Chapter 4
With Samantha gone to visit her mother, Otabek's days fell into a routine of practices, studying, and late-night video chats, as Toronto was three hours ahead of Vancouver. Ironically, the physical distance between them had only served to bring them closer, encouraging them to actually talk to each other instead of simply screwing each other. Perhaps the old saying was true; maybe distance really did make the heart grow fonder.
Otabek still wouldn't say he was necessarily in love with her, but maybe by the time Samantha returned home, he would be, and then he could finally put his stupid crush on Jean-Jacques Leroy to rest, once and for all.
He could only hope.
"And then, when filming wrapped up, Valentina stuck around and took selfies with all the background actors, including me!" Samantha said, green eyes sparkling on the computer screen. "One of the top ten best days of my life, for sure. Val – that's what she asked us to call her – gives off this image of being a glamorous sexpot movie star, but she's actually super nice and down-to-earth. She even complimented my acting, even though all I did was scream."
"That's amazing, Sam," Otabek said. "It sounds like it was an incredible opportunity for you."
Preening, she flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "I'm ready for my star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, dah-ling! No, seriously, though, I can't believe I got the chance to act in a big-budget film, no matter how tiny the role. I'm still pinching myself! Mom's new boyfriend definitely earned himself some bonus points for pulling some strings and arranging it for me."
"So, you're getting along? With your mom and her partner?"
Some of the light faded from Samantha's eyes. "Ah, I guess so. Jake's nice enough, and Mom does seem happier than she's been in a long time, but…" She shook her head. "Anyway, that's enough about me. How about you? How did your day go?"
Well, it certainly was nowhere near as exciting as being a background actor in Valentina Ricci's latest movie… "Practice was good. I landed three clean quad salchows."
"That's fantastic!"
"Yeah, the advice JJ gave me really helped to improve my technique," Otabek said. "He's been helping me with my axel, too."
"Soon you'll be winning just as much as he does."
Otabek rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know about that… I still have a long way to go until I reach his level."
"Well, I have faith in you. You'll catch up to him one day," she insisted, Otabek grateful for the vote of confidence. "What else did you do today?"
"Mostly just studied and cursed at my geometry assignment."
"That bad?"
"I don't understand anything," he admitted, letting out a weary sigh. Correspondence classes were great for letting you set your own schedule and learn at your own pace, but sometimes Otabek missed being able to attend an actual classroom. There was only so much he could understand on his own with only the provided video lessons and textbooks for guidance, especially when it came to mathematics. "Any chance you could help?" Since Samantha was going to graduate next year, she'd probably already taken geometry.
"Well… I could try, but I just barely passed geometry myself," she said sheepishly, scratching the side of her nose. "I'm probably not the best choice of tutor, to be honest."
"Oh, okay."
"Why don't you ask JJ? He's obviously great at teaching you jumps, so he might be able to help you with your schoolwork, too."
"Is he any good at geometry?"
"Oh, yeah. Geometry, trigonometry, algebra… Even though he misses a lot of school due to competitions, somehow he's still one of the top students in our class. A total brainiac!"
Of course he wasn't JJ good at?
"Cool. Then maybe I'll ask him," Otabek said.
They chatted for a little while longer before finally saying goodnight. After signing out of FaceTime, Otabek rewatched his online geometry lesson and attempted to give his worksheet one more try, but it was no use. He couldn't make any sense of it at all. Groaning, he threw his pencil aside and buried his head in his hands, once again cursing Pythagoras and his stupid theorem.
Maybe he should ask for JJ's help after all... Otabek hadn't wanted to bother him when JJ had already helped him so much during practice, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He gathered his workbook and his pencil, heading to JJ's room next door.
As usual this late at night, JJ was strumming at his acoustic guitar, softly singing "Amazing Grace" as he played the now-familiar chords. In the short time since he had begun practicing the popular hymn, his fingering had improved quite a bit, his chords confident and mostly in-tune. Not wanting to interrupt, Otabek leaned against the door and closed his eyes as he listened to JJ's angelic voice, letting the music wash over him.
"...but now I'm found...Was blind but now I see…"
When the song finally came to an end, Otabek raised his fist and lightly knocked on the door.
"Coming!" JJ called out, answering the door a few seconds later. "Oh, hey, Beka, what's up?"
"I, uh…"
Otabek's mouth went dry, temporarily forgetting his purpose at the sight of JJ's bare torso. He was dressed only in a pair of bright red pajama pants, slung so low that the sharp V of his Adonis belt was partially visible, a line of dark hair trailing down from right below his navel to underneath the soft fabric. Despite possessing the voice of an angel, JJ's body was positively made for sin, Otabek's cheeks burning as he imagined dropping down to his knees in front of JJ and pressing kisses down his flat abdomen until he –
JJ leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb, cocking an eyebrow. "What? Cat got your tongue?"
Pulling himself back together, Otabek forced himself to look up at JJ's face. "I, um, was wondering if you could help me with my geometry assignment?" he asked, hoping his face wasn't as red as he feared it was. "Sam mentioned you were good at math."
"It does happen to be my best subject, if I do say so myself," JJ said with a grin. "Let's see what you're working on." He snatched Otabek's workbook out of his hand and looked over the practice problems. Though the instructions were written in Kazakh, that didn't seem to pose much of a problem for JJ, who guessed what the lesson was about without explanation. "Oh, the Pythagorean theorem! Yeah, yeah, this is easy-peasy. Come in, come in." He opened the door wider, waving Otabek inside.
Otabek had been living with the Leroys for almost a month at that point, but it was the first time he had actually stepped foot inside JJ's bedroom. In hindsight, he could see why JJ had called his bedroom "small" the day he moved in; JJ's room was nearly twice as big in comparison to his. Otherwise, it looked much how Otabek had expected. JJ's guitar was leaning upright against the side of his queen-sized bed, sheet music scattered across his plaid comforter. There was a large flat-screen TV anchored on the wall across from the bed, hooked up to the latest gaming system, and sturdy bookcases flanked each side of it, filled with games, movies, comic books, novels, and even more trophies and medals he had won. Unlike the ones displayed downstairs, however, they looked to be more for academics, swimming, and choir rather than figure skating. Inspirational posters – some religious, some more secular in nature – decorated the creamy white walls, and a whole corkboard covered in photos and articles about JJ hung above his cluttered desk.
