A Turn for the... Best? (A Turn for the Worse Sequel)

Chapter 3

The session with my counselor went good. I left feeling lighter in my chest and with clear vision. The past couple of weeks I'd been feeling heavy and felt like I was walking around in a fog. I'm glad I decided to go so now I feel like I can really enjoy my time with Phichit and Seung.

I had just turned down the street where the aquarium was when I heard someone call out my name. Phichit waved at me from the end of the street with Seung standing beside him.

"Hey. I thought you would've been in there by now." I gave Phichit a small hug before gesturing to the building.

"We got delayed. Seung got distracted by husky puppies." Seung blushed and looked down as I smirked.

"Huskies huh? Well we're here to look at some fish. C'mon." I opened the door and we were instantly greeted with warm welcomes.

"How many people are you paying for today?" The lady behind the counter asked.

"Just three." I didn't look at the person who bumped into me since I was busy looking for my wallet in my backpack.

"Yuri?" I glanced at the person next to me and instantly recognized the red streak in the short male's hair.

"Hey Minami. Hold on a sec, k?" I handed the woman the money and took the passes she handed me.

"You here by yourself?" I turned to face Minami who was blushing profusely and seemed to be having a hard time keeping still. "You okay Minami? What's wrong?"

"Yuri, you shouldn't be the one to ask that question. But yeah, I'm here by myself. I was supposed to meet with a friend but he had classes today." He lowered his head as if he were really saddened by that.

"I see. Well, do you want to hang with me today? I'm third wheeling Phichit and Seung so I would like someone to endure the love fest with me." We both smiled as I nodded to where Phichit was messing with Seung's hair.

"Is that okay? I don't want to be a bother..."

"No it's fine. I was actually wanting to know what you've been up to lately."

"Okay. But let me pay to get in." I waved it off and handed him the extra pass I had.

"It's okay. I got it. I guess she heard me wrong." Minami beamed up at me as we walked to the entrance of the aquarium.

Minami and I spent the majority of our time in the aquarium talking about where he was with his skating career and what he was going to do when the skating season starts back up. During the talk I found out that Yurio had told Minami what had happened and shortly after Otabek had contacted Minami to tell him he was going to be in Japan soon.

I was a bit surprised when Minami said that. When I asked why Otabek was coming to Japan, he said that Otabek hadn't said a specific reason. Just that he wanted to get out of Russia. We didn't say much after that. I stopped a couple of times and sketched whatever caught my eye.

After about an hour of wandering around, we decided to go get some lunch. I separated from the group after lunch. I told them I would meet up with them at the house after I was done at the skate rink.

When I got to the skate rink, it was empty except for Yuuko and Takeshi who were cleaning up.

"Hey Yuri. We're gonna leave in about forty-five minutes so you have about half an hour." Yuuko said as she put away some skates.

"That's fine. I wasn't planning on being here that long anyway. Phichit is making dinner so I thought I would kill time." She nodded and I went into the locker room where I put on my skates and headed out onto the ice.

After doing a few laps around the rink and practicing an old routine, I headed back into the locker room and put my shoes back on. I went out the side door that led to the street. The night air blew my hair out of my face bringing with it the salty smell of the ocean.

I began walking across the bridge when I noticed a familiar figure standing a few feet away from me. The person turned when they heard me walk up beside me, offering a small smile.

"When did you get here?" I asked as I stared over the water that passed under the bridge.

"A few hours ago. I decided to look around a bit before heading to my hotel." Otabek gestured to the ice rink behind us. "I let Phichit know I was here and he told me that you were over here. He sounded a little worried that you were by yourself so I decided to walk you home. Has he always been this protective of you?"

I nodded and smiled as we began to walk along the bridge. "Yeah. He's always been that way ever since we met in Detroit. He's helped me through a lot, especially with what just happened, he's always been there for me. Speaking of, how are you holding up?"

I stopped and faced Otabek who was looking pointedly at the horizon. "I didn't think it would hurt this bad..."

Gently grabbing Otabek's shoulder, I pulled him into my arms and hugged him while he cried softly. We stood there for a couple minutes and listened to the traffic that was slowly passing by. After a few more minutes, I released Otabek once he calmed down.

"I don't know if Phichit told you but, I got my own place. If you want, you can stay with us if you don't want to be by yourself. But it's just a suggestion. You don't have t-"

"I would like that very much. Thank you." Otabek nodded and we continued walking back to my house.

Once we got there, Phichit had finished dinner which we ate without much grace. Seung and Phichit had gotten into a mock argument that turned into a food fight. It was shocking to hear Otabek laugh. Hearing him laugh actually caused the three of us to pause then burst out in our own laughing fit.

The cleanup after the fight was quick which was surprising since Phichit had decided to cook pasta. Once we were done, we retired to the living room where we all discussed the things that were going on in our lives.

During the talk, Otabek revealed that he was going to take a break from skating and pursue his DJ career. Phichit was excited about this since he also said that he was going to DJ at a club Friday night which was tomorrow.

"That's something we have to looked forward to. I'm gonna make sure you get shitface, Yuri." I shook my head and rolled my eyes as Phichit flashed me a mischievous grin.

"There is no way I'm going to let you get me drunk, Phichit. If I'm going, I want to be able to remember what Otabek is going to play." Otabek smiled and the three of them shared suspicious looks.

"I really don't trust the faces you guys are making so I'm gonna go to bed. Otabek the spare room is already made up. It's the room across from mine. Good night guys." I said as I walked upstairs.

"Good night, Yuri." They said in unison.

When I got into my room, I changed into a pair of shorts and remained shirtless. Sleep didn't come for a while. I heard the others go to bed a few minutes after I laid down but I kept tossing and turning long after the house went quiet.

Eventually, after what felt like hours, I sat up and began watching some youtube videos until my eyelids felt heavy. I tried to fight against sleep at first but I finally gave in to the darkness that slowly caved in on me.