Sometime after returning to St. Petersburg, Yuri found himself at one of his endless follow-up visits with his surgeon. The receptionists and the nurses all knew him by name at that point, and he had to roll his eyes whenever the nurses would whisper behind their clipboards and giggle while looking at him. He was suspicious a few of them were members of the Yuri's Angels, but at least their career choice made them sworn to secrecy of his treatment—he hoped, anyway.

As was always the case with doctor's offices, the surgeon was running behind schedule, so Yuri was sitting on the exam table and playing with his phone, feet swinging as he made a point of ignoring Viktor's inane rambling. The old man had for whatever reason insisted on coming with him to the appointment, and Yuri was wishing he'd just stayed home.

He was nearing the four month mark for his post-op recovery, and was honestly hoping to finally get some good news. The last several months had been absolute anguish both emotionally and mentally, and there was nothing he wouldn't give at this point to get back to his old routine. Hell, even if he could just go back to Lilia's studio, he'd be ecstatic! (Words he never thought he would use together in this lifetime).

The doctor finally knocked on the door, barging in before Yuri could even say "I'm ready." He spared a look at Viktor before turning to Yuri and going through their usual examination of his mobility and flexion. He asked the same questions as always, from how Yuri was feeling, to if he was in any pain, or having any difficulties. Yuri snapped that all would be fine if he would just be allowed to skate again, damn it.

After about fifteen minutes of poking and prodding, the doctor took a seat across from the exam table Yuri was occupying. "Well, looks like you're on the right track here, Mr. Plisetsky. The knee seems to be healing well."

Yuri scowled. "No shit. When can I get back on the ice?"

The doctor laughed at that, used to having this same question shot at him every time Yuri was in his office. "Well the good news is that now that you're three months post-op, you are good to start doing some very light exercise again. You can start with some open-chain exercises in your physical therapy, but you should be able to start jogging short distances, jumping, and squatting again."

The silence that followed had the doctor a little nervous. He'd been working with Yuri long enough to know that silence was never a good sign with him, but thankfully Viktor was the one to break the silence. "Yurio? Did you hear what he just said?"

Green eyes blinked, as if Yuri was coming out of a trance. "Wait, you're serious? I can finally start doing something besides wasting away like a rotting potato?"

The doctor let out a chuckle at that. "That's one way of putting it but yes, you are good to start doing some very light exercise again."

Much to everyone's surprise, Yuri let out a yelp that could only be described as sounding of happiness. Viktor noticed the tears pooling at the corners of the younger man's eyes, but said nothing as he let Yuri compose himself. It was the first good news the poor boy had received in months and he couldn't blame him for reacting so emotionally one bit.

The first thing Yuri did as soon as he was back in his apartment was to change into his workout clothes and go for a jog around his neighborhood. It was amazing to him how something that was so routine just months ago was suddenly such a relief. He felt like the smallest piece of himself was slowly finding its way back, but at the same time it was also the largest relief he had felt in months. It took everything in him not to stop in the middle of the sidewalk and burst into tears right then and there.

When he finally returned to his apartment, red-faced and sweating, he swore he couldn't remember the last time he had felt this happy. The second he walked through the door, he pulled out his phone and FaceTimed Otabek.

"Yura?" Otabek answered on the second ring. "Is everything okay? It's barely 10 AM there-"

"BEKA!" Yuri was screaming, not caring that he had cut his boyfriend off. "I went for a run!"

Silence followed for a minute before Otabek responded, "With your doctor's permission, I hope?"

Yuri didn't even stop himself from rolling his eyes on the camera, but he couldn't contain his grin. "Yes, Beka. That's the point! I've been cleared to do some light exercise again!"

Otabek finally caught on to the rare joy that was emanating from Yuri's body. He couldn't remember a time he'd seen his Ice Tiger so excited, and the feeling was certainly contagious because next thing he knew, he was giving a rare grin to his boyfriend, feeding off of that excited energy.

"That's fantastic! It means you're one step closer to getting back on the ice!"

"Yeah, yeah it does," Yuri was suddenly trying really hard not to cry. He was so tired of crying at this point, especially in front of Otabek.

They spent the next twenty minutes or so just discussing various unimportant aspects of their lives, when Otabek finally brought up a question Yuri had been waiting for.