"Here, have a seat. Let me just get some of this stuff out of the way…" After moving his laptop over to the bed, JJ gathered the pile of clothes laying in the seat of his rolling leather chair and dropped them into the hamper at the foot of his bed so that Otabek could sit at the desk. "So, what aren't you understanding?" he asked once Otabek had settled in, his workbook opened to the correct page.
"...everything?" He might as well be honest.
"Uh...oooookay."
JJ looked around the room, scratching the back of his head. He grabbed one of the sheets of music from his bed, then reached across the desk to pluck a pencil from the Toronto Blue Jays coffee mug he was using to corral his writing utensils, drawing a right triangle on the blank side of the paper and labeling each side a, b, and c.
"Let me see if I can break things down in the easiest terms," he said, using his pencil as a pointer as he explained. "See, the legs of this triangle are labeled a and b, and the last side, c, is what we call the hypotenuse in English. It's always directly opposite of the right angle and will be the longest side. The majority of these problems want you to find the hypotenuse. To do that, we use the Pythagorean theorem, which states that the sum of the squares on the legs is equal to the square on the hypotenuse. There's a simple algebraic formula you can use…"
Man, life really is so unfair, Otabek thought as he attempted to pay attention to JJ's lesson. Not only was JJ rich, good-looking, and one of the best skaters in the world, almost destined to one day win an Olympic gold medal like his parents, he also had to be a math whiz on top of everything else. Some people really had all the luck...
"Okay, now try solving these problems using the same formula," JJ said when he had finished his lecture. He pointed out the three problems at the top of Otabek's assigned worksheet before taking a seat on the bed.
Otabek fought back another groan, grabbing his pencil and turning his focus back to his assignment. Even with JJ's so-called "easy" explanation, he struggled to understand the problems, the numbers swimming around his mind in a garbled mess.
He wasn't a bad student. He was no genius like JJ, but Otabek usually managed to get decent enough grades in most of his other correspondence courses with little issue. In English, his best subject, he would say he even excelled, his fluency much improved from living in English-speaking countries for the past couple of years. He also tended to get good grades in literature and history, his two favorite subjects. When it came to math, though, he was a complete and utter dunce.
No, I can do this, he told himself, inhaling a deep breath. All he needed to do was plug the numbers into the formula JJ had scribbled onto the back of the sheet of music. If side A was five and side B was twelve, all he had to do was calculate the squares of both sides and add them together, right? So, the sum of 25 and 144 was 169. That was easy enough. Then he only needed to find the square root of 169...
"Hey, so, um… What's sex like?" JJ suddenly asked when he had reached the third and final problem.
"Huh?" Otabek's pencil paused mid-stroke, his head turning in JJ's direction. What in the world had brought that subject up? "Why are you asking me?" he asked, brows furrowed. "You should know, right? You and Isabella do it."
"No, we don't," JJ said. "I mean, we've done some stuff, but not like…" An uncharacteristic flush coloring his cheeks, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Anyway, we're waiting for marriage."
"Oh." Otabek turned back around. That came as a surprise. Since JJ was older and had been dating Isabella for a while now, he had just assumed they were already sleeping together, especially considering the way they had acted during Jeremy's house party.
"So? What does it feel like?" JJ prodded.
"Um...really good, I guess?" The first couple of times he had sex with Samantha were only okay, admittedly, but things had gotten better as of late as the two of them learned each other's bodies and what they each enjoyed. He had finally even managed to get her to come the last time they had slept together before she left for Vancouver.
"Beka, come on, seriously. I want to know."
"I don't know… Like jerking off, but even better?"
"Ah." JJ didn't seem satisfied with that answer, either.
"Wait. You have masturbated before, at least?" Otabek asked, turning around in his chair once again.
"Y-Yeah, sure," he said. "Of course. Do it all the time."
Otabek arched an eyebrow, not believing him at all. "Well, whatever." It wasn't any of his business what JJ did or didn't do with his own dick, after all. "Can you look over these problems for me?" he asked after completing the last problem.
"Oh, right." JJ walked back over to the desk, a hand resting on Otabek's shoulder as he leaned over to check his work. "Let's see what you've got, buddy."
Otabek inhaled sharply at the unexpected touch. JJ stood so close that the citrus scent of his Axe body spray was almost overwhelming, Otabek's heartbeat racing at the warmth of JJ's hand through his T-shirt. Fortunately, JJ didn't seem to notice, his attention focused on Otabek's workbook.
"Ah, this last one is wrong." He grabbed Otabek's pencil from his hand and began scribbling some numbers in his messy handwriting. "You got this first part right, but, see, you forgot – Beka, are you listening?"
"W-What?" Otabek startled. "Uh, yeah, of course I am."
And I'm secretly the king of Kazakhstan.He wished JJ would stop invading his personal space so often. Otabek was aware that he didn't mean anything by it, that JJ was simply a physically affectionate person, but it made him feel things – things he shouldn't be feeling. He had a girlfriend. JJ had a girlfriend. It was inappropriate. He needed to give up the hopeless fantasy he had of JJ realizing he wasn't as straight as he believed himself to be, because it was never, ever going to happen.
"Then try it again," JJ said, clapping Otabek once on the shoulder before finally taking a step back.
Fortunately, he was able to find his mistake on his own. Like JJ had said earlier, the lesson actually wasn't all that difficult once he understood the basics. JJ told him to move onto the next three problems after declaring his new answer correct, but by that time, Otabek felt confident enough that he could do the rest on his own.
Or, rather, he needed to do them on his own, free of the distraction of JJ.
"Are you sure?" JJ asked. "I don't mind going over the whole page with you if you want."
"Yeah, um, I think I got it now." Otabek closed his workbook and stood, avoiding looking at JJ. "Thanks. You were a big help."
"No prob! Let me know if you ever need any more tutoring. I'm always happy to help out a friend."
The following night, Otabek cut his daily video chat with Samantha short to make time for what had become his weekly check-in with his family. With Almaty being ten hours ahead of Toronto (and previously Detroit), it had been difficult to find a time that was convenient for everyone to get together online, but ten o'clock, his time, on Saturdays tended to be best, since Otabek was able to sleep in on Sundays while the Leroys attended Mass.
He got the notification to connect promptly at ten, surprised when the video feed came up and only his mother appeared on the screen. Normally, his father sat beside her at the kitchen table where they set up the laptop during calls, his little sister Inzhu in his lap even though she was really getting far too old to be doing so.
