17

Chapter 16

Victor watched anxiously as Yuuko walked slowly down the corridor with Hiroko and Georgi, looking like death warmed up. He had seen the tears streaming down her face when he hugged her goodbye, and she was still crying quietly and without stopping. He felt bad for making her sad, and it made his guilt increase tenfold, especially considering that he was the reason that she was upset in the first place. If he was being honest with himself, he probably could have stopped what happened earlier, but he was too scared of ruining everything to think about such trivialities. And so, when Yuuri came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist, he jumped at the sudden contact. However, he relaxed after a few moments and allowed himself to melt against Yuuri's chest, allowing the taller man to wrap his arms tighter around his waist and rest his chin atop his shoulder. He buried his face into the side of Yuuri's neck, inhaling his familiar cologne and trying desperately not to break down.

After a few moments Yuuri spoke softly, "Are you okay?"

Victor didn't respond right away. He didn't know whether he was okay or not. He was sad that he had ruined their date, that he couldn't see Yuuri again until next week, but more importantly...was he okay? The question haunted him and kept him awake at night, and although he knew that Yuuri wouldn't mind, it worried him more than anything that the older man could ever know of what he had done. He couldn't help but remember everything that had happened. Not only could he remember the events that had transpired, but he also remembered the times when he had tried to touch her, but he always had to withdraw his hands at the last moment so that he didn't ruin everything. He remembered her anger whenever he would get too close to her, and he remembered when they were arguing earlier, but despite that, none of these things bothered him much. It bothered him when he would imagine himself doing the same to her. How horrible would it have been to accidentally hurt Yuuko?

Eventually, though, he finally found it within himself to reply.

"I'm sorry." he mumbled weakly.

Yuuri's grip loosened, causing him to take advantage of the situation and press himself even closer to Yuuri. He breathed in once more. This time, he could breathe in the scent of Yuuri's cologne, reminding him of his childhood home, but most important, he could breathe in Yuuri's warm embrace that was wrapped around him. He tightened his grip upon remembering what he had done to Yuuko.

"Don't apologize, Vitya." Yuuri whispered soothingly.

He nodded, "Sorry..." Victor repeated softly as he rested his head on Yuuri's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, just don't ever do that again." Yuuri ordered sternly, turning Victor's body towards him so he could look directly in his eyes.

He gave Yuuri a small smile,"Okay~"

And after a couple minutes, they both turned around and entered Yuuko's apartment, Victor walking straight up to the sofa and plopped down onto it, leaning his body against the back. He stared blankly at the wall beside him as Yuuko entered the living room, sitting down next to him on the sofa and pulling him into a side hug.

"Vicchan!" Yuuko exclaimed happily, wrapping her arms around him tightly, "I missed you! Did you miss me? Were you bored? What are you doing here? Are you drunk?"

Victor chuckled softly at the latter question," I didn't drink much, Yuuko." he assured her.

"Oh good, so where is your girlfriend?"

"Not yet...not yet." Victor replied with a giggle.

Yuuko frowned,"What do you mean not yet? Aren't you going to tell her tonight?"

"Tonight? But we just arrived." Victor responded confusedly.

"So?" Yuuko challenged. "Just wait a couple days. She'll come to you eventually."

Victor shook his head quickly and let out a sigh," No, I don't want to wait that long." he said stubbornly, "Can you please talk to her tonight so that I can ask her?"

"I really think that you should wait a little longer, Vicchan.." Yuuri started hesitantly, placing his hands onto Victor's shoulders.

Victor furrowed his eyebrows and gave Yuuri a questioning look before turning to stare out the window at the city lights below. It reminded him that they were leaving tomorrow morning and that would be the last time that he would see Yuuko in two months. A thought hit him suddenly. Was this it? Had they actually started something? Had they officially started something? Or, was there nothing that they were doing right now, aside from talking and holding each other? Or was this it?

Was this all that he'd ever be to Yuuko? Just someone who was supposed to be her best friend?

He let out a soft laugh before shaking his head slightly,"No Yuuri...We're together. We've been together for almost three years now and we're already planning our wedding! There' no way that we're just gonna say goodbye without making sure that we have everything planned out, right? I wanna do it."

Victor could clearly hear that Yuuri wasn't convinced at his logic, but he chose to ignore it, because, after all, Victor didn't really understand it himself, but he needed Yuuko's support on this matter if he wanted to ask Yuuko to marry him. Yuuko sighed defeatedly before hugging Victor once more," Okay...but we still have plenty of time. Let's make sure that we spend as much time together as possible during our honeymoon before everything gets crazy. I promise, I'll call you the moment she says yes."

It took a lot of willpower for Victor not to burst out in laughter. Instead, he smiled and wrapped his arms around Yuuko, kissing her gently on the cheek," Thanks, Yuu-chan!"

Yuuko smiled warmly at him before turning her gaze towards the windows,"Hey, are you hungry?"

"A little bit…"

She got to her feet and went over to the kitchen, leaving Victor alone with his thoughts. After what felt like forever, but was only around thirty seconds, Victor decided it was now or never to try to talk to his parents about what he had done, or rather, tried to do to his sister.