"So...have you booked your flight yet for Four Continents?" Otabek sounded sheepish, like he was afraid that Yuri would tell him no, and that he wasn't going to be coming after all of this.

Yuri rolled his eyes again, pushing his sweaty hair from his face. "Not yet. But don't sound like such a kicked puppy. I wouldn't bail on you."

Otabek looked relieved at the news. "Good, because I really don't know what it will be like to go through this without you next year after you get back to the ice."

"Sap," Yuri laughed. "You've always done it without me. This is the first year I'll be there with you."

The laugh Otabek let out at that comment filled Yuri's stomach with butterflies for some reason. "Whatever. I miss you."

Yuri couldn't help a bittersweet smile at that. "I miss you too, Beka. So fucking much."

With that, the conversation wrapped up while Yuri pulled up plane ticket costs on his phone, making plans with Otabek for the Four Continents. It was still about three weeks out, but Yuri was so excited that he didn't think he'd be able to contain the buzzing that was going through every fiber of his being. By the time he and Otabek had said their goodbyes, he decided to do some light strength training to burn the excess energy.

Once dinner rolled around, Yuri had booked his flights and informed Viktor and Yuuri that he'd be going to the Four Continents to support Otabek. He was surprised when Viktor expressed some concerns rather than be encouraging. Now that he had been cleared for some light exercise, Viktor insisted that it would be in his best interest to start back into some form of a training regimen.

"Oh for fuck's sake, old man. I can keep training up until I leave and start again right after. Don't pretend like you haven't done the same thing for your piggy!"

"Yurio," Viktor's voice was steady, but Yuri knew him well enough to recognize the barely concealed frustration. "Do you want to be ready to compete at the GPF next year? Or are you not taking this seriously anymore?"

Yuri snarled, suddenly reminded of the conversation he'd had with Dalen about Otabek throwing away his chances at gold for a piece of ass. Before he could stop himself, he was screaming, "Go fuck yourself, Viktor! I'm over your high-and-mighty bullshit!" and stormed off, leaving his coach ready to punch a hole through the wall while his husband tried to talk him down.

Finding himself in the locker room, Yuri threw himself down on one of the benches and put his head in his hands, taking deep, steadying breaths.

"Yurio? Can I come in?"

He didn't have to look up to know that Katsudon was standing in the doorway, probably awkwardly fidgeting with the hem of his shirt until he got an answer. A shrug was the best he could offer at the moment, and Yuuri must have taken that as an invitation because he sat down on the bench next to Yuri before he had a chance to think if he even wanted to talk to him right now.

"I know it doesn't seem like it, but Viktor is just worried. You lost so much time with your surgery and recovery that he doesn't think you can afford to take any more time off if you want a chance at gold next season," Yuuri's voice was soothing, almost like the tone Yuri had used when trying to talk him down from a panic attack.

Yuuri paused a moment, probably waiting for Yuri to say something. When all he got was more silence, he sighed and continued on, "Look, you're an adult and we can't do anything to stop you from going. We know you miss him and just want to see him. So, for what it's worth, I have no problem with you going so long as you promise to keep up with the training regimen Viktor has you on."

At that, Yuri looked up. He could see a somewhat defeated smile on Katsudon's face, and while part of him thought maybe he should heed his coaches' warnings about taking more time off, the large stubborn part of him was saying who fucking cares? You're doing this so you can see Otabek.

And that part right there scared him. Never in his life had he ever so much as considered putting something else before his skating career. If he lost that drive, then he could kiss his gold medal goodbye. What was worse, the words from Otabek's coach that haunted him were just being proved right by this thought, and that made Yuri want to scream and cry all at once.

"Thanks, Katsudon. I was going to go anyway, but it helps knowing you're not totally against the idea," Yuri mumbled.

Yuuri threw a comforting arm around his friend's shoulder at that. "Anytime. Now, do you want to grab dinner with Vitya and me?"

Yuri rolled his eyes but agreed.

Some weeks later found Yuri standing in the hotel for the Four Continents. The competition was happening in Madison Square Garden that year, so somehow the official hotel had ended up being a cool, old building near Midtown, and as much as Yuri always swore he hated America and cities like New York, he admitted to seeing some of the charm to the place.