"Hello, Beka," his mother said, smiling warmly. Her hands were wrapped around the floral-print mug he had given her for her birthday a couple of years back, her long dark hair still pulled back in the plait she always wore to bed. "It's so good to see you again."
"You, too, Ana," Otabek replied, easily slipping back into his mother tongue. "Good morning. It's only you today?"
"I'm afraid so. Your father got called into the office early to deal with some urgent business, and Inzhu's away at that week-long summer camp she mentioned last weekend." She took a sip of her steaming tea, then let out a soft sigh. "Both my beloved children gone… I hardly know what to do with myself."
"I'm sorry." Though his parents had always been supportive of his skating, Otabek knew his absence had to be rough on them. Over the past three years, he had spent maybe a total of four or five months with his family in person.
"Oh, don't mind me," she said with a chuckle. "It's actually a rather nice change of pace, to be honest. I don't even remember the last time I got to sleep in so late. I just woke up about ten minutes before I called you." It was eight in the morning over in Almaty, indeed far later than Otabek ever recalled his mother getting out of bed. Even during summer vacations, when she, as a high school English teacher, was theoretically on vacation, she was up by 6:30 at the absolute latest in order to prepare breakfast, even earlier if it was her turn to drive him to the rink for early morning practice. "But enough about me. How are you doing?"
"Practice has been going really well this week. My success rate on the quad salchow is about 50/50 now, and Mrs. Leroy has begun choreographing my new short program for next season."
"Oh, you finally decided on what music to use? What did you pick?"
For his free, he'd settled fairly easily on a lesser-known Chopin piece, identifying strongly with the Polish composer who spent half his life living in Paris, away from his beloved homeland. It had taken Otabek much longer to decide on what music to use for his short, however, wanting to pick something completely different in style from his very classical free skate. He'd also wanted to choose something with lyrics, since they were finally allowed to be used in all disciplines starting this coming season. Though Nathalie had initially been skeptical of the choice of music for his short program, feeling it was too risky due to some mildly explicit lyrics and outside of her comfort zone as a choreographer, JJ had helped to convince her to let Otabek skate to it (with some creative editing on his part to tone down the profanity), reminding her that it was important to let her students skate in the style they wanted, just as she had always encouraged him to skate "JJ Style".
"Uh… 'Nobody Knows' by Reckless Abandon?"
"Ah...an interesting choice." Which meant she hated it, but that came as no surprise. His mother wasn't the biggest fan of alternative music – or really any of the music he tended to like, to be honest. His Chopin free was more to her taste. "Well, as long as you enjoy it, I suppose…"
"I do." For all Nathalie's doubts about her ability to choreograph for such a song, it was already shaping up to be one of Otabek's all-time favorite programs.
After that, the conversation steered toward his correspondence classes, as usual. As a teacher, education came first and foremost with his mother, even above skating. The only way Otabek had been able to convince his parents to let him train abroad was to promise them he would keep up with his schoolwork and graduate at least high school – college was still up for debate. (He wouldn't mind going to college someday, maybe studying history or photography, but pursuing a degree at the same time as he trained for a possible run at the Olympics just didn't seem feasible, not if he didn't want to half-ass either one.) He updated her on the excellent grade he had received on the paper he wrote on the Golden Horde for his history course and the perfect score he got on his latest on-line English vocabulary quiz, which thrilled his mother.
"And geometry? How has that been going lately?"
"Okay, I guess," Otabek admitted with a shrug. "I got an 86 on the assignment I did last night."
"An 86? Why, that's marvelous!" his mother said, clapping her hands together. "I know math has always been your most difficult subject."
"Yeah, JJ helped me out a lot. I didn't understand the lesson at all at first, but he was able to break it down and explain it so that it made sense. I probably would have failed without him tutoring me."
"JJ is the eldest Leroy son, right? The one who has been helping you with the quad…" She paused, tilting her head to the side. "Which jump was it again?"
"The quad salchow. He gives me advice on my other jumps every once in a while, too."
"I'm glad you're getting along so well with your host family. It sounds like you and JJ are becoming great friends."
"I...I don't know about that," Otabek said. "But, yeah, JJ is… He's a good guy. He comes off brash and kind of full of himself when you first meet him, but he's actually a kind, caring person underneath it all, and, um…"
...and I'm head-over-heels in love with him even though he's straight.
Of course he didn't dare say that part aloud. He was out to his family, and they were supportive of his bisexuality, for the most part, but even if by some miracle JJ had returned his feelings, Otabek doubted his parents would be too thrilled with the idea of him living under the same roof as the person he was in love with. As it was, they'd probably freak out and demand that he return home on the next flight to Almaty if they knew he was having sex with Samantha.
"...he's pretty cool, I guess," he said instead. "So are Madeleine and Philippe, his younger brother and sister, and Mr. and Mrs. Leroy have been nothing but welcoming. They've really made me feel like a part of the family, not just a guest in their home."
His mother smiled, although Otabek detected a hint of sadness behind her dark eyes. "That's great to hear, sweetheart," she said. "And I'm happy that things are going so well with your skating, although I admit a part of me wishes you were able to come home and continue your training here..."
"I know, Ana," Otabek said softly, wishing that was possible, too. As much as he was enjoying his time living with the Leroys, Almaty would always be his true home in his heart. "I really do appreciate all the sacrifices you and Ake have made for me and my skating career these past few years."
"You have a great talent, Beka, and it's our job as your parents to help nurture that talent in whatever ways we can. We're willing to make whatever sacrifices necessary to help make your dreams come true, although I do hope you're taking some time to relax and enjoy yourself, too. You've always had a tendency to be too focused on your skating at times…"
Otabek rubbed the back of his neck, knowing it was true. He wasn't near as bad as he used to be when he was younger, but when it came to skating, he often had a one-track mind. "I… I try."
"Good. And how are things with Samantha?" she asked. "Is she still visiting her mother?"
"Yeah. She'll be back at the beginning of next month."
"You must miss her a lot. I remember how tough it was for me and your father back in college, when I spent that semester abroad, studying in London." She let out a sigh. "It was an amazing opportunity, don't get me wrong, but, oh, I missed him terribly. Those were the longest four months of my life! Of course, nowadays it's easier to keep in touch…"
"Yeah, Sam and I video chat every night," Otabek said. "I do miss her, but it seems like she's really enjoying Vancouver. The other day, she was chosen to be a background actor in an upcoming Valentina Ricci movie."
