Victuuri | complete

Ready- Plot

I'm almost disappointed when Victor doesn't get down on one knee in front of the cameras and everyone, but I understand why he doesn't. I don't think our fans or even our friends truly understand the depth of the relationship between Victor and me. They all claim to "ship us," and Phichit is the Victuuri poster boy. But if it were to actually be announced that Victor and I are, in fact, in love and we truly are just as crazy about one another as they all hope we are, resentment and judgement might very well trundle into our daily lives.

Thus, even though I've won the gold and accomplished everything I wanted, my heart is still heavy with pressure and ever-present anxiety. Victor doesn't say something until we're finally back in Japan, eating dinner quietly. Perhaps he was able to ignore all other signs of something wrong with me until now, while I push around the contents of my pork cutlet bowl, unable to eat.

"Yuuri, something's up when you won't even eat your pork cutlet... please talk to me," Victor breaks the silence awkwardly, looking around for my parents or my sister.

I wonder whether he searches for the clearance of their presence or simply seeks there guidance. A heavy silence falls over us for a brief moment when he finds no evidence of anyone else within earshot. Victor has never been one for talking. He normally just makes me feel better, so he struggles, now, to find the right words to ask me what's wrong.

"I'm alright, Vitya," I shrug, standing up to empty my bowl.

Victor stares at me in shock. I can feel his gaze on my neck like waves ebbing in and out of anxiety and fear. I'm scaring Victor, and I don't honestly mean to be. The thing is, I don't know how to tell him what's wrong— it seems we've forgotten all about Elkena, over the course of preparing for the recently finished season on the ice, and I have no idea if she's even still alive. I release a heavy sigh and look down at the ring on my finger; it glimmers gently when I roll my hand.

"Do you remember the weekday before Georgi's surprise birthday party, when I came home late?" I ask finally, coming back to sit beside Victor again.

"I do," Victor's eyebrows knit together in concern. "You were worried about an encounter with a small child."

"Yeah," I say distantly, looking down and away. "I still am."

"Oh, Yuura, don't suppress that kind of thing from me," Victor scolds gently. "Has she been on your mind since the night it happened?"

For lack of words to explain myself, I just nod weakly. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Victor's ring glint in the dying sunlight of dusk. I swallow hard and try my best not to cry in the middle of my family's inn. I'm sure the moment I do, my parents and sister and everyone staying here would all come out at once just to see. I'd rather avoid that scene and I think Victor would too.

"Yuuri, I'm not opposed to starting a family with you," Victor says finally. I look up at him in breathless surprise, willing him to continue. "I haven't been forwardly suggesting the idea," he admits, "because we are still yet to be married, and yet to settle in a permanent residence, and you still have another four years worth of consecutive gold medals to earn," he adds lightly, "but just because we aren't ready now doesn't mean we can't become... ready now."

His turbulent oceanic eyes glimmer with tears. I hope they're joyful tears, or the kind that come when someone is just so overcome with love their body has to expel the power of it somehow or another. I wonder if the tears aren't sadness, though. There's really only one way to find out, I realize.

"Victor, I love you," I hardly get the words out before he's crying into my chest.

I look around, waiting for the world to judge us, but it's still only Victor and me. I wipe at my own bleary eyes and wrap my arms around him.

"I mean that," I manage. "I've never loved anybody else the way I love you."

Victor crumbles. I have him, I realize, and now I need to figure out what to do with him. I think I only have one choice, though.

"We're doing this, right? When do you want to get married?" I ask softly.