs expanding and hearts pounding in sync. They stayed like that, tangled in each other's arms for hours, locking the world outside of their bubble.

"Feeling better?" Viktor whispered into Yuuri's hair a while after they had cried themselves out. Yuuri didn't answer, still tightly attached to Viktor in his sleep. "I love you, Yuuri." Viktor whispered again as he gently untangled Yuuri's arms and lay him down, tucking him in snuggly and planting a soft kiss on his forehead. "I'll be back soon."

"How is he?" Yurio, Phichit, and Otabek spoke in complete unison as Viktor came into the living room.

"Sleeping." Viktor sighed as he sat heavily into the couch opposite Phichit. Yurio and Otabek were tangled together in a comfy armchair partway across the room. "He told me he thinks it would have been easier if they had killed him."

"What the hell kind of a thought is that?!" Yurio growled, voicing everyone in the room's thoughts. "Doesn't he know how stupidly in love with him you are?"

"And how much you care about and look up to him." Otabek added, pulling the squirming Yurio closer.

"And how much I would miss him." Phichit pulled his knees up to his chest, trying not to let the shine in his eyes show in the dim light.

"And how devastated his family would be, and how much I would hate myself for it, and that… and that I would rather… rather die than live without him!" Viktor shocked himself with his last comment, but everyone in the room knew it was true as soon as the words tumbled out of his mouth.

"He knows all of that." Phichit was the first to break the silence. "He does. He gets lost in his thoughts. Always has. He just needs to remember how much he's loved. We have to remind him."

"I'm trying." Viktor couldn't pinpoint the exact moment that he'd started crying, but the tears dripped, quick and steady off his chin. "I'm really trying."

"I know, the rest of us need to try too. Honestly… I've been kind of nervous to approach him. Seeing how closed off he is… I need to get out of my head and think of him."

"I don't know how." Yurio shook his head. "You've all seen me in social situations, I don't know how to control my temper."

"You do around me." Otabek pointed out. "We can work on your temper, you can help him. Easy as that."

"Thank you, everyone." Viktor defiantly wiped his tears, refusing to relish in his pity party any longer. "You've done more than I could ever ask."

"Hey, you're not the only one who cares about him." Phichit regained his cheeky grin, always seeing the light in dark situations.

"I know." Viktor smirked back. "It's late, we should probably head to bed soon."

After a round of goodnights, Viktor was back in the spare room with Yuuri. He so badly missed how Yuuri used to snuggle up to him if Viktor had come to bed late, but he could deal with the lack of cuddles. He could deal with anything. Anything life threw at them, Viktor and Yuuri could handle.

"That's what love is," Viktor whispered, both to himself and his sleeping fiancé, hoping Yuuri could hear him on some level of his subconscious, "kicking life in the face and getting over any hurdles it throws. I love you, Yuuri Katsuki. That will never change."