"How fun! You know, we'd love to meet her sometime, your father and I. Maybe once she comes back home, we can set something up? I realize it might be difficult, considering the time difference, but –"
"Speaking of the time difference, it is getting late here," Otabek reminded her, hiding a yawn behind his hand. "It's about time for me to go to bed. Tomorrow's a rest day, but I don't want to disrupt my sleep schedule too much."
"Oh, then don't let me keep you. Good night, my sweet Beka."
"Have a good day, Ana. Say 'hello' to Ake and Inzhu for me. I'm sorry I missed them."
"I will. Talk to you next week. I love you."
"Love you, too. Bye."
Sighing, Otabek disconnected the call and closed the lid of his laptop. Sometimes he wished he had never told his family about dating Samantha. His mother, especially. She'd never expressed much interest in meeting Leo, despite them having dated for almost a year back when he trained in Colorado Springs, but less than a month into his new relationship with Samantha, she was practically ready to plan their wedding! Not that it really surprised Otabek. If given a choice, his parents probably would be happier if he married a woman someday.
Never mind the fact that Otabek wasn't even sure he wanted to get married to anyone, be they a man or a woman. After all, did a piece of paper really matter if you really loved someone?
Well, whatever. He hadn't lied when he said it was getting close to his usual bedtime, so he changed into his night clothes and crawled into bed.
Otabek had just begun to drift off to sleep when a loud moan startled him awake. "What the –" He propped himself up on his elbow, his eyes roaming around the darkened room for the source of the noise. The wind, perhaps? It wasn't raining or anything like that though.
He laid back down, but as soon as his head hit the pillow, there was another moan, even louder than the first. "Philippe, is this one of your tricks?" Otabek whispered loudly, not putting it past JJ's mischievous little brother to have set up some sort of silly prank. Had he hidden a toy somewhere in –
No, it was coming from behind the wall by his bed, from the room next door.
JJ's room.
Which meant, unless a ghost had recently decided to take up residence in the Leroy household, JJ was…
His eyes widened. "Oh my god," Otabek breathed, bringing a hand to his mouth.
The moans grew louder, becoming impossible to ignore. Otabek tried covering his ears, but even just the knowledge that JJ was right next door, touching himself like that… He couldn't block the image out of his brain, a bulge forming inside his boxers despite his best efforts to think of something – anything! – else.
Just as Otabek raised his fist, intending to knock on the wall to alert JJ to the fact he had an audience, JJ reached his climax.
"Be...a…"
Otabek froze, hand still in the air.
Had JJ just moaned his name?
He shook his head, laying back down. He must have imagined it. If JJ was going to fantasize about anyone while jerking off, it would obviously be his girlfriend, Isabella. Bella… Beka… They were similar sounding names.
He had to have misheard. Nothing else made sense.
That didn't stop Otabek from imagining otherwise as he took care of his own stubborn arousal, JJ's name softly falling from his lips as warmth spilled over his hand…
Otabek fully intended to tell JJ that he might want to try to keep it down the next time he decided to jerk off.
That was the plan, at least, but come bedtime the following night, Otabek still hadn't found the right moment to bring it up. It wasn't the kind of thing a person tended to talk about out of the blue, after all, and he didn't want to embarrass JJ for doing something that was perfectly natural. If only JJ would turn on some loud music or something, he could knock on his door to let him know that the walls weren't exactly soundproof and hope that JJ was smart enough to fill in the rest of the blanks, but no such luck.
Maybe I can text him? Otabek thought, thumb hovering over his messaging app on his phone. That would be less embarrassing than telling him face-to-face…
He tapped on the icon and began composing a text message, only to be interrupted when the moans returned, possibly even louder than they were the night before.
Too late.
Otabek mouthed a profanity, closing out of the app and setting his phone face down on the bed.
What he should have done was pulled out his noise-canceling headphones and listened to some music until JJ finished. That's what a decent, respectful person would have done. Instead, Otabek found himself getting aroused again to the sound of JJ's baritone voice, his hand sliding inside his boxers to touch himself.
It was wrong; he knew that. Otabek felt like a pervert getting off from listening to JJ masturbate, a depraved voyeur – was that even the proper term when he couldn't see anything? – invading his friend's privacy, but if he closed his eyes and focused hard enough, he could almost imagine that it was JJ's hand rubbing his cock instead of his own, his name on JJ's lips instead of "Bella" when he reached his peak.
Needless to say, Otabek decided to keep quiet about the thin walls.
The following Saturday, JJ drove Otabek back home after practice as usual. He pulled his BMW into the driveway, but as Otabek unbuckled his seat belt and reached for the door handle, JJ made no move to turn off the engine, his hands tapping the steering wheel in rhythm to the Linkin Park song playing on the radio.
"You're not staying?" Otabek asked.
"Nah, gonna head over to Bella's place to hang out for a while. It's Saturday night, so that means Mama Yang's making her famous ginger beef again," JJ said. "I already texted Maman that I won't be home for dinner."
"Oh, okay." Otabek had been hoping to ask JJ some questions about his latest geometry assignment, but that could wait until tomorrow. There was no rush. "See you later then," he said, sliding out of the passenger side seat. "Have fun."
JJ grinned. "I intend to!"
Otabek closed his door, and a few seconds later, JJ backed the car out of the driveway, waving goodbye. He returned the wave, fighting back a tinge of jealousy that JJ would be spending the evening with his girlfriend.
"Come on, Beka, you need to get over this stupid thing you have for JJ," he muttered to himself, digging around in his pocket for the spare key the Leroys' had entrusted him with to let himself inside the house. "You already have a girlfriend, remember?"
A girlfriend he was missing a lot right about now...
Otabek unlocked the front door and stepped inside. The rest of the Leroys were still at the rink for Madeleine and Philippe's ice dance lesson, so he had the whole house to himself for about an hour or so. He headed to the kitchen, startled when his ringtone unexpectedly went off as he grabbed a sports drink from the refrigerator.
Making his way upstairs to his room, Otabek pulled out his phone to check who it was. Samantha's name appeared on the FaceTime notification. He furrowed his brow. Why was she calling? It was much too early for their nightly video-chat.
Curious, he accepted the call.
"Good, I caught you!" Samantha said as soon as the call connected, her pretty face filling the screen. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail, a pair of pink heart-shaped sunglasses sitting on top of her head. "Hi!"
"Uh, hi," Otabek said, dropping his skate bag on the floor near his door as he entered his bedroom. "I was just thinking about you. You're calling early."