Otabek wasn't due in for a few more hours, so once he had deposited his bags in the room, he decided he could stand to stretch his legs and go for a run around the neighborhood. He had been following a strict regimen from his physical therapist and Viktor since the morning he was cleared for light exercise again, and was slowly building back up the strength in the muscles that had somewhat atrophied after several months without use. By now, running was back to his almost pre-injury level of distance, although his stamina and time were still shit.

He ended up taking a leisurely jog that lasted about eight kilometers, although he made a disgusted face at his phone when he noted the length of time it had taken him to run that distance. It was one thing to know theoretically that it takes time to get into shape, and another thing entirely to realize just how out of shape he had gotten during his recovery. There was no end to the comparisons he was making of himself to his pre-injury physical condition, and although he knew he was just going to end up driving himself crazy, Yuri couldn't stop.

While he was glaring at his phone and grumbling incoherent swears in Russian to himself, Yuri failed to see someone coming the opposite direction as he was walking across the hotel lobby back to the elevators. He was shocked to find himself colliding with someone and when he looked up to snap at the person to look where they're fucking going (even though he knew it was his fault, but he would never admit that), the even bigger shock came when he realized who he had run into.

"JJ," Yuri snarled. "Figures I can't escape you and your maple syrup-loving ass."

"Yuri," JJ acknowledged, but his tone lacked its usual taunting lilt.

Part of Yuri wondered if something was wrong with JJ, while another part reminded him how often this asshole had made fun of him, called him 'princess', and questioned his masculinity in public settings, so Yuri decided to choose the path of 'not giving a damn.' And with that, he waved JJ off and stormed past him towards the elevators.

Once Yuri had showered and gotten dressed, he noticed a missed text message on his phone. He was disappointed to see that it was from Otabek, saying that his connecting flight had been delayed a couple of hours and so he would be getting in fairly late and not to wait up for him. He typed out a quick, See you when you get here. Safe travels. Love you.

With a groan, Yuri realized he was going to have to find a way to kill a lot of time before Otabek would arrive. He wasn't fond of anybody else who was competing in the Four Continents, so he didn't particularly want to see what they were all up to. Without many other options, Yuri opted to go hang out in the restaurant attached to the hotel and see what would happen.

He was able to get a table near the bar and immediately grabbed the drinks menu. He figured if he was going to have to wait a little longer for Otabek, then he may as well get a little tipsy first. Just as he gave the waitress his order for a vodka soda, he was shocked when someone sat down in the chair across from him. JJ had decided to take a seat at Yuri's table without an invitation, and this infuriated the younger man for some reason.

"What the fuck do you want, JJ? I just want to have a couple of drinks and wait for Otabek to get here."

JJ shrugged, seemingly unphased by Yuri's typical rudeness. "You're the only person in here I know and it makes me feel less pathetic than drinking alone."

Yuri rolled his eyes at that. "Whatever. Can't you make your fiance come sit with you?"

He was met with a heavy silence at that, and Yuri immediately had the feeling that he'd put his foot in his mouth. When he braved a glance in JJ's direction, he was horrified to see tears silently streaming from those blue eyes. Immediately, Yuri's mind went into panic mode, completely unequipped for handling emotional people, particularly an emotional person that he didn't even consider a friend.

"About that," JJ choked, just failing from keeping the warble in his voice, "Bella left me."

"Oh," Yuri said dumbly, completely frozen and unsure of how to react.

Thankfully, the waitress came back just then with his drink, and he asked her to bring him another one immediately. When she gave him a questioning look, he tipped the glass up and downed the contents in a single go, handing her back the empty glass and saying, "Another, please. And bring me a shot of tequila while you're at it."

She left, clearly wondering if she should say something about the crying man and the one who just guzzled a vodka soda like it was water, but thankfully seemed to decide to just mind her own business and came back with the second round of drinks Yuri had asked for.

JJ automatically reached for the tequila shot but Yuri grabbed it and threw it back, foregoing the salt and lime in favor of getting the liquor into his system as quickly as possible. "If I'm going to listen to this, let me get drunk enough to forget I hate you first."

The Canadian winced at that last comment but nodded his agreement.

Once Yuri was halfway through the second vodka soda, he took a breath and simply said, "Spill."

