I'm ssooooo sorry for the long hiatus. No excuses, just life getting in the way of things in general. Anyway, here's the final chapter of DOBG, minus an epilogue that will be posted right after this. I'm warning you now about a sappy note at the end of that. Happy reading, lovelies.

A few hours later, everyone was back at the Katsuki-Nikiforov house. Yurio had marched himself straight up to the room he and Otabek shared, having been followed closely by the latter. Yuuri and Viktor had settled themselves on the couch in the living room, Makkachin at their feet, Phichit in a nearby armchair. A heavy silence had settled itself on the house, one that nobody was tempted to break.

Hours went by and nobody said a word. Phichit had barely even glanced at his phone. Yuuri and Viktor just held each other tightly, never wanting to let go ever again. They all simply existed.

The lasting silence was eventually broken by the quiet sound of socked feet padding down the carpeted stairs.

"Hey." Otabek sighed awkwardly when he reached the bottom and found eight eyes staring at him. Even Makka had popped his curly head up to see who was approaching.

"How is he?" Yuuri was the first to speak as Otabek walked stiffly over to one of the unoccupied chairs.

"Sleeping." Otabek sighed. "I think he's more frustrated than anything. The stutter is really getting to him."

"He's not used to thinking before he speaks." Viktor felt the corner of his lip twitch, but couldn't allow the entire smirk to show itself. It was a crude joke, but also just a plain fact. Yurio said whatever he wanted to say when he wanted to say it. That was just how he had always been. But now… that might change. It was an absolutely horrible reason for Yurio to change his ways, but it could be an effective way for him to develop stronger forethought.

"That couldn't be more true." Otabek smirked, remembering all of the times Yurio had made offhand comments then turned a striking shade of scarlet. He'd always found the instances adorable, especially when Yurio had tried to defend himself afterwards. He would miss that while his beloved kitten healed.

"He'll be okay." Of course it was Phichit who said it. He was always the one to chime in when things seemed grim. When everyone else was down, he was the one with a smile on his face. For that, everyone was eternally grateful. "If he can handle Lilia's ballet boot camp he can handle this. And besides, he did it for someone he loved, out of his own accord." He added quickly before Yuuri could step in an make some horrible self-deprecating comment.

"He won't sulk forever." Viktor gave Yuuri a tight squeeze. "He's too competitive for that. He'll be out and about again as soon as he's able."

"I know." Yuuri tried for a smile, but simply couldn't force his mouth to contort into anything other than a frown. "I know he's strong. Stronger than me. He'll figure it out."

"He will." Otabek agreed.

"I will." Everyone in the room was caught off guard by the voice that made them whirl around and face the stairs. Yurio was staring straight at Yuuri, who was fighting to keep the tears from pooling in his eyes.

"Yuri, I-"

"No." Yuri held the look of intense concentration that he only ever held during Lilia's ballet boot camp sessions. His competitive side was already coming out, not two twenty four hours after discovering his new speech impediment. "No mo-more apologi-a-apologizing." He closed his eyes partway thorugh, focusing all of his energy into the five syllable word. "I did it, n-not you."

"You sound so much better already." Otabek was suddenly behind his beloved, strong arms wrapped gently around his waist, chin resting lightly on his shoulder.

"I just nee-nee-need to think befo-f-f-fore I talk." It sounded as if someone had slowed Yurio's speech down to twenty five percent speed. Meticulous, well thought out, slow. So slow. "Stop c-crying, Katsudon." Yuuri perked up when the sentence was said with almost no missteps, but caved in on himself when he realized that he did, in fact, have tears streaming down his face.

"I know." He sighed, doing his best to dry his cheeks, only for them to be soaked again moments later. "I'm trying, Yurio. I really am. I just can't help it."

"I know." Yurio nodded. "I won't b-beat y-y-y-you up this t-t-t-time. One free p-pass."

"That's fair." Yuuri found himself smiling at Yurio's joke, unbelievably happy that he was trying to make the situation more comfortable and normal for everyone. "Thank you, Yurio. For what you did."

"I couldn't ju-ju-just stand th-there and watch n-n-n-now could I-I?"

"Still." Yuuri untangled himself from Viktor and experimentally reached out for the young boy before him, who surprised everyone when he gently pushed out of Otabek's grip and leaned into the offered embrace. "You're so brave, Yuri." He mumbled into the golden strands that hadn't been washed in a few days. "You'll get through it. If you need anything, absolutely anything, I'm here."

"Same g-goes for you." Yurio snuggled into Yuuri's chest, letting the tears he hadn't realised he'd been holding back slip into the soft fabric. He hoped Yuuri wouldn't mind too much.