"I know. I hope you don't mind, but I had a feeling you wouldn't want to miss this." She pulled back her phone so that he could only see one green eye in the lower right hand corner of the screen, leaving the rest to focus on what appeared to be a large apartment building looming behind her. "Guess where I am!"
"Uh…" He honestly had no clue. It looked like a random residential area to him, nothing special or noteworthy about it at all. "The neighborhood where Ryan Reynolds grew up?" he guessed, knowing she was a huge fan of the actor. He was originally from Vancouver, right?
Samantha made a buzzing sound. "Wrong! Guess again?"
Otabek took a seat on the edge of his mattress, setting his drink aside for later. "Um… Some other movie star's childhood home?"
"Nope!"
"The location of some famous scene from a TV show?"
Lowering the camera, Samantha playfully pouted. "Come on, you're not even trying, Otabek! I said it was something you would be interested in, not me."
"Sorry, but I really have no idea," he confessed. "I give up. Where are you?"
"It's the Olympic Village!"
He raised an eyebrow. That was the Olympic Village?
"Not exactly what you expected, huh?" Samantha said, sensing his lack of enthusiasm. "Yeah, after the Olympics, they converted the buildings into residential apartments."
Oh, right, he remembered hearing something about that. "That makes sense. No reason to let them go to waste, especially considering how much money was spent to build them."
"Yeah. However, I did find out a fun fact about this particular building."
"Oh?"
"Apparently, this is where the Japanese team stayed during the Olympics. That Japanese skater who won bronze in the men's event is one of your idols, right? Oh, what's his name…?" She snapped her fingers. "Gah, it's on the tip of my tongue… Dee–no. Die? Dice?"
"Daisuke Takahashi?"
"Yes, him! Can you imagine? He probably slept in one of the rooms inside this very building."
"That is pretty cool," Otabek had to admit, a little more impressed...and touched that she had (somewhat) remembered that Daisuke Takahashi was one of his all-time favorite skaters. He had only mentioned it once, when he had shown her a video of Daisuke's iconic "Hip Hop Swan Lake" program.
"Right, eh? I'll text you some pics later tonight."
"Cool. So, what are you doing in the Olympic Village, anyway?" he asked, laying back against his pillows. "I thought you and your mom were going to the aquarium today."
"We did that, too. Oh, my god, the sea lions were soooo adorable, and I loved the jellyfish exhibit. I'll send you some of the pictures I took of those, too," she said. "Afterwards, Mom wanted to eat at one of her favorite restaurants in the Village, but midway through lunch, there was some huge work emergency and she had to leave, so now I'm just walking around and doing some shopping." She lowered the screen to the bags she had looped over her elbow. "There are actually some really awesome shops in the area. I may have bought you a little something, too..."
Otabek frowned. "You don't need to get me anything, Sam. It's not my birthday."
The camera panned back up to her face. "But I want to! Besides, I bought souvenirs for everyone. Bells, JJ, Caitlin, Charlie, Spencer, Jade, Grace, Danielle, Jeremy, Asha…"
"Well, as long as it's nothing too expensive," he said. They definitely weren't at the point in their relationship to be giving each other fancy gifts for no real reason, but a souvenir would probably be okay.
"Don't worry, I didn't break the bank, I promise," she assured him. "Anyway, did you just get back from practice? How did it go?"
He gave her a brief update of the day's training, which included the first full run-throughs of his new short and free programs, but after the third or fourth time Samantha had to move out of someone's way, shaking the video, it became clear that having a video call on a public sidewalk probably wasn't the best idea...or the safest, Samantha letting out a small groan as a car drove by, splashing water in her direction.
"Ugh, I just bought these shoes, too! Yeah, I think that's a sign I should probably let you go," Samantha said. "I'm starting to get some pretty strange looks from passers-by." She laughed, waving to a befuddled middle-aged man walking his golden retriever who passed behind her before heading to the entrance of the apartment building. "Oops, hope he doesn't call the cops! Gotta go, talk to you later." She blew him a kiss. "Miss you!"
"I miss you, too," Otabek said. "Get home safe, and I'll see you tonight."
"Bye!"
"Otabek, dinner's ready!"
Awakened by the knock on his bedroom door, Otabek's eyes fluttered opened, disoriented as he felt around the nightstand for his phone. When had he fallen asleep? The last thing he clearly remembered was talking to Samantha on video call. Afterwards, he had masturbated for awhile, taking advantage of the opportunity to be as loud and uninhibited as he wanted, then… Well, he'd meant to work on his assignments as usual, but jerking off must have tired him out more than he thought. His history book laid face-down on the mattress beside him, whatever he had read before his unintended nap a complete blank in his mind.
"Are you up?" the voice of JJ's younger brother, Philippe, asked from outside Otabek's room. He knocked again, practically banging on the door. "Come ooooon, Otabek, time to eat!"
"Okay, I'm coming," Otabek called out, rubbing the final remnants of sleep from his eyes as he checked the time on his phone. He hadn't slept as late as he thought, fortunately. The Leroys usually ate dinner around six-thirty, but it was only a little after six.
Standing up, he started to put his phone back in his pocket until remembering the "no electronics at the dinner table" rule. He left it behind on his nightstand instead, finding Philippe waiting for him right outside his bedroom door, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"Guess what we're having! Guess what we're having!"
"Uh…" What was with all the guessing games today? "I don't know," Otabek said, closing the door behind him. "What are we having?"
"Pizza, pizza, pizza!"
"Oh?" That was a surprise. Pizza wasn't on their approved daily meal plan.
He headed downstairs, Philippe following right on his heels.
"It's a celebration!" Philippe said. "Madi landed her first triple loop in practice today."
"Really? That's great." She'd been working hard on the jump for the past couple of weeks during her freestyle lessons.
"Yeah, so Papa said we could have her favorite food for dinner tonight as a special treat." He sang a silly little tune the rest of the way down the stairs. "Pizza, pizza, pizza, goin' in my tummy, tummy, tummy! Gonna be yummy, yummy, yummy…"
The rest of the family, minus JJ, was gathered around the more casual dining table in the kitchen. An opened medium-sized pizza box from Panago Pizza sat in the center, along with a large bowl of salad. Alain, Nathalie, and Madeleine had already selected their slices, leaving behind two covered in pepperoni and one plain cheese.
