The bathroom was completely devoid of people, meaning it was the place Yuuri ran to first. He ran, the tears running down his cheeks as he sprinted. He didn't understand why Viktor would do something like that. He'd thought that maybe they were making progress, that maybe Viktor would finally admit that he didn't hate the History Makers.
The bathroom was as sparse as Yuuri hoped, and he ran into the corner of the room, sitting on the floor and lying his head in his hands. He tucked his knees up in front of him, getting tears on his pants but not caring.
What had he done?
Yuuri sat there for the better part of an hour. He could hear his bandmates trying to find him, but they hadn't thought where he actually was. I mean, who would want to spend their time in the bathroom?
Yuuri didn't care much at this point.
Yuuri's tears had long run out, and his eyes throbbed with the pain of dry-sobbing. He hadn't moved the entire time, trying to ascertain what it was that made Viktor hate him again.
"Yuuri?" The voice that came through the door caused Yuuri to curl even farther into a ball, but when he looked up, he saw that Viktor had the same problem he had. His eyes were red and puffy, his sleeves stained with tears. He stood at the door, debating whether or not to come in. When he'd made his decision, he closed the door carefully behind him and walked slowly across the tile room. He looked sorry; like he'd made a bad mistake.
"Why are you even here? Wanting to gloat some more? Hurt me more?" He took a deep breath.
"WHAT THE HELL DID I EVER DO TO YOU?!" Yuuri yelled at him, surprising Viktor so much he stepped back. He looked shocked for a moment, but then he just looked down sadly. Yuuri wondered what had changed to make Viktor so different than before. He just stood there, staring at Yuuri and looking completely desolate.
Viktor moved, startling Yuuri. He curled up, yelling,
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Viktor stopped in his tracks, but ultimately kept moving. He slipped down the wall next to Yuuri, rubbing his eyes. Yuuri sobbed next to him, shying away from his touch. Yuuri hated him now; Viktor hadn't done anything but insult him the entire time they'd known each other. Yuuri thought, at one point, that he could help him; get him out of that pool of hate, but Viktor seemed happy to stay there. He always seemed to enjoy being hateful, too.
What was different this time?
Viktor's arm snaked sideways, touching Yuuri's arm. This sent him over the edge.
"WHY DO YOU HATE US SO MUCH?! WHAT DID WE EVER DO TO YOU?!" he screamed in Viktor's face turning on him. Viktor's face quickly went from surprised to angry.
"I DON'T HATE THE BAND!" he shot back.
"THEN WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! WHY DO YOU ACT LIKE IT?!"
"I-I—" Viktor looked lost.
"IS IT ME?! DO YOU HATE ME?!" yelled Yuuri, his voice raising even higher in volume. Viktor looked extremely angry.
"I DON'T HATE YOU! DON'T YOU GET IT?! I DON'T HATE YOU!" he shot at Yuuri, getting even closer to him, screaming in his face.
"THEN WHAT IS IT?" Yuuri threw his hands up and huffed,
"WHY DO YOU ACT LIKE IT? WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU?"
"You didn't do anything," Viktor was losing some of his steam.
"WELL IF YOU DON'T HATE ME, THEN WHAT IS IT? CAUSE I CAN'T THINK OF ANY OTHER REASON! YOU DO, DON'T YOU? I KNEW IT. YOU HATE ME. YOU JUST DON'T WANT TO ADMIT YOU DON'T HAVE A REASON!" This fueled Viktor on.
"I DON'T HATE YOU! I'VE ALREADY TOLD YOU, I DON'T HATE YOU, YUURI!"
"THEN WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?! I DON'T—"
"I LOVE YOU!" He looked Yuuri directly in the eyes, sending him some unspoken message. Yuuri jolted, shocked away from him.
"You—you what?" Viktor leaned back, taking a deep breath. Yuuri sat there, his eyes wide. He shook his head, closing his lids for a moment. When he opened them again, he looked at Viktor, searching for some sign that he was lying.
"At last year's performance, my band mates were hating me. I wouldn't talk about anything but the History Makers, but most specifically, Katsuki Yuuri. They told me to chill; to stop talking about you and the band. I started trying to find a reason to hate you, to get you out of my mind, but I couldn't. I invited you to play with us."
"I saw you in the audience that night. I didn't understand my feelings then; I didn't actually figure it out until I saw you run away earlier." He gulped, cursing himself.
"When I sang to you, you left. I thought you were rejecting me; that it was proof that you didn't care about my band. That maybe you only took the gig because it was a chance to play, and that you didn't actually like my band. It bothered me more than it should have, but—"
"I have anxiety," Yuuri interrupted.
"What?"
"I-I have anxiety. I've looked up to you ever since I first saw your band, and I was nervous to talk to you. When you sang to me, it put a lot of attention on me, and I panicked. I wouldn't have wanted to leave, but I couldn't take it." Viktor looked even more horrified.
"Then… then how do you perform?" Yuuri sighed.
"It takes a lot of… well… meditation is one way to describe it. But when I'm actually on stage, I'm fine. It wasn't always this way; I used to panic the entire time, so I couldn't even perform. I'm sorry, I just felt you should know that." Viktor looked thankful.
"I thought that you walking away was, like, a show of hate or something. I don't know. I thought I would get back at you. It wasn't right, I know, but…" Viktor looked on the verge of crying again.
"And just then, before the performance. I called out to you. I wanted to talk. But you just walked away from me again. I thought it was an act. That you only pretended to understand me," muttered Viktor.
"I…" started Yuuri.
"I never hated you." Yuuri looked to Viktor, trying to look him directly in the eyes.
"I… um… oh, geez, this is weird," he closed his eyes and shook his head. He looked about to say something, but thought better of it. Viktor looked up at him, tears rolling down his face again. Yuuri smiled a little.
"I never hated you." He reached out, taking Viktor's hand. He leaned towards Viktor.
"I don't think you're the only one to have felt that way, by the way. I… I think I love you, too." Yuuri smiled at Viktor, taking in the confused look on his face.
Then he leaned forward and kissed him lightly, wrapping his arm around Viktor's waist. Viktor, getting over the initial shock, kissed him harder. He smiled brightly, leaning into Yuuri, who just laughed.
Oh, how had they come to this?