And so JJ spilled. While he told Yuri how Isabella had finally decided she couldn't take the dragging out of their engagement anymore, she'd given JJ an ultimatum right after the Grand Prix Final. She said that he could forget about the grand slam and marry her right there, or she would end it. JJ had stupidly argued that he could still win the grand slam next year, to just give him one more chance, but she wasn't having it.

The Canadian now found himself single for the first time since he was sixteen. Isabella had been such a huge part of his life for the last 8 years that he was heartbroken and lost without her. Yuri had no problem with the idea of grown men crying, but when it was his sworn enemy sobbing about getting dumped in such a public setting, Yuri..really had no idea what to do with the whole situation. So he just kept drinking and hoped that the alcohol would make it more bearable.

"God, I really fucked up, Plisetsky," JJ had finally stopped crying, but his voice was hoarse and it sounded like he had just smoked an entire pack of cigarettes.

"Look, I really have no idea what you want me to say or do here," Yuri griped. "You know I'm shit with most people, you especially, so why the fuck did you come to me about this?"

JJ looked legitimately hurt by that statement. "Because I always thought you were my friend in some weird, kind of fucked up way."

"Oh," Yuri was so shocked that he had no idea how to respond, so instead he just stared into his drink, mind going a million miles an hour as he tried to determine the best way to handle the situation.

Eventually, Yuri ordered actual food for the two of them, figuring they should have something on their stomachs to absorb all of the alcohol that they had consumed. JJ stopped sobbing at some point and was able to eat a cheeseburger and some fries. Yuri wasn't sure if he should point out eating that the night before a competition was probably a bad idea, but decided it wasn't any of his fucking business, especially since they were already drunk anyway. So instead he just picked at his grilled chicken wrap while sipping on the unknown number of drink he was on.

"Hey Yuri, can I tell you something?" JJ finally broke the awkward silence that had fallen over them.

Yuri eyed the older man warily over the rim of his glass, but nodded. "Sure."

"I'm really happy you and Beks are together," JJ was actually smiling now, almost as if the past half an hour of sobbing hadn't happened. "I remember when we trained together in Toronto, he was always pining for the cute blonde kid he'd met at ballet camp. Never thought he'd work up the balls to talk to you again, let alone ask you out."

"Thanks, I think," Yuri replied, legitimately unsure of how to respond to this. He was bad enough in normal social situations, but the awkwardness of the whole night was just making things worse and worse.

"Seriously. You two are really good for each other. It's obvious how in love you are and you support each other in a way that rarely happens. I mean shit, Otabek dropped everything to go stay with you when you got hurt, and I know you'd do the same for him."

The Russian paused at this information, taking it all in. He realized it was true, and couldn't help the stupid grin that broke out on his face from that. "Yeah, you're right. Beka is pretty amazing."

And with that, they fell into a slightly more comfortable conversation. Yuri was shocked that alcohol or no, he was starting to warm up a bit to the obnoxious Canadian. He wouldn't go so far as to say that he actually liked JJ, but he definitely hated him a little less than he thought he did at the beginning of the night. It was almost like he had a friend outside of his rink mates and Otabek.

They must have spent more time in the hotel restaurant than they had thought, because Otabek appeared out of nowhere and placed a kiss to Yuri's temple while also reaching forward and to steal the remainder of the fries from JJ's plate. JJ squawked some kind of protest, but Otabek brushed him off and sat down in the seat next to Yuri, mumbling something about carb-loading while he draped his arm around his boyfriend's shoulders.

"I'm surprised to find the two of you eating dinner together," Otabek stated by way of greeting.

Yuri lifted his shoulders in a half-shrug while JJ blurted out "Yuri and I are friends now! He listened to me whine and bought me food!"

Otabek raised an eyebrow and laughed at that. "Really now? Glad to hear you two are finally getting along."

It was Yuri's turn to protest, but by then the three of them had simply devolved into a fit of laughter. By the time they paid the check and made it back to the elevators, Yuri was shocked to realize that he had actually had a good time, at least once they had gotten past the awkward part of JJ spilling his guts about the death of his love life. He and Otabek made sure the Canadian was safely deposited in his hotel room with an alarm set for the following morning, and a note wishing him good luck with everything.