"Oh, there you are, Otabek," Nathalie said, smiling as he and Philippe joined them, squeezing into the banquette beside Madeleine. "Grab a slice! We got half-pepperoni and half-cheese since I know you don't eat pork."
"Thanks." Though he didn't consider himself a devout Muslim, Otabek still tried to keep his meals halal, finding that he didn't really care much for pork anyway. He was simply accustomed to following Islamic dietary laws after so many years. "Sorry, I ended up taking a nap after practice and lost track of time," he said, placing the cheese slice on his plate. "I hear congratulations are in order?"
"You heard right. This little lady landed her first clean triple loop today!" Alain reached over and affectionately ruffled Madeleine's dark hair. "We're all very proud of her."
Her cheeks burning bright pink, Madeleine attempted to smooth down her bangs. "Papa…"
"What? It's a big deal! Let us brag a little."
"Your father's right," Otabek said. "Landing a jump for the first time is a big deal. You should be proud of yourself. Congratulations!"
"Thanks," she said, reaching for the last piece of pizza after her little brother had taken his share. "I get JJ's slice!"
"Hey, no fair!" Philippe exclaimed. "I wanted that!"
She stuck out her tongue. "You snooze, you lose. Besides, I'm the one we're celebrating, so I should get dibs on the extra."
"Madi, put that slice back," Nathalie lightly scolded. "JJ might not be home for dinner, but he can always warm it up for lunch tomorrow."
"Fiiiiine…" With a heavy sigh, she placed the slice of pepperoni pizza back in the box, Alain moving it over to the kitchen island to avoid further temptation.
"Now, whose turn is it to say grace tonight?" Nathalie asked once he returned to his seat.
"I believe that would be me." Alain took off his favorite Toronto Blue Jays baseball cap, setting it aside before motioning for his family to bow their heads in prayer. As usual, Otabek sat in respectful silence, hands folded in his lap, as Alain recited the now familiar blessing.
"Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive –"
The slamming of the front door startled everyone from the prayer.
"JJ, is that you?" Nathalie called out, rising from her chair to look out into the foyer. "We do not slam doors in this –"
"I don't fucking care!" JJ shouted, followed by the sound of him stomping up the stairs. "Leave me the hell alone!"
What the...? Otabek had never heard JJ talk back to one of his parents like that. Madeleine and Philippe "oooh'd" in unison at JJ's use of the forbidden "f-word" as Alain joined Nathalie at the archway.
"Jean-Jacques Alexandre Leroy, get back down here," Alain yelled in a booming voice, followed by a bunch of rapid-fire French Otabek couldn't comprehend.
Whatever it was he said, JJ didn't obey, another door faintly slamming upstairs a few seconds later.
"That boy…" Alain rubbed at his forehead. "What the devil has gotten into him? We raised him better than to act like that."
"I can go check on him, if you'd like," Otabek volunteered, concerned himself about JJ's wildly out-of-character behavior. What had happened during dinner at the Yangs?
"Would you? He's obviously upset about something," Nathalie said fretfully, hand on her cheek. "He might be more willing to talk to you than us at the moment."
"Yeah, sure." He slid out of the banquette. "I'll be back."
Upstairs, Otabek lightly knocked on the door to JJ's bedroom. "JJ, it's me. Can I come in?" he asked when JJ didn't answer. "Is everything okay?"
"Go away!" JJ shouted. "I don't want to talk about it."
He sounded on the verge of tears, a rawness to his voice that Otabek had never heard before.
Otabek bit on his bottom lip, wrapping his hand around the doorknob. He didn't want to disrespect JJ's wishes, but everybody was concerned about him. Hesitating for a long moment, he quietly twisted the knob and pushed the door open only wide enough to take a peek inside.
JJ was laying on his side on the bed, hugging a pillow tightly against his chest. When he noticed Otabek's head poking inside, he rolled over on his back, sniffling as he threw an arm over his eyes. "Dammit, Beka. I said I don't want to fucking talk about it," JJ said in a more muted voice. "You understand English, don't you?"
"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Otabek said, stepping further inside and softly closing the door behind him. "I… I just wanted to see if you were okay. Your parents are worried about you."
"Well, I'm fine. Peachy keen."
Otabek resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "No, you're not." Without invitation, he took a seat on the side of the bed. "The JJ I know doesn't slam doors, stomp up stairs, or hurl profanities at his parents."
"Well, maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do," JJ muttered. "Hell, I'm not sure I even know myself anymore…"
"What do you mean? JJ, did something happen at Isa–"
"Oh, will you just leave me the fuck alone? You're the last person I want to talk to right now." JJ flipped over on his stomach, burying his face in his pillow. "Just go."
Otabek frowned. Something had obviously upset JJ, but if he wasn't ready to talk about it, then Otabek wasn't going to force him. "Fine. If that's what you want..."
He stood and walked over to the door. "Um, your parents brought home pizza for dinner to celebrate Madeleine landing her first triple loop. There's still a slice left if you want it. I can bring it up here for you if you'd like," he offered, not surprised when JJ didn't reply. JJ hadn't even bothered to look up, keeping his face hidden in his pillow. "Well, anyway, sorry for bothering you," Otabek said, reaching for the doorknob. "If you need anything..."
Sighing, he exited the room, the sound of JJ's soft sobs escaping as the door closed behind him.
After dinner, Otabek attempted to work on an essay for his history class, tapping the end of his highlighter against his desk as he read the same passage about the Kazakh-Dzungar wars for the fourth time without understanding it anymore than he had the first three times. The words might as well have been written in Greek, none of it sinking in despite history usually being his favorite subject.
"Oh, fuck it," Otabek finally said, tossing his highlighter aside and closing the heavy textbook.
Sighing, his eyes drifted over to the wall behind his bed, the wall he shared with JJ's bedroom next door. Intermittent sobs had interrupted his studies for the past hour or so, but it had been a while since he last heard any.
Though he risked being shot down again, Otabek pushed back his chair and decided to check on JJ one more time. He inhaled a deep breath and lightly knocked on the door to JJ's room.
"JJ, it's me," he said, forehead pressed against the wood. "I'm sorry again about earlier. If you don't want to talk, that's fine. I don't know what happened, but if you need anything… Well, I'm here."
No reply, as expected. Otabek's shoulders dropped, wishing there was something he could do, something he could say to comfort JJ, but maybe it really was best to give him some space, like he wanted.
"Okay, I get it. I'll leave you alone. Good night."