Once they were finally back in their shared room, it almost took Yuri a minute to register that they were alone together for the first time in weeks. But all of that didn't matter because next thing he knew, Otabek's lips were pressing into his, and the two of them began to make their way backwards towards the bed. They knew they couldn't have penetrative sex before a competition, not wanting to risk Otabek's form in any way, so instead they settled for a heated makeout session that ended with each of them taking turns sucking each other off.

After Otabek had made Yuri come for the second time that night, the two collapsed together on the bed, soaking in the post coital bliss while they cuddled and babbled about how much they had missed each other. As Yuri buried himself in Otabek's arms, he was surprised at how much more content he felt just having Otabek near him again. It was funny how they had only been dating for about a month at that point, and yet he was having a hard time remembering what his life was like before they had gotten together. Then again, their friendship had never been just a friendship, so he supposed in a way they had actually been together for several years already.

"Yura?" Otabek mumbled sleepily into the mess of blonde hair in his mouth.

"Yes?" Yuri didn't look up from his spot on Otabek's chest, merely traced invisible circles on his skin with his fingers.

"I'm glad you and JJ are getting along."

Yuri lifted his head and shot Otabek a confused look at that. "Seriously? We're cuddling in bed, naked , and you're talking about that asshole?"

Otabek rolled his eyes and bopped Yuri on the nose at that with the back of his finger. "He's not an asshole. Just misunderstood. And he's my friend so the point is that it means a lot to me that my boyfriend and friend are getting along."

The sigh Yuri released at that was long-suffering, but he let it go. "Whatever. Let's get some sleep so you're not too tired for your short program tomorrow."

He felt the rumble of Otabek's chest as he chuckled at that. "Okay. Love you, Yura."

"Love you too," Yuri sighed and melted against Otabek's chest, reveling in the feel of his boyfriend's lips against his forehead while he drifted off into the most peaceful sleep he'd had since Almaty.

The next day found them in the rink, Yuri standing anxiously on the sidelines while he watched Otabek warm up for his short program. Dalen was of course there, and when the two of them made eye contact, Yuri made a point to narrow his eyes in a threatening way. The coach was completely unphased, but Yuri didn't care. He no longer trusted him after that conversation they'd shared in Almaty, and part of him wanted to stop Otabek from continuing to train with him.

As they watched the other skaters go, Yuri was loathe to admit that he felt such a strong pang of jealousy. Although he was finally on the road to recovery, he still missed the ice more than anything. It was slowly killing him to watch everyone he knew-Seung-gil, JJ, Leo, Guang Hong, Kenjirou-compete without him. He bitterly wondered if this was what retirement would eventually feel like. And if that was the case, he never wanted to retire.

When the group was called to the rink for their routines, Yuri stood by Otabek, a comforting hand on his boyfriend's lower back. Despite his calm exterior, Yuri knew Otabek could still get nervous before competitions, so he did his best to give him support without also drawing attention to it.

Otabek was the second to last to go in his group, so when his name was finally called, he turned to Yuri and placed a quick peck on his lips. They each whispered "Davai," to each other as Otabek took the ice and entered his opening pose. Yuri didn't realize that he was holding his breath until he felt a sharp jab to his ribs. Turning towards the direction the elbow had come from, he saw JJ standing there, his blue eyes narrowed in concern as he redirected both of their gazes towards Otabek.

As usual, he was flawless. Yuri couldn't help but envy how much height Otabek was always able to get on his jumps in a way even he had never quite managed to master. Otabek was skating very much like the way he DJ'd-like the ice was a melody he was forming and playing, all fluid beauty and grace. And when he landed the last jump perfectly, followed by a gorgeous spin before he stopped in his final pose, Yuri wasn't surprised to feel the wetness on his cheeks. Otabek Altin had literally moved Yuri Plisetsky, the Ice Tiger of Russia, to tears with his performance, and the cameras didn't miss it.

Yuri was waiting for Otabek at the kiss and cry along with his coach and choreographer. Once Otabek had his skate guards on, he grabbed Yuri's hand and the couple sat down together to wait his scores.

Dalen was of course lecturing him on what he did wrong and where he could do better, but Otabek wasn't paying any attention. Yuri could tell that Otabek's heart was in his throat while they awaited the scores, so he silently squeezed his boyfriend's hand in support, hoping it would be enough. He knew Otabek had just given the best performance of his life, but they wouldn't know for sure until the scores were displayed.

And when the numbers came on, Yuri looked over to see Otabek stunned into complete silence. Although it just reconfirmed was everyone already knew, Yuri couldn't be any prouder. He threw his arms around his boyfriend and cried, "Beka! Say something! You just scored a personal best!"

For a second, Yuri was worried something was wrong because he could see all the miniscule muscle movements within Otabek's eyes. But it was suddenly like something had flipped a switch because Otabek was now aware of himself just as suddenly as he'd withdrawn.

Without a word, without so much as a confirmation that this was a good idea or not, Otabek grabbed Yuri pulled him into a kiss, right there on international television.

This time, the crowd was roaring, but for an entirely different reason. Yuri supposed that the nice thing about their relationship being out now was that they didn't have to worry so much about things like this. They were dating, and everyone knew it, so Yuri melted and returned the kiss, as if to show the world that Otabek Altin was his .

"Yura," Now Otabek was the one crying.

"You're fucking amazing, Otabek Altin," Yuri grinned, bumping their foreheads together.

The press and cameras went wild but they didn't care. The couple was too damn happy to care about anything else than the fact Otabek Altin had just done the best program of his skating career, despite what Dalen had said to Yuri.

The rest of the competition went by fairly uneventfully. Otabek had a slight stumble on the landing of one of his combination jumps, but the deduction hadn't been enough to knock him out of first place. He had walked away with a gold medal, securing his spot at Worlds the following month, and Yuri could tell how happy Otabek was with his overall performance.

The banquet that followed was surprisingly tame, although Yuri suspected it might have something to do with the fact that Katsudon, Viktor, and Christophe had long retired, and so no more drunken pole dancing contests had happened at one of these things in the last few years. JJ had put on a good front, gone around with a big smile on his face and politely dodged any questions potential sponsors had about "that nice fiance of his." Yuri felt bad for him, but was glad he was holding it together-he figured the silver medal might have helped somewhat with that. It made him feel a little better to notice that Mr. and Mrs. Leroy were nearby and checking on their son every so often. Even Yuri had to bitterly admit that he wished he had ever had parents that cared about him even half as much as the Leroys did their son.

At some point Otabek had wandered off to talk with a sponsor, leaving Yuri to quietly sip on his wine alone at a table. For some reason, Dalen took this as an opportunity to sit at the seat Otabek had vacated barely five minutes before. Yuri pointedly ignore him, pulling out his phone and making a show of scrolling social media while he drank silently.

"Plisetsky," Yuri couldn't tell if that was Dalen's pathetic attempt at a greeting, or if he was trying to get his attention. Either way, Yuri decided not to answer his boyfriend's coach.

"Yuri," Dalen repeated, a little more firm this time.

At that, Yuri had to roll his eyes as he politely locked his phone and turned it over so that the screen was facing down on the table. Dalen's gruff warning had reminded Yuri a touch of all the years Yakov had used a similar tone with him.

"Yes?" Yuri said, keeping his answers as curt as possible.

"I'm glad you came here for Otabek," Dalen's answer sounded sincere, but Yuri didn't miss the sneer in his tone.

Yuri clenched his fist and literally bit down on his tongue to keep himself from saying anything he'd regret in such a public setting. He wasn't stupid, he knew Dalen was trying to bait him in order to make his point about Yuri being a distraction, but he wasn't biting. When it came to his and Otabek's relationship, Yuri had more self control than a Buddhist Monk. Usually. Okay, Yuri Plisetsky never had any self-control. And so in this situation, Yuri couldn't help but let slip just a single snide remark of his own.

"Funny how I'm such a distraction, yet Otabek still won gold."

Thankfully, Yuri didn't have to wait to hear what Dalen was going to say because that was when Otabek returned to the table to say that he was tired and heading to bed. He and Yuri bid everyone goodnight, including making JJ promise to call when he landed in Toronto the next day, and headed back up to their room.