Just as he turned to go back to his own room, JJ's door swung open. Otabek barely had time to brace himself before JJ threw his arms around him, his crushing embrace almost suffocating.
"J...J...?"
"Don't go," JJ pleaded into the fabric of Otabek's sweatshirt. "Please, don't go…"
Having gotten over his initial shock, Otabek wrapped his arms around JJ's back, pulling him closer. "I won't," he promised, tightening his hold. "I'll stay as long as you need me to…"
Otabek had no idea how long they stood there, holding each other in the hallway, but eventually, JJ pulled back, giving Otabek the first clear view of his face. His eyes were red and puffy, and some snot ran down from his nose, which JJ was quick to wipe away with the collar of his T-shirt.
"Sorry, um…" JJ sniffled. "I didn't mean…"
"Can I come in?"
JJ nodded, following Otabek inside his room and closing the door behind him.
As usual, both JJ's desk chair and gaming chair were serving as makeshift hampers, so Otabek took a seat near the foot of the bed. JJ, having grabbed a tissue from the box on his nightstand, sat down beside him and dabbed at his blotchy cheeks.
"Um, sorry about earlier," he said. "I was really upset, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you like that...or my parents." JJ grimaced. "How mad are they?"
"I think they're more concerned about you than angry. We all are," Otabek said, his hand reaching for JJ's arm before he thought better of it, letting it fall back uselessly to his side. "Do you… Do you want to talk about what happened?"
For a long moment, JJ didn't say anything, staring down at the wadded tissue in his hand. Otabek, not wanting to push him if he wasn't ready to share, remained silent as well, sitting patiently by his side as he waited for JJ to make up his mind.
"Bella... She broke up with me," JJ finally announced in a monotone voice, his fingers curling into fists in his lap. "We're over."
"What?" Otabek's eyes widened in disbelief. "Why?"
The news came completely out of left field. He had seen them together only a couple of days ago, laughing and kissing in the Leroys' backyard swimming pool and looking very much in love, the perfect couple. Granted, upon seeing them through the window, Otabek had promptly gone up to his room to listen to music, hiding until Isabella left to go home, but nothing had seemed out of the ordinary between them.
JJ tossed his used tissue aside and hung his head in his hands, his fingers pulling at his messy uppercut. "I-It was my fault. I… I wasn't thinking and said something I…" His voice cracked. "Oh, God, I fucked up so bad, Beka."
Otabek scooted closer to JJ on the bed. Though he couldn't deny a small part of him was thrilled to hear that they had broken up, that paled in comparison to seeing JJ in so much agony. "I'm sorry, JJ," he said, gently placing a hand on his back. "I know how much she meant to you."
"I thought we were gonna get married one day." Tears again began spilling down JJ's cheeks. He made no attempt to hide them anymore, letting them flow freely. "She was 'it' for me, Beka. 'The One', you know?"
To be honest, Otabek couldn't say he really believed in "The One", the idea that there was only one special person you were destined to be with. The concept had always struck him as a silly fairy tale. He had a feeling JJ wouldn't appreciate hearing that at the moment, however, so he continued rubbing soothing circles on JJ's back, keeping his thoughts to himself.
"I-I don't know what to do." JJ leaned over and rested his head against Otabek's shoulder, Otabek going stiff at his proximity. "It hurts so much," he cried. "It's like...my heart is shattered into a million teeny tiny pieces. I don't even know how I'm still breathing."
"I know," Otabek said softly. Hesitantly, he risked wrapping an arm around JJ's shaking shoulders. "I know it hurts right now, but it'll get better, though. Your heart will heal in time, I promise."
JJ lifted his head, sniffling as he swiped a hand over his cheek. "You've gone through this before?"
"Yeah." He pulled his arm away, scooting back over to put some distance between them. "Back when I was living in Colorado Springs, I dated one of my training mates, a boy named Leo."
"You mean, Leo de la Iglesia?"
Oh, right, he had forgotten JJ was a former training mate of Leo's as well; he'd left to go train in Detroit right before Otabek began taking from Leo's coach. "Yeah, that Leo," he said, bringing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs.
"What happened?" JJ asked. His eyes were red, but at least he was no longer crying, seeming genuinely interested.
"My first junior season wasn't the greatest, so I decided to leave Colorado and start taking from Coach Cialdini." Again, JJ had left Detroit right before he arrived. Otabek wondered what might have happened if they had shared a coach earlier in their careers, before JJ had ever met the likes of Isabella Yang, but he was quick to push that dangerous thought out of his mind. It wouldn't have mattered anyway; JJ wasn't interested in men.
"Leo wanted to try long distance," he continued, "but it's not like either of us were old enough for a driver's license or had the money to spare for plane tickets. What were we supposed to do, just hope that we got assigned to the same junior Grand Prix events for the chance to see each other in person before Junior Worlds? And even Worlds wasn't guaranteed for Leo, considering how many good American junior skaters there are." Otabek shook his head, his heart aching at the memory of the day he had informed Leo of his decision to leave. "It wasn't very realistic, you know? Even though I was the one who decided to end it...it was still tough. He was my first boyfriend, and I really, really liked him."
"How did you get over him?"
"Threw myself into my skating. Focused on my studies. Listened to a bunch of shitty emo music. Stuff like that."
"Oh."
"But we're friends now," Otabek said, feeling around for his phone in his pocket. "See… Oh, crap, I forgot. I left my phone on my nightstand. Let me go get it."
Otabek retrieved his phone from his bedroom and swiped through his camera roll until he found a recent picture of him and Leo, taken at last season's Junior Worlds, where Leo had finished just off the podium in fourth place. He handed the phone to JJ. In the photo, Leo had his arm thrown around Otabek's shoulders, the two of them smiling – well, Leo was smiling; Otabek's mouth was twisted in that weird grimace that inevitably appeared on his face without fail whenever he was in front of a camera – and throwing peace signs with their free hands. They weren't as close as they used to be, of course, but it had been good to hang out with Leo again once they got over the initial awkwardness of seeing each other for the first time since Otabek left for Detroit.
"Maybe when some time has passed, you and Isabella can be friends, too," Otabek said.
"Maybe…" He didn't seem too optimistic about the prospect, though.
Sighing, JJ returned the phone to Otabek and fell back against the mattress, staring up at the ceiling.
Otabek was about to slip his phone back into his pocket when his ringtone went off. He checked the notification, frowning when he saw Samantha's name again on the screen.