Several hours later found Yuri and Otabek lying in a naked, sweaty mess of limbs in their hotel bed. The two had barely locked the door behind them before they had fallen into bed, clothes flying and frantically pawing at each other. The last several days together without being allowed to have sex had be trying for both of them, and now that the competition was over, Otabek was happy to bend Yuri over the nearest surface and fuck him raw, and then have Yuri return the favor.

Sated, sore, and exhausted, Yuri was just drifting off to sleep, all but purring under Otabek's touch as he gently ran his fingers through the blonde hair splayed out on his chest, when Otabek suddenly asked him, "How would you feel about spending the rest of the season in Almaty with me?"

Yuri binked, not sure if he had just dreamed that or not in his twilight state. Raising his head to meet Otabek's eyes, the steady look he was met with told him that no, it was real.

His heart was suddenly feeling like it was going to burst out of his chest. The idea that they could be together for more than a short period of time, maybe even move in together and end the long-distance part of their relationship-it was overwhelming. Yuri sat up, trying not to let any stray tears fall, but Otabek wordlessly leaned forward and kissed the tears away.

"Yura? Are you okay?"

Yuri nodded, not quite sure he could trust his voice yet.

Otabek raised a questioning eyebrow, not convinced at all.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Yuri finally spoke. "Beka, more than anything I want to do that-"

Otabek sighed, cutting Yuri off before he could even finish. "There's a 'but' in there, isn't there?"

"I-yeah," Yuri paused, wondering if he should tell Otabek what he was about to say.

"Well?" Otabek sounded apprehensive, like maybe he was afraid Yuri was going to end it.

The idea of course broke Yuri's heart, so he decided to squash that as firmly as possible.

"Otabek, I-look I hate that I've been hiding something from you for a bit now, and I think you have the right to hear it," Yuri really hoped this didn't sound as much like a breakup as he thought it did.

"Last time I was in Almaty, right before I came home, Dalen pulled me aside to talk to me." He paused, watching Otabek for his reaction. When he nodded, Yuri continued.

"He tried to get me to break up with you. Thinks I'm a distraction and going to ruin your chance at gold for Worlds. Of course I told him to fuck off, but he's been a real asshole about it ever since."

The silence he was met with was deafening. Yuri chanced a glance in Otabek's direction, only to see that his boyfriend was livid , which was not an expression he had ever seen on Otabek. It honestly scared him a little.

"Beka?" Yuri whispered, approaching him like a frightened horse that was about to spook. "Beka, hey. Don't worry about it. I've dealt with plenty of assholes in my life."

"Yuri, he was trying to meddle with my life! Without even talking to me about it! I can't believe he doesn't trust me to make my own decisions about relationships, doesn't believe in me enough to keep professional-" Otabek's nostrils were flaring, and he was clearly struggling not to start yelling.

Unsure of what to do, Yuri merely crawled forward until his arms were wrapped around Otabek's shoulders, trying to soothe him with calming hand motions on his back. He felt like there was something more to this than just Dalen being a dick for no reason, but he let it go for now.

"Beka, it's okay. Everything is okay. Today proved that our relationship is the opposite of a distraction-it's an inspiration. Dalen can suck my dick because he will never be able to take that away from us."

Otabek let out a weird half-laugh,half groan at that. "The image of my coach blowing my boyfriend is not one I needed."

They both laughed at that. Eventually, Yuri felt Otabek's muscles relax under his touch, and so he then coaxed the other man to lie back down under the covers with him. He even offered that Otabek come to St. Petersburg instead after Worlds, and train under Viktor and Yuuri. Dalen was quickly proving that he didn't know his star student very well, and Otabek deserved so much more than that.

Otabek surprisingly agreed, saying Viktor and Yuuri had been great to work with while he stayed in St. Petersburg and how much he had improved in such a short period of time with them. He was dreading the idea of talking to Dalen about it, but Yuri shushed him and said they could deal with it at a later time.

After that, Otabek was the first one to fall asleep for once, and Yuri took the opportunity to take a quick photo to make his phone background-nothing for social media, just a private thing for him to remember this moment when he was back in Russia and missing the warmth of Otabek sleeping beside him. He then put the phone down and placed a gentle kiss to the crown of Otabek's head, whispering, "I fucking love you, Otabek Altin," before drifting off into a deep sleep, dreaming of ice skates, gold medals, and the love of his life at his side.