"Who is it?" JJ asked, turning his head to the side.
"Sam, but I can talk to her later." There was still about an hour to go before their usual nightly chat. Whatever she was calling about could surely wait until then. No doubt she had heard about the break up as well. "Sorry, I'll just –"
"No, don't." JJ abruptly sat back up, stopping Otabek from declining the call. "Answer."
"But –"
"I'll be fine," he said. "Just because my relationship fell apart doesn't mean you should ignore your girlfriend."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'm getting kinda tired anyway." JJ covered his mouth as he let out a yawn. "Think I'm gonna try to get some sleep and forget this crappy day ever happened, you know?"
"Oh, okay." Otabek stood back up. "Good night, then, I guess."
"Yeah, good night," JJ said. "Oh, and Beka?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
Otabek wasn't sure if he had done anything really worthy of gratitude, but he patted JJ's shoulder, giving him what he hoped was a reassuring smile before leaving the room.
By that time, his phone had stopped ringing, Samantha's call having been sent to voicemail due to him taking too long to answer. Otabek immediately called her back, not surprised at all when she picked up on the first ring.
"What's this about JJ cheating on Bella with another chick?" Samantha demanded to know the moment she answered the call, not even bothering with a proper greeting.
"W-What?" Caught completely off-guard by the question, Otabek quickly stepped into his own room next door so that JJ wouldn't overhear. "What are you talking about?" he asked once he had closed the door behind him, keeping his voice low. "JJ would never cheat on Isabella. It's impossible."
"That's what I thought, too, but Bella just called me in tears, telling me she broke up with him because she found out JJ had been cheating on her."
"With who?"
"I don't know. Someone named Rebecca, I guess? She was sobbing so hard, I couldn't really understand what she was saying."
"Rebecca?"
"You know her?"
Frowning, Otabek sat down on the edge of his bed. "The only Rebecca I know is Rebecca Morris," he said, running a hand through his uppercut. "She's one of the ice dancers in the Leroys' training group, but she's in her mid-twenties and currently living with her partner. I find it really hard to believe that they would be having an affair. I mean, wouldn't that be illegal?" Not that such inappropriate relationships were unknown in the skating world, unfortunately, but JJ and Rebecca rarely even interacted at the rink beyond the occasional greeting. It made no sense.
"Well, Bella is absolutely convinced they are," Samantha insisted. "She said she heard JJ murmuring Rebecca's name while they were making out, and he didn't exactly deny it when she confronted him about it."
Otabek pursed his lips together, thinking back over the past few nights, when he had imagined JJ moaning his name while jerking off. He'd written if off as pure fantasy on his part, the delusions of a hormonal teenager with a stupid unrequited crush, but what if he hadn't misheard, only misunderstood whose nickname JJ was actually using? After all, Rebecca Morris went by Becca, too. It had caused no shortage of confusion his first couple of days at the rink until he had suggested everybody just call him Otabek instead. JJ was the only one who continued to call him Beka after that.
But, still… Between practices at the rink and hanging out at home, Otabek spent a large amount of his time with JJ. About the only times they weren't together were on Sundays during Mass and whenever JJ went out on dates with Isabella. Unless he was secretly a world-class actor, though, JJ had never shown much interest in Rebecca, and the same for her. By all appearances, she was madly in love with her partner both on- and off-the-ice, Gabriel Yu. The two of them were even known as the Maple Leaf Sweethearts by their fans, known for their syrupy sweet romantic dances on the ice.
Maybe there was some other Rebecca? Someone from JJ's church or school? Otabek tried to remember if he had met any girls by that name at the house party where he had first hooked up with Samantha, but his memories of that night were still pretty hazy. Besides, if there was a Rebecca in JJ's friend group, wouldn't Samantha know of her already?
"Otabek?" Samantha prodded when several moments passed without him saying anything. "You still there?"
"Oh, sorry." Otabek shook his head. Even if JJ hadn't denied saying another woman's name, that didn't mean he was actually having an affair. Maybe it had been a silly slip of the tongue or maybe Isabella hadn't given JJ a chance to fully explain himself before jumping to conclusions… "There has to be some other explanation," Otabek said, refusing to believe JJ would betray her like that. He simply wasn't that type of guy. "JJ loves Isabella. He'd never cheat on her, and he's completely devastated by their break-up. I've never seen him so upset."
"Never say never," Samantha said softly. "I used to think the same of my mom, that she loved Dad more than anything in the world and would never be unfaithful to him, yet…"
Otabek winced. Shit, way to put his foot in his mouth. "Sorry, I didn't know…"
"It's okay. It's just…." She sighed. "Dammit, JJBella were supposed to be the OTP, you know?"
He furrowed his brow. "The...OTP?" Was that some sort of Internet lingo, like LMAO or WTF?
"One True Pairing. Um, it's a term used in fandom spaces. It means your favorite couple."
"Oh." He should have known it was something like that. Dating a fangirl meant Otabek knew far more than he ever wanted to know about the omegaverse and shipping wars, among other things. Apparently, some devoted fans even wrote fanfiction about their favorite skaters, although Samantha swore up and down that she stayed away from reading those.
"Not that you should be shipping real-life people," she was quick to add, "but after my parents separated… I don't know. I'd look at them, and it was like, 'Oh, look, true love really does exist.' It's corny, I know, and I feel silly even mentioning it… It just sucks, you know?"
Otabek couldn't exactly say he shared the sentiment, guilt gnawing at his stomach. After all, even if JJ was finally single, he wasn't. And even if he had been… JJ was still straight as an arrow. The break-up had changed nothing, except breaking the heart of the man he secretly loved.
"Well, anyway, it's almost dinner time, so I guess I'll let you go," Samantha said. "Um, I would say talk to you later, but I have a feeling Bella might need a virtual shoulder to cry on. Mind if I take a rain check on our chat tonight?"
"No, that's fine." He wasn't really in the mood to talk much more tonight, anyway. "You should be there for Isabella."
"Thanks. Talk to you tomorrow, then?"
"Yeah, tomorrow. Bye."
Otabek ended the call and set his phone on his nightstand, letting out a heavy sigh. He didn't know what to think anymore. He wanted to believe in JJ's innocence, but if even JJ hadn't tried to defend himself against Isabella's accusations, then maybe there was some truth behind it after all…
DISCLAIMER: "Yuri! On Ice" doesn't belong to me.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Chapter Five should be posted in early January.